Adventure!!!
by karlee1981 | created - 03 Jul 2014 | updated - 31 May 2018 | PublicAdventure films tend to revolve around one person or a small group of people thrown together by circumstances. They get caught up in plots that often feature journeys to exotic locales, man vs nature themes, survival, or the finding of treasure/lost civilizations. If there are villains in these films then (unlike in the action/war genre) the hero is not a physical match for them and must evade, race, outwit, or sabotage them. 'Fun' and 'Rousing' are words generally used to describe a good adventure film.
As so many blockbuster films have elements of adventure in them, I tried to only include 'pure' adventure films; nothing that has too much Action, Sci-fi, War, etc.
I also tried not to include anything too corny, racist, or John Wayne-y. These are all films that movie people of any age should be able to enjoy in the here and now.
I'm not counting the more dark and gritty wilderness survival films like The Revenant or The Grey.
I've created a separate list for Military Adventure.
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1. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure
In 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies
Votes: 1,037,309 | Gross: $248.16M
2. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
PG | 118 min | Action, Adventure
In 1935, Indiana Jones is tasked by Indian villagers with reclaiming a rock stolen from them by a secret cult beneath the catacombs of an ancient palace.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri
Votes: 535,515 | Gross: $179.87M
3. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure
In 1938, after his father goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones finds himself up against the Nazis again to stop them from obtaining its powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Alison Doody, Denholm Elliott
Votes: 811,309 | Gross: $197.17M
4. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Approved | 178 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffrè
Votes: 811,768 | Gross: $6.10M
While technically a western, this film features characters traveling vast distances, evading capture, and searching for a hidden treasure.
5. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Approved | 218 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins
Votes: 314,560 | Gross: $44.82M
6. The Hidden Fortress (1958)
Not Rated | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Lured by gold, two greedy peasants unknowingly escort a princess and her general across enemy lines.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Misa Uehara, Minoru Chiaki, Kamatari Fujiwara
Votes: 42,274
A fun adventure and obvious influence on Star Wars/Indiana Jones, where a small band of distinct characters lurch from one wacky scrape to another while evading a scary army of bad guys.
7. The Naked Prey (1965)
Approved | 96 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
During the 1800s, a safari guide, two elephant hunters and their crew run into trouble with the natives in the South African veld when they refuse to offer gifts to the tribesmen.
Director: Cornel Wilde | Stars: Cornel Wilde, Gert van den Bergh, Ken Gampu, Patrick Mynhardt
Votes: 5,881
8. Quest for Fire (1981)
R | 100 min | Adventure, Drama
This story takes place in prehistoric time when three tribesmen search for a new fire source.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Everett McGill, Ron Perlman, Nicholas Kadi, Rae Dawn Chong
Votes: 24,138 | Gross: $20.96M
9. The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)
Approved | 142 min | Adventure, Drama
After an oil company plane crashes in the Sahara, the survivors are buoyed with hope by one of the passengers, an airplane designer who plans for them to build a flyable plane from the wreckage.
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Hardy Krüger
Votes: 22,423
10. The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
PG | 129 min | Adventure, Drama, War
In 1880s India, two former British soldiers decide to set themselves up as Kings in Kafiristan, a land where no white man has set foot since Alexander the Great.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer, Saeed Jaffrey
Votes: 52,061
11. Gunga Din (1939)
Approved | 117 min | Adventure, Comedy, War
In 19th century India, three British soldiers and a native waterbearer must stop a secret mass revival of the murderous Thuggee cult before it can rampage across the land.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Votes: 12,802
OK, so this one is kinda racist. Gunga Din and the film's villain are both played by white people in brown-face. It also perpetuates the idea that India needed Britain around to keep the Indian people safe. From world conquering death cults, of course.
12. North West Frontier (1959)
Not Rated | 129 min | Adventure, Drama
Set on the North West Frontier of colonial India in 1905. A British Army Officer, Captain Scott is sent to rescue a five year old Indian Prince and his American governess, Catherine Wyatt from certain death at the hands of rebel tribesman.
