15 Best Time Travel Movies Of All Time, Ranked

Hollywood has long been fascinated with the concept of time travel. Whether it is killer cyborgs from the future or extra-terrestrials capable of simultaneously communicating with the past and future, we've had no shortage of captivating time-travel films. Often, these movies eschew logic for thrills, hoping viewers are more enamored with the spectacle to worry about plot contrivances. Then again, sometimes writers and directors make too much sense and threaten to put viewers into a coma with their scientific reasoning. Either way, most time-travel adventures produced in Tinseltown tend to leave some sort of mark on audiences, for better or worse.

Don't worry; we've sifted through the legion of titles to determine the 15 best time-travel films to ensure you don't waste your precious time with mere trifles. Grab your sunglasses, hop in your nearest DeLorean or phone booth, and prepare to go on a wicked journey into the past.    

"The Time Machine," based on H.G. Wells' 1895 novella, deserves mention for being one of the first to usher in the time-traveling genre, paving the way for all the films on this list. While dated in terms of its visual effects, the time-lapse photography effectively demonstrates the passage of time. As our hero, H. George Wells (Rod Taylor), moves into the future, he watches as the buildings around him corrode; structures are built, destroyed, and rebuilt. He passes through wars and eventually lands in a distant time overrun by creepy monsters known as Morlocks.

At this point, the picture devolves into a series of escapes and never quite rekindles its early magic. Still, director George Pal keeps the action moving along nicely and occasionally touches on complex themes revolving around the nature of our existence and the fragility of the human race. It's far from a perfect film, but "The Time Machine" deserves a shoutout for crashing through the wall first.       

What do you get when the director of "Love Actually" and "Four Weddings and a Funeral" tackles time travel? "About Time," a sweet, amiable tear-jerker starring Domhnall Gleeson as Tim, a young man who possesses the ability to jump back and forth through time and alter his past and future. Writer-director Richard Curtis uses this concept to spin a poignant story about love and sacrifice as Tim learns the value of living in the moment while embracing life's difficulties and imperfections.

Tim's abilities come with a price. Every change he makes in the past carries consequences. At one point, he goes back in time to prevent his sister (Lydia Wilson) from meeting an abusive man. However, when he returns to the present, his children have changed into entirely different people. Later, he and his wife Mary (Rachel McAdams) decide to have another child, which prevents him from visiting his deceased father (Bill Nighy) in the past. It's all rather touching and unabashedly sentimental but also surprisingly deep without ever feeling abstract. 

"About Time" is an overlooked gem, even despite that one scene Gleeson felt should have been cut.

The seventh and arguably best X-Men film (including the Wolverine flicks), Bryan Singer's "X-Men: Days of Future Past" adapts Chris Claremont and John Byrne's popular 1981 storyline "Days of Future Past" for the big screen, resulting in "a tight blast of mutant action," according to /Film's Russ Fischer. The gist is that the future is a war zone ravaged by Sentinels, robots designed to hunt and kill mutants. A group of surviving X-Men, including Magneto (Ian McKellen) and Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), devise a plan to send Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to 1973 and work with younger iterations of themselves, played by "X-Men: First Class" holdovers James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, to prevent the future war. The key to victory revolves around the assassination of a prominent scientist (Peter Dinklage) by Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), which triggers the Sentinel program. Oh, and our heroes must also survive a massive Sentinel assault in the future ... just another day in the X-Men universe.

Bold, complex, and shockingly violent, "Days of Future Past" is a visual treat that makes the most of its "Terminator"-like concept, even if it never ascends to the same levels as James Cameron's franchise.

Tony Scott and Denzel Washington teamed up for "Déjà Vu," a 2006 thriller about an ATF Special Agent (Washington) who uses time travel to stop a madman (Jim Caviezel) from blowing up a ferry. As typical, Scott's visual style boosts a by-the-numbers script, resulting in a fun, if not disposable, action flick anchored by Washington's strong performance.

In present-day New Orleans, over 500 U.S. Navy soldiers and their families are killed after a bomb explodes aboard a Mardis Gras ferry. Agent Doug Carlin arrives on the scene and notices details that don't make sense, specifically that his fingerprints are all over the crime scene. Eventually, Doug happens upon a governmental unit that uses technology to see into and communicate with the past. Eventually, our hero travels back in time to thwart the attack but finds that his actions inadvertently ensure the event occurs as expected. Will Doug manage to change the past to save the future? 

"Déjà Vu" tackles big ideas and holds true to its closed-loop time travel premise but then abandons its lofty concept for a happy ending. At any rate, Scott still delivers a fun piece of escapism for viewers to savor, provided they don't think about it too much. 

"Looper" stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, and Emily Blunt. This 2012 sci-fi tale follows a young man named Joe (Gordon-Levitt) who operates as an assassin for a crime syndicate. The twist is that the people he kills are sent back from the future. Problems arise when Joe's future self (Willis) pops up and proceeds to search for the Rainmaker — or, rather, the Rainmaker's younger self. See, in the future, the Rainmaker murders Joe's wife, prompting him to travel back in time to execute the crime boss when he was just a kid. Now, young Joe must eliminate his older self or alter his destiny. 

