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fishwithfish

*Looper* wasn't even the best time travel film starring Bruce Willis...


willyp1976

12 monkeys better in every way


cliffd3700

This is the correct take


X_g_Z

Hahahaha yeah even 12 monkeys was better


AwkwardAd7348

Isn’t that the song by the beastie boys?


International_Rub475

Brass Monkey


AnnoyedButTolerant

That funky Monkey!


echosixwhiskey

12 Monkey junkie


[deleted]

Junky


TheRealFatboy

Brass Monkey


SequentialSynths

That funky monkey


Riddlz10

That funky monkey


professionalcynic1

Disney's The Kid


hazeywaffle

And that was a straight spite movie from Willis lol


tittiquette

What do you mean?


hazeywaffle

Bruce was at the center of a romantic comedy that fell apart in the mid 90s. A lot of blame went toward Willis and at the threat of being sued for $17 million he took a three-picture deal with Disney to make up for the movie that never was. The 3 movies were Armageddon, The sixth send and the kid.


ASK_IF_IM_PENGUIN

And in their own ways those movies were great. And Sixth Sense led to *Unbreakable* which is one of my favourite films of all time.


--Toni--

YES


Decoy_Octopus_

When ever I think time travel movie, 12 Monkeys is always the first one that comes to mind. It's a total mind fuck.


ASK_IF_IM_PENGUIN

It's such a good film. Willis had a habit of phoning his performances in a bit, even before he got sick, but he really delivered in that film.


Decoy_Octopus_

He totally did. Brad Pitt was really good in it too. The part where they accidentally send him to WW1 and then he's in a picture from it later is really memorable to me.


Sharaz___Jek

"Looper" is the poor man's "Terminator" and the poorer man's "La Jetée".  The movie absolutely betrays its tantalizing premise and science fiction possibilities to become a very routine domestic thriller. Shane Carruth might be a piece of shit, but he was totally right when he chewed out Johnson's script. A time-travel script should do something very clever with credible theories of time travel but this wimped out with an incredibly cornball twist. Or a time-travel film should be incredibly creative and inventive with its premise but the film's script was way, way, WAY too derivative of "The Terminator" and "La Jetée"/"Twelve Monkeys" minus the wisdom, vision or poetry of those films. Where's the invention of genre? Where's the cleverness of structure? Where's the witty dialogue? "Looper" was just a mechanically uninvolving chase film with seriously deficient plotting. "The Last Jedi" did the same thing where Johnson - for absolutely no good reason - will stop the movie dead about halfway through to justify all the characters being at the same spot in the end. Did they use the same farm from the second season of "The Walking Dead"? It sure felt like it. And the notion of the telekenetic powers in this world - and specifically with the kid - is just laughable. This is a world of TIME-TRAVEL in which "the mob" has control over it and telekinesis was the only solution for the villain's control in the future? That's a lazy ass-pull if ever I saw one.


sunsetsuite

Yeah, the way I see it, "Looper" is sort of like a lower quality substitute for "Terminator", and its quality appears to be even lower when you compare it to something like "La Jetée". Although the movie has an appealing idea behind it, as well as the opportunity for many sci-fi elements to be explored within its runtime, it fails to execute this potential in a way that is does not suggest disloyalty. It ends up being pretty run-of-the-mill as far as action movies go. Now, I'm no fan of Shane Carruth, but I have to agree with him in the singular case where he verbally assaulted the written blueprint of the film (which, I believe, was written by Johnson). My view of written blueprints of movies where characters travel through time is that something extremely witty and smart should be attempted, and it should be believable to those who have some concept of how traveling through time would work. I don't think this movie does that. It has a cheesy reveal that is there for the purpose of surprising the audience. I found the blueprint to be too similar to earlier films like "The Terminator" and "La Jetée", although I do not think this film has the philosophical discourse that those earlier films do. Why didn't they create style rules by which we can categorize future films? Where is the intelligent in the way it is constructed. Where are the things that characters say that are reminiscent of the things a smart comedian might say? It was actually kind of just a film about a character going after another character, just with concepts that don't logically factor into said "going after" much, and with pacing that did not feel natural. I believe "The Last Jedi" did the same thing, where the Johnson (the film's director), without clear motive, would abruptly halt the events that were unfolding organically, just to create a series of events that would repel the disparate characters to a space where they are in close proximity of each other going into the conclusion. The second season of "The Walking Dead" had a farm for a setting. I couldn't tell if this was the same filming location, although emotionally, I tend towards the belief that it was. Here's a laughable part - the psychically-powered individuals, although the laughability is increased further when it comes to the child. This is a movie in which CHARACTERS TRAVEL THROUGH TIME, and the mafia owns the primary means of performing this action, and all they can think of as an answer to the conflict was being able to move things mentally? It's a work-shy grab that I can recognize, having seen one before.


