In 1939, after losing his love, a test pilot volunteers for a cryogenics experiment and is “thawed out” 50 years later. A surprise sleeper hit when released in 1992, this romantic fantasy works as a comedic adventure and a gentle tearjerker thanks to Mel Gibson’s appealing performance. He plays Daniel, a daring test pilot who is deeply distraught by the apparent death of his girlfriend, Helen, in 1939. Feeling little reason to live, he volunteers for a pioneering cryogenics experiment and is thawed out 50 years later by two young boys. They bring the confused pilot home to Nat’s single mom, Claire (Jamie Lee Curtis). There’s a hint of romance, but Daniel desperately needs to know if Helen really died in 1939, and he discovers that love has a way of surviving a half-century leap in time. The premise is hokey and certain plot details are conveniently ignored, but Gibson, Curtis, and Elijah Wood (as Nat) hold it together with irresistible charm and just the right balance of fantasy and drama.

Starring: Mel Gibson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Elijah Wood, Isabel Glasser, George Wendt.

Director: Steve Miner.