As one character tells another, "I don't want to talk about time travel because if we start talking about it, then we're going to be here all day talking about it, making diagrams with straws." Don't think about the movie's complex plot too much. Instead, kick back and enjoy an original sci-fi tale with enough curveballs to make your head spin. Then, when you're done, read more about the film's elaborate concepts, as explained by writer-director Rian Johnson.

Perhaps the darkest picture on this list, Terry Gilliam's "12 Monkeys," is less about time travel than a gloomy commentary on the perils of technology and information and how these tools are abused and misinterpreted.

Bruce Willis stars as James Cole, a prisoner living in a dystopian future ravaged by a deadly virus. By chance, a group of scientists selects Cole to travel back in time to 1996, but he mistakenly winds up in 1990, where he meets a mental patient named Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt), who has connections to the virus. Cole winds up moving back and forth through time, going as far back as World War I to save humanity, but every step pushes him closer to doom than salvation, ultimately propelling him toward a dark and twisted fate.

Co-starring Madeleine Stowe and Christopher Plummer, this bleak thriller offers plenty to savor from a visual perspective but may be too much of a downer for casual audiences to stomach. Gillian shoots each scene with manic zeal, ensuring a gripping experience, while the all-star cast, notably Pitt, chews up the dialogue. "12 Monkeys" is weird, bizarre, and darker than midnight, but it's also an innovative, compelling, and provocative work that ranks amongst Gilliam's best. 

On a lighter note, we arrive at the 1989 comedy "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," a lighthearted adventure about two dude-bros who use a time machine — in this case, a magical phone booth — to journey into the past to learn more about history so they can pass a school exam. Starring a very young Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, and the late great George Carlin, this joyous romp spawned two sequels and has stood the test of time thanks to its lovable duo, creative take on time travel, quirky humor, and rocking soundtrack.

Bill (Winter) and Ted (Reeves) are average high schoolers whose love of rock and roll often comes at the expense of their homework. However, unbeknownst to the pair, a future utopian society worships them as the Two Great Ones and sends an ambassador back through time to ensure they pass history class and fulfill their destiny. Bill and Ted are suddenly whisked away on a most excellent adventure where they bump shoulders with history icons like Napoleon (Terry Camilleri), Billy the Kid (Dan Shor), and Abraham Lincoln (Robert V. Barron), learning more about themselves in the process.

Based on the Japanese novel "All You Need is Kill," Doug Liman's "Edge of Tomorrow" follows Major William Cage (Tom Cruise), a cowardly public affairs officer whose antics land him on the front lines of the world's final bout against an alien race known as the Mimics. As expected, his first foray into combat ends with his death. However, Cage somehow inherits the alien's ability to reset time, and must repeatedly relive the same day until he finds a way to win the war. Teaming up with tough-as-nails Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), Cage overcomes his fears and morphs into a hardened soldier, and it's only a matter of time before he comes face-to-face with the deadly "Omega" Mimic and stops the cycle once and for all.

Action-packed but also surprisingly funny, "Edge of Tomorrow" is summer movie perfection; smart, lean, and easy to enjoy. Now, can we please get a sequel?  

This stylish offering from director Tom Tykwer isn't a time travel per se. Instead, "Run Lola Run" examines the effects the actions of a single person can have on various people. When a bagman named Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) loses $100,000 in cash, it's up to his girlfriend Lola (Franka Potente) to find a way to obtain the money before time runs out. Her first attempt ends with her death, prompting the day to restart, giving her another chance to accomplish the deed. Each try delivers unexpected changes to Lola and the people around her, including her father (Herbert Knaup) and passersby. 

Briskly paced with an energetic soundtrack to boot, this low-budget marvel utilizes everything from animation, slick editing, and black-and-white photography to tell its wild tale, pausing only occasionally to let viewers catch their breath. "Run Lola Run" is a prime example of creativity and vision producing magical results.     

After two arguably stale entries from Chris Columbus, director Alfonso Cuarón stepped in and finally conjured the Harry Potter film fans longed for with the third entry, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." Much like J.K. Rowling's terrific novel, this dark, whimsical, unusually cloudy tale steered the franchise into more adult territory, raising the stakes for our pint-sized heroes while expanding the Wizarding World in unique ways.

Moreover, "Azkaban" utilizes time travel to significant effect in its third act, as Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and Hermione (Emma Watson) roll back the clock to save a magical creature known as Buckbeak from certain death. Cuarón has a blast showing the same event from two different perspectives and gleefully conjures scenarios in which the past alters the future and vice versa. Harry casts a powerful spell at one point, but only after seeing his future self accomplish the feat earlier. "I knew I could do it this time because, well, I had already done it," he exclaims. Does your head hurt yet?

