10 Essential Time Travel Movies
9. Slaughterhouse-Five (dir. George Roy Hill, 1972)
Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse-Five is one of the most important and influential works in post-war science fiction. Inspired by Vonneguts experience of the Dresden bombings of World War II, the story follows fatalistic soldier Billy Pilgrim, who has become unstuck in time; the events of his life play out in a seemingly random order, as he journeys to the alien planet of Tralfamadore and relives his own death many times. The aliens he meets are capable of seeing every event in time simultaneously, and have therefore adopted a very philosophical approach to death and suffering: when confronted with the very worst humanity has to offer, their response is always so it goes. George Roy Hill might not strike one as the best director for the job, being best known for the warmly nostalgic Butch Cassidy and The Sting. But this is by far his most adventurous film, which successfully handled the non-linear timeframe and gets a lot of the novels substance across. Some of the changes made are hard to understand including the fact that so it goes is never uttered, despite being in the book more than 100 times. But its still an appealing slice of blackly comic sci-fi, which came with the personal approval of Vonnegut himself.
Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse-Five is one of the most important and influential works in post-war science fiction. Inspired by Vonneguts experience of the Dresden bombings of World War II, the story follows fatalistic soldier Billy Pilgrim, who has become unstuck in time; the events of his life play out in a seemingly random order, as he journeys to the alien planet of Tralfamadore and relives his own death many times. The aliens he meets are capable of seeing every event in time simultaneously, and have therefore adopted a very philosophical approach to death and suffering: when confronted with the very worst humanity has to offer, their response is always so it goes. George Roy Hill might not strike one as the best director for the job, being best known for the warmly nostalgic Butch Cassidy and The Sting. But this is by far his most adventurous film, which successfully handled the non-linear timeframe and gets a lot of the novels substance across. Some of the changes made are hard to understand including the fact that so it goes is never uttered, despite being in the book more than 100 times. But its still an appealing slice of blackly comic sci-fi, which came with the personal approval of Vonnegut himself. 