Best movies like Back to the Future
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Eighties teenager Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time to 1955, inadvertently disrupting his parents' first meeting and attracting his mother's romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by rekindling his parents' romance and - with the help of his eccentric inventor friend Doc Brown - return to 1985.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 13000000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: feel good, exciting, light, funny, cult classic, teen, futuristic, spectacular, not serious, fast paced
Best tv shows and movies like Back to the Future (1985):
Similar in 86%
My Science Project (1985)
Plot Summary:
Michael and Ellie break into a military junkyard to find a science project for Michael's class, and discover a strange glowing orb which absorbs electricity. When the orb begins to blend past, present, and future, its up to Michael and Ellie to stop the orb and save mankind.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: offbeat, humorous, semi serious, fast, psychotronic, light, feel good, eighties, complex, idiotic
Similar in 81%
The Blue Yonder (1985)
Plot Summary:
A young boy, who dreams of meeting the grandfather he never knew gets his chance, when an inventor friend constructs a time machine. After arriving in the past, it soon becomes apparent that his knowledge of the future could change the course of history.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 349
Genere: Adventure, Sci-Fi, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: weird
Similar in 87%
Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)
Plot Summary:
Amiable slackers Bill and Ted are once again roped into a fantastical adventure when De Nomolos, a villain from the future, sends evil robot duplicates of the two lads to terminate and replace them. The robot doubles actually succeed in killing Bill and Ted, but the two are determined to escape the afterlife, challenging the Grim Reaper to a series of games in order to return to the land of the living.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 80000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Music, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: funny, light, cult classic, humorous, retro, slapstick comedy, slapstick, mystical, uplifting, feel good
Similar in 82%
Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)
Plot Summary:
After their father is called into work, two young boys, Walter and Danny, are left in the care of their teenage sister, Lisa, and told they must stay inside. Walter and Danny, who anticipate a boring day, are shocked when they begin playing Zathura, a space-themed board game, which they realize has mystical powers when their house is shot into space. With the help of an astronaut, the boys attempt to return home.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 113000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: exciting, intense, semi serious, epic, captivating, futuristic, mystical, funny, atmospheric, mysterious
Similar in 86%
Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
Plot Summary:
A malfunctioning time machine at a ski resort takes a man back to 1986 with his two friends and nephew, where they must relive a fateful night and not change anything to make sure the nephew is born.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 184000
Genere: Comedy, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: feel good, funny, humorous, hilarious, cult classic, absurd, not serious, teen, psychotronic, unusual plot structure
Similar in 80%
Project Almanac (2015)
Plot Summary:
A group of teens discover secret plans of a time machine, and construct one. However, things start to get out of control.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 83000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspense, futuristic, absurd, clever, tricky, serious, suspenseful, mind bending, cerebral
Similar in 90%
Black Knight (2001)
Plot Summary:
Martin Lawrence plays Jamal, an employee in Medieval World amusement park. After sustaining a blow to the head, he awakens to find himself in 14th century England.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 43000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: humorous, feel good, hilarious, funny, parody, entertaining, light, slapstick, captivating, sweet
Similar in 79%
Innerspace (1987)
Plot Summary:
Test pilot Tuck Pendleton volunteers to test a special vessel for a miniaturization experiment. Accidentally injected into a neurotic hypochondriac, Jack Putter, Tuck must convince Jack to find his ex-girlfriend, Lydia Maxwell, to help him extract Tuck and his ship and re-enlarge them before his oxygen runs out.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 64000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: futuristic, entertaining, humorous, suspense, exciting, captivating, light, slapstick, hilarious, slasher
Similar in 83%
Time Traveller (2010)
Plot Summary:
Akari Yoshiyama is graduating high school soon and is expected to lead new life after she passes the university entrance exam, while her mother is working as a pharmacologist. However, her mother has a car accident and the situation is totally changed. She decides to go to 1972 to fullfil her mother's wish.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Sci-Fi
Country: Japan
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, captivating, atmospheric, feel good, romantic, offbeat, psychotronic
Similar in 84%
The Goonies (1985)
Plot Summary:
A young teenager named Mikey Walsh finds an old treasure map in his father's attic. Hoping to save their homes from demolition, Mikey and his friends Data Wang, Chunk Cohen, and Mouth Devereaux run off on a big quest to find the secret stash of Pirate One-Eyed Willie.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 293000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: feel good, funny, cult classic, entertaining, intense, sentimental, humorous, semi serious, exciting, inspirational
Similar in 89%
Time Bandits (1981)
