Very Best Survival Movies (Live or die choice is their's)
by adeel-abass15 | created - 11 May 2013 | updated - 06 Sep 2018 | PublicList of Survival movies that make you byte your nails.
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1. 127 Hours (2010)
R | 94 min | Biography, Drama
A mountain climber becomes trapped under a boulder while canyoneering alone near Moab, Utah and resorts to desperate measures in order to survive.
Director: Danny Boyle | Stars: James Franco, Amber Tamblyn, Kate Mara, Sean Bott
Votes: 401,585 | Gross: $18.34M
2. Alive (1993)
R | 128 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller
After crash-landing in the snowswept Andes, a Uruguayan rugby team has no choice but to turn to desperate measures in order to survive.
Director: Frank Marshall | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Vincent Spano, Josh Hamilton, Bruce Ramsay
Votes: 64,470 | Gross: $36.73M
3. Frozen (I) (2010)
R | 93 min | Adventure, Thriller
Three skiers stranded on a chairlift are forced to make life-or-death choices, which prove more perilous than staying put and freezing to death.
Director: Adam Green | Stars: Shawn Ashmore, Emma Bell, Kevin Zegers, Ed Ackerman
Votes: 80,777 | Gross: $0.24M
4. Gravity (2013)
PG-13 | 91 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Dr Ryan Stone, an engineer on her first time on a space mission, and Matt Kowalski, an astronaut on his final expedition, have to survive in space after they are hit by debris while spacewalking.
Director: Alfonso Cuarón | Stars: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris, Orto Ignatiussen
Votes: 863,520 | Gross: $274.09M
5. The Snow Walker (2003)
PG | 103 min | Adventure, Drama
A pilot and his passenger struggle for survival after crashing in the Arctic tundra.
Director: Charles Martin Smith | Stars: Barry Pepper, Annabella Piugattuk, James Cromwell, Kiersten Warren
Votes: 11,375
6. Flight of the Phoenix (2004)
PG-13 | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Survivors of a plane crash in the Mongolian desert work together to build a new plane.
Director: John Moore | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Miranda Otto, Giovanni Ribisi, Tyrese Gibson
Votes: 56,768 | Gross: $21.01M
7. Into the Wild (2007)
R | 148 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
After graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters that shape his life.
Director: Sean Penn | Stars: Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn, Catherine Keener, Marcia Gay Harden
Votes: 658,467 | Gross: $18.35M
8. Cast Away (2000)
PG-13 | 143 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
A FedEx executive undergoes a physical and emotional transformation after crash landing on a deserted island.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, Paul Sanchez, Lari White
Votes: 639,111 | Gross: $233.63M
9. Buried (2010)
R | 95 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Paul is a U.S. truck driver working in Iraq. After an attack by a group of Iraqis he wakes to find he is buried alive inside a coffin. With only a lighter and a cell phone it's a race against time to escape this claustrophobic death trap.
Director: Rodrigo Cortés | Stars: Ryan Reynolds, José Luis García-Pérez, Robert Paterson, Stephen Tobolowsky
Votes: 168,591 | Gross: $1.03M
10. Rescue Dawn (2006)
PG-13 | 125 min | Adventure, Biography, War
A U.S. fighter pilot's epic struggle of survival after being shot down on a mission over Laos during the Vietnam War.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Christian Bale, Steve Zahn, Jeremy Davies, Zach Grenier
Votes: 110,837 | Gross: $5.49M
11. Shackleton (2002)
103 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The true story of Shackleton's 1914 Endurance expedition to the South Pole, and his epic struggle to lead his twenty-eight man crew to safety after his ship was crushed in the pack ice.
Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Eve Best, Mark Tandy, Embeth Davidtz
Votes: 3,092
12. Open Water (2003)
R | 79 min | Adventure, Drama, Horror
Based on the true story of two scuba divers accidentally stranded in shark infested waters after their tour boat has left.
Director: Chris Kentis | Stars: Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis, Saul Stein, Michael E. Williamson
Votes: 56,478 | Gross: $30.61M
13. 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: 35,012 | Gross: $47.74M
14. I Am Legend (2007)
PG-13 | 101 min | Action, Drama, Horror
Years after a plague kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure.
Director: Francis Lawrence | Stars: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Salli Richardson-Whitfield
Votes: 814,747 | Gross: $256.39M
15. Touching the Void (2003)
R | 106 min | Documentary, Adventure, Drama
The true story of two climbers and their perilous journey up the west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.
Director: Kevin Macdonald | Stars: Simon Yates, Joe Simpson, Brendan Mackey, Nicholas Aaron
Votes: 38,118 | Gross: $4.59M
16. Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A disillusioned pilot shot down over war-torn Bosnia goes on the run from the local military and an assassin, as his commanding officer risks all to save him.
