This 1997 classic starring two legendary actors (Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin) follows their hopeful return to civilization after their float plane crashes in the Alaskan wilderness. As they make their way back, they’re chased by a bear, and their own insecurities. This film is as enjoyable today, 20+ years after its release, as it was when it came out. Such a great performance.

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Review by: JD O’Brien

One of two films on this list that opens in a POW camp, The Way Back follows a large group of Soviet prisoners as they first escape a communist prison, and then travel all the way from Siberia to Tibet on foot. In addition to wonderful performances from Ed Harris, Colin Farrell and many others, the most striking element of this film, and what puts it on this list of great Wilderness Survival films is that the characters have to battle so many kinds of wilderness. They face a true Odyssey of Siberian winter, the buggy forests of Southern Russia, and then the treacherous deserts of Western China. Finishing back in the snow-capped Himalays, this film covers months of man vs. nature. A truly harrowing adventure well worth the watch.

Studio: Image Entertainment

Review by: JD O’Brien

The first of two documentaries on this list, Grizzly Man is a biopic of Timothy Treadwell, who spent 13 summers living among grizzly bears in Alaska. Director Werner Herzog offers a sympathetic biography of Treadwell as an ecologist and a filmmaker who slowly loses his mind. This film is holds your attention from moment one even though you know the ending from the first few minutes in.

Studio: Lionsgate

Review by: JD O’Brien

I thought Rescue Dawn was interesting and exciting to watch. The thing that I enjoyed the most was that the elements or nature was the ‘bad guy.’ So the most intense parts of the movie were the times when the only sounds were nature sounds and Christian Bale’s heightened breathing. Very powerful. I thought the concept of sensor deprivation was a good idea but a touch over done. I thought it came across and quirky. The balance between music and nature sounds could have been done a bit better. Again, I thought for me, the times when you only heard nature sounds and nothing else it was very powerful, so finding a way to weave background music in needed to be done tastefully.

Studio: MGM

Review by: Justin Tucker

Wild features an absolutely splendid performance from Reese Witherspoon. As a wilderness survival film, this is an outlier given that rather than trying to escape from the wilderness, Wild follows Cheryl (Witherspoon) on a 1,000 mile after she suffers a personal tragedy. It is a survival movie thru and thru, and it becomes all the more interesting that every physical obstacle Cheryl faces is a choice she embraces as a way of overcoming or paying penance for her much more challenging emotional obstacles. This film is the best emotional, character driven drama in this list.

Studio: Fox Searchlight

Review by: JD O’Brien

The second documentary on this list, Touching the Void is one of the most intense films you’ll ever see. The story of the only recorded summit of a treacherous Peruvian mountain, this film builds tension through reenactments that are far more drawn out and powerful than any narrative film could do.

Studio: FilmFour Limited

Review By: JD O’Brien

The Grey is the most fearful film on this list. In addition to trying to brave the blizzards and cold of Northern Alaska, the characters are being hunted the whole film by a pack of wolves. While the film occasionally loses balance by focusing too much on Man vs. Animal and not enough on the equally deadly Man vs. Nature elements of their quest for survival, it still keeps audiences on the edge of their seat till the end credits roll.

Studio: Universal Pictures

Review by: JD O’Brien

“127 Hours” follows the true story of Aron Ralston, a thrill-seeking young man with a strong nature wanderlust. Like most protagonists in wilderness movies, Aron runs to the beat of his own drum, and could navigate any beaten path by intuition alone. More than anything, he is independent.

In the opening sequence, Aron ghosts his family’s phone calls while he prepares for his next adventure to Blue John Canyon. In many ways, Aron’s most trusted comrade is nature itself, and there is an urgency to get on the road to be with his “friend.” He uses a video camera to document his journey, but it all turns sour when a boulder falls and leaves him (his arm) caught quite literally between a rock and a hard place. He’s left alone realizing that his only friend has seemingly betrayed him.

Unlike other wilderness movies, this is not a survival of the fittest against nature, but survival of the fittest against self and the journey the audience goes on with Aron. But is more than plot details that allow viewers to enter into Aron’s story. Wide camera angles plus close ups make the audience feel almost like they are the ones Aron is speaking to as he record daily updates on his camera. The audience serves as a main character as well...Aron’s friend in his loneliness.

Memories of family keep him alive and ultimately give him the audacity to do what to anyone else would be reckless and dangerous. With a powerful and tearjerker ending, Aron not only finds courage, but the humility to call out for help when he is most desperate. 127 Hours is the story of the strength of humanity TOGETHER. It is ultimately the beautiful story of self-discovery and finding courage through humility and sacrifice.

Studio: Fox Searchlight

Review By: Jenny Vang

Into The Wild is the story of Christopher McCandless, a young man born into privilege and wealth, who leaves everything material behind in search of a true wilderness existence. As a wilderness movie, this is my absolute favorite…. This young man embarks on a life adventure that takes him from one end of the continent to the other, no direction is left unexplored. In doing so, young Chris also finds himself on a spiritual journey, meeting others, like him, who long for a simple life that leaves behind the trappings of a world full of distraction and commitment. Finally Chris seeks out the ultimate wilderness habitat: Alaska. This fateful journey allows Chris to learn the most basic of lessons: survival of the fittest as well as the raw beauty, joy, and brutal power that is found there. The movie is filled with amazing scenery as well as a look at the breathtaking beauty and brutality that exists . There is a peace that comes with simplification and in death, Chris has lived a life far more rich than anyone could imagine or strive for. This is a must watch!

Studio: Paramount

Review By: Deb Jarding

If you like wilderness survival films, help make one happen by donating to the crowdfunding campaign for After the Gunflint. This independent film follows a man and his granddaughter as they take their annual float-plane fishing trip to the Northwoods of Minnesota, and for the first time, the girl’s Dad, the man’s son-in-law, accompanies them. When Pops has a heart attack, the other two need to find a way out of the woods while trying to keep Pops alive.

Learn more about After the Gunflint here: https://www.hatchfund.org/project/after_the_gunflint

Getting Leonardo DiCaprio his long-deserved Oscar for Best Actor, the Revenant was an incredibly intense production that almost never got finished because of safety concerns and walkouts from the crew. Shot with almost entirely available light, the Revenant is a masterpiece in cinematography, earning Director of Photography Emmanuel Lubezki his 3rd consecutive Oscar (Gravity & Birdman were his others).

Studio: Fox

Review By: JD O’Brien