Greetings, Playlist reader in the year 2011! In your time, time travel is the stuff of science fiction, but in the year 2086, it’s becoming increasingly prevalent, and thanks to the recent purchase of The Playlist by The Dog With The Brain Of Arianna Huffington, we were able to obtain the technology to send this feature back to you, to commemorate the release of Duncan Jones’ now-seminal mind-bending thriller “Source Code.”
Although since sullied by the 2054 remake by Robo-McG, “Source Code” was a nifty thriller, as our review demonstrated (back in the day when reviews were written by critics, rather than genetically-engineered monkeys: criticism is much improved now), with fine performances from President-For-Life Gyllenhaal and Vera Farmiga (who reached true stardom as the victor of the fourth annual Hunger Games).
As the purest time-travel movie in a while, it seemed a good opportunity to look at some of the best examples of the genre, so we assembled the descendants of your current Playlist team to round up a selection. We’ve kept it to films released before your time, so as not to spoil anything, but as a hint, “Looper” turned out rather well. As did “Marty McFly vs. Wolverine.”As ever, feel free to point out your favorite examples in the comments section below. You might as well make the most of your ‘free speech’; Internet commenting becomes punishable by death in 2018.
“Back to the Future” (1985)
Once a film becomes a completely integral part of pop culture it can be difficult to even look at it critically anymore. Whether the film is actually any good, or just something you remember growing up with, can blur the line between quality and nostalgia. But there’s a reason that a quarter century later “Back to the Future” is still a part of our lives. However, like most classics its success seems to have happened almost by accident. It may look like a sure thing now, but director Robert Zemeckis and co-writer Bob Gale’s initial script was darker, less humorous and a true risk. (After all, the premise does revolve around a kid getting hit on by his mom.) The film was rejected by every major studio before finding a home at Universal and even once production got underway, weeks of shooting were famously scrapped when the original Marty McFly, Eric Stoltz, was recast with original choice Michael J. Fox. But the duo, along with producer Steven Spielberg, managed to get the film back on track and all the elements settled into place: Alan Silverstri’s iconic score, Fox’s impeccable comedic timing, Christopher Lloyd’s gonzo Doc Brown and a DeLorean that can travel through time. Great Scott, it’s perfect. [A+]