Time Travel Movies Are Totally Awesome, And These Are The 15 Best

Back to the Future, Prisoner of Azkaban, and 13 other all-time great time travel movies.

If you had access to a time machine, where would you go? It's something that has been asked more times than any of us can count, and yet, it remains an endlessly fascinating question.

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And it is the question at the very heart of countless movies that feature characters who travel both forwards and backwards through time for love, riches, or to get a good grade on a final. No matter what the reason is, it never gets old watching people go on time-traveling adventures.

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And the latest entry into the time travel canon is Meet Cute, a new rom-com where a character uses a time machine to create the perfect first date with a love interest. That felt like the perfect excuse for me to create a list of my favorite time travel movies, which span across a variety of genres, and each use the device in their own special and unique way.

© Peacock / Courtesy Everett Collection

One quick point of clarification before diving into the list: I did not include time loop movies (Groundhog Day, Palm Springs, Edge of Tomorrow, etc.) because I would argue they are a different category all their own. Got it? Good, now onto the list!

1. Back to the Future (1985)

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Have to start with the most iconic time travel movie ever made. When Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) invents a time machine in the form of a kickass DeLorean, his teen pal Marty (Michael J. Fox) accidentally ends up traveling 30 years back in time and has to convince the younger version of Doc to help him get...back to the future. He also ends up needing to play matchmaker to his parents after his inadvertent interference on their creepy meet cute threatens to phase Marty out of existence entirely. This remains one of the most thoroughly entertaining movies of all time, and the time travel is simple and straightforward enough for the whole family to enjoy.

Rent it on Prime Video.

2. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

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Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) are two lovable dimwits who are in danger of failing history if they can't ace their final presentation. Thankfully, a mysterious man named Rufus (George Carlin) arrives from the future and gives them a time-traveling phone booth to help them get up close and personal with historical figures. Rather than just be observers, the duo ends up bringing the likes of Socrates, Napoleon, Joan of Arc, and Sigmund Freud along with them to make sure their presentation is most triumphant. This movie also gets bonus points for subtly pointing out why any story that uses time travel kind of ends up removing any actual stakes from the plot.

Watch it on Tubi.

3. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

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The grooviest spy on the planet gets to return back to the swinging '60s when his nemesis, Dr. Evil (Mike Myers) time travels to steal Austin Powers' legendary mojo. While the first movie functioned as a fish out of water story, this time, Austin has gloriously returned to his natural habitat. The Spy Who Shagged Me has a couple of hilarious meta jokes about time travel, including Austin trying to make sense of the logistics before simply being told "don't worry about this sort of thing and just enjoy yourself" by Basil Exposition (Michael York), who looks straight at the camera and encourages the audience to do the same.

Watch it on Netflix.

4. The Terminator (1984)

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In the future, humanity has entered into an apocalyptic war with machines, who send a Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) back in time to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) because she will eventually give birth to the leader of the human resistance. As this unfeeling killing machine hunts Sarah down, a human named Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) comes from the future to protect her. This leads to an awesome game of cat and mouse that features some of the best action sequences of the '80s.

Watch it on Prime Video.

5. About Time (2013)

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On his 21st birthday, Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) learns from his father James (Bill Nighy) that the men in their family have the ability to travel back in time (though only to moments they have lived before). Of the two movies featuring Rachel McAdams as the spouse of a time-traveler, this one is far superior, as the use of time travel is genuinely innovative and manages to create some true emotional stakes as Tim learns how to hone his abilities wisely. Tim's final interaction with his dad is one that leaves me crying every time and shows that even for time travelers, time remains a precious and fleeting gift.

Watch it on Prime Video via Starz.

6. Time Bandits (1981)

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Kevin (Craig Warnock) lives an entirely ordinary suburban life until a group of thieving dwarves appear in his room with a time-traveling map. Kevin ends up joining the lovable racketeers, crossing paths with the likes of King Agamemnon (Sean Connery) and Robin Hood (John Cleese) while they try to stay one step ahead of the Supreme Being, who they stole the map from. Time Bandits is a weird and fun romp that asks the obvious question: Why don't people in movies use time travel to steal a bunch of stuff?

Watch it on HBO Max.

7. Planet of the Apes (1968)

20th Century Fox

SPOILER WARNING: IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THIS MOVIE AND DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE VERY FAMOUS ENDING TO A 54-YEAR-OLD MOVIE, STOP READING AND SCROLL TO THE NEXT MOVIE.

