Those Who Do Not Know Their History Can Always Cheat:

[Silvercry]

A Time Travel Thread!

Ever since my parents dragged me to the premier of Back to the Future, Part 1 [/showingmyage],  I have been nuts over the concept of time travel.  It became an interest that would grow as I did, ultimately becoming the main reason I ever looked twice at a quaint little game from Sqauresoft called Chrono Trigger.

Time travel can be a wonderful plot device like as it was in Chrono Trigger, or a crutch as shown in countless Star Trek episodes over the last 30+ years, or even an all around bad idea, like in Final Fantasy VIII.  So, I decided to create a thread in which we can talk about time travel as depicted in your favorite (or least favorite)  movie/TV show/book/game.  The floor is also open to the discussion of the possibility of real-life time travel, since science has yet to prove it’s impossible.

I’ll go first:  

The Butterfly Effect was surprisingly enjoyable to watch, even if I did have to put up with Ashton Kutcher for 90 minutes.  Not often does a movie show the darker side of time travel, how playing with the past can totally screw up the lives of people other than the traveler themselves.

I’d go on, but I relay should get some work done this evening

Next?

[Lord J Esq]

I'm a real wet blanket when it comes to pet time travel theories, mainly because I've been in so many threads like these, where people who don't know a damn thing about anything come out with their fifth-grade knowledge of E=mc^2 or some other scientific factoid and try to turn it into a functional scientific theory...and it just blows my bagpipes. Sure, it was fun the first zillion times, but I can only swallow so much "Oh, gee, if you go at the speed of light through a black hole, you have infinite energy, and zero mass, and blah blah blah."

You've opened a can of worms, my friend, a real can of worms!

Addendum: On a slightly less caustic note, the only time travel model I have ever come across that had no apparent logical flaws, was Barrington Bayley's "nodal time" model. He wrote several short books which you may want to check out on some slow and rainy day, including one called Fall of Chronopolis.

[V_Translanka]

Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. It pretty much had everything, including intense fantasy, western, & sci-fi elements. There were demons, gunslingers, evil magicians, robots, vampires, mutants, time traveling, dimensional traveling, spiritual dimensional traveling...I could actually go on...but I don't feel like it! READ THESE BOOKS!!! Easily some of SK's best stuff. If you didn't like his other stuff, you still might like these. If you did like his other stuff, then why the hell haven't you read these?

[SilentMartyr]

I like Ashton in that movie, he shows can actually somewhat act. Donnie Darko is a time travel movie I still have to figure out, for it is hella confuzzling.

[Sir Frog]

I personally liked The Butterfly Effect, but it really is quite a bad movie.  Throughout the film, I kept laughing at how polarized and ultimately unbelievable the characters were, but at the same time I was actually was enjoying myself.  I suppose what I am getting at is that The Butterfly Effect is a decent rental:  it's a fun watch with some friends, but don't expect to be enlightened.  Actually, what's most fun about the movie is seeing who among your friends can point out the most plot holes on the drive back to the video store!  (On a somewhat irrelevant note, The Butterfly Effect was filmed at my alma mater, the University of British Columbia.)

Speaking of time travel movies, 12 Monkeys gets my vote for the best, although Back to the Future is, and always will be, my favourite.  Donnie Darko is probably the worst time travel movie I have ever seen, and unless somebody praises it on this board, I am going to let my opinion slide without backing it up with an explanation.

[Eriol]

Donnie Darko is probably the worst time travel movie I have ever seen, and unless somebody praises it on this board, I am going to let my opinion slide without backing it up with an explanation.

You're not getting away that easily, as Donnie Darko rocked.  But two things first:
1.  It's not a time-travel movie: Sure there is a "time-travel-trigger" to events, but ultimately, it is NOT about that.
2.  Do you even really KNOW what it is about?  I really wonder if you do, since you stated it as a time-travel one.

[V_Translanka]

You can't exactly know what happens in Donnie Darko as it is left up to the viewer to interpret.

[Eriol]

You can't exactly know what happens in Donnie Darko as it is left up to the viewer to interpret.

Until you watch the director's commentary that is.

[V_Translanka]

Uh, but that's what I was basing it off of...He says that he purposfully left it open-ended...>_>

[Eriol]

Uh, but that's what I was basing it off of...He says that he purposfully left it open-ended...>_>

Even though in one spot (when watching deleted scenes) he said "I cut this scene because I didn't want to beat you over the head with the fact that this is about God."

[SilentMartyr]

Yes I agree, Donnie Darko was not a time traveling movie, it just had time travel in it. The movie was more of a focus on how important one person is in the entire scheme of things.

[Eriol]

Jim Cunningham: Son... DO YOU SEE THIS? This is an Anger Prisoner. A textbook example. DO YOU SEE THE FEAR, PEOPLE? This boy is scared to death of the truth. Son, it breaks my heart to say this, but I believe you are a very troubled and confused young man. I believe you are searching for the answers in all the wrong places...
Donnie: You're right, actually. I am pretty- I'm, I'm pretty troubled and I'm, I'm pretty confused. But I. . .and I'm afraid. Really, really afraid. Really afraid. But I... I... I think you're the fucking Antichrist.

Last line there is the best.  Hell I wish they had the whole conversation on imdb, but this IS the best part.

[V_Translanka]

I'm pretty sure he was just talking about how that one scene was about god, not how the entire movie was about god...

[Eriol]

I'm pretty sure he was just talking about how that one scene was about god, not how the entire movie was about god...

Well being that said deleted scene was about how God cared about Donnie, and yet was asking him to sacrifice himself, and the rest of the movie is Donnie trying to come to grips with that and himself, I would say yes, that actually the whole movie is on some level about God, divinity, etc.  Not directly, but the search for self, and the search for truth, ARE searching for God, and since He has a hand through his emissary/angel (Frank), I definitely wouldn't downplay His importance to the plot.

Still, fucked up movie.  But still quite good.  Also good to see Drew Barrymore in a role that isn't so typical for her.  She was really good in this movie, even if it was a small part.

[V_Translanka]

Her speech to the Principal when she was getting fired was a little...meh...cliche?

Maybe I  missed that deleted scene then or something...I still haven't gotten my hands on the Director's Cut for any good amount of time (I basically got to hear the changed first song...which I don't like as much...>_>).