SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - 20 of the Best Sci-fi Time Travel Movies

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

The concept for Primer is very fascinating, but after watching it and giving it a chance I was super disappointed. I don't think I have been that bored watching guys in ties talk to each other about time travel in technical jargon since..ever. I definitely should watch it again sometime I guess, since my expectations were set so high by a few younger friends in college who study physics, but that seems to be the primary audience they were shooting for.

Do you really think it deserves to be #1 on any list though, Optimist?

Posted: Feb 05 2011 05:23 pm

I can't believe Retroactive isn't on there. Jim Belushi as a psychotic, time-travelling serial killer. Totally awesome, you can watch it instantly on Netflix.

Posted: Feb 05 2011 06:13 pm

I watched Primer, didn't think big thing of it....
I kinda liked Southland Tales, wich doesnt' have much travel in it but it's about time travel. It only failed in its stupid cast. I hate The Rock

Posted: Feb 06 2011 12:41 am

Oh you know that the whole relevance of this list totally hinged upon the inclusion of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, if not for the only fact that the only footage of Star Trek: The Next Generation available before it premiered was on the VHS version.

Imagine how big of a selling point THAT was before September, 1987. Especially when the tapes probably cost $89.

Posted: Feb 06 2011 05:00 am

Miguelius wrote:

I kinda liked Southland Tales, wich doesnt' have much travel in it but it's about time travel. It only failed in its stupid cast. I hate The Rock

That movie was horrible. It started out fine, but what the fuck happened? I actually think The Rock did a good job in it.

Posted: Feb 06 2011 07:16 am

Syd Lexia wrote:

Pandajuice wrote:

the Terminator just sort of appears in a blue bubble and says he came from the future.

So if there was an extra two minutes of footage where we saw the T-800 and T-1000 step through portals in the future and arrive in the past, it would count? It is about time travel. Specifically, it's about whether time travel can change the future, or if the path is already set.

No, that wouldn't make much difference because like I said, the movie isn't about time travel even if there were a scene of the T-1000 stepping through a portal. At the most, time travel and the possibility of altering the future is just one of the film's themes, not its central plot.

Compare it to BTTF or Bill and Ted's where time travel is the main central plot thread, not just one of many background themes. The main plot of Terminator is an inhuman cyborg who says he is from the future attempts to assassinate some woman while another human protects her. It's a cat and mouse chase movie.

Posted: Feb 06 2011 07:17 am

Southland Tales is a fascinating, in that there are very few bad scenes in the movie, if any, but it lacks any sort of cohesion. Sometimes the sum total of the parts is less valuable than the individual parts.

Posted: Feb 06 2011 08:32 am

That's a good description of Southland Tales, actually. I do remember being into the story the entire time, and many of the scenes are really good. But after the movie was over I just thought to myself, "What the hell? That sucked."

Posted: Feb 06 2011 12:56 pm

Pandajuice wrote:

No, that wouldn't make much difference because like I said, the movie isn't about time travel even if there were a scene of the T-1000 stepping through a portal. At the most, time travel and the possibility of altering the future is just one of the film's themes, not its central plot.

Compare it to BTTF or Bill and Ted's where time travel is the main central plot thread, not just one of many background themes. The main plot of Terminator is an inhuman cyborg who says he is from the future attempts to assassinate some woman while another human protects her. It's a cat and mouse chase movie.

Wasn't the driving force behind all of the main characters actions (by the end of the movie) to try and alter the future by destroying all of the research done by Skynet? And isn't the T-1000 only back in time because he is trying to alter the future by killing John Connor? When every single character the movie focuses on is attempting to alter the future I think it stops being a side note and is kind of the main point.

Also why the heck are you talking about The Terminator? I thought this was about T2.

Posted: Feb 06 2011 01:11 pm

ProtoScott wrote:

Wasn't the driving force behind all of the main characters actions (by the end of the movie) to try and alter the future by destroying all of the research done by Skynet? And isn't the T-1000 only back in time because he is trying to alter the future by killing John Connor? When every single character the movie focuses on is attempting to alter the future I think it stops being a side note and is kind of the main point.

Yeah, but that's not time travel, is it? It's altering the future, not travelling through it.

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

Dude let it go. This is one of the dumbest arguments I've heard in a while.

Posted: Feb 06 2011 06:07 pm

ha ha

Posted: Feb 06 2011 07:03 pm

In order to attempt to change the future, one must know the future. And the only surefire way to know the future? Time travel.

Posted: Feb 06 2011 08:26 pm

ProtoScott wrote:

Also what is the deal with no Hot Tub Time Machine!!!!!????? This Is A Joke

The book was way better. -now that's a fucking joke!
Seriously, no Idiocracy? That movie was fucking hilarious.

Joined: Oct 01 2009 Posts: 5316

I'm sure you can make the case in Idiocracy that it was more of a plot device than it was about the story in general.

Posted: Feb 07 2011 06:57 am

Idiocracy is as much about time travel as The Time Machine is. Only instead of Eloi and Morlocks, there's People Who Are Dumb People and People Who Are As Dumb As Dax Shepherd.

Posted: Feb 07 2011 07:41 am

joshwoodzy wrote:

Dude let it go. This is one of the dumbest arguments I've heard in a while.

YOUR MOM!

Posted: Feb 07 2011 08:44 am

You know, The Time Machine wasn't even really about time travel. It was an alarmist, socialist metaphor meant to rile complacent proles into bloody rebellion against the fiscally elite.