With Sandra Bullock and George Clooney lost in space in Gravity and Robert Redford stuck at sea in All is Lost, this Fall is proving to be a popular season for stranded celebrities who must fight for survival. Though not exactly its own genre, a survival film is where a person (or group of people) is trapped in an isolated location and must battle fierce obstacles, usually nature, in order to survive.
The first movie of this kind that I ever saw was Alive. Released in 1993, I didn’t see the film until a few years later when I was a sophomore in high school. Upon watching it though, I underwent a spiritual awakening greater than any I’d ever experienced in church or my Christian elementary school.
There was something about watching this group of people fight to survive that spoke to me. I imagined myself in their situation and wondered if I would have made it, if I would have had the strength to do what they did. The film caused me to evaluate my life and its worth to me. Ever since, I’ve had a fascination with films that feature stories of survival against impossible odds.
On that note, I thought I’d share five of my favorite survival movies. These aren’t all true stories, and they don’t all end well, but they do all feature one, or several people, fighting against impossible odds in order in hopes of living another day. I have no doubt that each of these films will leave you feeling just a bit inspired.
So, without further ado, here’s 5 survival movies that I absolutely love.
