The Best Movies About Surviving The Wilderness

A good protagonist is someone we can really root for, and that's never more true than with survival movies. As viewers, putting ourselves in the shoes of characters fighting for their lives can be a riveting and rewarding experience. The main characters in the following movies clash with all manner of wild animals (sharks and tigers and bears, oh my!) and face the harshest of environments, from the freezing storms of the Andes Mountains to the barren expanse of the Indian Ocean. They find all sorts of creative solutions to their problems, from building a raft out of the wreckage of a porta-potty to climbing inside the corpse of a horse.

As you watch these spectacular movies about surviving in the wilderness, you will be amazed at how these characters triumph against the odds and the forces of nature. The performances are so good that you can easily imagine yourself in the same predicament — or, at the very least, you can tell yourself, "Better them than me."

After frontiersman Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is mauled by a bear, his fellow explorers leave him for dead in the wilderness. Miraculously, Glass survives, but the man who left him behind (Tom Hardy) murders his son (Forrest Goodluck). Glass must claw his way out of the grave and cross miles of wilderness to get his revenge.

In "The Revenant," the camera is almost a character of its own. The movie's panoramic vistas and spectacular long takes are positively hypnotic. Meanwhile, Leonardo DiCaprio gives the performance of a lifetime: His character's ordeals are so grueling that it's no wonder DiCaprio was never the same after "The Revenant." It's distressing to watch Glass eat a raw bison liver, swim in freezing rapids, and curl up inside the corpse of his own horse to get out of the cold. But this movie is presented in such exacting detail that it's impossible to tear your eyes away. Is "The Revenant" an easy watch? No, but it's breathtaking to behold.

• Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter
• Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu
• Year: 2015
• Runtime: 2h 36m
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 78%

In the film "Society of the Snow," a plane crash leaves a Uruguayan rugby team stuck in the Andes Mountains for 72 days. Although it's not the only film to portray the crash (the 1993 film "Alive" also captured the same events), it is easily the most visceral rendition of these events. Some of the shots from the movie were filmed in the actual location of the crash, and the rest were filmed in the Sierra Nevada mountains in Spain, which gives the production a scale and authenticity that you won't find in most survival movies. The imposing backdrop of the mountains ensures audiences will never forget how massive they are.

"Society of the Snow" is full of haunting imagery, from survivors leaving bloody handprints on the plane windows to a starving man devouring his own cigarettes. (And yes, there is cannibalism, depicted with surprising sensitivity.) Despite its darkness, the movie is ultimately uplifting, celebrating the way these men worked together to get through the unthinkable.

• Starring: Enzo Vogrincic, Agustín Pardella, Matías Recalt
• Director: J. A. Bayona
• Year: 2023
• Runtime: 2h 24m
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

In "Cast Away," Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) is an efficiency-obsessed FedEx manager who ends up stuck on a desert island and discovers that all his rules and deadlines are meaningless in the wild. Only the hope of reuniting with his girlfriend keeps him from completely losing his grip on reality. Tom Hanks carries this whole movie on his shoulders – well, him and Wilson, his volleyball co-star. Hanks shows incredible commitment here, undergoing drastic changes in order to look the part of a castaway. In fact, this iconic role actually made Hanks physically ill.

This film doesn't shy away from showing the mind-numbing frustration of being alone in the wilderness for four years. And, unlike most survival movies, "Cast Away" takes extra time to explore what happens after the main character makes it back to civilization. Chuck must figure out what to do with his life now that he's returned to civilization (and discovered that the dream that kept him going all that time on the island is now out of reach). For this reason, "Cast Away" will stay with you.

• Starring: Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, Paul Sanchez
• Director: Robert Zemeckis
• Year: 2000
• Runtime: 2h 23m
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%

In "Jaws," a bloodthirsty shark begins terrorizing a New England island community during the height of tourist season. Before long, the local police chief (Roy Scheider), a marine biologist (Richard Dreyfuss), and a grizzled fisherman (Robert Shaw) are going on the hunt for this great white. Although the first half of the movie takes place on a beach, it becomes a taut survival tale of three men in a claustrophobic boat facing off against a savage killer — and viewers know in their bones that their boat won't make it back in one piece.

Contrary to what you might expect from such a sensational premise, "Jaws" demonstrates an incredible amount of restraint. It doesn't rely on broad caricatures or cheap jump scares, instead giving us nuanced characters and top-notch suspense. And, of course, it doesn't show us the shark in its full glory until almost the end, making the moment all the more terrifying.

