The Best 11 Time Travel Tales of All Time

Posted by Matt Butrovich, Chris Jensen, Phillip Radke, Christiaan Allebest, Daniel Espinoza | Mar. 28, 2008 06:37PM PST | 13742 views | 9 comments

FILED UNDER: Features. TV, Movies, Games, Books.

Today we present to you our picks for the greatest time travel stories ever created. All mediums were considered, including film, television, print, and video games. Some of them are timeless (no pun intended) classics and known by all, but we've got a couple of surprises in store for you as well. Tell us your favorites that we might have left out in the Comments section! Let's get the ball rolling with some choice selections from the small screen.

Television

Futurama

Alright, it's open for debate whether Futurama counts here, and it probably depends on your definition of time travel, but I'm including it anyway. If you've somehow missed out on one of the greatest cartoon series ever made, Futurama focuses on pizza delivery boy Philip J. Fry's experiences in the 31st century after being cryogenically frozen for 1,000 years. Over the course of five seasons, Fry works as a delivery boy for the Planet Express service and tries to come to terms with an Earth that bears little semblance to the world he left behind, all the while leaving viewers laughing hysterically.

Though cryogenic freezing might not be time travel, the series does focus on proper time travel on several occasions, including the recently released Futurama movie 'Bender's Big Score.' However, the greatest instance of time travel on Futurama has to be the third season's 'Roswell That Ends Well,' which won the 2002 Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (Less Than One Hour). In a fluke accident caused by Fry microwaving a metal container of popcorn at the exact same moment a star goes supernova, the crew of the Planet Express ship is propelled over 1,000 years into the past to Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. You can figure out where the story goes from there.

The crew arrive at the shocking realization that the crash-landing of their delivery ship is in fact the catalyst of the infamous Roswell UFO incident. A discombobulated Bender is captured by military forces along with Dr. Zoidberg, and mistakenly identified as a spacecraft and autopsied respectively. At the same time, Fry encounters his own grandparents, which leads to one of the most surprisingly hilarious moments the series has ever produced, and it forever changes the way we look at him. To spoil it would be criminal, so if you've never seen this episode, you owe it to yourself to track it down. -mb

Doctor Who

I've only recently gotten hooked on Doctor Who with the most recent seasons featuring the ninth and tenth Doctors, but I can already claim it as one of my favorites. No doubt Doctor Who holds a special place in the hearts of thousands of others, being the longest running science fiction TV series of all time. If the series isn't ringing a bell then you're probably not living in the UK, as the show is produced and aired by the BBC. Watching the series in the United States requires you to be a frequent PBS viewer to catch the odd airing, or to keep tabs on the Sci Fi Channel's schedule and view it there.

The show centers around the adventures of an alien time-traveler known only as "The Doctor" who voyages through space and time in his ship the TARDIS. I suppose I should mention that the TARDIS looks like a blue police phone box. Trust me, it's cooler than it sounds. Along his journey he picks up human companions and travels between past ages like Victorian England, depression-era New York, and ancient Rome. The Doctor's travels aren't restricted to the past era, as the show goes on to provide wildly entertaining visions of the future thousands, and even millions of years from now. The latest season is set to begin shortly, and you can catch the trailer right here. -mb

Walking Distance, from The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone had quite a few time-travel episodes, but none better than Walking Distance, by Rod Serling. A somber, introspective story that found Martin Sloan, the central, corporate-climbing character, transported to the town of his youth where he meets himself as a child.  Instead of wasting time trying to explain the episode, why not let Mr. Serling's adept pen do it for me?

“Martin Sloan, age thirty-six, vice-president in charge of media. Successful in most things but not in the one effort that all men try at some time in their lives—trying to go home again. And also like all men perhaps there'll be an occasion, maybe a summer night sometime, when he'll look up from what he's doing and listen to the distant music of a calliope, and hear the voices and the laughter of the people and places of his past. And perhaps across his mind there'll flit a little errant wish, that a man might not have to become old, never outgrow the parks and the merry-go-rounds of his youth. And he'll smile then too because he'll know it is just an errant wish, some wisp of memory not too important really, some laughing ghosts that cross a man's mind, that are a part of the Twilight Zone.”

Whatever happened to good writing on television? -cj

Movies

The Terminator

Recent franchise resurrections aside, the original Terminator is what made action movies awesome for me. The original movie that brought the Governator his movie career and ushered in the era of kick-ass action flicks which has sadly tapered off, though stuff like Shoot 'Em Up gives me hope.

The original movie focused on Schwarzenegger as a killer robot sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor, the future mother of the leader of a resistance to the robot slaughter. In his way though is another time traveler, a soldier sent back by Sarah's future son. This guy uses every trick in the book to evade and subdue the Terminator.  And while the revelation at the end of the movie is firmly based in a popular paradox of time travel, it is still enough to draw a few question marks from the crowd.

Anyone curious why that damned TV series exists needs to watch the original.  This is why the Terminator was awesome, and no network executive can tarnish that no matter how hard they try. -pr

Time Bandits

Terry Gilliam inspires intense feelings in anyone familiar with his work. You are either inspired by his genius, or completely put-off by his eccentricity. If you aren't familiar with his films, Time Bandits is a good one to start with because it contains all the little elements that reflect his range, but focuses on his grasp of dark humor. The film follows a nine year old boy named Kevin who gets kidnapped by seven dwarves after a knight in armor comes riding out of his closet. In their quest for the treasures of the ages they make appearances in times such as the Napoleonic era, Medieval Europe, on the Titanic, in ancient Greece, and eventually Hell where they confront the Devil himself as pigs.