Plot Summary:
Young history buff Kevin can scarcely believe it when six dwarfs emerge from his closet one night. Former employees of the Supreme Being, they've purloined a map charting all of the holes in the fabric of time and are using it to steal treasures from different historical eras. Taking Kevin with them, they variously drop in on Napoleon, Robin Hood and King Agamemnon before the Supreme Being catches up with them.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 67000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: UK
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: humorous, surreal, light, mindfuck, colorful, dark fantasy, stylized, semi serious, visual, visually stunning
Similar in 80%
Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020)
Plot Summary:
Yet to fulfill their rock and roll destiny, the now middle-aged best friends Bill and Ted set out on a new adventure when a visitor from the future warns them that only their song can save life as we know it. Along the way, they are helped by their daughters, a new batch of historical figures and a few music legends—to seek the song that will set their world right and bring harmony to the universe.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 52000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Music, Sci-Fi
Country: Bahamas, USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: funny, captivating, feel good, entertaining, light, experimental, surreal, absurd, mystic, cult classic
Similar in 79%
Future Man (2017)
Plot Summary:
Josh Futturman, a janitor by day/world-ranked gamer by night, is tasked with preventing the extinction of humanity after mysterious visitors from the future proclaim him the key to defeating the imminent super-race invasion.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 28000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: light, feel good, humorous, funny, captivating, absurd, atmospheric, spiritual, sitcom, anime
Similar in 77%
Idiocracy (2006)
Plot Summary:
To test its top-secret Human Hibernation Project, the Pentagon picks the most average Americans it can find - an Army private and a prostitute - and sends them to the year 2505 after a series of freak events. But when they arrive, they find a civilization so dumbed-down that they're the smartest people around.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 178000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, futuristic, absurd, dark comedy, offbeat, intellectual, humorous, funny, satirical, not serious
Similar in 76%
Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future (1973)
Plot Summary:
Shurik Timofeev builds a working model of a time machine. By accident, Ivan Bunsha, an apartment complex manager, and George Miloslavsky, a petty burglar, are transferred to 16th century Moscow, while Tsar Ivan the Terrible goes into the year 1973.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: light, humorous, feel good, funny, surreal, mind bending, psychedelic, witty, semi serious, offbeat
Similar in 86%
Just Visiting (2001)
Plot Summary:
A knight and his valet are plagued by a witch, and to repair the damage they make use of the services of a wizard. However, something goes wrong and they are transported from the 12th century to the year 2000. There the knight meets some of his family and slowly learns what this new century is like. However, he still needs to get back to the 12th century to deal with the witch, so he starts looking for a wizard.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
Country: France, USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: humorous, absurd, feel good, exciting, funny, hilarious, not serious, independent film, light, romantic
Similar in 87%
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Plot Summary:
The epic saga continues as Luke Skywalker, in hopes of defeating the evil Galactic Empire, learns the ways of the Jedi from aging master Yoda. But Darth Vader is more determined than ever to capture Luke. Meanwhile, rebel leader Princess Leia, cocky Han Solo, Chewbacca, and droids C-3PO and R2-D2 are thrown into various stages of capture, betrayal and despair.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 14000000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: futuristic, saga, dark, visually stunning, epic, atmospheric, action packed, visual, action adventure, retro
Similar in 80%
Men in Black 3 (2012)
Plot Summary:
Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back...in time. J has seen some inexplicable things in his 15 years with the Men in Black, but nothing, not even aliens, perplexes him as much as his wry, reticent partner. But when K's life and the fate of the planet are put at stake, Agent J will have to travel back in time to put things right. J discovers that there are secrets to the universe that K never told him - secrets that will reveal themselves as he teams up with the young Agent K (Josh Brolin) to save his partner, the agency, and the future of humankind.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 382000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, United Arab Emirates
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: futuristic, entertaining, exciting, action comedy, tricky, humorous, not serious, psychotronic, epic, saga
Similar in 80%
Pleasantville (1998)
Plot Summary:
Geeky teenager David and his popular twin sister, Jennifer, get sucked into the black-and-white world of a 1950s TV sitcom called "Pleasantville," and find a world where everything is peachy keen all the time. But when Jennifer's modern attitude disrupts Pleasantville's peaceful but boring routine, she literally brings color into its life.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 135000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: black and white, touching, humorous, feel good, surreal, visual, light, talky, semi serious, clever
Similar in 77%
Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel (2009)
Plot Summary:
Three men walk into a bar; two geeks and a cynic. They are three ordinary blokes who all have dreams and hopes for an exciting and better future.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 36000