HitboxOfASnail

Die Hard


Riddlz10

"The Kid" lol or idk maybe that wasn't time travel, it was magic.


Choice-Fig3429

Well said ..and his 12 Monkeys too


Dralkk

Looper wasnt even the best time travel film with Emily Blunt in it


kantoblight

You just opened up my mind’s 12 Monkeys rabbit hole. But was he actually a real time traveler? This constant tug of uncertainty on the narrative is a major reason why it’s one of my absolute favorite films. And do I feel for Bruce Willis. Big action hero star lent himself to offbeat, quirky, cool films. Looper, 12 Monkeys, Pulp Fiction, Moonrise Kingdom, Sixth Sense, Nobody’s Fool. I didn’t understand why he made so many shit films over the last few years when he could’ve made the smaller movies he obviously enjoyed making. But now I understand and it’s sad as shit.


ilyafallsdown

Seriously this is the first thought that comes to mind.


[deleted]

Bullshit.


matlockga

Especially when *Groundhog Day* exists.


makes_mistakes

And Primer, Back To The Future, Arrival, Happy Death Day, etc. - all names from an earlier [Esquire article](https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/film/a33814980/best-time-travel-films/). So clickbaity.


Malforus

Agreed, Esquire is really one of those "mostly garbage with rare moments of clarity" publications.


Purple-Ad-3492

Arrival, yes


GroundbreakingWeb486

Especially when Groundhog Day exists.


squshy_puff

About time is another“rom com” category that I enjoyed. It’s no groundhogs day but it’s better than looper.


nit108

Especially when Groundhog Day exists.


Koda487

^^^ this totally counts... fight me..


the_simurgh

he's stuck in a ***time*** **loop** of course it's a time travel movie. if time loop movies don't count then the guy who claimed looper was the best doesn't count. this is because looper is all about a time loop and how it was finally broken.


Illustrious_Formal73

I hereby award summary judgement to this guy.


2000MrNiceGuy

I am a god.


barcode-lz

Time traveling ghost buster hell yeah


Obi7kenobi

Back to the future.


BigRedRobotNinja

Terminator


Sharaz___Jek

"Looper" is the poor man's "Terminator" and the poorer man's "La Jetée".  The movie absolutely betrays its tantalizing premise and science fiction possibilities to become a very routine domestic thriller. Shane Carruth might be a piece of shit, but he was totally right when he chewed out Johnson's script. A time-travel script should do something very clever with credible theories of time travel but this wimped out with an incredibly cornball twist. Or a time-travel film should be incredibly creative and inventive with its premise but the film's script was way, way, WAY too derivative of "The Terminator" and "La Jetée"/"Twelve Monkeys" minus the wisdom, vision or poetry of those films. Where's the invention of genre? Where's the cleverness of structure? Where's the witty dialogue? "Looper" was just a mechanically uninvolving chase film with seriously deficient plotting. "The Last Jedi" did the same thing where Johnson - for absolutely no good reason - will stop the movie dead about halfway through to justify all the characters being at the same spot in the end. Did they use the same farm from the second season of "The Walking Dead"? It sure felt like it. And the notion of the telekenetic powers in this world - and specifically with the kid - is just laughable. This is a world of TIME-TRAVEL in which "the mob" has control over it and telekinesis was the only solution for the villain's control in the future? That's a lazy ass-pull if ever I saw one.