"Arrival" is the type of "brainy sci-fi" that makes your head spin. Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, this 2016 sci-fi drama stars Amy Adams as Dr. Louise Banks, a linguistics professor tasked with figuring out how to communicate with aliens that have positioned themselves worldwide. This involves deciphering an extra-terrestrial language, all to determine whether their intentions are friendly or sinister.

Co-starring Jeremy Renner, this innovative and sophisticated adaptation of Ted Chiang's "Story of Your Life" leans into the idea that the past can inform the future and vice versa. For example, certain situations involving Louise require memories from moments that will transpire years later. To the aliens in "Arrival," time is an endless loop with no beginning, middle, or end, working in unison. So, when Louise requires a specific piece of data to solve a problem in the present, she uses information obtained during a future conversation. Get it?

Even if you can't wrap your head around the film's mind-bending concepts, "Arrival" still works as an exemplary piece of science fiction, featuring top-notch performances, incredible cinematography, and a powerful score from Jóhann Jóhannsson.  

Another comedic entry, Harold Ramis' "Groundhog Day" starts out as another vehicle for Bill Murray to demonstrate his proclivity for snarky one-liners but quickly morphs into a thought-provoking, even powerful character study centered around one man's quest to live the perfect day. Don't worry; it's still a lot of fun. However, Ramis and co-writer Danny Rubin dig deeper than expected, touching on philosophical themes about life, love, and the pursuit of happiness.

Murray stars as beleaguered weatherman Phil Connors, who is forced to cover the Groundhog Day festivities in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. After doing his duty alongside producer Rita Hanson (a delightful Andie MacDowell), Phil goes to bed only to reawaken to the same day the following morning, and then the next morning, and the next ... Trapped in a perpetual loop, Phil at first abuses his power but slowly develops an appreciation for life. He learns piano, takes up ice sculpting, and learns different languages while trying to prove to Rita that he's not the jerk she thinks he is.

Thanks to Murray's magnetic performance, "Groundhog Day" works as a lighthearted romantic comedy and as a modern parable layered with deep-rooted spirituality. Its clever concept has been imitated time and again, but never as sharply. It's a genuine classic.

Following the conclusion of his Dark Knight trilogy, director Christopher Nolan blasted off to space for "Interstellar," a sci-fi adventure that toys around with time in exciting new ways. Whether it's the time dilation of a planet where every 1.5 seconds equates to one day on Earth or a memorable sequence in which Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) communicates with his daughter (Mackenzie Foy/Jessica Chastain) from the future via a tesseract, Nolan manages to design mind-blowing concepts that require multiple viewings to grasp fully.

The plot follows Cooper, an ex-NASA pilot who joins a space mission to find a new planet for the occupants of a dying Earth. Several options exist, and our heroic crew, working with limited resources, must choose between following scientific reasoning or trusting their emotional intuition to determine the proper course of action. Eventually, it all boils down to Cooper's powerful connection with his daughter and mysterious beings who may be communicating with him in the future, a story that clearly resonates with audiences, as evidenced by the box office success achieved during the film's 10-year anniversary re-release.

You could jot "The Terminator" or "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" in this slot, as each represents a classic form of time-travel cinema. Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as a reprogrammed, benevolent T-800, sent back to 1991 to protect young John Connor (Edward Furlong) — the future leader of the human resistance — from the relentless, shape-shifting T-1000 (Robert Patrick). Teaming up with Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), now a resilient warrior, the T-800 and John must find a way to save humanity by preventing the nuclear holocaust of Judgment Day.

Like its predecessor, "T2" is probably best viewed as a branching timeline in which changes in the past don't alter the future so much as create an all-new timeline for our heroes to follow. As several characters explain, "The future is not set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves." That approach allows Cameron to slink around time travel paradoxes, enforcing the concept of free will and multiple timelines. It's fun to think about, or you can just sit back and watch things go boom. Either way, "T2" is an absolute banger.   

Easily one of the greatest time-travel films ever made, Robert Zemeckis' "Back to the Future" follows Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), an '80s teenager accidentally transported to 1955 in a time-traveling DeLorean. Stranded in the past and working with an eccentric scientist (Christopher Lloyd), he must ensure his parents (Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover) fall in love to secure his future.

Heartwarming, fun, and exciting to boot, this Steven Spielberg production skimps on logic but makes up for its scientific shortcomings with a sharp script, likable characters, and iconic set pieces. Uniquely, the film takes an approach similar to "Run Lola Run," noting how changes in time alter the lives of anyone nearby, albeit slightly. When Marty returns from the past, his parents still live in the same house and have the same three kids, but their situation is far better than it was before. In a terrific gag, we even see the name of a mall changed from Twin Pines Mall to Lone Pine Mall after Marty runs over a pine tree in the past. It doesn't make a lick of sense, but the joy of "Back to the Future" is the way it embraces the concept of destiny, specifically how it applies to love.

Marty's parents are destined to be together. The world around them can change, and even they may change, but like two magnets drawn together, their love is inevitable — a bond that transcends time itself.