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Worst Time Travel Movies (Top 10)

4/13/2015

15 Comments

 
I’ve been blogging about time travel movies that I really like. It’s time to post my top 10 worst list of these films. I won’t include books on this list. We authors have a hard enough time with reviews.

I will start with what I call the rip-off movies. These are so-called sequels to great movies. They use the title to get viewers, but they have nothing or little to do with the original films.

The first one is:

Time Cop 2 (The Berlin Decision)

I haven’t blogged about the original Time Cop yet, but that was a great movie. In contrast, Time Cop 2 was a real stinker. This 2003 needless sequel starred: Jason Scott Lee, Thomas Ian Griffith, and Mary Page Keller. Jason Scott Lee is a fine actor and was wonderful in Dragon, The Bruce Lee Story (1993). Because the original Time Cop starred martial arts actor, Jean-Claude Van Damme, this movie attempted to capitalize on this by casting Lee in this failure.

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The second on this list is:

The Philadelphia Experiment II
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This one tries to be a true sequel. It has the character of David Herdig from the first film, now played by Brad Johnson married to Allison (never shown). Click to see my ORIGINAL BLOG POST. He wakes up to a world in which the Nazis had won World War II. Where the original movie was based on true events, this one is pure hogwash. It came out in 1993.

Next is:

The Butterfly Effect 2
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This direct to DVD movie was not as bad as the two I just reported about. But it was not nearly as good as the original, The Butterfly Effect. It starred: Eric Lively, Erica Durance, Dustin Milligan, and Gina Holden. It was much of the same as the original, but with less detail and special effects. Pointless! I understand there was also a The Butterfly Effect 3, but I haven’t seen it, nor do I care to.
Now for the stand-alone stinko time travel films:

Time Changer
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This is a Christian film. Even though I like most faith based messages and I love time travel, the two did not come together well. This movie made me cringe all throughout the viewing. What was surprising is, this 2002 film had an amazing cast, including:  D. David Morin, Gavin MacLeod, Hal Linden, Jennifer O'Neill, and Paul Rodriguez.

Another Day
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The story in this 2001 film wasn’t bad. What made it to my list was the main star, actress Shannen Doherty of Beverly Hills 90210 fame. Nuff Said!

Time Rider

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I wanted to like this 1982 movie. It had a cool front cover and name about a biker riding through the old west. I used to look at it in the old video stores. When I finally got around to renting it, I just didn’t like it. It was silly and improbable. (Yes, there is probable time travel) It starred: Fred Ward.

Time Runner
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With a few exceptions, such as 12 Monkeys and the Terminator movies, I don’t usually care for futuristic movies in which a time traveler comes back to our time. This 1993 film stars Mark Hamill of Luke Skywalker fame, who comes back from the future to stop aliens…bleck!

Planet of the Apes (2001)
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I didn’t hate everything about this remake of the classic 1968 film, but I didn’t love it either. A friend recently pointed out that real apes can’t jump twenty or thirty feet in the air, so how is it, these evolved apes can? SPOILER ALERT: What made the original so good, is the fact the viewer thought it was another planet, yet it ended up being Earth in the future. The end of this one didn’t make any sense at all. Having said this, I absolutely loved the two newer CGI prequels. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014).

Now I’m going to ruffle a few feathers. The next two are considered cult classics and loved by a great many people. I am not among them. I will take your hate mail.
The first one is:

Time Bandits
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Oh, the humanity! I should like this movie. It stars members of the Monty Python group. I love them. It was also co-produced by one of my idols and heroes, George Harrison of the Beatles, who also wrote music for the film. I saw it years ago and I was expecting true, serious time travel. I’m not sure why, I just was. I hated it. So I thought years later, I would try again, knowing that it was silly and to not go in with any other expectations. I guess I just take my time travel too seriously, I still hated it. Funny thing though, I liked Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Hot Tub Time Machine. I’m not sure why I can’t jump on the Time Bandits bandwagon (or sail on their pirate ship). It just bored me. This 1981 British fantasy film was co-written, produced, and directed by Terry Gilliam, and starred Sean Connery, John Cleese, Shelley Duvall, Ralph Richardson, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, David Warner, and Craig Warnock.

…and here’s another movie that people love:

Donnie Darko
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Oh, no. He is not about to diss Donnie Darko! Okay, I have a love/hate relationship with this 2001 film. Awesome cast, including one of my favorite female actors of all time, Mary McDonnel (see my blog post on For All Time). It also had:

Jake Gyllenhaal
Jena Malone
Drew Barrymore
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Katharine Ross
Patrick Swayze
Noah Wyle
Seth Rogen

I loved the music, the story, and the concept. What I hated was the execution of this film. Donnie Darko seemed to go back to the 1980s horny teenager movies, like Porky’s and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, only with much cruder language (Man, is he a prude). Maybe this was not an accident, as the movie was set in 1988. My favorite part of the movie was the unexpected ending, along with the cover of the Tears for Fears song Mad World by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules.

