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100 Greatest Adventure Films of All-Time |
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Adventure Films are exciting stories, with new experiences or exotic locales. Adventure films are very similar to the action film genre, in that they are designed to provide an action-filled, energetic experience for the film viewer. Rather than the predominant emphasis on violence and fighting that is found in action films, however, the viewer of adventure films can live vicariously through the travels, conquests, explorations, creation of empires, struggles and situations that confront the main characters, actual historical figures or protagonists. Adventure films were intended to appeal mainly to men, creating major male heroic stars through the years. These courageous, patriotic, or altruistic heroes often fought for their beliefs, struggled for freedom, or overcame injustice. Modern adventure films, some of which have been successful blockbusters, have crossed over and added resourceful action heroes (and oftentimes heroines). Under the category of adventure films, we can include traditional swashbucklers, serialized films, and historical spectacles (similar to the epics film genre), searches or expeditions for lost continents, "jungle" and "desert" epics, treasure hunts and quests, disaster films, and heroic journeys or searches for the unknown. Adventure films are often set in an historical period, and may include adapted stories of historical or literary adventure heroes (Robin Hood, Tarzan, and Zorro for example), kings, battles, rebellion, or piracy. Adventure films share many elements with other genres - there are numerous examples of epics, sci-fi, fantasy, and war films with characteristics of this genre. Adventure films, in a broader context, could include boxing movies, motor racing films, and films adapted from literary novels. More About Adventure Films: |
 Introduction to Adventure Films |
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(chronological order, unranked) The linked titles below refer to reviews (with screenshots) in the "Greatest Moments and Scenes" section of the site |
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 The Three Musketeers (1921) |
 The Black Pirate (1926) |
 Don Juan (1926) |
 The General (1927) |
 Shanghai Express (1932) |
 Tarzan The Ape Man (1932) |
 King Kong (1933) |
 The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) |
 The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934, UK) |
 Tarzan and His Mate (1934) |
 Treasure Island (1934) |
 Captain Blood (1935) |
 The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935) |
 Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) |
 Captains Courageous (1937) |
 The Hurricane (1937) |
 Lost Horizon (1937) |
 The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) |
 The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) |
 Beau Geste (1939) |
 The Four Feathers (1939, UK) |
 Gunga Din (1939) |
 The Wizard of Oz (1939) |
 The Mark of Zorro (1940) |
 The Sea Hawk (1940) |
 The Thief of Bagdad (1940, UK) |
 The Three Musketeers (1948) |
 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) |
 King Solomon's Mines (1950) |
 The African Queen (1951) |
 The Wages of Fear (1953, Fr./It.) (aka Le Salaire de la Peur) |
 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) |
 Moby Dick (1956) |
 Old Yeller (1957) |
 The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) |
 The Hidden Fortress (1958, Jp.) (aka Kakushi-toride no san-akunin) |
 The Old Man and the Sea (1958) |
 The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) |
 Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) |
 Swiss Family Robinson (1960) |
 Hatari! (1962) |
 Lawrence of Arabia (1962, UK) |
 The Great Escape (1963) |
 The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) |
 The Naked Prey (1965, South Africa/US) |
 Planet of the Apes (1968) |
 Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972, W. Germ./Peru/Mex.) (aka Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes) |
 The Poseidon Adventure (1972) |
 Papillon (1973) |
 The Three Musketeers (1973, UK) |
 The Man Who Would Be King (1975, UK) |
 The Deep (1977) |
 The Black Stallion (1979) |
 Excalibur (1981) |
 Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) |
 Time Bandits (1981, UK) |
 Conan The Barbarian (1982) |
 Fitzcarraldo (1982, W. Germ./Peru) |
 Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984, US/UK) |
 The NeverEnding Story (1984) |
 Romancing the Stone (1984) |
 Back to the Future (1985) |
 The Emerald Forest (1985, UK/US) |
 The Goonies (1985) |
 The Jewel of the Nile (1985) |
 Ladyhawke (1985) |
 Return to Oz (1985) |
 Flight of the Navigator (1986) |
 Labyrinth (1986) |
 The Mission (1986, UK) |
 Stand By Me (1986) |
 The Princess Bride (1987) |
 The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988, UK) |
 Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) |
 Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) |
 White Fang (1991) |
 The Last of the Mohicans (1992) |
 Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993) |
 Jurassic Park (1993) |
 The Jungle Book (1994) |
 The River Wild (1994) |
 First Knight (1995) |
 Jumanji (1995) |
 Rob Roy (1995) |
 The Mask of Zorro (1998) |
 The Mummy (1999) |
 Three Kings (1999, US/Australia) |
 Cast Away (2000) |
 Gladiator (2000) |
 The Perfect Storm (2000) |
 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) |
 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) |
 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) |
 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) |
 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) |
 National Treasure (2004) |
 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005) |
 King Kong (2005) |
 Sahara (2005) |
 Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005) |
 Night at the Museum (2006) |
 Nim's Island (2008) |
 Alice in Wonderland (2010) |
 The Adventures of Tintin (2011) |
 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) |
 Life of Pi (2012) |
 The Jungle Book (2016, UK/US) |
 The Lost City of Z (2016) |
 Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019) |
 Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) |
The
100 Greatest Adventure Films of All-Time