Summary

Creating a time traveling film that urinate everlasting sense is a thought-provoking endeavor for any conductor , and the first thing they need to do is launch some soil rules regarding how time travel works in this particular film . Sometimesa moving-picture show can give its meter change of location laws for the sake of drama , and it break the whole assumption of the story , in effect unsatisfying viewers . The Butterfly Effectviolated its time travel ruleswith a single frustrating prospect where Evan travel back in clip to win over his convict of his ability , which defy all in - universe logic .

However , even the most well - thought - outfilms may separate their own time travel rulesby accident and produce a few paradoxes along the way . Time travel claim tend to be base on scientific theory that lay down certain non - negotiable rule , but since , in reality , time locomotion is non - existent and misunderstood , picture show are force to simplify their plots and make their metre move around soft enough to keep an eye on . Still , some internal rules are a lot more sophisticated than others , although the film in question normally demand to be watched at least twice to fully realize all the complexities of the plot twists they extend .

clip locomotion movies are as confusing as celluloid gets , but when paradox enrol the stage , it is even gentle to get lost in the plot of ground ’s complexities .

Anne Hathaway as Dr. Amelia Brand from Interstellar and John David Washington as the Protagonist from Tenet

10The Butterfly Effect (2004)

Directed by Eric Bress & J. Mackye Gruber

Cast

The Butterfly Effectis an enjoyable sci - fi flick with impregnable functioning from the cast , especially Ashton Kutcher in the lead role . However , to say that the flick ’s time travelling ruler are consistent would be a Brobdingnagian understatement . The biggest plot mess is Evan ’s quick slip to the past where he stabs his handsto get his cellmate to think him , and the scars magically appear in the present , even though the motion-picture show has repeatedly highlighted that Evan is the only one who notices the changes in the timeline . On top of that , Evan is capable to remember his alternate past and still be surprised at the new outcome , which is another inconsistency .

9Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Directed by Anthony & Joe Russo

retaliator : Endgamemay be an MCU movie of an epic scale , but its prison term travelling laws are far from being perfect either . At the commencement , the Hulk establishes that it is out of the question to rewrite history simply by travel to the past times . This is seemingly why the Avengers require to put the Infinity Stones back where they have first find them , and yetSteve Rogers is able to deepen his personal pastby traveling back to his own time and live out his life with Peggy Carter . This heartwarming yet linguistic rule - breaking twist is n’t even thebiggest MCU game hole inAvengers : Endgame .

8Donnie Darko (2001)

Directed by Richard Kelly

The Jake Gyllenhaal - pass rubric is a picture show with more philosophy than time change of location , and naturally , its burden message is delivered brilliantly inDonnie Darko ’s dark ending . The same ca n’t be enunciate about the plastic film ’s sci - fi element , specifically the carrying out of the notorious jet locomotive engine twist . Donnie allows the engine to kill him because he wants to pull through his family , but how he is able-bodied to send out it back in time without produce a paradox remain a mystery . In addition , Frank the Rabbit ’s whole existence does n’t make senseup until the point when the genuine Frank decease . Donnie Darko ’s rule are a mess , but that does n’t make it any less compelling .

7Back To The Future (1985)

Directed by Robert Zemeckis

6Tenet (2020)

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Christopher Nolan’sTenethas turn out to be a lot more puzzling than it should have been , in part because the moving-picture show fails to explain its own clock time travel or reverse entropy rules fully . By the end of the film , it is unclear how many times the characters are able to change the past or relive the same time span , and the purpose of multiple characters and their backstories with the champion stay a mystery . Tenetdoesn’t sport a exalted reveal that could aid make sense of the events of the entire film , and unfortunately , that take aside some of its charm .

5The Terminator (1984)

Directed by James Cameron

The laterTerminatormovies may be riddle with patch holes , but the original is rather straight with its time locomotion rule , and the main one seems to be that paradoxes are inevitable . InThe Terminator ’s ending , it is revealed that Kyle Reese is John Connor ’s father , which means that the drawing card of the resistance could n’t have subsist if his Padre had n’t travel back in time in the first position . Such paradoxes are n’t rare in time travel movies , butThe Terminatorhas fundamentally made them the central theme of the enfranchisement . At least , it is more or less the one consistent ingredient throughout the installments .

4Planet Of The Apes (1968)

Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner

ThePlanet of the Apesmovies ' timelinesdiffer a nifty deal from each other , but the original moving picture keep things in relative order . A team of astronauts from 1972 ends up in 3978 by stroke , and yet they rest youthful since they have been subject to time dilation . All of that has a scientific cornerstone — the only timePlanet of the Apesmesses it up is when it changes the genuine - life math to fit the narrative , but the only people who notice the error are physicist , so that does n’t count as breaking the in - cosmos rules . The firstPlanet of the Apesmovie is still a sci - fi chef-d’oeuvre .

3Groundhog Day (1993)

Directed by Harold Ramis

It can be argued thatGroundhog Dayisn’t incisively a time travel picture , but the time loop technically makes Phil live over the same Clarence Day multiple time without forget his experiences , and that hardly constitutes as linear time . The film dumbfound to its established circumstances relatively consistently , although the whole cosmos of the loop is left unexplained . It is ill-defined why Phil is the one who get sting , and the intellect he manages to get out of the sentence loop at the oddment is presented rather vaguely as well . Still , Groundhog Dayhas become a cultus classic for a reason , and its then - groundbreaking plot with strict meter loop rules is part of it .

2Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

Directed by Alfonso Cuarón

For a nestling ’s flick , Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkabanhas surprisingly few inconsistency , and its time travel is accomplish absolutely . The Time Turner has worked the same elbow room for the full movie , allowing the user to go back five hours maximum . Harry Potter and the Cursed Childhas messed up this logic , but that is a discussion for another time . In the movie , the events that would later be modified by Harry and Hermione are already there in the first looping of the timeline , such as the vase breaking just in time to alarm the Golden Trio , the noise that cause Hermione rick around , and the Patronus that saves Harry and Sirius .

1Interstellar (2014)

Christopher Nolan’sInterstellaris just as complicated as his late motion-picture show , Tenet , but in this suit , all the confusing parts start make sense nearer to the end . Interstellaris famous for heavily trust on real - life sciencewhen it comes to space and time travel . Young Murth feels a foreign presence in her firm , and bizarre things , like books falling out of shelf , seemingly encounter with no account , but the explanation is given at the end of the movie when Cooper interacts with his girl ’s young ego through the Tesseract . Interstellar ’s consistent rules are a shining example that all next sci - fi flick should follow .

Ben Affleck as Christian drumming his hand on the table while talking to Cynthia Addai-Robinson’s Marybeth in The Accountant 2

Denzel-Washington’s-Best-The-Equalizer-2-Scene-Revealed-The-Real-Robert-McCall

Hermione Granger from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Terminator from the Terminator, and George Taylor from Planet of the Apes

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Jake Gyllenhaal as Donnie Darko, Seeing the Path with his palm held up in Donnie Darko

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Arnold Schwarzenegger as the T-800 Wearing Sunglasses and Speaking with Himself in the Mirror Saying “I’ll Be Back” in The Terminator

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Charlton Heston as George Taylor is surrounded by apes in Planet of the Apes.

Phil (Bill Murray) is surrounded by microphones as he does his morning broadcast in Groundhog Day.

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Matthew McConaughey as Cooper Sitting on His Porch Thinking in Interstellar

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