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231 films

Adventure

Adventure sends heroes out into the unknown: swashbuckling pirates and knights, jungle explorers, treasure hunts and sea voyages. Silent stars like Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn's Warner Bros. films established the model; David Lean and Kurosawa brought epic scale; Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark revived the serial spirit. Location, momentum and a sense of discovery matter more than plot depth.

Where
The United States, Britain, Japan, France
When
From the 1910s; classic peak in the 1930s–60s
Key figures
Douglas Fairbanks, Michael Curtiz, David Lean, Akira Kurosawa, Steven Spielberg
Landmark films
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The African Queen (1951), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Legacy
Made travel, danger and discovery a core pleasure of popular cinema

What to look for

  • Distant, spectacular locations
  • A quest with a clear goal
  • Heroes tested by landscape and rivals
  • Humour alongside danger
  • Music that carries the momentum

Directors with the most films in this genre

Hayao Miyazaki10 filmsHiroshi Inagaki5 filmsLouis Feuillade5 filmsRaoul Walsh5 filmsSteven Spielberg5 filmsWes Anderson5 filmsDavid Lean4 filmsJames Cameron4 filmsJohn Huston4 filmsMichael Curtiz4 filmsVictor Fleming4 filmsWerner Herzog4 filmsAkira Kurosawa3 filmsFritz Lang3 filmsHoward Hawks3 filmsPeter Jackson3 filmsRichard Lester3 filmsRobert Zemeckis3 filmsSam Peckinpah3 filmsSergio Leone3 filmsStanley Kubrick3 filmsWilfred Jackson3 filmsZhang Yimou3 filmsAlejandro Jodorowsky2 films
See all 145 directors
Alexander Mackendrick2 filmsAng Lee2 filmsBen Sharpsteen2 filmsBuster Keaton2 filmsChristopher Nolan2 filmsGeorge Lucas2 filmsGeorges Méliès2 filmsGints Zilbalodis2 filmsGuillermo del Toro2 filmsGuy Ritchie2 filmsJames Whale2 filmsJean-Pierre Jeunet2 filmsJohn Ford2 filmsJohn Woo2 filmsLev Kuleshov2 filmsMario Bava2 filmsMikhail Kalatozov2 filmsNicolas Roeg2 filmsRidley Scott2 filmsSpike Lee2 filmsTed Kotcheff2 filmsWalter Salles2 filmsAbbas Kiarostami1 filmAgnieszka Holland1 filmAgnès Varda1 filmAlberto Lattuada1 filmAlfred Hitchcock1 filmAlice Rohrwacher1 filmAndrea Arnold1 filmAndrei Konchalovsky1 filmAndrei Tarkovsky1 filmAndrzej Żuławski1 filmArthur Penn1 filmBernardo Bertolucci1 filmBilly Wilder1 filmBong Joon-ho1 filmBruno Dumont1 filmCarol Reed1 filmCecil B. DeMille1 filmCharlie Chaplin1 filmChloé Zhao1 filmDavid Fincher1 filmDavid Lynch1 filmDenis Villeneuve1 filmDennis Hopper1 filmDino Risi1 filmDouglas Sirk1 filmEdward Dmytryk1 filmEdwin S. Porter1 filmElia Kazan1 filmEmilio Fernández1 filmEric Rohmer1 filmF.W. Murnau1 filmFatih Akin1 filmFernando Solanas1 filmFrank Capra1 filmG.W. Pabst1 filmGene Kelly1 filmGeorge Cukor1 filmGeorge Roy Hill1 filmGlauber Rocha1 filmGoran Marković1 filmGreta Gerwig1 filmHarold Lloyd1 filmHenri-Georges Clouzot1 filmIsao Takahata1 filmJacques Cousteau1 filmJacques Rivette1 filmJan Švankmajer1 filmJean Vigo1 filmJean-Luc Godard1 filmJim Jarmusch1 filmJohn Carpenter1 filmJosef von Sternberg1 filmJoseph Losey1 filmJulien Duvivier1 filmKatsuhiro Otomo1 filmKelly Reichardt1 filmKing Vidor1 filmKon Ichikawa1 filmLav Diaz1 filmLina Wertmüller1 filmLisandro Alonso1 filmMakoto Shinkai1 filmMarc Caro1 filmMarcel Camus1 filmMario Monicelli1 filmMartin Scorsese1 filmMatteo Garrone1 filmMax Ophüls1 filmMehboob Khan1 filmMetin Erksan1 filmMichael Cimino1 filmMichel Hazanavicius1 filmMike Newell1 filmMira Nair1 filmMuzaffer Arslan1 filmNelson Pereira dos Santos1 filmNikita Mikhalkov1 filmPaolo Sorrentino1 filmPeter Weir1 filmPietro Germi1 filmPreston Sturges1 filmRadu Jude1 filmRaúl Ruiz1 filmRené Clément1 filmRobert Siodmak1 filmRoland Joffé1 filmSam Mendes1 filmSatoshi Kon1 filmSergio Sollima1 filmStephen Daldry1 filmTakashi Miike1 filmThe Coen Brothers1 filmThomas Vinterberg1 filmTim Burton1 filmWilliam Friedkin1 filmWilliam Wyler1 filmWojciech Has1 filmYılmaz Duru1 filmZoya Akhtar1 film

