# Time travel, forward to the Present **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 12, 2016, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297 "2016-10-12T00:50:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297/1 "2016-10-12T00:50:55Z")
In fiction, people from the Present often travel to the Past. People from the Future often travel to the Present. Either way, the time-travelers get to show off their superior knowledge and technology (and often get shown up by the people from the Past/Present). Are there any works (especially films) where a person/people from the Past come to the Future? That is to say: The work is written in the present day, and someone from the Past visits the Present. This is different from H.G. Wells’s _The Time Machine_, which was written ‘in the Past’ (if you catch my drift) and has events in the Present (and beyond). In other words, it’s the same as someone writing a novel or making a film in 2016, and setting it in the Future. What I’m getting at is, in a film made this year, say someone from 1860 gets zapped into 2016. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297/2 "2016-10-12T00:54:06Z")
[Time after time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_After_Time_(1979_film)) > [@](#): > > H. G. Wells and his fictional use of a time machine to pursue Jack the Ripper into the 20th century. It was made in 1979, but that was the present that they zapped to. Good movie. I just rewatched it not too many months ago and it holds up well from when I saw it as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297/3 "2016-10-12T00:58:28Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > [Time after time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_After_Time_(1979_film)) I’d forgotten about that one! ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297/4 "2016-10-12T01:21:50Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > [Time after time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_After_Time_(1979_film)) > > It was made in 1979, but that was the present that they zapped to. > > Good movie. I just rewatched it not too many months ago and it holds up well from when I saw it as a kid. Mary Steenburgen shines in that picture. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297/5 "2016-10-12T01:29:03Z")
Isaac Asimov once wrote a story where Shakespeare was brought forward in time and took a class discussing his works. He failed. OTOH, the Doctor brought Vincent van Gogh to the present so he could see how he was regarded. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297/6 "2016-10-12T01:53:57Z")
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure Journeyman (13-episode TV series; one character travels forward in time, the other travels back, they meet up in the 80’s). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297/7 "2016-10-12T02:18:03Z")
Rip Van Winkle. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297/8 "2016-10-12T02:29:51Z")
Close Encounters of the Third Kind. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297/9 "2016-10-12T02:39:03Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Isaac Asimov once wrote a story where Shakespeare was brought forward in time and took a class discussing his works. He failed… _The Twilight Zone_ did something similar - and with Burt Reynolds in the cast, no less!: [The Bard (The Twilight Zone) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bard_(The_Twilight_Zone)) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297/10 "2016-10-12T02:45:05Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > _The Twilight Zone_ Aha! In addition to _The Bard_, TZ also had [_A Hundred Years Over The Rim_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hundred_Yards_Over_the_Rim). > [@](#): > > In the year 1847, Chris Horn is one of the leaders of a small wagon train from Ohio attempting to reach California… > > Horn crosses over a high, sandy hill rim and suddenly finds himself in New Mexico, in 1961. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297/11 "2016-10-12T02:59:04Z")
There’s also the TZ episode [The Last Flight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Flight_(The_Twilight_Zone)), about a WWI pilot transported to the present. And the episode about a criminal brought to the present at the moment of his hanging. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297/12 "2016-10-12T03:34:37Z")
Asimov’s [_The Ugly Little Boy_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ugly_Little_Boy) involved a Neanderthal boy brought to the present (or 1958 at the time). ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297/13 "2016-10-12T04:11:43Z")
Marvel Comics did a cute bit where Conan the Barbarian, and Red Sonja of Hyrkania, came forward to the 20th century. Teamed up with Spider-Man. (Not sure this actually counts, because they didn’t come forward to “the real world,” but to the Marvel Universe.) Anyway, charming bit of writing! ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297/14 "2016-10-12T04:23:49Z")
[Iceman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceman_(1984_film)) - John Lone as a prehistoric man revived in modern(ish) times. Struck a chord with me when I was a youngster. (In the ice ages, I mean.) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297/15 "2016-10-12T05:52:01Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > [Time after time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_After_Time_(1979_film)) > > - H. G. Wells and his fictional use of a time machine to pursue Jack the Ripper into the 20th century. \* > > It was made in 1979, but that was the present that they zapped to. Yeah, I’ve seen a few different works of fiction where HG Wells travels to the present day. He was a recurring character in the Dean Cain version of Superman. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297/16 "2016-10-12T06:11:03Z")
If waking from suspended animation counts, there’s - [Adam Adamant Lives](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Adamant_Lives!). - [Captain Caveman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Caveman_and_the_Teen_Angels). - [1994 Baker Street: Sherlock Holmes Returns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Baker_Street:_Sherlock_Holmes_Returns). - Austin Powers. - Captain America. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297/17 "2016-10-12T06:41:50Z")
Ugh, I loathe myself for remembering of its existence, BUT… Encino man ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297/18 "2016-10-12T08:46:25Z")
The first thing I thought of was [_Catweazle_,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catweazle) in which an 11th century wizard accidentally travels to (then present-day) 1969. There’s also the French film [_Les Visiteurs_,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Visiteurs) which is similar, but involving a French knight. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297/19 "2016-10-12T08:56:46Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > There’s also the TZ episode [The Last Flight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Flight_(The_Twilight_Zone)), about a WWI pilot transported to the present. Which of course reminds me of Captain America / The Avengers \ More seriously, ISTM a lot of the past-to-the-present “time travel” stories will be some kind of suspended animation. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-forward-to-the-present/768297/20 "2016-10-12T09:28:51Z")
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