1. Life of Pi
Life of Pi is an epic fantasy based on Yann Martel’s novel. The film is about a young boy, Pi Patel, who tells his story of survival after a ship wreckage in the Pacific Ocean. Stuck on a lifeboat along with a Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker. The film is one of the best survival movies, which earned accolades from critics worldwide.
2. The Martian
Martian goes around an astronaut’s struggle to survive life on Mars after being stranded on the planet during an expedition. First, the astronaut gets stuck 560 Sols (Martian Solar Day) on Mars with minimum supplies, and then he becomes a survival instructor when he reaches back Earth. Matt Damon bagged a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance.
3. Trapped
Directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, the film is a classic example of a survival movie. Starring Rajkummar Rao and Geetanjali Thapa, Shaurya (Rao) accidentally lock himself up inside his new flat in an isolated building with no water, food, electricity, or neighbors. He survives by eating ants, cockroaches, and pigeons and starts talking to a rat for company.
4. Interstellar
Interstellar is a movie about discovering a new planet for humanity as the earth becomes uninhabitable, time and space, survival on less known planets, and the story of a father and daughter. This will be a good watch if you are a fan of movies set in a dystopian world. McConaughey takes the spacecraft that carries a team of researchers to find a new planet for humans.
5. 127 Hours
It is a movie about a real-life incident of a mountaineer, Aron Ralston. The film shows us the 127 hours of Ralston’s struggle for his survival. During one of his ascends, he loses his grip and goes down a boulder, where he sticks his hand and wrist against the wall. As the hours pass, he realizes that the only way to escape from this is to amputate his arm.
6. A Quiet Place
Although it looks like a horror thriller and is also a story of the survival and struggle of a family, the movie is about a family that struggles to survive and keep their children safe in a post-apocalyptic world where blind but noise-sensitive creatures kill most humans. So the family communicates in sign language.
7. Room
This is the movie of a mother and son held captive in a room by a kidnapper for many years, to the extent that little Jack is oblivious to the outside world’s existence. Finally, however, they manage to escape the confinement and gain their freedom. Nevertheless, it is acutely distressing how they survive in a room for years, with limited resources to basic facilities like sunlight and food.
8. Cast Away
Tom Hanks (Chuck Nolan) finds himself stuck on a lonely island after a plane crash. With no way to escape, he must find ways to survive on this strange island. He uses the items on the shore from the plane crash to make his way around the island. Hanks bagged a nomination for Best Actor in Leading Role at the 73rd Academy Awards for his role as Chuck Nolan.
9. NH10
From honor killing to caste prejudices, this film touches on many sensitive issues still present in rural India. This is amongst the best Indian survival movies that show the journey of one fateful night, where everything changes for the couple on a road trip. The only challenge? To survive the night against all odds!
10. Manjhi- The Mountain Man
Manjhi, a poor laborer from Gehlaur village near Gaya in Bihar, carved a path as long as 9.1 meters wide and 110 meters through a hill using only a hammer and chisel. Why? As he loses his wife, who was trying to cross a mountain, Manjhi carves this path out of sheer rage. It’s a story of immense determination, courage, and perseverance.
11. The Revenant
The movie is about a legendary frontiersman, Hugh Glass, who was severely injured in a bear attack and is left by his hunting crew. The film has bagged three Golden Globe Awards and five BAFTA Awards and received 12 nominations for the Academy Awards. It is a movie about how Hugh Glass survives the attack and takes revenge on his companion, who betrayed him.
Ready to binge-watch these survival movies??