Of course they can't do it alone so they are aided by astronauts, cowboys, knights, and of course God, played by Ralph Richardson. While at first it may sound flippant and chaotic, it actually manages to provoke thought about some of life's most important questions - Is there a God? What is the nature of good and evil? Can the devil really turn into a merry-go-round of death and shoot things out of his fingers? -ca

Back to the Future

Ask anyone who followed pop culture in the 80s to name their favorite time-traveling story, and chances are they'll say Back to the Future. This classic film by Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg manages to define two separate generations, one being the youth of the 1980s, and other being the baby-boomers of the mid-1950s, when teenagers began to develop a culture all their own.

The story follows Marty McFly as he travels back in time 30 years via his friend Dr. Emmett Brown's time-traveling DeLorean. Leaving his original time of 1985, Marty is lost and confused in an era that seems completely incongruous to the world he left behind. Not only is the culture alien to him, Marty struggles to avoid changing historical events, including the catalyst moment of his parents' relationship. In a perfect example of the grandfather paradox, Marty must figure out a way to return to 1985, but at the same time ensure that his parents meet, fall in love, and later have him as a child. Otherwise his entire existence is in danger. Back to the Future received two sequels, and though some will argue the quality of the films, the series remains entertaining throughout. -mb

12 Monkeys

12 Monkeys is another Terry Gilliam film about time travel, and while its title might make it sound like the sequel to Time Bandits with its seven dwarves, it's actually something much darker. The movie starts out in a bleak future where mankind has been driven underground by a man-made virus that has destroyed 90% of the population. For the rest of the film you follow around a very disturbed Bruce Willis who is part of a convict "volunteer" program sent back in time and tasked with discovering the virus' origin. Along the way he encounters a very confused Madeleine Stowe, as well as Brad Pitt who performs the most amazing display of finger-acting you'll ever see.

It's a very dark and often under-appreciated film with one of the most haunting scores you will ever hear - and it's loaded with time travel. But be forewarned, once you see 12 Monkeys, the only way to get it out of your head is to pull your teeth out. -ca

Video Games

Chrono Trigger

No time travel list would be complete without one of the greatest RPGs of all time, Chrono Trigger. Assuming the role of Crono, you stumble across a mysterious time portal in the beginning of the game. Initially, you travel back in time 400 years to save your new friend Marle, who also passed through the portal. Eventually you find yourself on a mission to save the world from an alien life form, Lavos. Traveling through time, you recruit several other characters to join you on your quest to overcome evil.

Chrono Trigger allows you to freely travel between all the different time periods using portals found in "The End of Time". You are even able to time travel to the end boss fairly early in the game, although you might not be strong enough to defeat him. By its very nature, the game offers different endings based on decisions made throughout the game, thus increasing replay value. Despite the time travelling aspect of the game, the story line is easy to follow and its simplistic gameplay allows you to focus more on the amazing adventure. Chrono Trigger goes down as one of the greatest time-travelling video games of all time. -de

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

In my mind, there is no better game in the Legend of Zelda series than this.  Quality graphics that still hold up, a virtual onslaught of likeable characters and the ability to jump back and forth seven years in time all make this the Zelda to play.

This game takes Link on the path of the time traveler simply because he is too young to handle the legendary Master Sword, which he later removes from the pedestal in the Temple of Time. The sacred sages who guard Hyrule seal him away, but while he stays in limbo Ganondorf takes the opportunity to snatch up the Triforce for himself and wreak havoc on the peaceful citizens of Hyrule. But when Link returns as a confused 17-year old, he's ready to kick some ass.

What makes this game great is how it uses the time travel mechanic without beating it to death, unlike its sequel Majora's Mask. For any of you that haven't touched this game before, I seriously recommend that you seek it out. -pr

Books

Master of Space and Time

I tend to like my time travel stories as brain punishing exercises that stretch your logic centers to the point of breaking. If that's you, then you can do no wrong with Master of Space and Time, written in 1985 when Rudy Rucker, computer-scientist, was beginning his career as a celebrated author. Quite a few people I know hate this book, but I think it has to do with expectations. If you go into Master of Space and Time expecting a serious plot, well, you're screwed. This book meant to make you laugh, and in that, it completely succeeds.

Better yet, Master of Space and Time has been optioned for the movies, to be directed by none other than Michel Gondry, perhaps best known for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. There is no better director to turn this great book into a great movie. -cj

Up the Line

Easily my favorite science fiction writer of all time, Robert Silverberg penned the outstanding Up the Line back in 1969 and it still holds up. It tells the tale of Jud Eliott who finds himself employed as a Time Courier for Time Service. In this position, Judd gets to act as a tour guide for paying customers, taking them back in time to visit ancient Byzantium. Like any good science fiction story, there are rules that must not be broken, lest a paradox emerge. Guess what? Rules are broken and Jud must figure out a way to repair the damage before the authorities catch on. One of Silverberg's more humorous pieces of fiction and well worth digging up at a used book store. -cj

(Source: InfoAddict Original)

Tags the twilight zone, nintendo, steven spielberg, zelda, doctor who, futurama, fantasy, science fiction, time travel, lists