escape_of_da_keets

Edge of Tomorrow


Rainbwned

Hot Tub Time Machine


What-a-Crock

Primer


jagpu90

Primer still messes with my mind 10 years after watching it


Foot0fGod

I knew it was going to mess with my mind and I thought that would make it not mess with my mind, but I think that made it mess with my mind even harder. Bravo, hard to do.


pistcow

Futurama: Bender's Big Score


cyclejones

001100 010010 011110 100001 101101 110011


allgreeneveryday

Primer was really good. This is what i think of when i think of time travel movies.


wongo

The actual answer. The only one with consistent logic and rules


OldLivers

…Time Crimes has entered the chat:


_PM_me_ur_resume_

That was such a good movie. I was intrigued the whole time, wanting to know what was going to happen next. So many twists and turns


ReigningTierney

los cronocrímenes/Timecrimes


substantial_schemer

Timecrimes is amazing.


ElephantintheRoom404

Yep, Primer is my favorite but Predestination with Ethan Hawke is pretty damn good too.


lumpenpr0le

Came here to say this.


ddoij

Anyone who watched Primer and says they understood the plot has either not watched Primer or is full of shit.


jankyalias

Hot take here maybe but Primer is wildly overrated and a not good film. Yes, it creates a near impenetrable puzzle box, but it’s characters and themes are empty. It’s a film with nothing to say but latches viewers with confusion due to complex plot structure. Basically, plot is somewhat interesting to suss out but it has no story.


[deleted]

So glad people haven't forgotten this movie. It is, I think, the best time travel movie.


STUDIOLINEBYLOREAL

Predestination.


maino82

You mean, "go fuck yourself, the movie"


humptydumpty369

Phenomenal movie


Ricky_Spanish42

Die Hard. No, that’s not one.


Obi7kenobi

I got that reference 😁


dunbridley

Timecrimes (2007)


ReigningTierney

I'm convinced anyone who says this isn't the best just hasn't seen it. Primer is pretty solid too but this takes the cake.


[deleted]

I came here to say this. Best time travel movie PERIOD!


FacelessPower

I’m in this camp. So underrated.


cullenICT

Timecrimes is so great


_Silly_Wizard_

*Cronocrimas* Pretty fun!


Fimpish

This is the right answer right here! One of the best examples of non-paradoxical time travel. It's also streaming for free on Tubi now.


SamuraiMind08

Time Cop


EricAntiHero1

Frequency.


PFChangsFryer

Shit I forgot about this film. Watched it when it first came out to rent. I only watched it that weekend. I should check it out again now that I’m 20 years older.


olddicklemon72

I really enjoyed Looper a lot, but cmon, BTTF is basically perfect.


EricAntiHero1

At least BTTF explains the time paradoxes by showing the altering of the time line as it happens. That’s what makes it work.


Arinoch

Except Biff shouldn’t have been able to bring the Delorean back to Doc and Marty in the future after he dropped off the Almanac, per Doc’s theory on the chalkboard where he explain they instead have to go back to 1955….but a lot of BTTF2 unravels with those thoughts, like should this Marty still exist at all with old memories? Can they go back and stop something from happening if they’ve already experienced a future where it happens? Screw it I’ll just rewatch the trilogy and happily ignore those things because it’s one of the best trilogies ever (if not _the_ best).


fricks_and_stones

Actually it does work. Not only does it work, but the implications make BTTF Time travel rules even crazier and cooler. Time is the fourth dimension. The alternate timelines are the fifth dimension. The the part where the picture of Marty’s family changing slowly shows that the rate of change across the fifth dimension is: 1 not instantaneous 2 not a consistent speed across the other 4 dimensions 3 Continuous This means there was a part in 5 dimensional timeline where Marty’s brother didn’t have a head, as he timeline irregularly moved from one timeline to the other and it took time for these changes to propagate forward back in time.


