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The 33 Best Time Travel Movies...Ready for 1.21 gigawatts of sci-fi greatness?
Popular Mechanics ^ | April15, 2026 | Darren Orf

Posted on 05/14/2026 8:22:31 PM PDT by Red Badger

Time travel movies often make for the most mind-numbing sci-fi films with paradoxes aplenty. But it’s those confusing temporal gymnastics that make them so fun. We’ve rounded up our favorites, from classic films like Back to the Future and Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure to more recent flicks like Arrival and Interstellar, which left our minds tangled in knots.

These are the 35 best sci-fi films that explore the fluidity of time.

🤯 You love mind-bending science. So do we. Let’s nerd out over it together.

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(Excerpt) Read more at popularmechanics.com ...


TOPICS: Arts/Photography; History; TV/Movies; Travel
KEYWORDS: scifi; time; timetravel
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To: sphinx

PRIMER is one of the ones I never heard of...............


41 posted on 05/15/2026 6:33:18 AM PDT by Red Badger (Iryna Zarutska, May 22, 2002 Kyiv, Ukraine – August 22, 2025 Charlotte, North Carolina Say her name)
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To: Red Badger

Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann


42 posted on 05/15/2026 6:33:41 AM PDT by yuleeyahoo (“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” - the deep-state)
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To: yuleeyahoo

Trancers


43 posted on 05/15/2026 6:35:22 AM PDT by yuleeyahoo (“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” - the deep-state)
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To: Red Badger; All

can someone please post the list so we all don’t give those leftists the traffic?


44 posted on 05/15/2026 7:33:42 AM PDT by notdownwidems (Washington D.C. has become the enemy of free people everywhere!)
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To: Red Badger

Excellent!
From Bill and Ted


45 posted on 05/15/2026 7:36:05 AM PDT by Zathras
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To: notdownwidems

Timecop

The Final Countdown

Men in Black 3

Time After Time

Timecrimes

Source Code

Donnie Darko

Safety Not Guaranteed

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Predestination

Star Trek: First Contact

Army of Darkness

Doctor Strange

Tenet

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Looper

Run Lola Run

Avengers: Endgame

Interstellar

The Time Machine

Edge of Tomorrow

La Jetée

Groundhog Day

Arrival

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Planet of the Apes

12 Monkeys

Time Bandits

The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Primer

Back to the Future


46 posted on 05/15/2026 7:41:43 AM PDT by Red Badger (Iryna Zarutska, May 22, 2002 Kyiv, Ukraine – August 22, 2025 Charlotte, North Carolina Say her name)
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To: Red Badger

I notice they left out “Hot Tub Time Machine”.

Stupid, but funny. But stupid.


47 posted on 05/15/2026 9:30:32 AM PDT by AloneInMass (You'd think there would be more similarity between "chain letter" and "chain mail".)
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To: Red Badger

In reaction to tentpole disease and studio bloat, I’ve taken an interest in very low cost movies.

My “Road to Damascus” movie — the one that made me realize that I had a huge blindspot — was Columbus, shot for $700,000 and self distributed through an experimental Sundance program exploring self-distribution for low budget indies.

I thought $700,000 was pretty cool. Then I discovered Coherence ($30,000) and Primer ($7,000).

Primer was shot using borrowed spaces and homemade props. The $7,000 was almost all spent on film. It was a friends and family team, no professionals. But it is intelligent and universally praised for its mastery of technobabble.


48 posted on 05/15/2026 9:35:52 AM PDT by sphinx
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To: Red Badger

Thank you! Are these in order, reverse order or random?


49 posted on 05/15/2026 9:58:28 AM PDT by notdownwidems (Washington D.C. has become the enemy of free people everywhere!)
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To: Red Badger

My wife...for some reason...really likes The Lake House.


50 posted on 05/15/2026 10:11:51 AM PDT by USAF1985 (Joe McCarthy is a hero...he was absolutely, 100% correct!)
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To: notdownwidems

Random I think..........


51 posted on 05/15/2026 11:16:38 AM PDT by Red Badger (Iryna Zarutska, May 22, 2002 Kyiv, Ukraine – August 22, 2025 Charlotte, North Carolina Say her name)
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To: Red Badger

Other than MIB 3 this is actually a pretty solid list. Not like most you see. MIB 3 was terrible.


52 posted on 05/15/2026 11:25:05 AM PDT by discostu (like a dog being shown a card trick)
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To: ph_balanced

I liked “The Day the Earth Stood Still” It had a good message.


53 posted on 05/15/2026 3:44:16 PM PDT by oldtech
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To: ph_balanced

I liked “The Day the Earth Stood Still” It had a good message. “THe Time Machine” was a winner as well.


54 posted on 05/15/2026 3:47:38 PM PDT by oldtech
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To: MarlonRando

Wow

How cool is that!


55 posted on 05/16/2026 8:03:32 AM PDT by Salamander ( Please visit my profile page to help me go home again. https://www.givesendgo.com/GCRRDa)
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