Greetings, reader!
My dive into the best films of various genres continues, with this week's list focusing on my all-time favorite adventure movies. Adventure is one of the harder genres to define exactly, but I'm going largely based on vibes here - these are various movies where there's a sense of some sort of quest, often involving traveling to intriguing locations, possibly with curiosity and discovery among the motives, always with a sense of danger and various obstacles on the way. After over-analyzing the premise to death, here's where I landed: the more a film feels like "aww yiss, that's some good adventure right there", the higher it is bound to be ranked.
Here are my honorable mentions: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), Ice Age (2002), Jurassic Park (1993), Planet of the Apes (1968), The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966).
15. Interstellar (2014)
The genres of science fiction and adventure often go hand in hand, bringing out the best in one another, which is why you'll see plenty of sci-fi films on today's list. While the actual blog post of my all-time favorite sci-fi movies (coming in the next few weeks!) focuses on many aspects of what makes specifically that genre great, such as utilizing technology and innovation for creative concepts for the story to revolve under, the ones on today's list are ranked based on their adventure element, something that comes across in sci-fi adventure films as creative locations, neat modes of transport, traveling between worlds et cetera.
Christopher Nolan's Interstellar is a prime example of the bridge between the two genres: in a vein similar to why humans originally ventured to the oceans and the lands beyond, finding out that their world is larger than they thought, this film presents interstellar travel as the next logical step in that quest. We follow a team of astronauts looking for the next inhabitable planet for humankind's future, and what they find is quite extraordinary.
14. Life of Pi (2012)
Another genre that is very tied to adventure, so much so that it could even be seen as a subgenre of adventure cinema, is survival movies. Life of Pi is just that, as we follow the magical recounting of a shipwreck survivor's dramatic tale of survival in the midst of the ocean. With Oscar-winning visuals, an adventurous spirit and moments of nature's majesty that truly remind the viewer of how small we are in the face of it all, Life of Pi is quite the journey.
13. The Martian (2015)
After what I said about Interstellar and Life of Pi, here we have an ultimate combination: an adventure flick that is both survival and sci-fi! Based on Andy Weir's amazing novel, The Martian follows an astronaut in the semi-distant future who, due to a chaotic chain of events, ends up stranded on Mars.
What really gets me about The Martian is the realism: sure, there are many ways to do the adventure genre and some of fiction's best adventure have come from unrealistic imagination-benders, but there is definitely something to be said for those instances where the adventure feels like it could, despite the magical feel of creative fiction, really happen. This isn't the first thing to come to mind from 'stranded on Mars', mind you, but being based on Weir's genius book, the film's plot backs everything up with actual science, and no matter how far-fetched the plot ends up being, it does get a massive extra-kick from the feeling that if the stars were aligned just right, it could all be real some day.
12. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
It's a parody of the genre's tropes for sure, but in a manner more celebratory than disrespectful. Poking around at every single trope and cliché of the 'group of heroes on a heroic mission' premise, Monty Python and the Holy Grail succeeds in being a fun and compelling adventure flick in its own right, all while making fun of the genre's conventions. It won't sweep you away with dramatic turns and rushes of cinema magic like of some of these films, but it is arguably the best fusion of adventure and comedy out there, and that deserves recognition.
11. Star Trek (2009)
The Star Trek franchise is interesting to cross-reference with today's genre: the original TV shows and following movies never were the most stereotypical members of the adventure genre, with the slow pace and dialogue-heavy style not feeling very thrilling for a vast majority of the time. Yet there's something about the franchise's premise that hits in the core of the genre: after all, the words "To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before" do sound pretty damn adventurous to me. It has always been an adventure franchise, but just different from the genre's mainstream norms.
Out of the 13 Star Trek films, many could be argued to be the most inherent of the bunch for the adventure genre: Star Trek: The Motion Picture focuses the most on exploring the unknown, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock has a plot full of new exciting locations and the characters being in survival mode, et cetera. But I've chosen the first of J.J. Abrams' reboot flicks to represent the franchise here, because of how well it combines the thrilling faster pace often associated with the genre with the Trek franchise's own signature tropes and atmosphere. It feels more exciting and fresh than preceding films, but still very Star Trek at its core, making for a neat and very worthwhile balance.
10. Spirited Away (2001)
Animation is another genre that can really help a proper adventure story come into its own when the genres clash and combine in a beautiful manner. While Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away is much more than just an animated adventure film, with its hard-hitting themes of family, change, fears and coming of age, it does also manage to be one of the many legendary cinematic adventures done by Studio Ghibli in the process. The journey that protagonist Chihiro (Rumi Hiiragi) is whisked away on is filled to the brim with vibrant and majestic locations, brough to life by Ghibli's beloved animation style.
9. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Once again, we have a film on today's list that isn't adventure in the most obvious and typical way. The pace of 2001 is, and I mean this in the best way possible, excruciatingly slow, something that most adventure flicks try to avoid. However, the deep and pondering style is right for this film, and the reason for its high placement on today's list lies in what takes place within that slow and convoluted plot: an odyssey, true to the title, and one of the most peculiar and creatively told cinematic journeys ever taken.
It's an adventure on a massive scale, with the interpretational plot asking questions of what it is that drives humankind to its inherent sense of exploration of the unknown. The final sequence especially takes the main character and the viewers through unforeseen depths into somewhere completely new, and the way this is done is endlessly fascinating.
8. Stand By Me (1986)
Even an adventure on a smaller scale (especially contrasted to the one described above) can deal with some big and heavy themes. Based on a brilliant short story by Stephen King, Stand By Me follows a group of four boys, who embark on a journey via the railroad tracks to find what is speculated to be a dead body. On their way, they bond as humans do, encounter all sorts of dangers and interesting situations, and eventually come back a bit wiser. Isn't that what the genre is all about at its core?
