Top 5: Time Travel Movies

by John Nolte

There’s nothing better than a time travel flick that works, but it has to work – it has to hold together. The few months I spent doing script coverage some years ago, it felt like a time travel screenplay came my way at least once a week. But they never held together and died a horrible, twitching death somewhere before page 60.  These are difficult stories to construct, but when they hum they’re pure magic because the idea alone fires the imagination with possibilities and achieves a wish-fulfillment stature before the lights even dim.

The Time Machine (1960) – This movie kicks so much ass that there’s none left to kick, and just when you think you’ve found some left to kick, you quickly discover you were wrong and that you owe this movie an apology. What more could you ask for than Morlocks and Eloi and that way-cool mannequin that changes outfits as the days, years, and centuries pass? You got Rod Taylor and Yvette Mimieux and cannibalism and underground caves filled with big, weird, thumping machinery.  This is experience talking, so listen up: Every day of the week for months you could watch Rod Taylor crumble those books, toss Morlocks like rag dolls, and give those hippie Eloi all kinds of hell and it never gets old because nothing can stop this movie from being awesome. And if that isn’t enough, Mr. French is in it.

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The Final Countdown (1980) – After being tossed around in a bizarre storm, imagine that a fully armed aircraft carrier from 1980 (U.S.S. Nimitz) finds itself four decades back in time on the eve of that dirty sneak attack on Pearl Harbor? Now imagine Kirk Douglas in charge. Because the filmmakers wisely made the premise extremely simple, this allows for a fascinating philosophical and moral debate about all the possibilities and implications that come with time travel. Best of all, the film doesn’t pretend to have all the answers. This is an intelligent little sleeper with a terrific cast, a strong sense of moral clarity, and did I mention Kirk Douglas?

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Back to the Future (1985) – One of the great scenes of the 1980s is when Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), dressed in an alien-looking radiation suit, uses a Walkman to wake up his dad (Crispin Glover) in the middle of the night. Talk about exploiting your concept. And what a concept. The reason you’ll find screenwriting books that refer to the BTTF script is due to a genius structure that takes a wild premise and makes it look easy. But nothing’s nothing without execution and BTTF is a full-on adventure with big laughs, iconic performances, heart and an unforgettable climax — all of which would be for naught without Huey Lewis and the News.

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Time after Time (1979) – This must’ve been one of the easiest pitches in Hollywood history: “Okay, H.G. Welles has just finished building his time machine but has to chase Jack the Ripper through modern-day San Francisco after the killer steals it.” Sold. But a great idea became a terrific film thanks to a thoughtful  script and three superb lead performances from Malcolm McDowell (H.G. Welles), David Warner (The Ripper), and an all kinds of fetching Mary Steenburgen as the love interest.  

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Somewhere In Time (1980) – Laugh it up, Haters, but we are talking about crossing time for Jane Seymour here. Christopher Reeve was so good as Superman that we forget he was even better as Clark Kent. Reeve was an enormously talented screen comedian perfect at playing characters caught off guard and out of their element. His natural earnestness works to great advantage in this heartfelt little romance (that people seem to either hate or love), but the real pleasure is in watching him play a fish out of water, in love and in a different time. And Jane Seymour is (to this day) so gorgeous you can’t help but relate to how he feels.

Now it’s your turn. Rank you own.


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Posted Mar 12th 2009 at 6:23 pm in Top 5 | 210 Comments