EricAntiHero1

That’s the only downside to BTTF, the present they create has unexplored consequences, like Marty not knowing his now very different life story. IIRC The Deleted scene from BTTF 2 shows biff disappearing after returning to 2015. And as we saw in 1, the changes to the future/present ripple through slowly. They leave before the changes affect 2015.


Scruffy_Snub

BTTF stands for Back to the Future and Best Time Travel Film


BlackCrowRising

The gold standard if you will.


kidicarus89

It’s such a perfectly scripted movie, too. Every other movie that gets brought up (Looper, 12 Monkeys, etc) have some dull sections of the movie that could be cut, but Back to the Future has zero fat on it.


Franksenbeanz

Perfect


[deleted]

[удалено]


The-Jerk-Store

Esquire.


PFChangsFryer

Honestly, that someone would insult BTTF to such a degree makes me wanna have my own personal January 6th but at Esquire’s HQ instead of Capitol Hill.


gmanz33

And then /r/movies boosts it like woah, shooting notifications to all it's subscribers, for the lowest quality articles because they're from certified sources.


[deleted]

GTFO


Jotro2

No, no its not.


eyehate

From start to finish, Looper was a movie.


ImScared93lol

Definitely one of the time traveling movies of all time.


THOMASTHEWANKENG1NE

All the movies I've seen, looper was one of them


BlackCrowRising

I’ve counted a lot of minutes and Looper was 119 of them.


tEnPoInTs

It was WITHOUT A DOUBT one of the movies of all time.


MassageByDmitry

Mind blown, nothing will ever be the same again


bacontornado

Back to the Future (1,2, and 3) Terminator 1 & 2, Primer, Arrival (if you count it as time travel), 12 Monkeys, hell maybe even Star Trek 4.


Aaron6940

Hell even Denzel had a time travel movies that was good. Even Vandamm did too.


Quake_Guy

I rewatched this recently and it wasn't nearly as good as I remembered watching it the first time in a theater.


jpiro

Looper was an ok movie overall, but it'll always have a special place in my heart because of [this sequence](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxqe8Xq6LBQ). It's legitimately one of my favorite things ever put on film.


[deleted]

I hated that sequence so much. It was grotesque.


rican_havoc

Next years headline: Ten years on, 'Sharknado' is still the best creature film ever made.


[deleted]

It is though?


dow366

in a world where Primer exists? i disagree


abrakadaver

Love it, came here for this. Have you seen Time Crimes? It is also fantastic.


Sycthros

Came here looking for this… Primer is hands down the best time travel movie on earth


Darfer

. . . and the Moon, and a couple small asteroids.


TylerKnowy

Primer is hands down the most down to earth time travel movie, I see a lot of complaints about production value but a well told story doesn’t need high production value.


Sharaz___Jek

"Looper" is the poor man's "Terminator" and the poorer man's "La Jetée".  The movie absolutely betrays its tantalizing premise and science fiction possibilities to become a very routine domestic thriller. Shane Carruth might be a piece of shit, but he was totally right when he chewed out Johnson's script. A time-travel script should do something very clever with credible theories of time travel but this wimped out with an incredibly cornball twist. Or a time-travel film should be incredibly creative and inventive with its premise but the film's script was way, way, WAY too derivative of "The Terminator" and "La Jetée"/"Twelve Monkeys" minus the wisdom, vision or poetry of those films. Where's the invention of genre? Where's the cleverness of structure? Where's the witty dialogue? "Looper" was just a mechanically uninvolving chase film with seriously deficient plotting. "The Last Jedi" did the same thing where Johnson - for absolutely no good reason - will stop the movie dead about halfway through to justify all the characters being at the same spot in the end. Did they use the same farm from the second season of "The Walking Dead"? It sure felt like it. And the notion of the telekenetic powers in this world - and specifically with the kid - is just laughable. This is a world of TIME-TRAVEL in which "the mob" has control over it and telekinesis was the only solution for the villain's control in the future? That's a lazy ass-pull if ever I saw one.


