Time Travel Movie Trivia: Time travel movie stuff you may not know! The film Timerider was produced by ex-Monkee Michael Nesmith, and in it, the first time traveler is... a monkey! The 2015 movie theatre in Back to the Future II advertises Jaws 19, directed by Max Spielberg. Steven Spielberg, the director of Jaws, has a son named Max. The date upon which Doc Brown conceives the flux-capacitor, making time travel possible in Back to the Future is November 5th, the same date that H.G. Wells travels to in Time After Time. The films Time After Time and Star Trek IV were both co-written by Nicholas Meyer, and both involve time travel to present-day San Francisco. The deflector dish of the USS Enterprise in Star Trek: First Contact is labeled AE35, the same as a satellite dish component from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Mike Myers originally wished to call Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me 'Austin Powers 2: The Wrath of Khan', but was unable to secure the rights. In Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, the date in 1969 that Austin travels to is May 25th; May 25th is Mike Myers' birthday. The cryogenic truck in James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgement Day is from Benthic Petroleum, the same fictional company that owned the oil drilling rig in the film The Abyss, also directed by Cameron. The 2001 remake of H.G. Wells' The Time Machine is directed by Simon Wells. H.G. Wells was Simon Wells' great-grandfather. The best time-travel movie never made: Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. The movie would have starred Johnny Depp as an advertising executive who finds himself in 17th century Spain, where he is mistaken for Pancho Sanza. After several cataclysmic production problems, it was decided to abandon the original project. Instead, Gilliam has chronicled the entire mess in Lost in La Mancha, a documentary about the un-making of the film. Time Travel Links: Enough time travel talk to make anyone go cross-eyed! The concepts of time and time travel are thoughtfully pondered by Albert Einstein, Carl Sagan, Clifford Pickover and other really smart people in this fascinating online study. Get out those quantum slide rules! how you can woo them into visiting you in the past... your present! That is, if they don't decide to waste time winning the lottery instead. |
The Chrono Chronicles: A.J.'s Guide to Time Travel |
Time Travel: Movement forward or backward along the continuum of experience in which events pass from the future through the present to the past. Most films included here use travel through time as a central theme, but a handful only utilize time travel or displacement as one aspect of a much larger storyline. The trans-continuum events experienced in these films range from a single moment to thousands of years. All time travel totals are approximate. Films are listed in chronological order. (of course!) |
1960 - The Time Machine Beginning in the early 1900's, Rod Taylor plays a scientist who invents a machine which takes him all the way to the post-apocalyptic year 802,701. Total Timespan Traveled: 800,800 years. 1968 - Planet of the Apes American astronauts crash on a planet where apes and gorillas are the ruling primates, and Man is reduced to a life of brutal servitude. Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter star. Total Timespan Traveled: 1,985 years forward. 1970 - Beneath the Planet of the Apes The first of many inferior but entertaining sequels to Planet of the Apes, this time it's James Franciscus who is sent to investigate the disappearance of the astronauts from the first film. He finds not only apes, but also human mutants who worship a dangerous cold-war relic. Total Timespan Traveled: 1,985 years forward. 1971 - Escape From the Planet of the Apes This third film of the Apes series features Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter as apes who escape the destruction of their world in their time by traveling back to our time! Arguably the best sequel in the series, unique for it's successful blend of humor and violence. Total Timespan Traveled: 1,984 years backward. 1978 - Superman To save Lois Lane, Superman uses powers far beyond those of mortal man to reverse the rotation of the Earth, which, however illogically, reverses time itself. Total Timespan Traveled: 10 minutes backward. 1979 - Time After Time Utilizing a time machine of his own invention, H.G. Wells persues Jack the Ripper to modern day San Francisco. A great thriller starring Malcolm McDowell, David Warner and Mary Steenburgen. Total Timespan Traveled: 86 years. 