Top Five- Time Travel Movies

Ever since H.G. Wells wrote about a machine that could travel in time, the whole concept of time travel has captured the minds of millions. Needless to say, this concept has been used in countless books, movies, TV shows etc.

For this edition of Top Five I have narrowed down my favourite movies that use the time travel concept and as you will see, they all handle it differently. In thinking up this list I decided not to include movies where a character is frozen and re-awakes in the future, such as Planet of the Apes, as this isn't strictly time travel.

5. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure



First off, this film takes all the conflicting theories about time travel and decides it could have more fun without them. Worried about paradoxes? Don't worry, it's perfectly ok to grab Beethoven, Socrates, Billy the Kid et al and bring them back to the present for the sole purposes of a school report. After all, Bill and Ted are already in a paradox. Their music saves the world in the future and are worshiped like gods, but how can they succeed without the help of Rufus from the future? Who cares? All we want is comedy, historical figures out of their depths, aerobic teaching Joan of Arcs, skateboarding Genghis Khans and watersliding Napoleans.

4. Groundhog Day



Whilst not as an original concept as most think (12:01 was also made that same year), Groundhog Day is a highly inventive and charming look at a man trapped in a loop. Every day he wakes up to the same tune on the radio, sees people doing exactly what they did the previous day, knowing that things will be the same tomorrow. What really lifts this movie well above what it could have been is the journey the character takes; at first he hates the town he is stuck in, then he uses his predicament to get what he wants, then after all that is exhausted he uses it to help people. His situation eventually gets him to see people in a loving way and to help them out, not just a few but nearly the entire population. He uses it to better himself and, in the end, he is a person that the whole town and his colleagues love. It's a touching story that piles on the laughs and is a worthy addition to the genre.

3. Terminator/Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Here are two excellent movies about time travel. The first see a man being sent from the future to protect a woman who will give birth to a great man. Also being sent back is a cyborg bent on terminating her before she can give birth to him. Once these two beings arrive there is no more physical time travel but the implications and paradoxes continue throughout. Sarah Conner is at first a timid mullet wearing woman who is thrust into a situation where she is being hunted and where she is told that she will train her son to be a great soldier. She is told of the destruction of the majority of Earth's population, she knows the date. She is told of a war that happens afterwards between the machines and the survivors of mankind.

In the second movie another terminator has been sent back to kill the son who is 12 years old, and to protect him another terminator, captured and 'tamed' has been sent back to protect him. Once again no more time travel is used once they arrive but the foreknowledge of events to come drive the story. Can they prevent the war? Can they stop the machines from becoming what they are? Does killing the man solely responsible for this make them any better than the machines? All this is dealt with in a way which is entertaining to an audience, we can enjoy this purely as an action movie, but if we wish, we can also look into the deeper messages.

2. 12 Monkeys



I love this movie, though I never at first. To me this agrees with my own theories on time travel; you cannot prevent what has already happened from happening.

Mankind has been enduring a virus that has killed off most people. The survivors live underground but scientists can send back James Cole to the past to gather information on the virus and maybe even obtain a sample of it in it's pure form so that a cure can be made. He also has to track down the army of the 12 monkeys who may have started all of this.

Unfortunately, time travel screws with your mind and being sent back to a strange time can lead you to being caught and put in a nut house if you aren't careful. Guess what? Cole wasn't careful. Throughout the story, Cole is treat as a mental patient, his story isn't believed, he is on the run from the law. His psychiatrist begins to slowly believe him but just as we the audience start to get our doubts. This movie deals with time travel but also insanity. Is Cole really from the future or is he insane? Perhaps it's both? He is also reminded of a dream he keeps having which may or may not be a memory of when he was a boy. A memory that gradually seems to be coming true as the story progresses, the characters becoming the people Cole is around.

There is a lot to get from this movie. A first viewing may or may not make you like it, but you definitely need to watch this at least twice because you will start to pick more things up, more paradoxes, more questions, more theories and more headaches. It truly does get greater with each viewing and cannot be justified in this post.

1. Back to the Future Trilogy



Not only is this one of the best time travel movies, it is one of the best movies ever, period. The script is incredible in it's comedy, plot arch and characters. This is all brought to life by brilliant directing, effects and a perfect cast.

Time travel in this movie works this way: You can change anything that has happened in the past, but it will have severe consequences on the future. The last thing you want to do is prevent your own birth...which is what Marty McFly does within his first few hours of arriving back in 1955. The movie is a race against time to get his young mum and dad together before he fades away out of memory. The second two movies, although not planned at all during the making of the first, brilliantly add on to this story. We see Marty go back, yet again, to 1955, where he has to avoid his past self whilst interacting with the events we witnessed in the first movie. Not only that, we see a glimpse of the future, 2015, and get a lesson in paradoxes when a character from 2015 goes back to 1955 and changes history. We see how this effects the present, and also the character in the future (he quickly fades away after coming back from the past).

Some people dismiss this as confusing and not as good as the first. While the latter is true, the second movie is still hugely entertaining and explains time travel and paradoxes in a way that no other movie has been able to do (who can forget Doc's diagram on the blackboard?).