Genere: Comedy, Sci-Fi
Country: UK
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: humorous, funny, entertaining, tricky, witty, exciting, not serious, surreal, mindfuck, apocalyptic
Similar in 88%
Quantum Leap (1989)
Plot Summary:
Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished... He woke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time, who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. And so Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 36000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: captivating, exciting, stylized, touching, witty, scary, cliffhanger, retro, bad ending, anthology
Similar in 76%
Flight of the Navigator (1986)
Plot Summary:
This 1986 Disney adventure tells the story of 12-year-old David who lives with his family in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. When he awakens from being accidentally knocked out in the forest near his home, he finds that eight years have passed. His family is overjoyed to have him back, but just as perplexed as he is by the fact that he hasn't aged. When a NASA scientist discovers a UFO nearby, David gets the chance to unravel the mystery and recover the life he lost.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 51000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: feel good, futuristic, entertaining, exciting, stylized, sweet, touching, serious, uplifting, mind bending
Similar in 90%
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
Plot Summary:
A pair of failing high school students -- Bill S. Preston, Esquire and Ted "Theodore" Logan -- are visited by a time traveler from the future who takes them on an adventure through time to gather up actual historical figures to help them with a history report.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 140000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Music, Romance, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, Canada, Italy
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: funny, hilarious, feel good, cult classic, light, humorous, uplifting, absurd, buddy comedy, mystical
Similar in 82%
Back to the Future Part II (1989)
Plot Summary:
Marty and Doc are at it again in this wacky sequel to the 1985 blockbuster as the time-traveling duo head to 2015 to nip some McFly family woes in the bud. But things go awry thanks to bully Biff Tannen and a pesky sports almanac. In a last-ditch attempt to set things straight, Marty finds himself bound for 1955 and face to face with his teenage parents -- again.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 563000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: futuristic, entertaining, clever, light, humorous, funny, teen, saga, cult classic, exciting
Similar in 83%
Time After Time (1979)
Plot Summary:
The Wildest Chase Of The Century! London 1893 is home to a killer with a macabre nickname... and also to a visionary genius who would write The Time Machine. But what if H.G. Wells' invention wasn't fiction? And what if Jack the Ripper escaped capture fleeing his own time to take refuge in ours - with Wells himself in pursuit?.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, clever, psychotronic, psychological, retro, mind bending, psychedelic, offbeat, mysterious, surreal
Similar in 75%
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Plot Summary:
The final installment of the Back to the Future trilogy finds Marty digging the trusty DeLorean out of a mineshaft and looking for Doc in the Wild West of 1885. But when their time machine breaks down, the travelers are stranded in a land of spurs. More problems arise when Doc falls for pretty schoolteacher Clara Clayton, and Marty tangles with Buford Tannen.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 473000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: light, futuristic, sentimental, not serious, entertaining, saga, humorous, cult classic, exciting, epic
Similar in 78%
Groundhog Day (1993)
Plot Summary:
A narcissistic TV weatherman, along with his attractive-but-distant producer and mawkish cameraman, is sent to report on Groundhog Day in the small town of Punxsutawney, where he finds himself repeating the same day over and over.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 670000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: feel good, philosophical, romantic, humorous, sentimental, hilarious, surreal, clever, funny, sweet
Similar in 81%
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Plot Summary:
Major Bill Cage is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously demoted and dropped into combat. Cage is killed within minutes, managing to take an alpha alien down with him. He awakens back at the beginning of the same day and is forced to fight and die again... and again - as physical contact with the alien has thrown him into a time loop.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 721000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: futuristic, mind bending, exciting, heroic, clever, captivating, suspenseful, intense, entertaining, smart
Similar in 84%
Jumanji (1995)
Plot Summary:
When siblings Judy and Peter discover an enchanted board game that opens the door to a magical world, they unwittingly invite Alan -- an adult who's been trapped inside the game for 26 years -- into their living room. Alan's only hope for freedom is to finish the game, which proves risky as all three find themselves running from giant rhinoceroses, evil monkeys and other terrifying creatures.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 369000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: entertaining, exciting, offbeat, light, humorous, fairy tale, funny, feel good, epic, atmospheric
Similar in 77%
Interstellar (2014)
Plot Summary:
Interstellar chronicles the adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 20000000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, UK, Canada
Duration: 169 min
Plot tags: futuristic, mind bending, cerebral, philosophical, thought provoking, clever, atmospheric, breathtaking, serious, epic