1980 - The Final Countdown A nuclear aircraft carrier is caught in a strange storm, which sends its crew back to the year 1941, just before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Should they intervene and alter history? Excellent attention to detail makes this thought provoking dramatic thriller a classic of the genre. Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen and Charles Durning star. Total Timespan Traveled: 39 Years. 1980 - The Girl, the Gold Watch, & Everything Based on a novel by John D. MacDonald, this sci-fi / romantic comedy is about a man who owns a watch that stops time. Stars Robert Hays and Pam Dawber. Want to travel back to the late 1970's? This TV movie will get you there! Total Timespan Traveled: Countless single moments of 'present' time. 1980 - Somewhere in Time Playwright Richard Collier, played by Christopher Reeve, uses self-hypnosis to find true love in 1912. Yes, time travel through the most powerful means, the imagination! A very romantic fantasy, which also stars Jane Seymour. Total Timespan Traveled: 68 Years 1981 - The Girl, the Gold Watch, & Dynamite This dismal television sequel to The Girl, the Gold Watch, & Everything seems to star everyone except Robert Hays and Pam Dawber! Features more cameo appearances by 1970's television stars than an entire season of The Love Boat. Total Timespan Traveled: Countless (but pointless) moments in the 'present'. 1981 - Time Bandits Six mischievous little people and one small boy use holes in the fabric of the universe to plunder across time and elude the Almighty in this fantastic comedy adventure. Directed by Terry Gilliam. Total Timespan Traveled: All of it. 1981 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Wonderful BBC television adaptation of Douglas Adams' sci-comedy book series, in which Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, and their friends search for the ultimate question to the ultimate answer of Life, the Universe and Everything. Total Timespan Traveled: All the way to the end, and then back as well! 1982 - Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann Quite possibly the best Sci-fi/Western/Comedy/Biker movie ever made, or perhaps just the only one. A dirtbike champion stumbles into a top-secret experiment and, along with his motorcycle, is transported back to the Old West. Much merriment (and a questionable romance) ensues. Fred Ward stars. Total Timespan Traveled: 100 Years. 1984 - The Terminator A cyborg from the future is sent to present-day Los Angeles to kill Sarah Connor, the woman whose offspring will become the leader of a future resistance movement. A rebel soldier is also sent to guard Sarah and destroy the killer cyborg. Arnold Shwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn star in this incredible action thriller. Total Timespan Traveled: 35 years backward. 1984 - The Philadelphia Experiment Supposedly based on a true incident during World War II, this movie explores the fictional aftermath of a U.S. anti-radar experiment which resulted in the complete disappearance of a battleship and it's crew. Michael Pare' plays a sailor from that ship who is transported to 1984. Total Timespan Traveled: 40 years forward. 1985 - Back to the Future Doc Brown turns a DeLorean into a time machine and Marty McFly soon finds himself speeding back to the year 1955. Avoiding time-paradox is the challenge in this amazing comic adventure. Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox star. Total Timespan Traveled: 60 years. 1986 - Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home The crew of the USS Enterprise must travel back to late 20th century San Francisco to find the only creatures capable of communicating with a probe which endangers all life on 22nd century Earth. Their goal; to bring back the long-extinct humpback whale. Ironic, eh? Total Timespan Traveled: 200 years. 1986 - Peggy Sue Got Married A middle-aged soon-to-be-divorced mother of two attends her 25th high school reunion and soon finds herself back in time with a chance to change her destiny. Note: An argument can be made that Peggy's time travel was only a dream, but the jury's still out. See this movie and decide for yourself! Total Timespan Traveled: 25 years. 1988 - The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey Beginning in the time of the Black Plague, a village of miners attempt to appease God by traveling a great distance to fufill the vision of a small child. They travel through the center of the Earth, surfacing in a present-day New Zealand town in this startlingly original adventure. Total Timespan Traveled: 640 years. 