Hot tubs: They’re must-have accessories for winter cabins, foils for sexy encounters on myriad reality shows and, as recent films tell us, occasionally time machines.
“Hot Tub Time Machine 2” comes out Friday, and even if the reviews are more tepid than a Jacuzzi left on standby mode, the premise is absurd enough to be entertaining: Friends get blackout drunk in a malfunctioning hot tub and wake up having traveled back in time. The sequel promises more temporal shenanigans.
But these are far from the first movies to use the bubbly tub as a plot device. Here are the best hot tub-based scenes in movie history:
‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’
You know that “Fight Club” fan theory about this 1986 John Hughes classic that says Ferris was just a figment of Cameron’s imagination the whole time, a la Tyler Durden? That means that in this scene, Cameron drowns in the pool, then jumps out of the hot tub he’s in with Sloane to save himself from said pool. It’s almost like some fan theories don’t really make sense.
‘Dumb and Dumber’
Before this 1994 movie was ruined by an unnecessary prequel and a cringe-inducing sequel, Lloyd and Harry shared a too-small newlywed hot tub, shaped like a heart.
‘Species’
The 1995 film balanced the sexiness of Natasha Henstridge’s outsides with the horror of the alien creature she really was on the inside. A lot of men already get freaked out when women say, “I want to have a baby” — they get extra freaked if you have weird tentacles and creepy alien lizard skin.
‘Boogie Nights’
The hot tub in this 1997 porn industry dramedy is pretty small by modern standards. But lots of people would probably clamor to get in that steamy man soup with John C. Reilly, Burt Reynolds and Mark Wahlberg.
‘Austin Powers’
Hot tubs and fart jokes go together like accents and Mike Myers. After Austin Powers lets one rip in this scene from the 1997 comedy, the joke goes:
Alotta Fagina: “How dare you break wind before me!”
Austin Powers: “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was your turn.”
‘Charlie Wilson’s War’
This Aaron Sorkin-penned, Mike Nichols-directed 2007 film had some great acting. But the starring role in this scene goes to Tom Hanks’ naked butt.
‘Hot Tub Time Machine’
We have to include this scene from the 2010 original as it has set the tone for hot tub antics in cinema — and probably inspired more than a few idiot bros to try to get drunk enough to re-create the time-travel effect themselves.