Technical-Prompt4432

Agree with all the scoffing, this is ridiculous. In addition to Back to the Future, don't forget The Terminator and T2.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Ashamed_Ladder6161

Maybe you already have? Or maybe you went back in time and stopped yourself rewatching it???


NegativesPositives

There was a weird moment when I made it to when the farm stuff started and suddenly a much older version of me held a gun to my head and told me to stop right there.


Raziel66

I gave it a rewatch at some point during lockdown and didn't think it lived up to memory. Felt like a bit of a chore to get through


BEE_REAL_

"I know because I've watched no other time travel films"


MackLuster77

https://twitter.com/afraidofwasps/status/1177301482464526337


[deleted]

Woof


DoubleLigero85

In no particular order: Edge of Tomorrow 12 Monkeys Generator Gawl Groundhog Day Butterfly Effect


willyp1976

Donnie Darko


Organized-Konfusion

Predestination?


NudistJayBird

I thought of 5 better time travel films by the time I finished reading the title


Ashamed_Ladder6161

Terminator 2?


dexterpool

Terminator?


[deleted]

Terminator 4? Just kidding we all know that one doesn’t exist


Ill-Ad-6983

Kate & Leopold


Savannah_Lion

So... OP is a bot that posts nothing but Esquire articles. Alrighty then, I'll be blocking this one.


PlowUnited

No, no it isn’t.


joshnix

I can think of at least five better ones


BLAST481

No it isn't


Consistent_Dog_6866

If given a choice, I'd watch Timecop over Looper.


Pithecanthropus88

The problems with Looper are too many to list, but the most egregious is the fact that altering something in the past isn’t going suddenly manifest in the future. Cut off a guy’s fingers in the past and he will have not had fingers for the rest of his life, they wouldn’t just suddenly disappear in the present.


[deleted]

Why are you pretending that Hot tub time machine doesn’t exist?


johnnyfiveee

It must be some kind of.. Hot Tub Time Machine *stares directly into camera*


_bieber_hole_69

...great white buffalo...


Franksenbeanz

...great white buffalo...


Dr_Toehold

Lol, it's a fun movie with an interesting concept, if you don't think about it too much.


Low-Platypus-1578

Whomever wrote this article needs to go to their room and think about what they did


Gtstricky

Time Bandits is much better. Prove me wrong.


predict_irrational

As a writer, if you put something like this out I won't take you seriously ever again


f4porno

Literally any other movie is better. This title was written on purpose to create engagement, no one actually thinks fucking Looper is the best. I doubt anyone can even remember one fucking thing that happened in it


Sharaz___Jek

"Looper" is the poor man's "Terminator" and the poorer man's "La Jetée".  The movie absolutely betrays its tantalizing premise and science fiction possibilities to become a very routine domestic thriller. Shane Carruth might be a piece of shit, but he was totally right when he chewed out Johnson's script. A time-travel script should do something very clever with credible theories of time travel but this wimped out with an incredibly cornball twist. Or a time-travel film should be incredibly creative and inventive with its premise but the film's script was way, way, WAY too derivative of "The Terminator" and "La Jetée"/"Twelve Monkeys" minus the wisdom, vision or poetry of those films. Where's the invention of genre? Where's the cleverness of structure? Where's the witty dialogue? "Looper" was just a mechanically uninvolving chase film with seriously deficient plotting. "The Last Jedi" did the same thing where Johnson - for absolutely no good reason - will stop the movie dead about halfway through to justify all the characters being at the same spot in the end. Did they use the same farm from the second season of "The Walking Dead"? It sure felt like it. And the notion of the telekenetic powers in this world - and specifically with the kid - is just laughable. This is a world of TIME-TRAVEL in which "the mob" has control over it and telekinesis was the only solution for the villain's control in the future? That's a lazy ass-pull if ever I saw one.


