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It has been 33 years since one of the best fantasy movies started a trend that has moved into both sci-fi and horror genres since that time. When it comes to fantasy movies, there is oftentimes a crossover with the sci-fi genre, and this is no more apparent than in the fantasy film Groundhog Day. Released on February 12, 1993, the movie stars Bill Murray as a cynical weatherman in Pittsburgh who is covering the Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, but ends up in a situation he never expected. He ends up waking up the next day only to find out that he is repeating the same day over again, and this continues on until he can figure out how to get back to normal.
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The time loop movie is mostly used in the sci-fi genre, but this Harold Ramis (Ghostbusters) movie takes the idea and uses it as a grand fantasy. There is nothing here that has anything to do with sci-fi, and it is all about Bill Murray’s Phil Connors figuring out what it is about his life that won’t let him move forward and continue living. There is nothing here that cares about how the time loop is happening, but it is about why, and the only way to fix it is for Phil to fix his own life.
Groundhog Day remains one of the most beloved and rewatchable time loop movies ever made. A big reason why it remains so popular 33 years after its release is that it isn’t sci-fi, and it doesn’t require anyone to figure out why this is happening, which often comes with plot holes surrounding the science. Instead, this is just a heartwarming romantic comedy about a guy who just needs to become a better person. The time loop is simply a narrative device. Despite this, it is responsible for a sci-fi and horror genre that has exploded in the years since Groundhog Day debuted.
The Best Time Loop Movies Owe Everything to Groundhog Day
While time loop movies didn’t start with Groundhog Day, it is that Bill Murray comedy that made them popular. A year before Groundhog Day even came out, an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called “Cause and Effect” used the sci-fi technique. That said, when people think about time loop movies now, they think of Groundhog Day, even though the majority of the genre is now in the sci-fi and horror genres.
Looking at the sci-fi genre, there are some incredibly complex time loop movies, with Timecrimes in 2007 as a perfect example. In this movie, a masked man attacks someone, only for the person to learn they are stuck in a time loop for a predetermined reason. This is where the science is the main point. One of the hardest to understand sci-fi movies ever made, Primer also introduces time loops, and that remains a brain-spinning storyline to follow.
The time loop movies also moved over to horror, with Happy Death Day one of the most popular. Like Groundhog Day, this isn’t about the science behind it, but instead is about a young woman figuring out who keeps killing her in each time loop to break the cycle. There was even another romantic comedy that people sadly called a “Groundhog Day ripoff,” called Palm Springs, that had the twist that one of the people knew it was a time loop and didn’t want out. While Groundhog Day wasn’t the first time loop story in movies or TV, it is the one that helped ensure that the trope remained popular in the decades since its release.
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