7. Dune (2021)
The adventure genre is far from being the primary focus in Frank Herbert's iconic science fiction book Dune - but the man was so creative and told his story in such a way, that in the midst of all the political machinations, philosophical themes of religion and ecology, mind-driven storylines of plots within plots within plots and the general goal of being an antithesis to the traditional hero narrative, the book (almost accidentally) manages to have some of literature's coolest adventure elements in it as well. And this translates beautifully into Denis Villeneuve's film adaptation.
While Dune: Part Two (2024) is an even better film overall, really zeroing in on the deep themes and overall intensity, the first film is where the adventure is at. The planet Arrakis is a unique and vibrant creation, and when two major characters are thrust into the midst of its vast and dangerous deserts a little over halfway through the film, embarking on a quest of survival while encountering the planet's majestic sand worms and the mythical Fremen tribes, the adventure element burns hot and makes the masterful film all the better.
6. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
And here we have a classic fusion of the western and adventure genres! As if often the case in classic westerns, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre has a plot deep in the veins of adventure, with the plot following two down-on-their-luck heroes embarking on a quest into dangerous territory, in search of a fabled treasure. This rag-tag duo encounters every possible obstacle on their way, making for a thrilling treasure hunt that had quite a bit of influence on the genre as a whole.
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
Ah, this one is just so good! It's a bit of a hot take to prefer the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie to the first, but I've always held that steadfast opinion, for reasons very tied to the adventure genre and what I love about it. The Pirates movies were never amazing cinema in my opinion, but what I like best about them is how well they work as neat and entertaining adventure flicks with various creatively built action/adventure set pieces and hijinks.
And purely in that, the second film outdoes the first - the very best adventurous shenanigangs that the franchise has to offer, like the sequence of Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) running to escape from his captors on the island or the moving-wheel sword fight, come from Dead Man's Chest. One of the best films in terms of entertaining and fun adventure elements.
4. Finding Nemo (2003)
For many movie genres, there's that one film that really lit up your love for said genre at a young age. For me, it was Star Wars with science fiction and the Harry Potter movies with fantasy - and Finding Nemo, before all of that, for adventure.
Seriously, it's the blueprint for the genre right here. We're introduced to a very small and limited setting in a vast world, then it's all exciting when the characters must leave the safety and comfort of those parameters, and embark on a quest into the unknown. The oceans of our world are definitely one of the most curious, mysterious and exploration-worthy settings out there, and it's this very movie that kindled my interest and curiosity about what lies within our deep waters as a kid. Still, when re-watching it at an adult age, there's no other film that makes the ocean feel quite as epic as the sense of wonder of what lies beyond the reef in Finding Nemo.
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Adapted from arguably the greatest adventure tale in literature, the Lord of the Rings trilogy is the shit. While The Return of the King is my overall favorite piece of cinema in the trilogy, with its high-stakes fantasy epic grandeur, it's the first instalment that succeeds best out of the three as a representative of the adventure genre (the same goes for the books).
No one had an imagination for adventurous fictional worldbuilding quite like J.R.R. Tolkien, and it is an absolute treat to see the world of Middle-Earth come to life here. The extended edition is particularly recommended for the full experience regarding today's genre, as the additional scenes really zero in on the sheer scope of the journey Frodo (Elijah Wood) and his fellow heroes embark on, and getting to bathe in that atmosphere makes all of the intriguing encounters and dangerous perils feel even more thrilling and earned.
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
The first Indiana Jones flick made it onto last week's list of my all-time favorite action films, and I promised there that it would be even higher on a list of the greatest adventure films! After all this praise for fictional worlds like Middle-Earth, created for an ultimate sense of adventure, it is really worth thinking how it's arguably even more impressive for a filmmaker to create as much intrigue and hype for an adventure story set in this mundane real world of ours.
Okay, our world does have some pretty damn awesome places in it, and no fictional-but-real-world-set adventure flick manages to take quite as full of an advantage of that as Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Indiana Jones' (Harrison Ford) debut journey takes him from location to location, with the delightful map-interlude sequences hammering in the feel of adventure, which is brought to an absolute maximum by John Williams' genre-defining score. Hell yes.
1. Star Wars (1977)
I hope that gatekeepers of the pure adventure genre aren't offended by a science fiction film taking the #1 spot - I think it's a beautiful testament to how great a proper fusion of genres can be. As many who know me or have read my blog might remember, I have the somewhat unpopular opinion that the greatest movie in the Star Wars franchise is not Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), which most fans have as their #1, as I've liked the original one even more for as long as I can remember. And the biggest individual reason for this is that, in addition to being great sci-fi and an awesome start to one of cinema's most celebrated franchises, the original Star Wars is 100% the perfect adventure film.
That's what lands Star Wars in my top 10 favorite movies of all time, more than any other reason. For as long as there have been movies, there have been adventure movies, and my view is that the genre was built upon and improved for decades and decades - until this masterpiece perfected it. If there is a way to make adventure in cinema even more enthralling than this, then I cannot for the life of me imagine what that would look like, and would like to see someone try.
The pace, the premise, the way the unlikely group of heroes gets together, the obstacles they face, the twists and turns, the creative worldbuilding - it's all captivating to the maximum. As much as I like the expansion of the Star Wars franchise and the new and deeper direction it has taken with various sequels, prequels and spin-offs, nothing will ever beat how simply yet masterfully the very first one works as the crown jewel of the adventure genre.
Thank you for reading! Tune in next week as my genre project continues - with a list of the greatest sports movies of all time.
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