Award-winning and new survival movies are here! Whether it’s being stranded on a cold and deserted island, fighting zombies, or living in the wild, these movies offer thrilling experiences. Here are the 11 best survival movies that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Survival movies highlight life-or-death scenarios and human resilience, focusing on triumphs over adversity and major disasters. The best survival movies present gripping scenarios where characters face seemingly insurmountable odds. These movies showcase a person’s instincts, determination, and their ability to endure under harsh conditions.
So, what should you watch? From surviving in the wilderness and on a deserted island to apocalyptic thrillers, here are the best survival movies guaranteed to give you an adrenaline rush.
The best survival movies 🎬
The best survival movies cover a wide range of situations and struggles, from astronauts stranded on Mars to people trapped on a deserted island and left to die in the wilderness. These thrilling survival movies feature heroes who are not only physically strong but also possess an unbreakable spirit and creativity that allow them to face adverse conditions and overcome everything.
Cast Away, starring Tom Hanks as a character stranded on a deserted island, The Martian, featuring Matt Damon as an astronaut searching for ways to survive on the red planet, and The Revenant, with Leonardo DiCaprio battling the elements in a harsh wilderness, are some of the best survival movies.
1.Touching The Void
Touching the Void is one of the most stressful and high-tension survival movies ever made, based on a true story told by the real survivors. In 1985, two experienced mountain climbers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, set out to climb Siula Grande, a mountain in Peru that had never been summited before. Although they successfully reach the summit, a storm turns their descent into a harrowing and nearly fatal ordeal.
Information about Touching the Void (2003)
- Director: Kevin Macdonald
- Cast: Brendan Mackey, Nicholas Aaron, Joe Simpson (documentary style)
- Release Year: 2003
- Duration: 106 minutes
- Country: United Kingdom
- Genre: Documentary, Adventure, Drama
- Language: English
- Age Rating: R
- Available Platforms: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies
- IMDb Rating: 8.0/10
- Similar Movies: Meru (2015), Free Solo (2018), Everest (2015)
- Trailer: YouTube Trailer
- IMDb Link: Touching the Void on IMDb
2.Life of Pi
Adapted from Yann Martel’s award-winning 2001 novel of the same name, the ocean survival movie Life of Pi follows 16-year-old Pi, who survives a shipwreck and finds himself stranded on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker and other zoo animals. Life of Pi is a seamless blend of philosophical drama and suspenseful adventure.
Information about Life of Pi (2012)
- Director: Ang Lee
- Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain, Tabu
- Release Year: 2012
- Duration: 127 minutes
- Country: United States, United Kingdom
- Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
- Language: English
- Age Rating: PG
- Available Platforms: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies
- IMDb Rating: 7.9/10
- Similar Movies: Cast Away (2000), The Martian (2015), Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
- Trailer: YouTube Trailer
- IMDb Link: Life of Pi on IMDb
3.127 Hours
The hero of 127 Hours is Aron Ralston, known for surviving a canyon accident by amputating his arm with a pocket knife. After a fall leaves Ralston’s arm trapped between a rock and the edge of a canyon wall, he spends five days in desperate conditions. Ultimately, he decides to cut off his own limb to escape and be rescued. Ralston later details this harrowing experience in his book, Between a Rock and a Hard Place.
Information about 127 Hours (2010)
- Director: Danny Boyle
- Cast: James Franco, Amber Tamblyn, Kate Mara, Clémence Poésy
- Release Year: 2010
- Duration: 94 minutes
- Country: United States, United Kingdom
- Genre: Biography, Drama
- Language: English
- Age Rating: R
- Available Platforms: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies
- IMDb Rating: 7.5/10
- Similar Movies: Into the Wild (2007), Everest (2015), Buried (2010)
- Trailer: YouTube Trailer
- IMDb Link: 127 Hours on IMDb
4.Apollo 13
The original space survival story, Ron Howard’s classic docudrama, brings to life the failed 1970 Apollo Moon mission when an oxygen tank exploded, damaging the spacecraft and critically depleting the crew’s oxygen supply. Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton star as astronauts who must collaborate to repair their ship and return home safely against the odds. This gripping tale of survival and ingenuity showcases their desperate efforts to overcome the challenges of space.
Information about Apollo 13 (1995)
- Director: Ron Howard
- Cast: Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise
- Release Year: 1995
- Duration: 140 minutes
- Country: United States
- Genre: Adventure, Drama, History
- Language: English
- Age Rating: PG
- Available Platforms: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies
- IMDb Rating: 7.6/10
- Similar Movies: The Martian (2015), Gravity (2013), First Man (2018)
- Trailer: YouTube Trailer
- IMDb Link: Apollo 13 on IMDb
5.Cast Away (New Life)
For those seeking a deserted island survival movie, we recommend Cast Away. Tom Hanks delivers a captivating performance as a FedEx executive who becomes stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash in the South Pacific. Hanks must adapt to the wilderness and survive with only a volleyball named Wilson. Cast Away explores the physical, emotional, and psychological consequences of extreme loneliness and survival instincts.