• Starring: Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw
• Director: Steven Spielberg
• Year: 1975
• Runtime: 2h 4m
• Rating: PG
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%

In "Life of Pi," a boy named Pi (Suraj Sharma) leaves India with his family, along with the various animals from his family's zoo. However, a tragic shipwreck soon leaves Pi stranded at sea in a lifeboat. As if that isn't bad enough, he also needs to share his boat with a tiger named Richard Parker. And, as this movie shows, an apex predator makes for a very volatile shipmate.

To put it simply, "Life of Pi" is stunning. It's exhilarating to watch one boy manage to train a savage beast within the confines of a single lifeboat. Of course, "Life of Pi" is not just a survival tale but also a thoughtful meditation on faith. The film's bright colors and its touch of whimsy make Pi's story inspiring instead of harrowing. Whether giving us an uncannily realistic CGI tiger or a whale leaping over Pi's boat, the movie reminds us that sometimes the most deadly things in nature are also the most beautiful.

• Starring: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain
• Director: Ang Lee
• Year: 2012
• Runtime: 2h 7m
• Rating: PG
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%

If you think that watching a character with their arm stuck under a rock for 90 minutes would be boring, then you haven't seen "127 Hours." The premise is simple: Canyoneer Aron Ralston (James Franco) goes climbing in Bluejohn Canyon without telling anyone where he's going, so when he becomes trapped in a crevice in the middle of nowhere, he realizes he can't rely on anyone but himself to escape.

The central performance can make or break a movie about a man alone in the wilderness, and James Franco doesn't disappoint. He shows a wide range here, capturing everything from charismatic and self-assured to desperate and unhinged. Director Danny Boyle makes excellent use of flashbacks and surreal fantasy sequences to immerse viewers in the movie. "127 Hours" is a stressful movie that you will nevertheless want to watch to the end, and it's all the more intense knowing that it's based on a true story.

• Starring: James Franco, Amber Tamblyn, Kate Mara
• Director: Danny Boyle
• Year: 2010
• Runtime: 1h 34m
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

You can't make a list of the best survival movies without including films about surviving in the cosmos. "The Martian" shows viewers that the Red Planet is a more hostile environment than any that can be found on Earth. After astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) accidentally gets left behind on Mars, he must use his wits to survive this uninhabitable planet. Matt Damon lends his character a laid-back, wisecracking charm. It's easy to root for Mark as he tackles one challenge after another with the help of science.

The filmmakers put a lot of care into making the movie scientifically accurate (even if some things in "The Martian" still make no sense). Plus, "The Martian" is probably the only survival movie with a catchy disco soundtrack. Whether Mark is repurposing an old transmitter from a previous probe or using poop as fertilizer, his resourcefulness will never cease to amaze you. The entire movie is a celebration of human ingenuity.

• Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels
• Director: Ridley Scott
• Year: 2015
• Runtime: 2h 24m
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

"Backcountry" follows hikers Alex (Jeff Roop) and Jenn (Missy Peregrym) as they walk a trail that Alex hasn't taken in more than a decade. Wanting to show off to his girlfriend (and hopefully propose to her against a scenic backdrop), Alex refuses to bring a map as he leads her into the wilderness, though he soon discovers he doesn't know as much about camping as he thinks he does.

"Backcountry" is nail-biting to watch, not least because Alex makes every stupid decision in the book. The tension builds as Alex drags them deeper and deeper into danger. The highlight of the film is a terrifying bear attack that lasts more than 6 minutes as the couple hides in their tent and hopes it will leave them alone. (Of course it doesn't, and things quickly get gruesome.) This movie is unflinching, both in its rendition of the bear attack and its portrayal of toxic masculinity.

• Starring: Jeff Roop, Missy Peregrym, Eric Balfour
• Director: Adam MacDonald
• Year: 2014
• Runtime: 1h 32m
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

When four city slickers go on a canoeing trip in backwoods Georgia, they soon find themselves in over their heads. It turns out the locals don't take too kindly to these four tourists tramping around in their country, treating it as virgin wilderness waiting to be conquered. Before long, violence erupts and the city boys get a lot more than they bargained for from their trip into the wild.

From the film's iconic banjo duel to all the disturbing violence that unfolds, "Deliverance" is not a movie you will soon forget. Watching these men stumble blindly through the great outdoors will fill you with dread as you wait for the inevitable moment when they'll slip and fall. With his macho bluster and bushy sideburns, Burt Reynolds leaves a lasting impression. "Deliverance" is a movie that is darkly funny even as it's deeply uncomfortable — it takes risks in a way that you rarely see in cinema anymore.

