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Best Time travel Movies

Ranked by how strongly each film carries the visual signature of time travel cinema — measured across 4,608 indexed frames from 55 films, against a 408,752-frame catalogue baseline. Not by box office, and not by vote.

Time travel films over-index on smoke and plaid shirt — the objects that make the genre recognisable before a line is spoken.

  1. 1

    The Flash (2023)

    Andy MuschiettiDP Henry BrahamIMDb 6.6TMDB 6.6See in full on FrameThrower →

    When his attempt to save his family inadvertently alters the future, Barry Allen becomes trapped in a reality in which General Zod has returned and there are no Super Heroes to turn to. In order to save the world that he is in and return to the future that he knows, Barry's only hope is to race for his life. But will making the ultimate sacrifice be enough to reset the universe?

  2. 2

    Final Girls (2015)

    Todd Strauss-SchulsonDP Elie SmolkinIMDb 6.5TMDB 6.4See in full on FrameThrower →

    When Max (Taissa Farmiga) and her friends reluctantly attend a tribute screening of an infamous '80s slasher film that starred Max's late mother (Malin Akerman), they are accidentally sucked into the silver screen. They soon realize they are trapped inside the cult classic movie and must team up with the fictional and ill-fated "Camp Bloodbath" counselors, including Max's mom as the shy scream queen, to battle the film's machete-wielding, masked killer. With the body count rising in scene after iconic scene, who will be THE FINAL GIRLS left standing and live to escape this film?

  3. 3

    Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

    James CameronDP Adam GreenbergIMDb 8.6TMDB 8.1See in full on FrameThrower →

    Over ten years have passed since the first machine called The Terminator tried to kill Sarah Connor and her unborn son, John. The man who will become the future leader of the human resistance against the Machines is now a healthy young boy. However, another Terminator, called the T-1000, is sent back through time by the self-aware computer system, Skynet. This new Terminator is more advanced and more powerful than its predecessor and its mission is to kill John Connor when he's still a child. However, Sarah and John do not have to face the threat of the T-1000 alone. Another Terminator (identical to the same model that tried and failed to kill Sarah Connor in 1984) is also sent back through time to protect them. While John teaches the Terminator about humanity, Sarah tries to prevent the creation of Skynet and the Machines.

  4. 4

    Avengers: Endgame (2019)

    Anthony Russo, Joe RussoDP Trent OpalochIMDb 8.4TMDB 8.2See in full on FrameThrower →

    After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the universe is in ruins due to the efforts of the Mad Titan, Thanos. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers must assemble once more in order to undo Thanos's actions and undo the chaos to the universe, no matter what consequences may be in store, and no matter who they face...

  5. 5

    Click (2006)

    Frank CoraciDP Dean SemlerIMDb 6.4TMDB 6.3See in full on FrameThrower →

    Michael Newman (Sandler) is a hard-working family man who must please his boss (Hasselhoff) in order to get promoted. This gives him less time with his family, and he wishes for a remote with which to control his life. This soon comes true when he meets Morty (Walken), a crazy sales clerk who has the ultimate remote: a remote in which he can do anything, including muting, skipping, and dubbing his life. Michael finds this to be the opportunity in which he can not only skip every argument, but also skip to his promotion. He sees this as a good idea--until the remote goes horribly wrong.

  6. 6

    The Terminator (1984)

    James CameronDP Adam GreenbergIMDb 8.1TMDB 7.7See in full on FrameThrower →

    Sent back from a dystopian 2029--where the cold machines have conquered the entire world--to 1984 Los Angeles, the indestructible cyborg-assassin known as the "Terminator" commences his deadly mission to kill humankind's most important woman: the unsuspecting Sarah Connor. However, from the same war-torn post-apocalyptic future comes a battle-scarred defender--Kyle Reese, a brave soldier of the human Resistance Army--bent on stopping the cybernetic killer from eliminating the world's last hope. But, the Terminator has no feelings, he doesn't sleep, and above all, he won't stop until he carries out his grim task. Does our future lie in our past?

  7. 7

    The Tomorrow War (2021)

    Chris McKayDP Larry FongIMDb 6.6TMDB 7.5See in full on FrameThrower →

    The world is stunned when a group of time travelers arrive from the year 2051 to deliver an urgent message: Thirty years in the future, mankind is losing a global war against a deadly alien species. The only hope for survival is for soldiers and civilians from the present to be transported to the future and join the fight. Among those recruited is high school teacher and family man Dan Forester (Chris Pratt). Determined to save the world for his young daughter, Dan teams up with a brilliant scientist (Yvonne Strahovski) and his estranged father (J.K. Simmons) in a desperate quest to rewrite the fate of the planet.

  8. 8

    Time Bandits (1981)

    Terry GilliamDP Peter BiziouIMDb 6.9TMDB 6.6See in full on FrameThrower →

    Intrigued by history but neglected by his parents, Kevin, an eleven-year-old schoolboy, gets the chance to make his dream come true when a band of six time-travelling dwarfs appears out of thin air in his bedroom. Having stolen the Supreme Being's one-of-a-kind map of time and space, the audacious time-bandits whisk Kevin off on an exciting journey to the depths of history, skipping from one era to another. Now, to further complicate matters, the dangerous arch-rival known as the Evil Genius is hot on their trail, bent on getting his hands on the precious map. But, who would have thought that Kevin's seemingly unexceptional room was the entrance to a mysterious wormhole and the portal to a marvellous world of adventure?

  9. 9

    Justice Society: World War II (2021)

    Jeff WamesterIMDb 6.4TMDB 7.4See in full on FrameThrower →

    The Justice Society of America, a group of heroes aiding the allies in World War 2, acquire an ally from the future who sends them on an adventure that changes history.

  10. 10

    Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016)

    Tim BurtonDP Bruno DelbonnelIMDb 6.7TMDB 6.8See in full on FrameThrower →

    When Jacob (Asa Butterfield) discovers clues to a mystery that spans different worlds and times, he finds a magical place known as Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. But the mystery and danger deepen as he gets to know the residents and learns about their special powers and their powerful enemies. Ultimately, Jacob discovers that only his own special "peculiarity" can save his new friends.

What time travel films are made of

How much more often each element appears in a time travel frame than in an average frame from the catalogue. A ratio, not a share — smoke is not in most frames, it is simply far more common here than anywhere else.

  • smoke1.7×
  • plaid shirt1.5×

What breaks the pattern

Russian Ark (2002) is the least typical film here — it carries the least of what the rest of this list is made of. Which is either a failure of the genre label, or the most interesting film on the page.

Method

Every frame in the FrameThrower catalogue is tagged for shot size, lighting, time of day, camera angle, colour and the objects visible in it. This page aggregates those tags across 4,608 frames from 55 films carrying the time travel label, and compares each figure to the same measurement across the whole catalogue (408,752 frames). Films are ranked by how closely they match the theme’s over-indexed elements, weighted by how distinctive each element is; one film per series. Only films with at least 20 indexed frames and 500 TMDB votes are listed.

Machine-readable: /api/list/time-travel

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