10 Essential Time Travel Movies
7. Source Code (dir. Duncan Jones, 2011)
I realise that Im breaking my own rule with this entry, but since so many time travel films do the same, I think I can get away with it. Duncan Jones more mainstream follow-up to Moon features Jack Gyllenhaal as Captain Colter Stevens, who wakes up on a train to Chicago which explodes, killing everyone on board. He then awakes in a capsule called the Source Code, and is informed by his superiors (Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright) that he must relieve the last eight minutes of the train journey until he finds the bomb and discovers who is behind the attack. Much like Terminator 2, Source Code is testament to the fact that more action in a film does not always equate to less intelligence. Ben Ripleys twisty script is brought to life by Jones assured direction, with many comic moments to punctuate what could be an annoyingly repetitive premise. Writing the film off as Groundhog Day on a train does both Jones and Ripley a great disservice, since this is one of the best films of 2011 and a further sign that Jones is the real deal.
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The Top 10 again, in order: 10. Time After Time (1979) 9. Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) 8. Time Bandits (1981) 7. Source Code (2011) 6. The Time Machine (1960) 5. Donnie Darko (2000) 4. The Terminator (1984) 3. Back to the Future (1985) 2. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) 1. Twelve Monkeys (1995)