For most of Planet of the Apes, George Taylor (Charlton Heston) and his crew of astronauts believe they have crash landed on another planet where apes are the ruling class. But at the very end, George spots the Statue of Liberty and realizes that they have been on earth the entire time and actually have traveled into the future. It's still considered one of the most brilliant twist endings in movie history which is unsurprising, given that it was written by Rod Serling, who wrote for and hosted The Twilight Zone.

Watch it on YouTube.

8. Arrival (2016)

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When mysterious vessels arrive on earth with no explanation, linguistics professor Louise Banks (Adams) is summoned to try and establish communication with the extraterrestrial beings. As she dives deeper into the research, Louise begins to have what the viewer assumes to be flashbacks which reveal her daughter dying of an incurable disease. However, we eventually learn that the aliens' language is actually allowing Louise to flash forward and see the life and death of a daughter she has not given birth to yet. It's one of the more unique and complex uses of time travel, as Louise's choice at the end offers up a fascinating examination of how much agency we actually have in our lives and if knowing the end ruins the journey.

Watch it on Prime Video via Showtime.

9. Meet Cute (2022)

Peacock / Courtesy Everett Collection.

Sheila (Kaley Cuoco) and Gary (Pete Davidson) have a romantic night after meeting by chance at a bar. Except, it turns out the run-in wasn't random at all, as Sheila has access to a time machine that she uses to try and create the perfect night with Gary over and over again. It's not the first time that time travel has been used in the name of love, but Meet Cute sets itself apart by exploring it as a way for people to keep living in the past instead of facing the uncertainty of the future.

Watch it on Peacock.

10. Galaxy Quest (1998)

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As Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen) and the rest of the fake crew of space explorers try to survive actually exploring space, they are hunted down by an evil alien warlord named Sarris, who demands they hand over a secret weapon known as "Omega 13." When Sarris manages to ambush the crew and fatally injure several of them, Jason activates Omega 13 despite having no idea what it does and realizes that it allows him to travel back in time exactly 13 seconds. It's a great joke that simultaneously allows Jason to save the day and become the hero he used to play on TV.

Watch it on Paramount Plus.

11. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

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Just as Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) learns that Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) did not betray his parents and cause their death, his godfather is captured by the Ministry of Magic and sentenced to receiving a Dementor's Kiss (which, as you may have guessed, is not a good thing). Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) think there's no hope, but that merry prankster Dumbledore pops up and gives them the idea to use the time-turner (essentially a magic time machine) to save Sirius. The result is one of the most impressive and exciting sequences in the entire Harry Potter film franchise, including Harry and his pals needing to avoid previous versions of themselves and harry finally conjuring his Patronus.

Watch it on Peacock.

12. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

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Infinity War ended on perhaps the bleakest moment in MCU history, as Thanos (Josh Brolin) manages to snap half of the universe's population out of existence, including several of our favorite heroes. For five years, the remaining Avengers aimlessly try to cope with their grim existence until Ant-Man unexpectedly returns from the Quantum Realm with no sense of any time passing. This gives the group the idea of using time travel to recover the infinity stones in order to reverse Thanos' mass genocide. Watching Tony (Robert Downey Jr.), Steve (Chris Evans), and the rest of the remaining Avengers go back through previous movies to try and recover the stones is a blast and sets up the emotionally satisfying final showdown perfectly.

Watch it on Disney+.

13. Tenet (2020)

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Listen, can I fully explain exactly how the time travel in Tenet works? Hell no, but basically, instead of simply jumping back in time, the Tenet organization has figured out how to invert entropy so that they are able to move through time in reverse (I think?). The actual nuts and bolts of the time inversion don't matter as much as the fact that it allows Christopher Nolan to put together some of the most visually insane sequences you will ever see in a movie, as things simultaneously moving forwards and in reverse is a confusing joyride of an experience that your eyes will love even if your mind can't fully process.

Rent it on Prime Video.

14. Army of Darkness (1992)

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After managing to barely defeat whatever evil force he was facing off against in the first two Evil Dead movies, Ash Williams' situation goes from bad to worse, as he ends up getting transported back to the Middle Ages and is immediately taken as a prisoner. Of course, there are deadites (basically just like undead evil things) around, and once Ash shows he can kill them, he is hailed as a hero and freed. While he tries to figure out how to return to his own time, Ash has to also lead humanity's defense against the Army of the Dead.

Watch it on Peacock.

15. The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988)

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During the height of the Black Plague, a group of English villagers begin digging a tunnel and end up accidentally traveling to Australia in the late 20th century.  Similar to The Wizard of Oz, the movie begins in black and white but shifts to color when the group enters the present. Navigator has one of the most clever uses of time travel in film, as the villagers don't even comprehend that they are in the future and instead assume that this is simply what life is like outside of their tiny village.

Watch it on Tubi.