Information about Cast Away (2000)
- Director: Robert Zemeckis
- Cast: Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, Paul Sanchez, Lari White
- Release Year: 2000
- Duration: 143 minutes
- Country: United States
- Genre: Adventure, Drama, Romance
- Language: English
- Age Rating: PG-13
- Available Platforms: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies
- IMDb Rating: 7.8/10
- Similar Movies: Life of Pi (2012), All Is Lost (2013), The Martian (2015)
- Trailer: YouTube Trailer
- IMDb Link: Cast Away on IMDb
6.The Shallows
Blake Lively is on screen almost every second in this survival thriller. In the movie, Blake Lively plays a surfer who is severely injured by a shark attack and is stranded just 200 meters from shore. Lively is accompanied by a seagull named Steven Seagull.
Information about The Shallows (2016)
- Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
- Cast: Blake Lively, Óscar Jaenada, Angelo Jose, Brett Cullen
- Release Year: 2016
- Duration: 86 minutes
- Country: United States
- Genre: Action, Drama, Horror
- Language: English
- Age Rating: PG-13
- Available Platforms: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies
- IMDb Rating: 6.3/10
- Similar Movies: Open Water (2003), 47 Meters Down (2017), Crawl (2019)
- Trailer: YouTube Trailer
- IMDb Link: The Shallows on IMDb
7.Captain Phillips (Captain Phillips)
Tom Hanks is undoubtedly the most valuable actor in the survival movie genre. In this survival-themed drama, Hanks stars as Captain Richard Phillips, a marine who is taken hostage by Somali pirates while navigating a cargo ship through the Guardafui Channel. While the movie features plenty of action, the most gripping aspect is Phillips’ calm and tactical efforts to overcome his captors.
Information about Captain Phillips (2013)
- Director: Paul Greengrass
- Cast: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman, Faysal Ahmed
- Release Year: 2013
- Duration: 134 minutes
- Country: United States
- Genre: Biography, Drama, Thriller
- Language: English
- Age Rating: PG-13
- Available Platforms: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies
- IMDb Rating: 7.8/10
- Similar Movies: United 93 (2006), Argo (2012), Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
- Trailer: YouTube Trailer
- IMDb Link: Captain Phillips on IMDb
8.The Revenant
Leonardo DiCaprio won an Oscar for his role in this thriller. In the movie, DiCaprio portrays a 19th-century frontiersman who is left for dead following a brutal bear attack. The movie is a revenge thriller that tracks DiCaprio’s character, Hugh Glass, as he battles for survival and seeks to hunt down the man who betrayed him, played by Tom Hardy.
Information about The Revenant (2015)
- Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
- Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter
- Release Year: 2015
- Duration: 156 minutes
- Country: United States
- Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
- Language: English
- Age Rating: R
- Available Platforms: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies
- IMDb Rating: 8.0/10
- Similar Movies: Dances with Wolves (1990), 127 Hours (2010), The Grey (2011)
- Trailer: YouTube Trailer
- IMDb Link: The Revenant on IMDb
9.The Martian
The Martian is a wildly entertaining blockbuster movie about an astronaut’s solitary struggle to survive on Mars. When his crewmates mistakenly assume that Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) is dead, they leave him behind on the red planet to fend for himself. Meanwhile, NASA engineers on Earth begin working tirelessly to rescue Mark.
Information about The Martian (2015)
- Director: Ridley Scott
- Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels
- Release Year: 2015
- Duration: 144 minutes
- Country: United States
- Genre: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
- Language: English
- Age Rating: PG-13
- Available Platforms: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies
- IMDb Rating: 8.0/10
- Similar Movies: Apollo 13 (1995), Gravity (2013), Interstellar (2014)
- Trailer: YouTube Trailer
- IMDb Link: The Martian on IMDb
10.The Grey (Grey Wolf)
Liam Neeson’s peak as an action star is showcased in The Grey, where he plays a sniper working at an oil refinery in Alaska. After their plane crashes in the middle of nowhere, he and his seven companions must struggle to avoid freezing to death and being hunted by wolves.
Information about The Grey (2011)
- Director: Joe Carnahan
- Cast: Liam Neeson, Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo, Dallas Roberts
- Release Year: 2011
- Duration: 117 minutes
- Country: United States
- Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
- Language: English
- Age Rating: R
- Available Platforms: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies
- IMDb Rating: 6.8/10
- Similar Movies: The Revenant (2015), Alive (1993), Cast Away (2000)
- Trailer: YouTube Trailer
- IMDb Link: The Grey on IMDb
Netflix survival movies 🍿
Netflix has become a hub for remarkable movies, and its extensive library features some great survival-themed movies that take viewers on adrenaline-pumping journeys. For those seeking heart-pounding action, compelling stories, and intense drama, survival movies on Netflix offer a treasure trove of cinematic experiences. Here are the best survival movies to watch on Netflix ⬇️.
- Society of the Snow
- Awake
- Bird Box
- Solo (Solo)
- The Decline (The Apocalypse is Near)
- Army of the Dead
- Against the Ice (The Coldest Enemy)
- Platform
- I.O.
- The Ritual
Survival movies based on true stories transport viewers to a world where human endurance, courage, and sheer will to live take center stage. From icy mountaintops to deserted islands and treacherous oceans, these movies provide a compelling glimpse into the extraordinary abilities of individuals who confront and overcome the challenges of nature. If you’re wondering what to watch in this genre, be sure to check out our list of the best survival movies.