Often combined with

Drama Action Comedy Fantasy Animation Family

Top 100 rated films

  1. The Fellowship of the Ring 2001 · Peter Jackson · IMDb 8.9
  2. Inception 2010 · Christopher Nolan · IMDb 8.8
  3. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 1966 · Sergio Leone · IMDb 8.8
  4. Interstellar 2014 · Christopher Nolan · IMDb 8.7
  5. Spirited Away 2001 · Hayao Miyazaki · IMDb 8.6
  6. Star Wars 1977 · George Lucas · IMDb 8.6
  7. Terminator 2: Judgment Day 1991 · James Cameron · IMDb 8.6
  8. Back to the Future 1985 · Robert Zemeckis · IMDb 8.5
  9. Gladiator 2000 · Ridley Scott · IMDb 8.5
  10. Aliens 1986 · James Cameron · IMDb 8.4
  11. Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981 · Steven Spielberg · IMDb 8.4
  12. 2001: A Space Odyssey 1968 · Stanley Kubrick · IMDb 8.3
  13. Lawrence of Arabia 1962 · David Lean · IMDb 8.3
  14. Princess Mononoke 1997 · Hayao Miyazaki · IMDb 8.3
  15. Dersu Uzala 1975 · Akira Kurosawa · IMDb 8.2
  16. Howl's Moving Castle 2004 · Hayao Miyazaki · IMDb 8.2
  17. Il Sorpasso 1962 · Dino Risi · IMDb 8.2
  18. Jurassic Park 1993 · Steven Spielberg · IMDb 8.2
  19. North by Northwest 1959 · Alfred Hitchcock · IMDb 8.2
  20. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 1948 · John Huston · IMDb 8.2
  21. A Trip to the Moon 1902 · Georges Méliès · IMDb 8.1
  22. Barry Lyndon 1975 · Stanley Kubrick · IMDb 8.1
  23. Ben-Hur 1959 · William Wyler · IMDb 8.1
  24. Jaws 1975 · Steven Spielberg · IMDb 8.1
  25. My Neighbor Totoro 1988 · Hayao Miyazaki · IMDb 8.1
  26. The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957 · David Lean · IMDb 8.1
  27. The General 1926 · Buster Keaton · IMDb 8.1
  28. The Gold Rush 1925 · Charlie Chaplin · IMDb 8.1
  29. The Terminator 1984 · James Cameron · IMDb 8.1
  30. The Wages of Fear 1953 · Henri-Georges Clouzot · IMDb 8.1
  31. The Wizard of Oz 1939 · Victor Fleming · IMDb 8.1
  32. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969 · George Roy Hill · IMDb 8.0
  33. Castle in the Sky 1986 · Hayao Miyazaki · IMDb 8.0
  34. Dune 2021 · Denis Villeneuve · IMDb 8.0
  35. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind 1984 · Hayao Miyazaki · IMDb 8.0
  36. The Hidden Fortress 1958 · Akira Kurosawa · IMDb 8.0
  37. Avatar 2009 · James Cameron · IMDb 7.9
  38. Captains Courageous 1937 · Victor Fleming · IMDb 7.9
  39. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1982 · Steven Spielberg · IMDb 7.9
  40. Fantastic Mr. Fox 2009 · Wes Anderson · IMDb 7.9
  41. Fitzcarraldo 1982 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.9
  42. Hero 2002 · Zhang Yimou · IMDb 7.9
  43. Life of Pi 2012 · Ang Lee · IMDb 7.9
  44. Solaris 1972 · Andrei Tarkovsky · IMDb 7.9
  45. Spartacus 1960 · Stanley Kubrick · IMDb 7.9
  46. Sullivan's Travels 1941 · Preston Sturges · IMDb 7.9
  47. The Adventures of Robin Hood 1938 · Michael Curtiz · IMDb 7.9