The third movie, only deals slightly with the issues that the first two did, but is still a great movie, entertaining in the same vein as the others and a great way to end the trilogy.

So, what are YOUR favourite movies that deal with time travel? No doubt you will disagree with my list but it would be enjoyable to see what you think of it and to name your own. Feel free to put all thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.

Wilhelm Scream- Sunshine

In Sunshine a group of scientists head towards the dying Sun in an attempt to re-ignite it. The ship is protected by a large heat shield that covers the entire front. Captain Kaneda (Hiroyuki Sanada from Ringu) and Capa (Cillian Murphy) are out on the shield making some repairs. The clock is ticking as the shield is slowly turning back into the sunlight which, at this close distance, would be fatal.

This has to be my all time favourite movie death, it's beautiful to watch, John Murphy's score is incredible and it's perhaps the best way to go if you had to choose.

Wilhelm Scream- Hot Fuzz

In a new feature we celebrate and commemorate the best on-screen deaths to hit our screen. May they Rest in Peace.

In a village where people are getting killed one after the other, you'd think that you'd be safe outside of a church, in broad daylight, with the whole village just around the corner wouldn't you? Not so for reporter Tim (Adam Buxton). He has some important information regarding the killings but before he can say anything to new cop on the beat (Simon Pegg) he meets his messy demise.

Classic Scene- The Sixth Sense

In 1999 The Sixth Sense became a huge success making writer and director M. Night Shyamalan almost a household name, if only people knew how to pronounce it.

One of the big factors in it's popularity was the big twist at the end which, for me, ruined the movie slightly. I thought the twist was unnecessary as the movie was solid without it, and the twist was also a bit daft. The rest of the movie, though, was hugely entertaining, scary at times, directed brilliantly and actually had a kid who could act and not be annoying.

Haley Joel Osment was only ten or eleven when he made this, but he managed to stand up alongside Bruce Willis (who also did a good job) and add the critical depth to one of the most important characters.

In this scene, towards the end of the movie (it should have finished around this scene really) we see Cole (Osment) and his mum(Toni Collette) stuck in a traffic jam after an accident. Up until this point Cole hasn't spoken too much to her, especially regarding his secret which led to him having to see a shrink.

I love this scene, it's one of the ones that make me cry even after watching it again just now (dammit) it just does so much in 5 minutes and yet it's pure dialogue.

Review- リング (Ringu)

There's been a recent trend of Japanese horror (or J-horror) in movies, with plenty of remakes coming out of Hollywood; some good, some not so good.

The one movie that set the wagon rolling was リング (Ringu) meaning 'Ring', made in 1998 with a low budget of $1.2 million. It went on to become the highest grossing horror from in Japan, spawned several sequels and remakes in Korea and Hollywood.

The first thing that got me interested was the premise, which quite unique for a movie of this particular type. Basically, there's a video going around that has strange images on it, once the video ends the phone rings. You then have one week before you die.

Review- Coming to America

The 1980's; a time when Eddie Murphy movies were funny and none more so, in my opinion, than Coming to America (1988).

Based on a story by Murphy himself, this classic comedy was directed by John Landis, who had success with Murphy in Trading Places. Whilst that movie concerned Murphy's character going from rags to riches, this movie is almost the opposite.

Classic Scene- Good Will Hunting

Here is a movie from 1997, which put Matt Damon and Ben Affleck on the map (for good or for worse). They co-wrote the screenplay and won the Oscar for it. Damon plays a kid genius who is always in trouble with the law and so is sent to a psychiatrist (Williams) and tutored in Mathematics as part of his 'get out of jail free' clause.

The first meeting with the shrink doesn't go well, when Damon sees a paint-by-numbers picture and proceeds to psychologically de-construct the shrinks life, touching on his dead wife.

This scene is their next meeting and shows Robin Williams in perhaps his best role (he won an Oscar for this also). This is were their relationship really starts as Williams shows that Damon, despite bing a genius and despite having read many books on many topics, really knows nothing about life, love and death. It is a great monologue and performed wonderfully.

Top Five-Bad Hollywood Remakes

5. The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)

It's a typical remake. A perfect excuse to get the computers running on overtime to animate the end of the world. Keanu Reeves is his normal wooden self as alien Klaatu trying to sap all the energy out of this movie. There is a common downfall to this movie that occurs in a lot of remakes they seem to forget the message that the original was trying to convey. The original movie made in 1951 was a wonderful look at mankind and it's violent tendencies which is even more apt these days. Yet, the remake only makes vague references to this, only using it as the aliens' excuse to destroy the planet. The movie, despite having a lot of destruction and pretty effects is quite boring compared to other similar movies and even the pure beauty of Jennifer Connelly cannot help this poor attempt.

4. Psycho (1998)

Oh dear! If there was ever a movie that didn't need a remake, it was Psycho. One of my most favourite movies ever, directed by one of the most influential people, with a superb performance by Anthony Perkins, everything was just right.

So along comes Gus Van Sant, fresh off directing the brilliant Good Will Hunting and decides, not only to remake Psycho, but also to do it almost shot for shot! But this time, let's get an inferior actor (Vaughn) to play the iconic role, let's slip some daft 'subliminal' shots in random places and generally ruin a perfect movie.

