Must See Movies
The Time Machine
This film is based on the 1895 novel by H. G. Wells. Traveling from the end of the 19th Century to the year 802,701 the inventor finds that mankind has evolved into two races; the underground Morlocks hunt the aboveground Eloi. Eventually the time traveler saves the Eloi from the Morlocks, destroys the time machine and builds a life among the Eloi. The time traveling is one-dimensional. Time as the fourth dimension is identified as the factor that makes time travel possible. There is an enjoyable scene in which the inventor explains the role of the fourth dimension to skeptical friends.
The Terminator
This is the first in a series of Terminator movies. Machines have taken over the world and are trying to destroy the human race. One man, John Connor, is leading a resistance movement against the machines. They decide to send a cyborg back in time to kill John’s mother, Sarah, before she gives birth in order to eliminate the resistance movement before it ever starts. The humans send back Kyle Reese to protect Sarah. The story is readily interpreted as taking place in one-dimensional time. As it turns out, the plot is one big causal loop.
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
When two best friends are about to fail out of high school, a visitor from the future, Rufus, provides them with a time machine to work on their senior history project. Bill and Ted travel through time picking up various historical figures and bringing them to the present to help them ace their project. Time is treated one-dimensionally. Watch for a causal loop sequence where all the boys have to do is plan to remember to hide a key in the past so they can find it now. The movie also includes a self-visitation scene where Bill and Ted convince themselves to trust Rufus.
12 Monkeys
Movie adaptation of the short French film, La Jetée. The story follows a prisoner, Cole, from the future where a disease has wiped out most of the human race. He is sent back in time to collect data on the virus to help find a cure. One-dimensional time is definitely the rule here. Watch carefully for the exact motivation the future scientists have for sending Cole back in time.
Primer
This independent film tells the story of two engineers who stumble upon backwards time travel. At first the men study the financial markets during the day, get in their time machines, and return to the beginning of the day with knowledge of which stocks to buy. As the story continues, they develop ulterior motives and things begin to spin out of control. The challenge is to follow the sequence of events as it unfurls. The story is set in two-dimensional time. The time travel is portrayed as backwards, continuous time travel.
References
12 Monkeys. Dir. Terry Gilliam. Perf. Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt. DVD. Universal Pictures, 1995.
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Dir. Stephen Herek. Perf. Alex Winter, Keanu Reeves, George Carlin. DVD. Orion Pictures, 1989.
Primer. Dir. Shane Curruth. Perf. Shane Curruth, David Sullivan. DVD. ThinkFilm, 2004.
The Terminator. Dir. James Cameron. Perf. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn. DVD. MGM, 1984.
The Time Machine. Dir. George Pal. Perf. Rod Taylor, Alan Young, Sebastian Cabot. DVD. MGM. 1960.