1989 - Millennium Kris Kristofferson and Cheryl Ladd star in this horrible so-called sci-fi thriller concerning airplane crashes and their aftermaths. She's from the future, he isn't, and I wish I could go back in time to tell myself not to watch this turkey! Total Timespan Traveled: Unknown, but then who cares? 1989 - Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure A silly slacker story turns history lesson when Bill & Ted use a time machine to collect famous figures from the past for a school report. Features Keanu Reeves in the role he was born to play! Party on, dudes! Total Timespan Traveled: 2,500 years. 1989 - Back to the Future Part II Doc Brown returns to get Marty's help in saving the future of the McFly clan. Full-tilt flux-capacitation follows in a rollercoaster of alternate timelines and special effects. Michael J. Fox plays multiple roles as Marty, Marty, Marty, Marty's son, and Marty's daughter! Total Timespan Traveled: 60 years. 1990 - Back to the Future Part III Doc Brown's DeLorean gets zapped by lightning, sending him back to the year 1885 and stranding Marty in 1955. A message across time starts Marty on a quest to get them both back to the future! Also stars Mary Steenburgen. Total Timespan Traveled: 130 years. 1991 - Terminator 2: Judgement Day Another Terminator is sent from the future, this time to kill teenaged John Connor. Once again, a protector is also sent to guard John and his mother, Sarah Connor. Groundbreaking special effects highlight this great sequel. Total Timespan Traveled: 25 years backward. 1991 - Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey An evil time overlord sends evil Bill and Ted robots back in time to kill Bill and Ted in this most excellent sequel to Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. After Bill and Ted are killed (yes, they die!), they challenge Death and attempt to set things right, stop the evil Bill and Ted, and make it back in time to compete in the Battle of the Bands. The highlight is Bill Sadler as The Grim Reaper. Total Timespan Traveled: 100 years backward. 1992 - Freejack In the future, it's possible for lives from the past to be 'harvested' to extend the lives of the very rich. Something goes awry when race-car driver Emilio Estevez is transported at the moment of his unfortunate demise, then escapes from those who seek to erase his mind. A somewhat flawed, but entertaining thriller. Also stars Mick Jagger. Total Timespan Traveled: 18 years forward. 1992 - Army of Darkness The third of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series finds Bruce Campbell stuck in the 13th century, fighting all manner of medieval supernatural baddies. Total Timespan Traveled: 750 years. 1993 - 12:01 An excellent story concerning a young man who receives an electrical shock at the moment Earth is destroyed by a top-secret experiment gone wrong. The shock causes him to become caught in a time loop, re-living the day of the experiment over and over again, until he can do something to change history. Jonathan Silverman stars in this made-for-television thriller. Total Timespan Traveled: 24 hours. 1994 - Timecop In the near future, time travel is possible and there are those who would exploit it for criminal use. Jean-Claude Van Damme is the timecop whose job is to catch the timecrooks in this logically-impaired but entertaining sci-fi action flick. Total Timespan Traveled: 10 years backward. 1995 - Twelve Monkeys Amazing performances by Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt highlight this incredible sci-fi opus directed by Terry Gilliam. Willis plays a man who is sent back in time to save the human race from extinction. A true masterpiece of the genre. Total Timespan Traveled: 45 years backward. 1996 - Star Trek: First Contact The crew of the USS Enterprise 1701-E follows a Borg sphere through a temporal vortex to the dawn of human warp-drive technology. Their mission: To save Humankind from Borg assimilation. Total Timespan Traveled: 300 years. 1998 - Groundhog Day Bill Murray is a TV weatherman forced to re-live February 2nd in Punxsutaney, Pennsylvania forever, or at least until he gets it right! Murray is at his manic best in this great comedy. Also stars Andie MacDowell and Chris Elliot. Total Timespan Traveled: 24 hours backward. 1999 - Galaxy Quest The crew of the NSEA Protector travel back in time, just far enough to correct a single mistake, in this excellent sci-fi comedy. Total Timespan Traveled: 13 seconds backward. 1999 - Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me Dr. Evil uses a time machine to steal Austin Powers' 'Mojo', and the swingin' superspy travels back in time to recover it. Dr Evil uses a portal-based 'time machine', while Austin uses the MI-6 standard issue time-traveling VW Beetle. Total Timespan Traveled: 30 Years. 