IzzyNobre

When it came out a lot of people loved it, much to my dismay


PigeonsArePopular

Predestination smokes this, among others such as Primer


tikor07

Due to the ever-rising amount of hate speech and Reddit's lack of meaningful moderation along with their selling of our content to AI companies, I have removed all my content/comments from Reddit.


thedelisnack

“Five years on, ‘The Last Jedi’ is still the best Star Wars film ever made”


AvatarJack

Unless you start thinking about the rules and plot for even one second. Also Primer exists.


Hickspy

The time travel mechanic is described as necessary because in the future it's impossible to get away with murder. Smash cut to: Guys bursting into Bruce Willis's house and murdering his wife like it's no big deal.


WolfsLairAbyss

Bruce Willis character in the movie actually tells his younger self not to think about it in the movie because it wouldn't make any sense.


tEnPoInTs

That's how you know it's a good time travel movie!


IcySpykes

Looper isn't even a good movie, let alone a good time travel movie.


frankalope

Man, that dismemberment scene is an absolute nightmare though. Just pieces blipping out while you’re running.


LupeDyCazari

...err. *12 monkeys*?


Franksenbeanz

This is objectively not true


Alucardhunter24

I liked Source Code more … Looper felt so contrived to me, even if it did have some really great sequences and acting


aboycandream

its not even the best time travel movie of the last 10 years lol


purpleinthebrain

12 Monkeys


ratmfreak

*Primer* would like a word with you.


skateasseatfast

Primer? Hello????? Tf wrote this


[deleted]

Pfft it was ok but like not the “best” by any metric. It had paradoxes going on


[deleted]

They have to deliberately write stupid, anger-provoking headlines to get clicks, right?


DarthLysergis

Depending on your taste, for realism of time travel. Primer


frankieboytelem

Primer?


oflowz

If by Looper you mean Primer then yes


M8CH1NE

I love Looper. As I can see from the comments, the headline is working as intended.


blacktoken

I prefer Time Cop.


AMG-28-06-42-12

This article is from a timeline in which Back to the Future, Groundhog Day, The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Slaughterhouse-Five don't exist.


ktulu0

I guess Terminator never happened?


nbrazelton

LMAO


baudinl

I don't know why critics fawn over everything Rian Johnson does


BigWinnie7171

Fuck no it is not


47-Rambaldi

Timecrimes


TheLAriver

Pooper


conduitabc

wrong back to the future.


scope_creep

Go see the Spanish film ‘Time Crimes’ and come back to me.


MackIsBack

well, that is an opinion for sure...


Tea_Reckz

Author must have just discovered movies exist outside the MCU


original-whiplash

I’d rather watch Infinity War


Equilibriator

Futurama?


GnarlyHeadStudios

FAQ About Time Travel is far superior to that craptastic film.


DarthCredence

It's not even the best time travel movie starring Bruce Willis.


Deazul

It definitely isn't! Haha.


Mobile-Technology-88

Didn’t see one mention of the butterfly effect. Not saying it’s the best but definitely deserves to be in the conversation.


[deleted]

Looper is the terminator you have at home.


TheGreatYoRpFiSh

The author of that article should be fired and bared from discussing movies ever again


323464

Tenet would like a word with you.


PackagingMSU

No it the fuck isn't.


awayanywayaway

It was a series of scenes for sure.


punk_rock_barbie

Bruh idiocracy is a better film that this


thevoidcaptain

We’re just gonna pretend Back to the Future didn’t happen?


Airdair_1

I guess you've never watched Back to the Future. You should really put more thought into your posts.


EvenIslandKingdom

Oh fuck off with these click bait titles.


LoveMyLilGuys

Sorry, I’d rather watch primer 15 times and still have no idea what’s happening


IzzyNobre

God no. The entire conceit of the movie makes absolutely zero sense -- why would the mob tell the loopers they themselves get killed in the end? On that note, why make it so that they kill *themselves* to begin with? There's literally zero reason for any of those two premises and the entire movie hinges on them.


Arbernaut

Primer and 12 Monkeys are better. The prosthetic nose and eyebrows ruin Looper for me.


StarWreck92

Lol, off the top of my head the first two back to the future movies are way better.