After the premiere of NBC's Timeless, I realized how obsessed I am with television shows and movies that revolve around time-travel. Timeless hits the trifecta, incorporating history, action, and some humor in addition to the element of time-travel.
Traveling through time is largely considered a sub-genre of science fiction, being that most movies and television shows showcase the engineering and knowledge of physics required to build and power a time machine. Nevertheless, there are time-travel films that are not all serious and include a funny line or two.
Here is a short list of some of the greatest time-travel comedies:
1. Back to the Future (I, II, and III)
Honestly, this is one of the greatest movie series, let alone time-travel series, of all time! The films that made the DeLorean a 1980s icon serve as classics to the time-travel genre. From a trip back to 1955 to a voyage to 2015, we get a glimpse at the past, present, and future with Doc Brown, Marty McFly, and of course the precious pup Einstein.
2. Austin Powers Trilogy
Another great movie series known for its hilarity more so than the time-travel element. The Austin Powers films are truly iconic and shameless. The first movie begins with both Austin and Dr. Evil being frozen for several decades, and later Dr. Evil builds a time machine to steal Austin Powers "mojo." My personal favorite is the last installment of the series, Austin Powers: Goldmember, where Austin's time machine is a maroon 1976 Cadillac with funky hydraulics.
3. Groundhog Day
Although not quite a time-traveling film, Phil Collins (portrayed by Bill Murray) somehow relives the same day hundreds of times, the reason why is unbeknownst to him. The same thing happens each day; however, he tries to make drastic differences each day in the hopes that he'll finally wake up the following day. After a while he starts thinking he's God!
4. Time Bandits
This is probably the cutest, yet also moderately scary, classic time-travel movie of all time. Time Bandits employs the imagination of a child, Kevin, as it escapes reality and ventures all over the world and to different times. Six dwarves surprisingly arrive in Kevin's bedroom one night, and they all set on a journey following the coordinates of a stolen map. Definitely a must-see fantasy
5. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Another classic from the 1980s, starring young Keanu Reeves as Ted. They are visited by Rufus traveling in a time-machine disguised as a telephone booth. Rufus was sent to help Bill and Ted with a final report, so he takes the to the past to study. Bill and Ted are essentially airheads which makes the movie pretty comical! There a couple sequels, a spin-off television show, and even video games that spawned from this film's plot, alone.
6. Hot Tub Time Machine
This film is much more recent than each mentioned above; however, it is absolutely hilarious! A ski resort's hot tub malfunctions, turning into a time machine and transporting four middle-aged men and one of their nephews back in time to 1986. The gang learns they can alter each of the crappy things going on in their lives in present day by changing some of the events that happened to them a the resort in 1986. Dirty jokes and other sexual innuendos definitely give this film a modern funny twist.