Director: John Moore | Stars: Gene Hackman, Owen Wilson, Gabriel Macht, Charles Malik Whitfield
Votes: 112,922 | Gross: $59.07M
17. Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil (2006 Video)
R | 96 min | Action, Thriller
Navy SEALS, headed by Lt. Bobby James, are dispatched to North Korea on a covert mission, all in an effort to take out a missile site...
Director: James Dodson | Stars: Nicholas Gonzalez, Matthew Bushell, Keith David, Denis Arndt
Votes: 5,776
18. Eight Below (2006)
PG | 120 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
Brutal cold forces two Antarctic explorers to leave their team of sled dogs behind as they fend for their survival.
Director: Frank Marshall | Stars: Paul Walker, Jason Biggs, Bruce Greenwood, Moon Bloodgood
Votes: 68,384 | Gross: $81.61M
19. A Cry in the Wild (1990)
PG | 82 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
Adapted from Gary Paulsen's novel "Hatchet", a boy crash-lands in Canada's bear country and survives with a hatchet his divorced mother gave him.
Director: Mark Griffiths | Stars: Jared Rushton, Ned Beatty, Pamela Sue Martin, Stephen Meadows
Votes: 1,167 | Gross: $1.49M
20. The Revenant (I) (2015)
R | 156 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, Domhnall Gleeson
Votes: 874,827 | Gross: $183.64M
21. 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: 79,094 | Gross: $27.78M
22. The River Wild (1994)
PG-13 | 111 min | Adventure, Crime, Thriller
Rafting expert Gail takes on a pair of armed killers while navigating a spectacularly violent river.
Director: Curtis Hanson | Stars: Meryl Streep, Kevin Bacon, David Strathairn, Joseph Mazzello
Votes: 50,222 | Gross: $46.82M
23. Vertical Limit (2000)
PG-13 | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A climber must rescue his sister on the peak of K2, the second highest mountain in the world .
Director: Martin Campbell | Stars: Scott Glenn, Chris O'Donnell, Bill Paxton, Robin Tunney
Votes: 65,373 | Gross: $69.24M
24. Into the White (I) (2012)
R | 104 min | Action, Biography, Drama
World War II: After an aerial battle over Norway, British and German airmen find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Finding shelter in the same cabin, they realize the only way to survive the winter is to set aside the rules of war.
Director: Petter Næss | Stars: Florian Lukas, David Kross, Lachlan Nieboer, Stig Henrik Hoff
Votes: 22,370
25. Dances with Wolves (1990)
PG-13 | 181 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
Lieutenant John Dunbar, assigned to a remote western Civil War outpost, finds himself engaging with a neighbouring Sioux settlement, causing him to question his own purpose.
Director: Kevin Costner | Stars: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney A. Grant
Votes: 290,843 | Gross: $184.21M
26. Wrecked (2010)
R | 91 min | Adventure, Drama, Mystery
A man wakes in a car wreck at the bottom of a ravine and must overcome incredible odds to survive.
Director: Michael Greenspan | Stars: Adrien Brody, Caroline Dhavernas, Ryan Robbins, Adrian G. Griffiths
Votes: 16,948 | Gross: $0.00M
27. Stuck (I) (2007)
R | 85 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A young woman commits a hit-and-run, then finds her fate tied to her victim.
Director: Stuart Gordon | Stars: Mena Suvari, Stephen Rea, Russell Hornsby, Rukiya Bernard
Votes: 10,268 | Gross: $0.07M
28. ATM (I) (2012)
R | 90 min | Horror, Thriller
On a late night visit to an ATM, three co-workers end up in a desperate fight for their lives when they become trapped by an unknown man.
Director: David Brooks | Stars: Alice Eve, Josh Peck, Brian Geraghty, Mike O'Brian
Votes: 25,388 | Gross: $0.00M
29. Beneath (I) (2013)
Not Rated | 90 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Six high school seniors celebrating in the middle of a lake find themselves trapped on a rowboat due to a man-eating fish.
Director: Larry Fessenden | Stars: Bonnie Dennison, Daniel Zovatto, Jon Orsini, Chris Conroy
Votes: 5,068
30. The Grey (2011)
R | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
After their plane crashes in Alaska, six oil workers are led by a skilled huntsman to survival, but a pack of merciless wolves haunts their every step.
Director: Joe Carnahan | Stars: Liam Neeson, Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo, Dallas Roberts
Votes: 263,408 | Gross: $51.58M
31. The Ruins (2008)
R | 90 min | Adventure, Horror, Thriller
A leisurely Mexican holiday takes a turn for the worse when a group of friends and a fellow tourist embark on a remote archaeological dig in the jungle, where something evil lives among the ruins.
