If you ask most people, the best movies are those that entail survival tips or fighting against the forces of nature. Whether it’s about climbing Mount Everest or getting lost in the jungle, great survival movies always give us the best survival tips and tricks. What are you addicted to?
Is it existential films, pure adventures, or wilderness survival movies? One thing is for sure when it comes to deserts, islands, oceans, snowy mountains, and jungles: the actors must fight against nature with survival equipment. There is no way you can come out alive in an extreme condition without a survival kit.
The most exciting part of top survival movies is that they provoke thoughts of the worst-case scenarios. These are occurrences that common adventures don’t want to imagine as they set off for their journeys.
Take wilderness movies for instance – they reveal scenes whereby people are fighting against wild animals while using instincts they have never used before. What does this tell you? It means that crises are some of the best times to expand your survival skills list. We can relate this to the old age saying that “desperate situations call for desperate measures”. And in many cases, the desperate measures turn out to be miracles an actor requires to come out alive in a survival island movie.
We are about to unleash the top 10 survival movies. Most are fictional while some are true. Whichever the case, this survival movies list will have you wondering if you would have fought against all odds as the actors did. Here we go.
1. Cast Away
As one of the most successful movies based on island survival, Cast Away is a big screen drama that deserves a watch. Like most sea survival movies, Cast Away provokes some reactions. First, you hope never to get lost on an island in case of a plane crash. It also makes you scream the name Wilson whenever you see volleyball.
2. Deep Water
This documentary is based on a catastrophic tale involving a 1968 yacht race around the world and the first of its kind. It’s an alone survival movie starring Donald Crowhurst, a dad of 4 who wants to win the £5,000 reward by winning the race. The solo sailor starts a radio series that reaches crowds in the mainland. However, Donald is slipping off the race pace but would rather lie about his position. Many contestants leave the race and only two remain. As the sailor keeps on hiding his deceit, his tragedy deepens further.
3. Into The Wild
When Into The Wild was released in 2007, it created an uproar about the young and hipster generation. It stars a young graduate- Christopher McCandless- who leaves everything behind for a hitchhike to Alaska. Surviving in the wild is hard and you would wonder why someone would give up a silver platter for the sake of adventure. It is one of the true survival movies you want to watch over and over.
4. The Edge
Looking for a lost wilderness movie? The Edge will satiate your quest as you watch Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin getting chased by a bear in the wilderness after their plane crashed. There are a lot of wilderness survival tipsto grasp from The Edge.
5. Life of Pi
The Life of Pi is a movie about a young man, his tiger, and boat. Like in other ocean survival movies, you might think that this film is only a few hours of a guy struggling with a boat. Pi Patel survives a catastrophe in the sea and gets into an action-packed adventure with a tiger.
Life of Pi is has been a great inspiration for college students pursuing acting courses. If you are stuck in composing the synopsis, consult EduBirdie writers to get your essay in the shortest time possible.
6. Kon-Tiki
This historic Norwegian film was nominated for Oscar Awards in 2012. The long survival movie takes place on a raft in the Pacific Ocean. With a survival equipment list, Thor Heyerdahl and his team overcome all kinds of challenges and they manage to reach the destination safe and sound.
7. 127 Hours
Here is another of the true story adventure survival movies which are hard to watch yet impressive. It is a bitter-sweet story. The narrative is based on Aron Ralston who uses hardcore survival tactics you can learn from, e.g. carrying a survival knife all the time.
8. Alone in the Wilderness
The best wilderness movies don’t always have to be based on disasters. Alone in the Wilderness is a documentary gives a story about Dick Proenneke who decided to venture into the Aleutian Peninsula, Alaska. He made a cabin for himself and survived alone. The movie reflects on his first year in the wilderness and footages of the impressive experience he had in the woods.
Suggested article: A Few Considerations Before Bugging Out Into The Woods
9. The Flight of the Phoenix
Jungle survival movies always come with interesting settings. While a lot of survival situations happen in the snow, The Flight of the Phoenix is about a desert, a barren place. It denotes how inventive people can be in distressing circumstances. The movie tells a story about a group of men who survive after an aircraft crash in Gobi Desert. They have to create another aircraft from the remaining pieces to get out of the desert.
10. The Way Back
A group of prisoners escapes from jail and instead of perishing, as it is expected in Siberia, they find their way to freedom and get to India. The Way Back is an exhausting story and heartbreaking at times. The survivors experience all sorts of hardships from freezing at nights, hot days, hunger and thirst, and lack of motivation. You have to see this film and ask yourself if you would have really survived these.
In summary
As human beings, we are captivated by narratives of hardship and victory of fortitude against invincible phenomena. Maybe it is because we also like to succeed in tough situations, or we simply want to see others rising to challenges. Regardless, the struggle for existence and survival of the fittest seems to be a perpetual theme among human beings across the board.
This subject matter traverses cultures and is also evident in the current forms of narratives, i.e. film. If you examine closely, every decade has a noteworthy list of survival movies based on true stories. But we didn’t want you to go through countless movies to find good survival movies. And that is why we have outlined top ten survival movies to help you find one that is worth watching. Of course, you can watch all of them if they suit your taste. Just remember that survival is the core theme in all of the 10 films rather than a circumstantial subject matter.
Enjoy your best wilderness adventure movies!
This article has been written by Bryan Davis for Prepper’s Will.
Author Bio
Blogging has completely changed Bryan Davis’ life and business for good. He has helped thousands of writers get started with a website of their own. He can show you how to do the same. Perhaps you have already seen his articles featured in EduBirdie on Facebook.
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