Time travel in movies and animations
Friday, October 16, 2015
Doc Brown: Yes, the way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?
As we watched Back to the Future (1985), the theme of time travel is very popular and fascinating. In order to go time travelling, one must use a special power or a special device like a time machine. What are some famous movies that depict time travel and how do they go time travelling? Let us take a look at few examples of time travel in films and animations.
<Mild Spoiler Warning>
The Terminator (1984)
The cyborg assassin from the future is one of the most recognizable character in film history. In this movie, the Terminator and Kyle Reese are sent back to Los Angeles in 1984 from the dystopian future of 2029, where machines and humans are in war. When a sudden ball of lightning strikes, the Terminator arrives naked out of nowhere.
Looper (2012)
In the year 2074, time travel is invented, but becomes illegal right away. However, criminals use the time travel device to kill those who they want to get killed by sending the victims away to the past. In the film, the main characters fight his own self from the past and the future.
The Butterfly Effect (2004)
This pyschological thriller derives its title from a theory that small change can lead to a vastly different consequence. The movie shows the protagonist's ability to go back in time of his younger self when he reads his past journals. In order to change his traumatic past and for a better future, he goes back in time. However, his attempts of good intention seem to lead into suffering of another.
Doraemon (1969)
The blue cat-like robot Doraemon (which is many times mistaken for a blue raccoon) is sent from the 22nd century to help out the miserable boy, Nobita, so that he may have a better life. Doraemon has many interesting tools in his 4D pocket, and one of them is a time machine.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)
This animated film is about a teenage girl who accidentally acquires the ability to leap through time. As she has fun with her new found ability, she learns that her power is limited in numbers. Where did her power come from and how will she use this new ability after knowing it is only limited? Watch and find out for yourself as this film will make your eyes watery at the end.
Dragon Ball (1984)
From the dystopian future, where the world has been destroyed by the androids, a young man named Trunks comes to the present day to warn about the upcoming dangers of the androids. Trunks uses the time machine to travel in time and writes the word "HOPE" outside of his time machine in wish for a better future.
Among these examples, it looks like the main cause for someone to go back in time is to take care of something in the past, either to kill someone or to make change for a better tomorrow. If you have the power of time travel, would you go back in time or move to the future?
2 comments
Hoyun, this is an excellent, thoughtful post, and you now deserve 100 cookies
ReplyDeleteI immensely enjoyed reading about all of these films related to time travel. they aren't bad films, either. i've heard lots of acclaim for looper, butterfly effect and doraemon. would you recommend seeing any of the films in our club?
oh, how relentlessly humans have battled the concept of time throughout the past centuries. if anything, i find us being ruled by time--a strange, elusive, relative force. i agree with you on that people only create time travel to manipulate time in one way or another... or perhaps to attempt to control a force we have never been (and most likely never will) able to control.
Looper was a bit mediocre to me. All of the listed films are great to watch (I ♥ Dragon Ball and Doraemon), but I think the first Terminator movie would be exciting to watch all together, but The Girl Who Leapt Through Time would be the most suitable and safe one for our club. And I did really like it when I first saw it in the summer vacation of middle school (nostalgic). I also liked the Butterfly Effect, but it is quite dark and intended for a mature audience. If you like dark and serious stuff, then go check out the Butterfly Effect some day. And I will be expecting the 100 cookies.
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