2000 - Disney's The Kid Bruce Willis stars in this family fantasy about a grumpy guy who rediscovers his once-optimistic youth. Features great comic performances by Bruce Willis, Spencer Breslin and Lilly Tomlin. Total Timespan Traveled: 32 years. 2000 - Frequency In this history-altering crime thriller it's radiowaves, not people, that bridge the gap between decades to bring a son closer to his long lost father. Features good performances by Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel as father and son. Total Timespan Traveled: 30 years. 2000 - Just Visiting Jean Reno plays half of a hapless twosome who are transported from 13th century France to 20th century Chicago in this fantasy comedy. Total Timespan Traveled: 725 years. 2001- Planet of the Apes Tim Burton's revisionist telling of the classic sci-fi story. Mark Wahlberg plays a US Air Force captain who flies his spacecraft into a plasma storm and gets stranded on that planet with all those apes. Total Timespan Traveled: Unknown. 2001 - Kate & Leopold A 19th century Duke falls through a crack in the space-time continuum, traveling to present day New York, where he finds Meg Ryan, (where else would she be?) in this comic romance. Total Timespan Traveled: 125 Years 2002 - The Time Machine History repeats itself, as it always does, with this remake of the 1960 classic. Total Timespan Traveled: more than 800,000 years 2002 - Clockstoppers Teenagers get their hands on a watch which allows them to nearly freeze time in this lackluster, Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: First Contact) directed update of The Girl, the Gold Watch, & Everything. Total Timespan Traveled: Countless moments of time within the present. 2002 - Austin Powers in Goldmember The International Man of Mystery returns to the year 1975 to thwart another one of Dr. Evil's insidious plans! Total Timespan Traveled: 17 years. 2003 - Timeline This screen adaptation of the excellent Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park / Rising Sun) medieval time traveling novel is directed by Richard Donner (Lethal Weapon / Conspiracy Theory). Stars Paul Walker (The Fast & The Furious) and Billy Connolly. (yes, the Scottish comedian!) Total Timespan Traveled: more than 700 years |
Time Travel Movie Trivia: Time travel movie stuff you may not know! The film Timerider was produced by ex-Monkee Michael Nesmith, and in it, the first time traveler is... a monkey! The 2015 movie theatre in Back to the Future II advertises Jaws 19, directed by Max Spielberg. Steven Spielberg, the director of Jaws, has a son named Max. The date upon which Doc Brown conceives the flux-capacitor, making time travel possible in Back to the Future is November 5th, the same date that H.G. Wells travels to in Time After Time. The films Time After Time and Star Trek IV were both co-written by Nicholas Meyer, and both involve time travel to present-day San Francisco. The deflector dish of the USS Enterprise in Star Trek: First Contact is labeled AE35, the same as a satellite dish component from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Mike Myers originally wished to call Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me 'Austin Powers 2: The Wrath of Khan', but was unable to secure the rights. In Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, the date in 1969 that Austin travels to is May 25th; May 25th is Mike Myers' birthday. The cryogenic truck in James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgement Day is from Benthic Petroleum, the same fictional company that owned the oil drilling rig in the film The Abyss, also directed by Cameron. The 2001 remake of H.G. Wells' The Time Machine is directed by Simon Wells. H.G. Wells was Simon Wells' great-grandfather. The best time-travel movie never made: Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. The movie would have starred Johnny Depp as an advertising executive who finds himself in 17th century Spain, where he is mistaken for Pancho Sanza. After several cataclysmic production problems, it was decided to abandon the original project. Instead, Gilliam has chronicled the entire mess in Lost in La Mancha, a documentary about the un-making of the film. Time Travel Links: Enough time travel talk to make anyone go cross-eyed! The concepts of time and time travel are thoughtfully pondered by Albert Einstein, Carl Sagan, Clifford Pickover and other really smart people in this fascinating online study. Get out those quantum slide rules! how you can woo them into visiting you in the past... your present! That is, if they don't decide to waste time winning the lottery instead. |
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