• Starring: Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty
• Director: John Boorman
• Year: 1972
• Runtime: 1h 49m
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%

You'd think that if you're stranded on a desert island, you would need to search for food and build a shelter. Not Hank (Paul Dano). All he needs is a dead body that washed up on the beach, which it turns out can give him everything he needs to stay alive. The corpse (played by Daniel Radcliffe) can not only talk, but he turns out to be handier than a swiss army knife. His mouth can produce fresh water like a faucet, his arm can be used to chop wood, and his entire body can be used as a Jet Ski (propelled by farts, of course). This corpse (whom Hank affectionately dubs "Manny") gives a disheartened Hank the will to live again.

"Swiss Army Man" is one odd bird. It's unique because it throws every survival movie trope out the window. This is Daniel Radcliffe like you've never seen him before; he imbues Manny with equal parts boyish sweetness and profound wisdom. You can't help but get sucked into this absurd and strangely moving story.

• Starring: Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
• Director: Daniel Scheinert, Daniel Kwan
• Year: 2016
• Runtime: 1h 35m
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 73%

"Into the Wild" is perhaps the most memorable survival movie where the main character doesn't actually survive. The film is based on the true story of Chris McCandless (Emile Hirsch), an idealistic young man who died in the Alaskan wilderness because he overestimated his survival skills. Although a portion of this movie is spent in rural America as McCandless hops from town to town, living the nomadic life he's always dreamed of, the central storyline is about McCandless alone in the wild.

In Alaska, McCandless makes his home in the rusted-out shell of a bus left behind in the wild. From there, he learns how to hunt and keeps a journal of his experiences. Even though most people knew how the movie was going to end going into it, it's still shocking to see Chris go from happy-go-lucky rover to a man coming face to face with his mortality. The movie expertly walks the knife's edge between portraying McCandless as trailblazing and naïve, acknowledging his fatal mistakes while also allowing some of his boundless optimism to rub off on viewers.

• Starring: Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn, Catherine Keener
• Director: Sean Penn
• Year: 2007
• Runtime: 2h 28m
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%

You thought the desert island from "Cast Away" was lonely? That's nothing compared to "All Is Lost." In this film, an unnamed man played by Robert Redford is sailing his yacht solo across the Indian Ocean when he collides with a floating shipping container, punching a hole in his boat and leaving him stuck up a proverbial creek the size of an ocean. "All Is Lost" is widely considered to be one of Robert Redford's best movies, and it's certainly his best in the last 25 years.

This film is a one-man show (quite literally, as only a single actor appears in the credits), and Redford is more than up to the task. You don't need to know his backstory or anything else about his character to feel like you are adrift at sea with him. It's all the more impressive that Redford achieves this with almost no dialogue, something that sets the film apart from movies like "Life of Pi" and "Cast Away." There's no Wilson here — Redford's character is well and truly on his own.

• Starring: Robert Redford
• Director: J.C. Chandor
• Year: 2013
• Runtime: 1h 46m
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

"Gravity" clocks in at just over 90 minutes, but we guarantee you they will be among the most intense 90 minutes you have ever experienced while watching a film. In this modern classic, a catastrophic disaster at the Hubble Space Telescope leaves astronaut Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) stuck alone in space, and she must fend for herself. Bullock brings her A-game, and George Clooney is great as her veteran commander Matthew "Matt" Kowalski.

In case the film's near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score didn't tip you off, "Gravity" is one of the best survival movies out there. It boasts some of the best zero gravity scenes in movie history. This immersive movie captures what it's like to be free-floating in the endless abyss of space, as well as how easy it is to die out there. It's so well-researched and accurate that the events from the film could theoretically happen in real life – and that's what makes it so scary. Never has outer space been more terrifying.

• Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris
• Director: Alfonso Cuarón
• Year: 2013
• Runtime: 1h 31m
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

"Wild" is far more than just a tale of survival — it's also a cathartic and hopeful story about a woman getting her life back on track. When Cheryl Strayed (Reese Witherspoon) walks more than 1000 miles along the Pacific Crest Trail, it is not because she is trapped in circumstances that leave her with no choice. Instead, she chooses to make this trek in order to transform herself after the death of her mother (Laura Dern) and her subsequent addiction.

"Wild" features what is arguably a career-best performance from Reese Witherspoon. The movie shows her character overcoming obstacles such as using the wrong kind of gas for her portable stove and losing her boots, issues that quickly become serious when you're in the middle of nowhere. As Cheryl traverses the wilderness, the movie weaves in and out of the memories she is running away from. Like the heroine, you will definitely find this journey rewarding.

• Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Thomas Sadoski
• Director: Jean-Marc Vallée
• Year: 2014
• Runtime: 1h 55m
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%