The Most Underrated Time Travel Movies of the 1980s, Ranked

10. The Final Countdown (1980)
USS Nimitz, a modern aircraft carrier, encounters a storm and—voila!—ends up on the brink of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Decisions, decisions! Should they prevent the attack or let history play out?

Dramatic jet flights, vintage warplanes, and whatnot. An age-old question wrapped up in military might: can, or should, history be changed?

9. Time Bandits (1981)
From the wild mind of Terry Gilliam, ever thought of time-traveling dwarves? These pint-sized mischief-makers have a stolen map, showcasing holes in the fabric of time.

And off they go! They drag a young kid, Kevin, through Napoleon's conquests, onto the Titanic, and even to Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest.

Beware: the Evil Genius wants that map, and he's relentless. It's zany, it's chaotic, and it's... Gilliam, as good as it gets.

8. Millennium (1989)
Commercial airliners mysteriously crash, and investigators are baffled. But why? Roll in time-traveling humans from the future, who're snatching passengers right before the crash. Sounds grisly, right? But, it's to repopulate a doomed Earth.

Drama ensues as an investigator falls for a futuristic woman. Romance in a backdrop of time paradoxes—what more can we all ask for?

7. My Science Project (1985)
Old, abandoned military bases. There's always something lurking. A high-schooler stumbles upon a forgotten device, which, no surprise, is a time machine.

Unleashing it sets off time loops, historic figures pop up in school hallways, and things go haywire. Dinosaurs in class? Check. Historical warriors in the gym? Double-check. Just another day at school, anyone?

6. Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
Fainting at a high school reunion can have unexpected consequences—like time-traveling back to school days. Peggy Sue relives her teenage years, meets her future husband (again), and navigates the complexities of love and life.

What would you change if you had a do-over? Love, nostalgia, and a whole lot of 80s spirit.

5. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Beam me up, Scotty! But this time, to... 1986? Earth's in peril (again), thanks to an alien probe causing havoc. Kirk and crew trace its mysterious signals back to – wait for it – humpback whales.

The hiccup? They're extinct in the 23rd century. Solution: time travel to 20th-century San Francisco, save some whales, and bring them to the future. Amidst the gripping spacescapes, there's a humorous cultural clash. Phasers, whales, and '80s vibes, it's an unexpected blend, but oh does it work!

4. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
Two Californian teens, Bill and Ted, are about to fail their high school history class. Enter a futuristic guide with a time-traveling phone booth (No, not the TARDIS). The mission? Collect historical figures for a presentation.

Napoleon wreaking havoc at a waterpark, Lincoln giving speeches at the mall, and Beethoven jamming on electric keyboards? As Bill and Ted would say: "Excellent!" But underneath the hijinks is a ticking clock. Can they finish their report and secure a future where they're rock n' roll legends?

3. Time After Time (1979)
What if famed writer H.G. Wells, instead of just writing about time machines, actually created one? And what if Jack the Ripper stole it, escaping to 1979 San Francisco? Wells pursues, two men out of time, one trying to adapt, the other continuing his murderous spree.

It's a cat-and-mouse chase, historical figures in the disco era, where Wells not only has to stop a killer but also grapple with a future that's seemingly straight out of his dystopian tales.

2. Somewhere in Time (1980)
Christopher Reeve is not Superman in this one. He plays Richard Collier, a playwright who becomes smitten with a portrait of a bygone actress, Elise McKenna (Jane Seymour).

Relying on the power of hypnosis and deep, deep yearning (and a vintage penny, crucially), Richard transports himself back to 1912. There, he begins a passionate romance with Elise. But, the past's grasp is fragile. The tale spirals into a haunting meditation on love, fate, and time's inexorable pull.

1. The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)
The year's 1943, and the U.S. Navy is conducting a secret experiment to make a warship invisible. But something goes haywire. Two sailors find themselves thrust 40 years into the future, to 1984. As they grapple with an alien world of neon lights, arcade games, and strange fashion, there's a bigger problem.

The experiment's side effects are tearing apart the fabric of time itself. David and Jim must return to their original era to fix things, but government agents, temporal glitches, and their own disorientation stand in the way.