In some ways, perhaps Donnie Darko should not have made this list, so I add a bonus film which I also didn’t completely hate:

Project Almanac
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This is the most recent time travel film to have made it to the big screen. It was released in January of 2015. At the time of this writing, it isn’t even out on Blue Ray yet. The story itself was good. It took a page from The Butterfly Effect, where small changes affect life in a big way. What I hated about the movie is that it was filmed with that shaky, hand-held camera technique, made popular by The Blair Witch Project (1999). I was literally nauseous, half way through the viewing.

Here is the complete list:

Time Cop 2
The Philadelphia Experiment II
The Butterfly Effect 2
Time Changer
Another Day
Time Rider
Time Runner
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Time Bandits
Donnie Darko
Project Almanac

The bottom line is that I viewed all these movies, because sometimes I prefer watching bad time travel to no time travel.


15 Comments
Marion Cornett link
4/12/2015 10:10:16 pm

Have not seen any of these movies and now I'm pretty sure that's a good thing. I did notice you mentioned 12 Monkeys--great movie. Did you know that movie is actually part of a trilogy? We have the other two but have only watched one of them. Great info, Dennis.

Reply
Dennis Higgins link
4/12/2015 10:31:55 pm

Thanks, Marion. I did not know 12 Monkeys was a trilogy. Now I have to look for the other two. What was the movie you saw recently?

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Marion Cornett link
4/14/2015 01:40:45 am

They are "Brazil" made in 1998, "12 Monkeys" in 2005, and then we have "The Zero Theorem" that we haven't watched yet. They were all directed by Terry Gilliam and he is the one that has said he considers them to be a trilogy.

Brad Grierosn link
4/12/2015 10:43:04 pm

You forgot Time Chasers. It's a terrible movie from 1994 that looks like it was shot in 1974 about a man who travels through time on a bi-plane. It was terrible.

Reply
Dennis Higgins link
4/13/2015 05:50:17 am

Brad, I never saw Time Chasers which is a surprise, even to me. I will have to remember to avoid it. Thanks.

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Peter McCollum
4/13/2015 04:30:36 am

I like the list and can agree with it. The movie that stands out to me as being my fave would be Midnight in Paris. Owen Wilson finds himself being taken to Jazz era Paris with the likes of Hemmingway and such. To be able to make that trip in real life and pick the brains of authors and playwrites of that time would be very cool. Easy film to follow does leave viewer still asking questions at the end. Like a majority of time travel books and films it has it entwined love story.

Reply
Dennis Higgins link
4/13/2015 05:51:55 am

Pete, I own Midnight in Paris and agree it was a good film. I liked it for the same reasons you did.

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Virginia Wright link
4/13/2015 05:03:44 pm

I will like a movie sometimes my hubby doesn't and vice versa. It is just the nature of it. Another great post, Dennis!

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Dennis Higgins link
4/13/2015 10:21:14 pm

Thanks for commenting, Virginia. I'm pretty lucky. My wife and I agree 99% of the time on movies. Once in a while, there will be a difference.

Reply
Anne Nelson
4/14/2015 02:26:06 pm

My favorite is Tomorrow's Trouble

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Dennis Higgins link
4/17/2015 09:30:37 pm

Two people who made comments have won my book. Pete McCullom and Marion Cornett. Thanks to all who commented. I will contact Pete and Marion in a private message for sending instructions.

Reply
karen Vaughan link
4/19/2015 08:38:15 am

Favorite-Somewhere in time--tear tearjerker and well told
Christopher Reeve
Jane Seymour
Ok-Forever young
MelGibson
jamie Lee Curtis
dumbest-Vanilla sky
Tom Cruise
Penelope Cruz

Reply
Dennis Higgins link
4/19/2015 09:39:46 pm

Hi Karen, so neat that you commented. Somewhere in Time was the first in this blog series. I love it. Here is the link:
http://www.timepilgrims.com/blog/time-travel-movies-and-books-featuring-somewhere-in-time

I also loved Forever Young and will blog about that one soon.

I never even thought about Vanilla Sky as being time travel, but in some ways it is. I think I need to rewatch it.

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El Cocreham link
4/24/2015 02:53:34 am

Somewhere in Time a big favorite! Also Midnight in Paris...would like to add two old ones...The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, and Portrait of Jenny...those should tell you my vintage.

You might take a look at mine...The Winds of Time...pubbed in 2013 by Whisky Creek...

Reply
Dennis Higgins link
4/25/2015 09:42:57 pm

Hi Eleanor, Thanks for the comment. I also liked the old movies you mentioned, especially Portrait of Jennie. Glad you are a Whiskey Creek Press time travel author, like me.

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