There’s something captivating about movies set in the wilderness that speak to our primal instincts and desire for adventure. From harrowing tales of survival against the odds to awe-inspiring journeys through nature’s most spectacular landscapes, wilderness movies have the power to thrill us, move us, and make us ponder our place in the world.
In this post, we’ll count down the 25 best wilderness movies of all time. These films will have you itching to lace up your hiking boots and head for the hills. Whether you’re an intrepid explorer or more of an armchair adventurer, you’re sure to find a movie here to stoke your wanderlust. Let’s dive in!
25. The Edge (1997)
Kicking off our list is The Edge, a survival thriller starring Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin. The two men play strangers who must rely on each other to survive after their plane crashes in the remote Alaskan wilderness. Stalked by a ferocious Kodiak bear and battling the elements, they are pushed to their physical and psychological limits. The Edge features breathtaking cinematography of its rugged locations and a memorably menacing ursine villain.
24. Backcountry (2014)
In this tense indie thriller, a young couple’s romantic camping trip becomes a nightmare when they realize they are being stalked by a man-eating black bear. Based on a true story, Backcountry is a gritty, realistic portrayal of how quickly a wilderness outing can turn disastrous due to a combination of nature’s unpredictability and human error. It will make you think twice about wandering off the trail.
23. The Way Back (2010)
Directed by Peter Weir, The Way Back is an epic survival story inspired by real events. During World War II, a group of POWs escape a Siberian gulag and undertake a treacherous 4,000 mile trek on foot to freedom in India, crossing the Himalayas and Gobi Desert. With a cast including Ed Harris, Colin Farrell and Saoirse Ronan, the film is a moving testament to the endurance of the human spirit against incredible odds.
22. Dersu Uzala (1975)
This Soviet-Japanese co-production from legendary director Akira Kurosawa tells the story of a Russian explorer and his friendship with his Nanai guide in the Siberian wilderness in the early 20th century. Featuring stunning widescreen cinematography of the taiga landscape, Dersu Uzala is a poignant meditation on man’s relationship with nature, and how encroaching civilization threatens traditional ways of life. It won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
21. Walkabout (1971)
In this dreamlike art film from Nicolas Roeg, a teenage girl and her younger brother are stranded in the Australian outback and must fend for themselves. They meet a young Aboriginal man who helps them survive as they trek through the harsh but beautiful landscape. Walkabout is light on dialogue and heavy on atmosphere and symbolism, juxtaposing Western and indigenous worldviews. Its depictions of the natural world are mesmerizing.
20. The Snow Walker (2003)
Set in the 1950s Canadian Arctic, The Snow Walker stars Barry Pepper as a cocky bush pilot who is humbled after crashing in the tundra with an Inuit woman as his only companion. To survive, he must learn to trust her traditional knowledge and skills. Based on a short story by Farley Mowat, the film has an air of authenticity in its portrayal of the unforgiving yet majestic polar landscape and Inuit culture.
19. Tracks (2013)
This drama is based on the incredible true story of Robyn Davidson, who in 1977 trekked 1,700 miles across the Australian desert from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean, accompanied only by her dog and four camels. Mia Wasikowska plays Davidson, capturing her fierce independence and gradual transformation on her arduous journey of self-discovery. Adam Driver co-stars as a National Geographic photographer who documents her trek.
18. The Grey (2011)
Liam Neeson leads a group of oil workers stranded in the Alaskan wilderness after a plane crash in this bleak survival thriller from director Joe Carnahan. Battling hunger, cold, and a vicious pack of wolves, Neeson’s character – a professional hunter – must keep the dwindling survivors alive against increasingly grim odds. The Grey is a meditation on death and an ode to man’s primal will to live.
17. Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Robert Redford plays the eponymous mountain man in this rugged Western based on the life of “Liver-Eating” Johnson. A disillusioned veteran of the Mexican-American War, Johnson takes to the Rocky Mountains to live in isolation as a trapper, but becomes embroiled in conflicts with the Crow tribe. Jeremiah Johnson features majestic cinematography of the Utah wilderness and a compelling performance from Redford as a man seeking escape and redemption in nature.
16. The Earthling (1980)
William Holden and Ricky Schroder star in this heartfelt drama about a man dying of cancer who retreats to the Australian bush to end his days, and the young boy he meets who is also lost – physically and emotionally. As the man teaches the boy survival skills and they bond, both learn valuable lessons about life, death, and human connection. The Earthling makes poignant use of its lush wilderness setting.
15. The Revenant (2015)
Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Oscar-winning epic stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Hugh Glass, a frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in 1820s America. Mauled by a bear and left for dead by his companions, Glass must survive the wilderness and exact his revenge. The film’s brutal realism, spiritual themes, and stunning natural cinematography make it a visceral and immersive viewing experience. DiCaprio won his long-overdue Oscar for his raw, committed performance.
14. Rescue Dawn (2006)
Christian Bale stars in Werner Herzog’s Vietnam War drama, based on the true story of German-American pilot Dieter Dengler who was shot down over Laos and captured. Dengler leads a daring escape from a POW camp into the surrounding jungle, where he and a fellow escapee must survive the elements and evade enemy soldiers. Rescue Dawn is a gripping and inspiring tale of resilience, filmed on location in Thailand’s lush wilderness.
13. Deliverance (1972)
John Boorman’s Deliverance is a dark, disturbing thriller about four Atlanta businessmen whose canoeing trip in the remote Georgia wilderness takes a nightmarish turn. Starring Jon Voight and Burt Reynolds, the film is a powerful exploration of masculinity, civilization vs. savagery, and man’s destructive relationship with nature. It features iconic scenes like Dueling Banjos and the infamous “squeal like a pig” sequence. Deliverance will make you rethink that river rafting trip.
12. The Edge of the World (1937)
This early docudrama from Michael Powell (of The Red Shoes fame) depicts the harshness of life on the remote Scottish island of St. Kilda in the 1930s, as depopulation threatens the tiny community’s existence. Shot on location on the island of Foula, The Edge of the World has a raw authenticity in its portrayal of man’s struggle against the elements. It established Powell’s reputation for audacious location filming in challenging conditions.
11. Touching the Void (2003)
Joe Simpson and Simon Yates’ harrowing ordeal on the Siula Grande mountain in the Peruvian Andes is the subject of this gripping docudrama. Based on Simpson’s book, the film uses interviews with the two climbers and dramatic re-enactments to tell the story of how Simpson broke his leg descending the peak and was left for dead, but miraculously survived. Touching the Void is a jaw-dropping story of human endurance pushed to the limits.
10. Samsara (2011)
Ron Fricke’s visually stunning documentary takes us on a wordless journey to some of the most spectacular wilderness locations around the globe, from the Himalayas to the American Southwest. Filmed over five years in 25 countries, Samsara uses dazzling time-lapse photography and a mesmerizing score to create a hypnotic meditation on the beauty of the natural world and man’s relationship to it, both harmonious and destructive. It’s a feast for the senses.
9. The New World (2005)
Terrence Malick’s poetic retelling of the Pocahontas story reimagines the meeting of Native American and European cultures as a dreamlike clash of civilizations. Q’orianka Kilcher plays the young Powhatan princess who falls in love with Colin Farrell’s John Smith, an English settler at Jamestown. Malick’s camera lingers on the primal beauty of the Virginia wilderness, creating a rapturous vision of an untouched Eden. The New World is a captivating elegy for a lost way of life.
8. Grizzly Man (2005)
Werner Herzog’s fascinating documentary explores the life and death of Timothy Treadwell, a self-styled bear whisperer who lived among the grizzlies in an Alaskan national park and was eventually killed by one, along with his girlfriend. Using Treadwell’s own video footage as well as interviews, Herzog paints a haunting portrait of a complex man whose love of wild nature crossed the line into dangerous obsession. Grizzly Man is a cautionary tale about the perils of projecting human emotions onto apex predators.
7. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
In Werner Herzog’s hallucinatory historical epic, Klaus Kinski plays a mad Spanish conquistador searching for the fabled city of El Dorado in the Peruvian jungle. As Aguirre leads his men on a doomed mission down river, the wilderness closes in, madness takes hold, and the expedition descends into barbarism. Shot on location in the Amazon with a feverish intensity, Aguirre is a nightmarish vision of colonial folly and man’s insignificance in the face of untamed nature.
6. The Bear (1988)
Jean-Jacques Annaud’s family wilderness drama tells the story of an orphaned bear cub who befriends an adult male grizzly as they try to evade human hunters in the spectacular mountains of British Columbia. Astonishingly filmed using real bears (including Bart the Bear, a trained grizzly who became a movie star), The Bear is a magical, moving ode to the beauty and resilience of wild creatures. It will make you see bears in a whole new light.
5. Dersu Uzala (1975)
Akira Kurosawa’s Oscar-winning Soviet-Japanese co-production is a poignant meditation on man’s relationship with the wilderness. Based on the memoirs of Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev, it depicts his friendship with Dersu Uzala, a native Nanai hunter who becomes his guide in the Siberian taiga. With stunning widescreen cinematography of the primal landscape, the film is a moving lament for a vanishing way of life in harmony with nature.
4. Walkabout (1971)
Two city children stranded in the Australian outback join a young Aboriginal boy on his “walkabout” – a solo journey of survival and spiritual initiation – in Nicolas Roeg’s visually poetic drama. With minimal dialogue, the film immerses us in the raw beauty and mystery of the desert landscape, contrasting Western and indigenous attitudes toward nature. Walkabout is a mesmerizing, sensual experience that taps into something primal and mythic.
3. The Revenant (2015)
Alejandro González Iñárritu’s visceral survival epic stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Hugh Glass, a 19th-century frontiersman left for dead in the wilderness by his companions after a bear mauling. As Glass tenaciously claws his way back from the brink of death, battling the elements and his own traumas, the film becomes a transcendent meditation on grief, resilience and man’s place in the natural world. Emmanuel Lubezki’s stunning cinematography envelops us in a landscape of cruel, savage beauty.
2. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
Werner Herzog’s hallucinatory journey into the heart of darkness follows a mad Spanish conquistador (Klaus Kinski) as he leads a doomed expedition down an Amazon river in search of the mythical El Dorado. Shot on location in the Peruvian jungle with a feverish intensity, the film is a nightmarish vision of colonial hubris and man’s folly in the face of a pitiless, impenetrable wilderness. Aguirre is like a waking fever dream, seared onto your retinas.
1. Dersu Uzala (1975)
For the pinnacle of wilderness cinema, we return to Akira Kurosawa’s masterful Soviet-Japanese co-production about the friendship between a Russian explorer and a native Siberian hunter. With its poignant themes of man’s connection to the natural world, the encroachment of civilization, and the passing of traditional ways of life, Dersu Uzala feels even more resonant today. It’s a film of profound humanity and breathtaking visual poetry, with images of the taiga landscape that will forever be etched in your memory.
These 25 best wilderness movies offer a diverse range of experiences, from nerve-shredding survival thrillers to contemplative meditations on man’s relationship with untamed nature. Whether set in the Amazon, the Outback or the Siberian taiga, they all share a common reverence for the primal beauty and power of the natural world. They remind us of our small place in the grand scheme of things, and perhaps awaken a desire to reconnect with something elemental within ourselves.
So the next time you feel that itch to head for the hills, consider popping in one of these cinematic adventures instead – and let the wilderness come to you. Just remember: respect nature, leave no trace, and try not to get eaten by bears. Happy trails!