Director: Carter Smith | Stars: Shawn Ashmore, Jena Malone, Jonathan Tucker, Laura Ramsey
Votes: 84,347 | Gross: $17.43M
32. The Road (I) (2009)
R | 111 min | Drama, Thriller
In a dangerous post-apocalyptic world, an ailing father defends his son as they slowly travel to the sea.
Director: John Hillcoat | Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Robert Duvall
Votes: 254,338 | Gross: $0.06M
33. Life of Pi (2012)
PG | 127 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain, Tabu
Votes: 667,163 | Gross: $124.99M
34. Lord of the Flies (1990)
R | 90 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Stranded on an island, a group of schoolboys degenerate into savagery.
Director: Harry Hook | Stars: Balthazar Getty, Chris Furrh, Danuel Pipoly, James Badge Dale
Votes: 33,636 | Gross: $13.99M
35. Swiss Family Robinson (1960)
G | 126 min | Adventure, Family
A Swiss family must survive being shipwrecked on a deserted island.
Director: Ken Annakin | Stars: John Mills, Dorothy McGuire, James MacArthur, Janet Munro
Votes: 18,177 | Gross: $40.36M
36. 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
37. The Mosquito Coast (1986)
PG | 117 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
An inventor spurns his city life and moves his family into the jungles of Central America to make a utopia.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, River Phoenix, Jadrien Steele
Votes: 31,220 | Gross: $14.30M
38. The Martian (2015)
PG-13 | 144 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
An astronaut becomes stranded on Mars after his team assume him dead, and must rely on his ingenuity to find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive and can survive until a potential rescue.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara
Votes: 926,161 | Gross: $228.43M
39. Open Grave (2013)
Unrated | 102 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A man wakes up with no memory in a pit full of dead bodies in the wilderness and must determine if the murderer is one of the strangers who rescued him, or if he himself is the killer.
Director: Gonzalo López-Gallego | Stars: Sharlto Copley, Thomas Kretschmann, Josie Ho, Joseph Morgan
Votes: 31,357
40. Detour (I) (2013)
TV-14 | 87 min | Horror, Romance, Thriller
Trapped inside his car by a mudslide, smooth talking Jackson Alder suddenly finds himself in a situation he can't talk his way out of. With no hope of rescue, he must defy the odds; battling Mother Nature for his survival.
Director: William Dickerson | Stars: Neil Hopkins, Brea Grant, John Forest, Ptolemy Slocum
Votes: 1,019
41. 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: 83,836 | Gross: $6.26M
42. 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: 122,039 | Gross: $2.70M
43. Sanctum (2011)
R | 108 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
An underwater cave diving team experiences a life-threatening crisis during an expedition to the unexplored and least accessible cave system in the world.
Director: Alister Grierson | Stars: Rhys Wakefield, Allison Cratchley, Christopher James Baker, Richard Roxburgh
Votes: 57,218 | Gross: $23.07M
44. The Shallows (2016)
PG-13 | 86 min | Action, Drama, Horror
A mere 200 yards from shore, surfer Nancy is attacked by a great white shark, with her short journey to safety becoming the ultimate contest of wills.
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra | Stars: Blake Lively, Óscar Jaenada, Angelo Josue Lozano Corzo, Joseph Salas
Votes: 143,489 | Gross: $55.12M
45. 47 Meters Down (2017)
PG-13 | 89 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Two sisters vacationing in Mexico are trapped in a shark cage at the bottom of the ocean. With less than an hour of oxygen left and great white sharks circling nearby, they must fight to survive.
Director: Johannes Roberts | Stars: Mandy Moore, Claire Holt, Matthew Modine, Chris Johnson
Votes: 60,948 | Gross: $44.31M
46. Jungle (I) (2017)
R | 115 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
A group of friends join a guide for a trek into the Bolivian jungle, searching for an Indian village. The men soon realize that the jungle is a difficult place to be.
Director: Greg McLean | Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Thomas Kretschmann, Alex Russell, Joel Jackson
Votes: 63,688
47. Captain Phillips (2013)
PG-13 | 134 min | Action, Biography, Crime
The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the U.S.-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.
Director: Paul Greengrass | Stars: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman, Catherine Keener
Votes: 492,910 | Gross: $107.10M
48. Sully (2016)
PG-13 | 96 min | Biography, Drama
When pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger lands his damaged plane on the Hudson River in order to save the flight's passengers and crew, some consider him a hero while others think he was reckless.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney, Valerie Mahaffey
Votes: 298,305 | Gross: $125.07M
49. Red Planet (2000)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Astronauts, and their robotic dog AMEE (Autonomous Mapping Evaluation and Evasion), search for solutions to save a dying Earth by searching on Mars, only to have the mission go terribly awry.
Director: Antony Hoffman | Stars: Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss, Tom Sizemore, Benjamin Bratt
Votes: 59,936 | Gross: $18.00M
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