Here's a little something you probably didn't know about me: I'm a bit obsessed with time travel stories. I don't know what it is about traveling through time, but there's just something about that plot device that has me running to purchase a movie ticket on opening day. This weekend the hot tub becomes the latest time-traveling device used on the big screen, thanks to the hilarious, R-rated comedy Hot Tub Time Machine, starring John Cusack, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke and Rob Corddry. In the film, the four buddies have a wild night of partying inside a hot tub and then somehow get transported back to the year 1986.
While you take in a screening of Hot Tub Time Machine this weekend, definitely keep in mind the fact that there are a whole ton of fantastic time-travel movies available to watch right now. Here are five of the best, according to me …
1.Back to the Future – If you forced me at gunpoint to name my favorite movie of all time, I'd have to go with this one. A great ensemble cast (featuring Michael J. Fox in his prime) and a near perfect script paved the way for what is definitely the most popular time-traveling movie in terms of fan favorites. In it, a high school kid accidentally gets sent back in time to the year 1955 via a time machine inside a DeLorean sports car. Once there his mother falls for him, his dad gets beat up and his future begins to slowly unravel – that is, until he meets up with the man who created the time machine in the first place … except he doesn't know it yet.
2.Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure – If you thought a hot tub was a weird way to travel through time, then what about a phone booth? This cult classic was probably our first good introduction to Keanu Reeves before he chopped all his hair off and became ultra serious. In this totally righteous flick, two high school kids failing history class stumble across a time machine and use it to bring back several historical figures to help them pass the class' final test. Not exactly the most scientifically accurate, but probably the most fun.
3.The Terminator – Finally, someone decided to get all serious about time traveling with this film, which eventually spawned three sequels. Here, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a killer robot who's sent back in time to, well, kill a woman so that her unborn child can't grow up and lead a military resistance against said killer robots. It was a pretty genius idea, and watching the future wreak havoc on a world that's not prepared for it was probably what made this film so heart-pounding and full of edge-of-your-seat thrills. The one thing we could've lived without? The fact that when the robots arrive back in time, they're butt naked. Yeah, could do without Ahnold's rear end, thank you very much.
4.12 Monkeys – One of the smartest and most unnerving time-traveling movies ever made, this one starred Bruce Willis as a guy who's sent back in time to stop a deadly virus from spreading and wiping out the planet. Problem is he's sent too far back in time, and everyone thinks he's nuts so they throw him in an insane asylum. Brad Pitt also stars (in what's easily one of his best roles) as the insane son of a famous scientist.
5.Flight of the Navigator – Growing up I was always fond of this film, even though, as a kid, it totally freaked me out. In it, a 12-year-old boy goes missing aboard an alien spaceship, and after having a blast flying the thing and communicating with this freaky eye robot thing, he's returned home … except it's 8 years later and he hasn't aged a day. Yeah, try explaining that to the family that's been searching for you for years. Though it feels a little E.T.-ish at the end, this one definitely holds a special place in my heart.
Now it's your turn – what are some of your favorite time-traveling movies? Which ones did I forget to mention?
Erik is a leading movie commentator who has worked for outlets such as AOL Moviefone and Movies.com.
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