Director: J. Lee Thompson | Stars: Kenneth More, Lauren Bacall, Herbert Lom, Wilfrid Hyde-White
Votes: 3,053
13. Lost Horizon (1937)
Approved | 132 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
When a revered diplomat's plane is diverted and crashes in the peaks of Tibet, he and the other survivors are guided to an isolated monastery at Shangri-La, where they wrestle with the invitation to stay.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt, Edward Everett Horton, John Howard
Votes: 14,460
14. Fitzcarraldo (1982)
PG | 158 min | Adventure, Drama
The story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an extremely determined man who intends to build an opera house in the middle of a jungle.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Klaus Kinski, Claudia Cardinale, José Lewgoy, Miguel Ángel Fuentes
Votes: 38,622
15. King Solomon's Mines (1950)
Passed | 103 min | Action, Adventure, Romance
Adventurer Allan Quartermain leads an expedition into uncharted African territory in an attempt to locate an explorer who went missing during his search for the fabled diamond mines of King Solomon.
Directors: Compton Bennett, Andrew Marton | Stars: Deborah Kerr, Stewart Granger, Richard Carlson, Hugo Haas
Votes: 7,023
While a case can be made for the 1937 version, I believe this is the best.
16. She (1935)
Passed | 101 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Romance
A group of explorers search of the legendary "flame of life," a mysterious force that bestows immortality.
Directors: Lansing C. Holden, Irving Pichel | Stars: Helen Gahagan, Randolph Scott, Helen Mack, Nigel Bruce
Votes: 1,908
17. The Dead Lands (2014)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure
After his tribe is slaughtered through an act of treachery, the teenage son of a slain Maori chieftain looks to avenge his father's murder and bring peace and honor to the souls of his loved ones.
Director: Toa Fraser | Stars: James Rolleston, Lawrence Makoare, Te Kohe Tuhaka, Xavier Horan
Votes: 5,273 | Gross: $0.00M
%69 on Rotten Tomatoes
18. The Warriors (1979)
R | 93 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A street gang known as the Warriors must fight its way from the Bronx to its home turf on Coney Island when its members are falsely accused of assassinating a respected gang leader.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Michael Beck, James Remar, Dorsey Wright, Brian Tyler
Votes: 110,770 | Gross: $22.49M
Even if it does take place entirely in the city.
19. The Way Back (I) (2010)
PG-13 | 133 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Siberian gulag escapees travel four thousand miles by foot to freedom in India.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell, Dragos Bucur
Votes: 122,042 | Gross: $2.70M
20. The Wages of Fear (1953)
Not Rated | 131 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
In a decrepit South American village, four men are hired to transport an urgent nitroglycerine shipment without the equipment that would make it safe.
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot | Stars: Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter van Eyck, Folco Lulli
Votes: 66,626
This one will be too artsy and dour for some.
21. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Passed | 126 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
Two down-on-their-luck Americans searching for work in 1920s Mexico convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt, Bruce Bennett
Votes: 132,483 | Gross: $5.01M
22. Apocalypto (2006)
R | 139 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
As the Mayan kingdom faces its decline, a young man is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression.
Director: Mel Gibson | Stars: Gerardo Taracena, Raoul Max Trujillo, Dalia Hernández, Rudy Youngblood
Votes: 331,498 | Gross: $50.87M
I think this one only gets good in the second half when it pretty much becomes Central American 'Naked Prey'.
23. The Emerald Forest (1985)
R | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
After the son of engineer Bill Markham is abducted by an aboriginal tribe on the edge of the rain forest, the engineer spends the next 10 years searching for him.
Director: John Boorman | Stars: Powers Boothe, Meg Foster, Yara Vaneau, William Rodriguez
Votes: 11,007 | Gross: $24.47M
24. The Way (I) (2010)
PG-13 | 123 min | Comedy, Drama
A father heads overseas to recover the body of his estranged son who died while traveling the "El camino de Santiago," and decides to take the pilgrimage himself.
Director: Emilio Estevez | Stars: Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Deborah Kara Unger, Yorick van Wageningen
Votes: 35,361 | Gross: $4.43M
25. Sands of the Kalahari (1965)
Approved | 119 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
After a small aircraft crashes in the Kalahari Desert, one of the seven passengers decides that his survival chances would increase if he eliminates the other men in the group.
