The Butterfly Effect, 2004, Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart
The Butterfly Effect is a 2004 American fantasy/drama movie starring Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Eric Stoltz, and others, distributed by New Line Cinema. The title is a reference to the butterfly effect, which theorises that something seemingly innocuous, such as a butterfly's wings, may be the catalyst for something larger, such as a tornado. The Butterfly Effect is directed and written by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber.
The movie was followed by a largely unrelated direct-to-DVD sequel, The Butterfly Effect 2.
Ashton Kutcher and others have stated that this movie is a combination of two classics: Back to the Future (time travel elements) and Jacob's Ladder (mind vs. reality).
This is among many other recent movies such as Abre los Ojos, The Sixth Sense, Fight Club, Donnie Darko, Final Destination, Minority Report, The i Inside, and I ♥ Huckabees, with an existentialist theme.
In addition, the plot is somewhat similar to that of the films Frequency, Run Lola Run, and Mr. Destiny. Also; the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Tapestry", the The Fairly OddParents episode "Father Time", and a Danny Phantom episode "Masters of All Time", as well as any number of other films and television series episodes on the theme of "remaking" one's own life, or at least visiting a timeline in which one had made one critically different choice. A similar theme involves timelines in which, as in It's a Wonderful Life, one doesn't exist at all.
Another similarity is with the film and book Slaughterhouse-Five. When Evan goes back in time he is in his younger self's body and there are not two versions of himself running around. Most other time traveling films, besides The Butterfly Effect and Slaughterhouse-Five, use the latter time travelling method.Wikipedia
