Some folks look at time loop movies and think that it would be cool to experience such a thing, and other folks look at those individuals and wonder how one functions with such a major screw loose. All joking aside, some of the most interesting movies out there deal with time loops of some sort, a fixed series of events in time that keep repeating themselves no matter what happens and how matter who does what to change anything. There are ways out of the time loop in the movies obviously, but quite often they’re not exactly the most positive options or even the most agreeable since they tend to involve someone dying or require a sacrifice of some sort that people aren’t willing to make. But just imagine dying over and over and over and…well, you get the point.
Here are ten of the most classic time loop segments in movie history.
10. 12 Monkeys
Out of all the time loop movies, this is probably one of the most screwed up of all time since Bruce Willis‘ character is sent back in time in one of the most uncomfortable-looking ways possible, and then is dumped into a time period when people still think that time travel is still science fiction. The mission that he’s sent on is to find the origin of a virus that wiped out humanity in the future he comes from, and the 12 Monkeys terrorist group is suspected of having something to do with it. The most messed-up part of this movie, spoiler alert, is that the main character gets to see his older self shot down, but has no idea who he is.
9. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
So Austin Powers isn’t exactly a time loop story, but this moment couldn’t be left out since Austin was actually given the idea to go back in time to save the love of his life and defeat Dr. Evil at the same time. One has to wonder how all this time jumping affects the worlds that are taking advantage of it though since it’s great to save the foxy lady and defeat the bad guy and everything, but what kind of effect would time travel really have? In a spoof movie that’s probably a bad question to ask.
8. Back to the Future II
It’s kind of strange how Doc Brown talks so much about how changing the past is dangerous and yada, yada, yada, but will gladly go forward and back in time to help Marty solve his own personal woes and to fix the problems with his family. Although, being tried and then imprisoned in such a short span of time does sound rather harsh, and would likely prompt many parents to do something about it if their kid was being set up to look like a criminal.
7. Edge of Tomorrow
Any way to experience a time loop would be rough since not being able to break out of such a thing would feel like tortureafter a while, especially considering how many times it would take doing the same thing to build this kind of muscle memory. But then think about all the times this guy would have to die to master the skills he finally displays at one point. That’s not something a person should wish upon their worst enemy.
6. About Time
What exactly would you do if you found out that you had the ability to go back in time? Sure, some people would make certain that those awkward moments never happened, and some would definitely make their own life a little better. But with time sliding powers, there are usually limits beyond which a person can’t, or at least shouldn’t go. Fate tends to take its due more often than not since one way or another, the natural order of things has to be reasserted from time to time, and time travel, being unnatural in our scope, is something that would demand such a balance.
5. Happy Death Day
This would have to be one of the most brutal time loops of all since realizing that no matter what, you’re going to die and live the day all over, doing the same things, and experiencing the same irritating people, would be mind-numbing, to say the least. But to realize who’s killing you day after day finally would be a shock to pretty much anyone since the main villain in this movie was a bit of a surprise.
4. Looper
Being a hired killer that has the unenviable task of killing people that are sent from the future and have no chance to run or even beg is bad enough. But think about what it might be like to have to cancel yourself at one point. That would likely mess with anyone’s mind, not to mention the fact that the main character ends up learning that he would one day become one of the most ruthless criminals in the game, but would eventually be taken out by someone even worse.
3. The Butterly Effect
One thing about a time loop is that a lot of people tend to go back and try to make things better, but things usually end up being the same thanks to some twist of fate. This movie shows that going back in time to alter something that might appear small enough to be innocuous still isn’t a good idea since someone has to pay the price for the changes that are made.
2. Doctor Strange
The whole dying, again and again, part of this particular time loop would be a special kind of hell, not only because it would be endless pain, but because the people one is protecting would never understand the sacrifice that’s being made.
1. Groundhog Day
Hands down, this is the most memorable and classic time loop out there since only Bill Murray could have made this work. It’s a strange time loop that’s conditioned around making people into better human beings though.
Given the chance, some people wouldn’t mind going back to do things over again.Austin Powers
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