Adventure Stories | BY Rami Rasamny | PUBLISH DATE: May 25 2020 | READ TIME: 3 mins | UPDATED DATE: June 05 2026

Top 5 Adventure Travel Movies

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“The themes of the movie are relatable to anyone who’s ever thought of just leaving it all behind and the soundtrack is probably the best movie soundtrack of all time thanks to Eddie Vedder.” Now that we’ve climbed every surface at home that can carry our weight, built a customized closet for our adventure gear, […]

“The themes of the movie are relatable to anyone who’s ever thought of just leaving it all behind and the soundtrack is probably the best movie soundtrack of all time thanks to Eddie Vedder.”

Now that we’ve climbed every surface at home that can carry our weight, built a customized closet for our adventure gear, done every home adventure challenge on social media and watched as many Instagram lives about how this will make us better and stronger and fitter and and and as we’d care to admit, it’s finally time for the next phase of the indoors for the traditionally adventure obsessed. Adventure movies! We’ve kept our list specific to Hollywood big screen movies for now so if you’re upset that 180 South hasn’t made it, well, that list is on its way. Here are our top 5 adventure movies to binge on with your adventure buddies (over Zoom of course).

INTO THE WILD

By far the most epic of adventure movies based on the book by Jon Krakauer, by the same name, tells the true story of Christopher McCandless, a man who hiked across North America and into the Alaskan wilderness. The themes of the movie are relatable to anyone who’s ever thought of just leaving it all behind and the soundtrack is probably the best movie soundtrack of all time thanks to Eddie Vedder.

EVEREST

Another movie adaptation of a Krakauer book follows the disastrous 1996 Everest climbing season that called into question the very existence of commercial expeditions to the tallest mountain on Earth

“This one is a classic and in the age of social distancing.”

The cinematography is fantastic and the focus of the movie being on the difficult decisions that mountain guides face when on top of the world with inexperienced climbers is a theme that continues to resonate until this very day.

CAST AWAY

Remember Wilson? This was the movie that cemented Tom Hanks as an actor who could literally do anything including spend an almost entire movie conversing with a volley ball whilst stranded on a remote island in the middle of nowhere. This one is a classic and in the age of social distancing, it’s pretty relatable too!

WILD

Following a failed marriage, the death of her mom and a lifestyle primarily based on getting high or stoned, Cheryl, played by Reese Witherspoon, chooses to leave it all behind and walk the entire Pacific Coast Trail with no knowledge or experience in the outdoors.

THE WAY

Tom never understood his son’s obsession with the outdoors and thought he was wasting his life, but when his son tragically passes away trekking in Spain, Tom decides to follow in his son’s footsteps and trek the Camino de Santiago. This story, like so many of our own stories in the LHO community, is about a pilgrimage that ultimately changed his life. Warning: Just watching the trailer makes me cry.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rami Rasamny headshot

Rami Rasamny

Rami Rasamny is the founder of Life Happens Outdoors, a premium adventure travel company that uses the outdoors as a catalyst for human transformation. His work brings people into the mountains not only for challenge, but for clarity, confidence, and connection. He believes that when people answer the call to adventure truthfully, they come back different.