20 Best Survival Movies of All Time – Wilderness Survival and Apocalypse Movies – GoodHousekeeping.com

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There's something so incredibly satisfying about a great, man-vs.-nature film. The best survival movies pare everything down to the most essential elements: There are very few characters, they have just their wits and some limited tools at their disposal, and they only have one objective in mind: stay alive. And yet, with so few ingredients, these movies are still able to get our heart rates up, and give us a twinge of the existential terror that is the vastness of nature. Survival films are a study in how to do the most with the least. (Sometimes, the characters don't even talk.)

What they're surviving, though, varies and gives us a look at what we most truly fear. Mostly, these movies involve staying alive through the harsh conditions of a vast wilderness. (Especially the ocean. So. Many. Boats.) Sometimes, a more aggressive threat is added in, be it an untamed animal (to remind us of our own beastly instincts, perhaps?) or a human competing for the few resources available. The unknown aka outer space is a theme in many of them, too. The biggest threat in them, though, is the isolation, and keeping spirits up and mind sharp in the face of vast challenges. Check out these survival movies below, and try to figure if you'd have the chops to outlast their challenges.

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Adrift (2018)

Two young people in love agree to sail a 44' yacht across the ocean to deliver it to a rich couple what could go wrong? Well, a hurricane, for one. After the storm hits, the boat gets lost at sea and the movie goes from a romance to a story of survival.

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The Martian (2015)

Based on a self-published novel by Andy Weir, The Martian follows the story of a botanist (played by Matt Damon) who gets marooned on the Red Planet. He has to figure out how he can be his own one-man crew and survive long enough for a rescue party to return or possibly forever.

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All Is Lost (2013)

Robert Redford earned tons of acclaim for his solo, nearly silent performance in this movie. He plays a sailor who, after his boat collides with a shipping container, is lost at sea with no communication or GPS equipment. He has to improvise his own technology (like making a sextant!) in order to find help.

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Gravity (2013)

In outer space, no one can come to your aid. Sandra Bullock plays an astronaut who's almost entirely on her own and must figure out how to return to Earth safely after her shuttle is destroyed by space debris. This movie was nominated for 10 Academy Awards when it came out, including Best Actress and Best Picture, and it won seven of them, including Best Director.

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Kon-Tiki (2012)

This movie has elements of a throwback adventure film: A crew led by a Norwegian explorer in 1947 tries to sail the Pacific on a light, balsa-wood raft in order to prove that ancient people from South America could have done the same. They face sharks, storms, and the dangers of the open sea along the way. And while that sounds like a fantastical premise, it's based on a true story, and the raft is still on display in a museum in Oslo.

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The Grey (2011)

It's hard enough out there surviving the Alaskan wilderness after a plane crash. But Liam Neeson's character in The Grey has something even scarier to content with a pack of wolves that are following him.

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127 Hours (2010)

This movie, from Trainspotting director Danny Boyle, recounts the harrowing true-life story of outdoor enthusiast Aron Ralston. When hiking alone through Utah's caverns, Ralston was pinned under a boulder, and he has to figure out how to stay alive while unable to move.

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I Am Legend (2007)

Will Smith plays a virologist living on his own in New York City; after a virus that was supposed to cure cancer gets out and wipes out most of mankind, he has to endure the isolation and dodge the vampire-like mutants that the disease created. But is he really the only human survivor?

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Cast Away (2000)

Tom Hanks shucks off his nice-guy persona when he plays a Fed Ex employee whose plane crashes, leaving him deserted on an uninhabited island. He has to brave the elements and the isolation. Hanks was nominated for an Academy Award for his ability to get audiences to empathize with his volleyball best friend.

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The Edge (1997)

Alec Baldwin and Anthony Hopkins star in a film about two men who survive a plane crash in the Alaskan wildnerness. They have to survive the cold, the wild animals, and the suspicion that one of the men slept with the other's wife and deserves a comeuppance.

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Alive (1993)

This movie tells the true story of an Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed high in the Andes mountains, and the extraordinary (and sometimes disgusting) lengths they had to endure to survive. It features a stacked cast that includes Ethan Hawke, Josh Hamilton, Josh Lucas, and Ileana Douglas.

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Rambo: First Blood (1982)

After the direction the rest of the franchise took, it's easy to forget that the first Rambo movie isn't a big, shoot-'em-up action film. Instead, it's the story of John Rambo, a highly trained and troubled veteran who has to survive an unexpected run-in with law enforcement.

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The Blue Lagoon (1980)

Who says a survival movie can't also be kind of steamy? In this one, two young people, played by Brooke Shields and Richard Atkins, are shipwrecked and left alone on a deserted island. They're left there to grow up and make a home on the island without the constraints of their Victorian society.

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Deliverance (1972)

The movie that made "Dueling Banjos" iconic, Deliverance tells the tale of inexperienced campers who wind up in a struggle against nature and a band of backwoods locals who are out to get them. In order to survive, they have to take to their canoes and brave rapids, among other dangers. Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, and Ronny Cox play the campers.

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The Omega Man (1971)

The year is 1975. A biological weapon has killed most life on Earth. Neville (Charlton Heston) believes he's the sole human survivor. He has to keep his wits about him, though, because the weapon has turned others into nocturnal mutants out for blood. This movie is actually adapted from the same novel as I Am Legend.

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Lord of the Flies (1963)

Based on the lit-class-staple novel by William Golding, Lord of the Flies follows a group of schoolboys who are marooned on an island, without rules or society to keep them in line. They have to survive the elements and each other. In addition to the 1963 version, there's a 1990 remake that stars Balthazar Getty.

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Swiss Family Robinson (1960)

This adventure tale has everything: shipwrecks, pirates, a tiger, and one envy-inducing island treehouse. It's also one of the least grisly survival tales, so you can watch it with the whole family.

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20 Best Survival Movies of All Time - Wilderness Survival and Apocalypse Movies - GoodHousekeeping.com