Director: Cy Endfield | Stars: Stanley Baker, Stuart Whitman, Susannah York, Harry Andrews
Votes: 1,498
26. The Edge (1997)
R | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
An intellectual billionaire and two other men struggle to band together and survive after getting stranded in the Alaskan wilderness with a blood-thirsty Kodiak Bear hunting them down.
Director: Lee Tamahori | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin, Elle Macpherson, Harold Perrineau
Votes: 79,100 | Gross: $27.78M
27. Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
GP | 108 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A mountain man who wishes to live the life of a hermit becomes the unwilling object of a long vendetta by the Crow tribe and proves to be a match for their warriors in single combat on the early frontier.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Robert Redford, Will Geer, Delle Bolton, Josh Albee
Votes: 35,013 | Gross: $47.74M
28. All Is Lost (2013)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
After a collision with a shipping container at sea, a resourceful sailor finds himself, despite all efforts to the contrary, staring his mortality in the face.
Director: J.C. Chandor | Star: Robert Redford
Votes: 83,837 | Gross: $6.26M
29. The Wind and the Lion (1975)
PG | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A Berber chieftain triggers an international incident, drawing the involvement of Theodore Roosevelt, when he kidnaps an American widow and her children in 1900s Morocco.
Director: John Milius | Stars: Sean Connery, Candice Bergen, Brian Keith, John Huston
Votes: 10,153 | Gross: $0.75M
30. North Face (2008)
Not Rated | 126 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
A secretary at a Berlin newspaper in 1936 gets to write about two Alpinists, as she knows them well. She later gets to report on and photograph her friends' and other Alpinists' climbs of the dangerous Swiss Eiger north face.
Director: Philipp Stölzl | Stars: Benno Fürmann, Florian Lukas, Johanna Wokalek, Simon Schwarz
Votes: 16,436 | Gross: $0.71M
31. Everest (2015)
PG-13 | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
On May 10, 1996, mountain guides Rob Hall and Scott Fischer combine their expedition teams for a final ascent to the summit of Mount Everest. With little warning, a storm strikes the mountain and the climbers must now battle to survive.
Director: Baltasar Kormákur | Stars: Jason Clarke, Ang Phula Sherpa, Thomas M. Wright, Martin Henderson
Votes: 232,526 | Gross: $43.48M
32. The Eiger Sanction (1975)
Approved | 129 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Classical art professor and collector Dr. Jonathan Hemlock, who doubles as a professional assassin, is coerced out of retirement to avenge the murder of an old friend.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, George Kennedy, Vonetta McGee, Jack Cassidy
Votes: 22,351 | Gross: $1.53M
33. Tales of the Gold Monkey (1982–1983)
60 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
The adventures of a 1930's Pacific Islands bush pilot and his companions.
Stars: Stephen Collins, Jeff MacKay, Caitlin O'Heaney, Marta DuBois
Votes: 1,885
34. The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
PG | 107 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
Intrepid reporter Tintin and Captain Haddock set off on a treasure hunt for a sunken ship commanded by Haddock's ancestor.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg
Votes: 243,331 | Gross: $77.59M
This is Spielberg making up for Crystal Skull. I'd rather it were live-action but I suppose Adventure beggars can't be choosers.
35. The Goonies (1985)
PG | 114 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A group of young misfits called The Goonies discover an ancient map and set out on an adventure to find a legendary pirate's long-lost treasure.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman
Votes: 298,604 | Gross: $61.50M
Kiddie Indiana Jones. In fact, I wish they'd worked in some connection in either franchise. Maybe Indiana could briefly mention his contemporary Chester Copperpot or maybe we see Data's grandfather on the beach at the end wearing a NY Yankees cap.
36. Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
PG-13 | 101 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A national manhunt is ordered for a rebellious kid and his foster uncle who go missing in the wild New Zealand bush.
Director: Taika Waititi | Stars: Sam Neill, Julian Dennison, Rima Te Wiata, Rachel House
Votes: 141,985 | Gross: $5.20M
37. Up (2009)
PG | 96 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
78-year-old Carl Fredricksen travels to Paradise Falls in his house equipped with balloons, inadvertently taking a young stowaway.
Directors: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson | Stars: Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai, John Ratzenberger, Christopher Plummer
Votes: 1,125,726 | Gross: $293.00M
38. Long Way North (2015)
PG | 81 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama
In 1882, a young Russian aristocrat goes on an epic adventure to find out what happened to her grandfather and save her family's reputation.
