Only 3 Time Travel Movies Are Better Than 'Back to the Future'

Saying that Robert Zemeckis' Back to the Futureis the single most iconic time travel movie in the history of this sci-fi subgenre is by no means an exaggeration—and though its sequels never quite lived up to the same level of quality, it is nevertheless one of those movie trilogies always worth rewatching from start to finish. The time travel genre is typically problematic, since making stories built on the foundation of a concept that's so inherently mind-boggling and so conceptually twisty is never an easy task. Back in 1980, however, long-time collaborators Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckisreally wanted to get a time travel movie off the ground, but they were unable to find a satisfying narrative. They began sketching idea after idea, slowly coming up with the many visual elements, narrative tropes, and running gags that would soon make the film an '80s classic. The film was repeatedly rejected and bounced around between Hollywood studios all throughout the early '80s, and it wouldn't be until the tremendous success of Romancing the Stone elevated Zemeckis' credibility that Back to the Future would finally start materializing.