Take Me Away -- I Don't Mind -- But You Better Promise Me I'll Be Back in Time
By Sarah Carlson
April 26, 2007
The only thing more unbelievable than Jessica Biel dating Nicolas Cage? Time travel! Yet Hollywood has made a fortune on the topic. In honor of “Next” opening in theaters this weekend, here’s a look at our favorite time-bending travel flicks. -- Erin Steele and Sarah Carlson
THE DEAD ZONE
Why it’s great: First of all, it features Christopher Walken in quasi-crazy mode, and you can’t go wrong there. Plus, Walken’s character, Johnny Smith, is a schoolteacher turned psychic detective, which is a pretty awesome career change, I have to say. But the best part is how Smith not only sees people’s futures (by coming in physical contact with them; let’s hope this power doesn’t fall into the wrong hands) but tries to change their fates. Now that’s cool.
It's time for a fun fact! This film (and the novel by Stephen King) are both loosely based upon the life of famous psychic Peter Hurkos.
BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE
Why it’s great: High school can be torture, especially when a student’s ticket to graduation is an oral history presentation before the entire school (San-Dimas-High-School-football-rules!). Fortunately for Ted “Theodore” Logan (Keanu Reeves) and Bill S. Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter), a phone booth time machine transports them through time to collect colorful characters — Napoleon, Joan of Arc, Genghis Khan, Socrates, etc. — to help them make the grade. Long live Wyld Stallyns.
It's time for a fun fact! The footage for Napoleon's battle in Austria was taken from the 1956 American movie “War and Peace.”
GROUNDHOG DAY
Why it’s great: A comedy classic, “Groundhog Day” features Bill Murray reliving the titular time period over and over and over. You’d think this would make the film a one-note joke, but you’d be wrong: The movie wrings numerous laughs from our anti-hero’s unfortunate fate. Also boasting a surprisingly touching relationship between Murray and the usually wooden Andie MacDowell, “Groundhog Day” is a movie well worth revisiting.
It's time for a fun fact! Director Harold Ramis originally wanted Tom Hanks for the lead role, but decided against it, saying that Hanks was "too nice.”
13 GOING ON 30
Why it’s great: When 13-year-old Jenna is granted her wish to become “thirty, flirty and thriving,” she’s got to survive the future corporate world with her teenage mind and adult body. Scary, but hey, at least she gets to look like Jennifer Garner and make out with Mark Ruffalo. Life can’t be that bad. Jenna infuses everything around her with a palpable vibrancy, reminding us all that it’s important not to forget the innocence and optimism of our youth.
It's time for a fun fact! The Poise article that Jenna is reading at 13 ("Thirty, Flirty & Thriving"), features the apartment that she later lives in at 30.
BACK TO THE FUTURE
Why it’s great: Always entertaining and endlessly quotable, the “Back to the Future” series (perhaps minus the second installment) may be the pinnacle of cinematic odes to time travel, not to mention a key player in big-budget '80s films that ushered in the blockbuster era. Who hasn’t wanted a flying DeLorean? Who hasn’t said “Great Scot!” or mumbled something about their flux capacitor when their uncool car wasn’t working? No one. Marty McFly is everyone’s hero.
It's time for a fun fact! The chime of the Clock Tower in 1955 is intentionally the same as the chime in the 1960 movie “The Time Machine.”
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