Director: Rémi Chayé | Stars: Christa Théret, Féodor Atkine, Thomas Sagols, Rémi Caillebot
Votes: 3,916
39. The Hobbit (1977 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 90 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
A homebody hobbit in Middle Earth gets talked into joining a quest with a group of dwarves to recover their treasure from a dragon.
Directors: Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr. | Stars: Orson Bean, John Huston, Theodore Gottlieb, Cyril Ritchard
Votes: 16,359
Yeah, that's right! The new films came about when a reluctant Peter Jackson was paid a fortune to transform the short, charming adventure story 'The Hobbit' into an epic action/war trilogy by a desperate New Line Cinema who needed a sequel/remake/knockoff of their lucrative Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
40. The Adventures of Tintin (1991–1992)
TV-Y7 | 30 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
The adventures of the young reporter, his faithful dog and friends as they travel around the world on adventures.
Stars: Colin O'Meara, Thierry Wermuth, Christian Pelissier, Henri Labussière
Votes: 19,240
41. DuckTales (1987–1990)
TV-G | 23 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
Huey, Dewey, and Louie are in for an epic surprise when they meet their wealthy but reclusive uncle, Scrooge McDuck. The family embark on globe-trotting adventures and treasure hunts, uncover family secrets, and face dangerous enemies.
Stars: Alan Young, Russi Taylor, Terence McGovern, Chuck McCann
Votes: 35,031
42. Jonny Quest (1964–1965)
TV-Y7 | 30 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
The Quest family and their bodyguard investigate strange phenomena and battle villains around the world.
Stars: Mike Road, Tim Matheson, Don Messick, Danny Bravo
Votes: 5,328
43. TaleSpin (1990–1991)
TV-Y7 | 30 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
Baloo the Bear from The Jungle Book (1967) is cast as a 1930s Pacific Islands bush pilot.
Stars: Ed Gilbert, R.J. Williams, Sally Struthers, Jim Cummings
Votes: 15,956
It's Tales of the Gold Monkey animated
44. Congo (1995)
PG-13 | 109 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery
When an expedition to the African Congo ends in disaster, a new team is assembled to find out what went wrong.
Director: Frank Marshall | Stars: Laura Linney, Tim Curry, Dylan Walsh, Ernie Hudson
Votes: 48,692 | Gross: $81.02M
OK so it ain't Shakespeare (though I think that five star rating is unduly harsh), but I think Adventure fans will find this one worth a viewing.
Roger Ebert gave it 3 out of 4 stars.
45. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
PG | 102 min | Action, Adventure, Romance
When Prince John and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence in 1190s England, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a resistance movement.
Directors: Michael Curtiz, William Keighley | Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains
Votes: 54,522 | Gross: $3.98M
Swashbuckler
46. The Mark of Zorro (1940)
Approved | 94 min | Action, Adventure, Family
A young Spanish aristocrat must masquerade as a fop in order to maintain his secret identity of Zorro as he restores justice to early California.
Director: Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Basil Rathbone, Gale Sondergaard
Votes: 10,984 | Gross: $4.36M
Swashbuckler
47. The Sea Hawk (1940)
Approved | 127 min | Action, Adventure, History
Geoffrey Thorpe, a buccaneer, is hired by Queen Elizabeth I to nag the Spanish Armada. The Armada is waiting for the attack on England and Thorpe surprises them with attacks on their galleons where he shows his skills on the sword.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Claude Rains, Donald Crisp
Votes: 10,747
Swashbuckler
48. Captain Blood (1935)
Passed | 119 min | Action, Adventure, History
After treating a Monmouth rebel against King James II in 1680s England, a young Irish doctor is exiled as a slave to Jamaica where he captures a Spanish galleon and becomes the most feared pirate of the Caribbean.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Lionel Atwill, Basil Rathbone
Votes: 16,104 | Gross: $2.96M
Swashbuckler
49. The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)
PG-13 | 131 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A young man, falsely imprisoned by his jealous "friend", escapes and uses a hidden treasure to exact his revenge.
Director: Kevin Reynolds | Stars: Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce, Christopher Adamson, JB Blanc
Votes: 148,543 | Gross: $54.23M
Swashbuckler
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