Time and again: Portrayals of time travel

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I just read this article on Ars Technica about time travel in movies. They rate twenty movies on entertainment value and science. The latter is more about how much account they take of how time travel could possibly work. Some movies make no effort to explain it. Some have used scientists to advise on how to use current theories, but in most it is just a plot device that may be used to add some historical scenes.

I watched The Time Machine many times as a kid. The book by H.G. Wells was one of the first to explore this topic.

Movies like Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure or Back to the Future are pure entertainment, but the latter at least tries to show that there are consequences of meddling in the past. If you could then there is no reason why a person would fade out like Marty does. If he had not been born then he could not have travelled back anyway.

I do like this scene from the former though. It seems that having historical characters experience modern America did not change things, but then someone is trying to get the two heroes to live a different life to save the future.

People mention Groundhog Day in the article comments, but that seems that it involves magic rather than science.

A lot of these stories create loops such as in the Terminator movies where a robot goes back and gives people the technology that leads to the robots taking over. This is a case where there is a single timeline that can be changed whilst some theories say that time would branch. This is what a lot of the latest Marvel shows and movies are based on. Loki has explored that via the Time Variance Authority who try to keep things on 'The Sacred Timeline'. It has some Groundhog Day elements.

TV shows can be better than movies for science fiction as they can take time to develop their worlds and explore them deeper. Doctor Who has done that for sixty years now, but I would say it is low on science as there is no real explanation of how the Tardis works and there are mostly no consequences of meddling. Mind you, there have been some stories where someone tried to change the past, but that usually ends badly. I am still a Doctor Who fan anyway having grown up with it.

A show I enjoyed fairly recently was Timeless. Some bad people steal a time machine with the intention of changing history. Even when they are thwarted there can be ripples and the good guys find some things have changed when they get back to their own time. Of course the creators have fun with all the history stuff.

Another good one was the German show Dark. A small town has portals that can take you to the past or future. I really enjoyed it, but it did get pretentious at times.

I have read plenty of books that feature time travel too. Mr Wells really kicked off something. It is hard to imagine how travel to the past could work. We are all travelling into the future and there ways we could accelerate that, but possibly with no way back.

So what is your favourite movie, TV show or book about time travel? If you had a time machine, when and where would you go to?



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24 comments
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(Edited)

'The time traveller's wife' is quite complicated when it is about time, and still true to the quantum theory.

And, did you see 'The Butterfly effect' 1-2-3? Actually, just the first one it is worth watching.

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I've not seen either of those. I'll look out for them.

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I'm currently watching the show Bodies on Netflix and at first glance it has some indications of time travel, but I am only about three episodes in. I really liked the book Timeline by Crichton. That one probably had the most scientific explanation simply because that is how he writes. The movie was okay, but not as good as the book.

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I found Dark quite tough going at times, too confusing and too many threads. I battled to the end, but it was far from my fave series, and I do like the Time Travels genre.

You mentioned, The Time Machine. I have childhood memories of that one, I was enthralled.

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Dark was confusing, but I got a lot of it by the end.

I've not seen the new Time Machine. I enjoyed the old movies like Journey to the Centre of the Earth. They may look a bit basic now, but those were simpler times.

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I think I would still enjoy the original Time Machine now, was a classic.

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Time Bandits....?

And let's not forget this....

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Time Bandits is fun too.

Tenses get complex with time travel.

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Loved time bandits, I was blown away by that when I was a kid, one day in one of the school holidays I remember! Channel 4 probably.

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Yes. those were some Excellent examples of time travel movies..

I like the ones where they repeat the same day/short time.. like groundhog day and the edge of tomorrow.

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I would have loved to mentions movies that are similar to this but I don’t even know any, lol
Anyway, I may try to check one or two movies that you have listed here

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(Edited)

Y llegaremos algún día a Viajar en el tiempo..??

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If we could then would a time traveller have come to tell us about it? That's the mystery!

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Jajajaja es una realidad, tal vez no lo cuentan y creemos que están locos...

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It is also true that the movies that are made are over in no time, the TV shows that are made are long and we learn a lot from them, and if there is a comedy, then a man's time is also good.

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Haha, I hope the movie adaption of Ithaqa is on that list someday!

I started my blog up again, things have finally calmed down a bit post the birth of my daughter!

I'm reaching out because I had a question. I was trying to collect the interest on my savings, but the transaction seems to automatically cancel itself out. Any thoughts?

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Just kidding on the savings question, looks like it resolved itself!

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Also it's more multiversal than time travel, but Everything Everywhere All At Once is one of my favorite movies of all time

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I've not seen that one yet. Multiverse theories just scramble my brain, but they seem to be popular lately.

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Hey! Good to see you back. Congratulations on your daughter. I saw about her elsewhere.

I hope all is going well with getting the comics out.

!BEER

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People will never lose interest in time travel stories.
It's indeed very intriguing.
You've mentioned some great series and films there!