  48. The Ten Commandments 1956 · Cecil B. DeMille · IMDb 7.9
  49. The Wild Bunch 1969 · Sam Peckinpah · IMDb 7.9
  50. Aguirre, the Wrath of God 1972 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.8
  51. And Life Goes On 1992 · Abbas Kiarostami · IMDb 7.8
  52. Cast Away 2000 · Robert Zemeckis · IMDb 7.8
  53. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2000 · Ang Lee · IMDb 7.8
  54. Faces Places 2017 · Agnès Varda · IMDb 7.8
  55. Flow 2024 · Gints Zilbalodis · IMDb 7.8
  56. Great Expectations 1946 · David Lean · IMDb 7.8
  57. Isle of Dogs 2018 · Wes Anderson · IMDb 7.8
  58. Skyfall 2012 · Sam Mendes · IMDb 7.8
  59. Stagecoach 1939 · John Ford · IMDb 7.8
  60. The Searchers 1956 · John Ford · IMDb 7.8
  61. To Have and Have Not 1944 · Howard Hawks · IMDb 7.8
  62. Tokyo Godfathers 2003 · Satoshi Kon · IMDb 7.8
  63. America America 1963 · Elia Kazan · IMDb 7.7
  64. Captain Blood 1935 · Michael Curtiz · IMDb 7.7
  65. First Blood 1982 · Ted Kotcheff · IMDb 7.7
  66. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 2005 · Mike Newell · IMDb 7.7
  67. L'Atalante 1934 · Jean Vigo · IMDb 7.7
  68. L'armata Brancaleone 1966 · Mario Monicelli · IMDb 7.7
  69. Moonrise Kingdom 2012 · Wes Anderson · IMDb 7.7
  70. O Brother, Where Art Thou? 2000 · The Coen Brothers · IMDb 7.7
  71. Porco Rosso 1992 · Hayao Miyazaki · IMDb 7.7
  72. Sorcerer 1977 · William Friedkin · IMDb 7.7
  73. The African Queen 1951 · John Huston · IMDb 7.7
  74. The Holy Mountain 1973 · Alejandro Jodorowsky · IMDb 7.7
  75. The Man Who Would Be King 1975 · John Huston · IMDb 7.7
  76. The Motorcycle Diaries 2004 · Walter Salles · IMDb 7.7
  77. The Saragossa Manuscript 1965 · Wojciech Has · IMDb 7.7
  78. The Thief of Bagdad 1924 · Raoul Walsh · IMDb 7.7
  79. Who Framed Roger Rabbit 1988 · Robert Zemeckis · IMDb 7.7
  80. Aferim! 2015 · Radu Jude · IMDb 7.6
  81. Io capitano 2023 · Matteo Garrone · IMDb 7.6
  82. Lost Horizon 1937 · Frank Capra · IMDb 7.6
  83. Only Angels Have Wings 1939 · Howard Hawks · IMDb 7.6
  84. Ponyo 2008 · Hayao Miyazaki · IMDb 7.6
  85. Suzume 2022 · Makoto Shinkai · IMDb 7.6
  86. The Sea Hawk 1940 · Michael Curtiz · IMDb 7.6
  87. Thelma & Louise 1991 · Ridley Scott · IMDb 7.6
  88. Walkabout 1971 · Nicolas Roeg · IMDb 7.6
  89. 13 Assassins 2010 · Takashi Miike · IMDb 7.5
  90. Close to Eden 1991 · Nikita Mikhalkov · IMDb 7.5
  91. Dead Man 1995 · Jim Jarmusch · IMDb 7.5
  92. High Sierra 1941 · Raoul Walsh · IMDb 7.5
  93. House of Flying Daggers 2004 · Zhang Yimou · IMDb 7.5
  94. Hugo 2011 · Martin Scorsese · IMDb 7.5
  95. Little Big Man 1970 · Arthur Penn · IMDb 7.5
  96. Olivier, Olivier 1992 · Agnieszka Holland · IMDb 7.5
  97. Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island 1956 · Hiroshi Inagaki · IMDb 7.5
  98. Sherlock Holmes 2009 · Guy Ritchie · IMDb 7.5
  99. Swept Away 1974 · Lina Wertmüller · IMDb 7.5
  100. The Navigator 1924 · Buster Keaton · IMDb 7.5