This isn't even a movie that has big special effects etc, which is usually the excuse for a remake. Overall this is not only a pathetic remake, but an unnecessary one.

3. I Am Legend (2007)

Now this is a half-decent movie, but again it fell into the aforementioned trap of failing to grasp and convey they message. Not only did it do this but ti also completely changed the ending of the original novel and hence completely changed (or discarded) the whole point that the book was making. Even the alternate ending was a bad attempt at trying to rectify this. The title of this movie makes no sense whatsoever with the changes they made.

What makes this so frustrating is that this remake was in various hands for well over a decade, at one point James Cameron was to direct Arnie. All this time to go on, the opportunity of a fantastic novel to base the screenplay around, and yet it ends up in the hands of the guy who is writing the Oldboy remake!

Add that to that fact that the creatures in the movie (are they vampires or zombies? it doesn't make it clear. They are supposed to be vampires) are so badly made that they look like something out of Doctor Who or Primeval. The whole movie looks like an excuse to show New York deserted and derelict (which looks amazing) and have Will Smith moping around and getting his shirt off (which looks amazing *cough*) and have a Bob Marley soundtrack.

There are plenty of people who loved this movie. To those I say read the novel by Richard Matheson and watch The Last Man on Earth (1964). Not only is the book a highly important work of art in it's genre, but it an intelligent look at the vampire mythos with attempts to understand them from a scientific standpoint. Not only that but the 'twist' totally changes how we see the vampires and als the protagonist.

Dam, even The Omega Man (1971) did a better job.

2. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I'll start this by saying I'm not really a fan of the Burton/Depp joint projects. I think Burton has too much style and no substance and that Depp is wasted on quirky characters, he's a great actor. But when I watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory it made me think a whole lot less of the pair.

They took a magical kids film and sucked all of the magic out of it. In fact, they sucked all the fun out also. This was not enjoyable at all; the songs were crap and forgettable, the oompa-lumpa's were just awful, Depp sounded like he was doing a bad impression of Dr Evil and, once again, the message of the original was completely lost.

In the original one it's made clear to children that Charlie won because he was innocent and he was a good natured kid, even when Willy Wonka turns out to be Willy Wanker (or so we are lead to believe). His refusal to hand in the gobstopper to Wonka's so-called competition was his final test. So, as in all of Roald Dhals stories, it is a fun story with a little lesson for the kids. Here, however, we have just under two hours of boring, non-magical and non-fun drivel, with terrible performances and dire directing, and the audience comes away with nothing from it.

1. King King (2005)

Well, here we have number one, the worst remake ever, in my opinion. King Kong, everyone's favourite movie about inferred bestiality.

Peter Jackson claimed that this was his favourite movie (the original, that is) and always wanted to remake it. Now, first of all, why on earth would you want to remake your favourite movie? Secondly, why would you then, given the opportunity, completely destroy the legacy of King Kong and replace with a drawn out, badly acted and directed, badly paced, badly CGI'd mess of a movie?

The extended edition is 201 minutes long. I like a long movie, if i'm enjoying it then I wanna see the longest edit possible. But King Kong had so much crap in it, and unnecessary crap at that, he could have easily shortened it to two hours tops. Naomi Watts is a brilliant actress, but for some reason she is terrible in this. Adrian Brody is good also and yet in this he is bland. Jack Black is crap and annoying, yet he doesnt break his trend in this movie.

King Kong himself was brilliant animated, but it looks like too much focus was placed on this as other effects looked awful, especially the scene when they are running down the canyon with the dinosaurs. Scenes just dragged for too long, the battle of the dinosaurs with king kong, I didnt care about anything apart from how numb my arse was getting.

I like Peter Jackson, I liked his earlier worked and I love the LOTR trilogy. It was a great achievement to get it made and it mostly stands up well. Therefore, it baffles me just how he managed to make this so bad, not just bad, but soooooo bad. $207 million went into this, and it mostly went on geeks sat at a computer. For less than half of that they could have tightened the script, shortened the movie (and hence the number of effects) and made a better movie.

The original is famous for the quote 'It was beauty killed the beast' well, in the remake it was the fat beast that killed the beauty.

Review- Dog Day Afternoon

Al Pacino's career can be divided in half. The first half consists of him out-acting anybody around at that time, the second half is his shouty phase. Now, I do like his shouty phase, I thought he was great in Scent of a Woman and Devil's Advocate and also in lesser roles, but what I really miss is his ability to perform like he does in this movie.

Dog Day Afternoon (1975) for me is the pinnacle of Al Pacino's acting ability, one of my favourite roles that he has played and one of the best movies from the seventies.

Directed by Sidney Lumet, Dog Day is the true story of a man who robs a bank with his friend. Pacino plays Sonny Wortzik, an ex bank employee who supposedly knows how everything works in a bank. Unfortunately for him, the bank has no money in the vault, so what turns out to be a quick job soon turns into a botched operation. When the police are alerted to what is going on Sonny holds the bank employees hostage.