Survival film

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The survival film is a film genre in which one or more characters make an effort at physical survival. [1] The genre focuses on characters' life-or-death struggles, often set against perilous circumstances. Survival films explore the human will to live, individual motivations, and personal desires, prompting audiences to reflect on broader aspects of humanity and personal values. They balance realism and believability with slow-burning suspense to maintain a sense of urgency. While some survival films may have epic scopes and lengthy running times, their effectiveness lies in creating an atmosphere where every moment poses a passive threat to the protagonist's existence. [2]

Contents

Survival films are darker than most other adventure films and usually focus their storyline on a single character, usually the protagonist. The films tend to be "located primarily in a contemporary context", so film audiences are familiar with the setting, and the characters' activities are less romanticized. [3]

In a 1988 book, Thomas Sobchack compared the survival film to romance film: "They both emphasize the heroic triumph over obstacles which threaten social order and the reaffirmation of predominant social values such as fair play and respect for merit and cooperation." [3] The author said survival films "identify and isolate a microcosm of society", such as the surviving group from the plane crash in The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) or those on the overturned ocean liner in The Poseidon Adventure (1972). Sobchack explained, "Most of the time in a survival film is spent depicting the process whereby the group, cut off from the securities and certainties of the ordinary support networks of civilized life, forms itself into a functioning, effective unit." The group often varies in types of characters, sometimes to the point of caricature. While women have historically been stereotyped in such films, they "often play a decisive role in the success or failure of the group." [4]

List of films

FilmYearRef.
12 Years a Slave 2013 [2]
The 33 2015 [5]
127 Hours 2010 [6]
2018 2023 [7]
Adrift 2018 [8]
Against the Sun 2014 [9]
Alive 1993 [10]
All Is Lost 2013 [8]
Apollo 13 1995 [11]
Arctic 2018 [12]
Back from Eternity 1956 [13]
Battle Royale 2000 [14]
The Blue Lagoon 1980 [8]
Buried 2010 [6]
Captain Phillips 2013 [15]
Cast Away 2000 [6]
Cliffhanger 1993 [16]
Crawl 2019 [8]
A Cry in the Wild 1990 [16]
Cube 1997 [17]
Dances with Wolves 1990 [16]
Dante's Peak 1997 [16]
The Day After Tomorrow 2004 [16]
The Deep 2012 [18]
Deliverance 1972 [10]
The Descent 2005 [17]
The Edge 1997 [10]
The End We Start From 2023 [19]
The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition 2000 [16]
Escape from Alcatraz 1979 [20]
Escape Room 2019 [17]
Everest 2015 [21]
Fall 2022 [17]
First Blood 1982 [8]
Five Came Back 1939 [13]
The Flight of the Phoenix 1965 [4]
Frozen 2010 [22]
Gerald's Game 2017 [2]
Gravity 2013 [15]
Green Room 2015 [2]
The Grey 2011 [23]
A Hijacking 2012 [11]
I Am Legend 2007 [8]
The Impossible 2012 [2]
In the Heart of the Sea 2015 [24]
Inferno 1953 [13]
Into the Wild 2007 [6]
Iron Will 1994 [16]
Jaws 1975 [16]
Jeremiah Johnson 1971 [25]
Jungle 2017 [26]
Jurassic Park 1993 [16]
Kon-Tiki 2012 [8]
Life of Pi 2012 [27]
Lifeboat 1944 [28]
Lone Survivor 2013 [15]
Lord of the Flies 1963 [13]
Marooned 1969 [28]
The Martian 2015 [8]
Man in the Wilderness 1971 [28]
Meek's Cutoff 2010 [25]
Misery 1990 [17]
My Side of the Mountain 1969 [13]
The Naked Prey 1965 [28]
No Blade of Grass 1970 [13]
Nobody Wants the Night 2015 [29]
North Face 2008 [30]
The Omega Man 1971 [28]
On the Beach 1959 [28]
Open Water 2003 [6]
Oxygen 2021 [31]
Panic in Year Zero! 1962 [28]
Panic Room 2002 [2]
The Perfect Storm 2000 [16]
Planet of the Apes 1968 [28]
The Poseidon Adventure 1972 [4]
Predator 1987 [16]
Quest for Fire 1981 [6]
A Quiet Place 2018 [2]
Rabbit-Proof Fence 2002 [6]
Red Dawn 1984 [16]
Rescue Dawn 2006 [6]
Resident Evil 2002 [6]
The Revenant 2015 [8]
The Road 2009 [11]
Robinson Crusoe 1954 [13]
Robinson Crusoe on Mars 1965 [32]
Room 2015 [2]
Sanctum 2011 [33]
Sands of the Kalahari 1965 [28]
The Savage Is Loose 1974 [28]
The Secret Land 1948 [13]
Seven Waves Away 1957 [11]
The Shallows 2016 [8]
Sisu 2022 [34]
The Snow Walker 2003 [16]
Society of the Snow 2023 [35]
Southern Comfort 1981 [25]
Soylent Green 1973 [28]
Stranded: I've Come from a Plane that Crashed in the Mountains 2007 [11]
Survival Quest 1989 [10]
Swiss Family Robinson 1960 [23]
Teenage Caveman 1958 [28]
Titanic 1997 [2]
Touching the Void 2003 [6]
Tremors 1990 [16]
The Ultimate Warrior 1975 [36]
Vertical Limit 2000 [16]
The War Game 1965 [28]
Walkabout 1971 [11]
The Way Back 2010 [6]
White Water Summer 1987 [16]
Wild 2014 [2]
The World, the Flesh and the Devil 1959 [28]
Z.P.G. 1972 [28]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Sobchack 1988 , p. 12
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Foreman, Alison (August 24, 2023). "The Best Survival Movies, from 'Cast Away' and 'The Revenant' to 'The Martian' and 'Alive'". IndieWire . Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Sobchack 1988, p. 14
  4. 1 2 3 Sobchack 1988, p. 15
  5. ↑ Long, Tom (November 13, 2015). "Review: 'The 33,' true story of struggle for survival". The Detroit News . Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Staff (January 23, 2012). "The 10 Best Survival Movies". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on February 8, 2015.
  7. ↑ Ntim, Zac (September 27, 2023). "Oscars: India Selects Survival Thriller '2018' For Best International Film Race". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Lascala, Marisa (April 20, 2020). "The 20 Best Survival Movies to Show You What Grit Truly Is". Good Housekeeping . Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  9. ↑ Laskin, Nicholas (November 18, 2014). "Watch: Trailer For WWII Survival Film 'Against The Sun' Starring Garret Dillahunt, Tom Felton, Jake Abel". The Playlist. Indiewire . Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Ferguson, Lee (November 12, 2010). "127 Hours and five other great survival movies". cbc.ca. CBC News . Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Staff (October 17, 2013). "20 Survival Films That Will Take You Into The Abyss". The Playlist. Indiewire . Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  12. ↑ Barraclough, Leo (May 22, 2017). "Mads Mikkelsen on Surviving the Polar Wilderness in 'Arctic'". Variety . Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Fristoe, Roger (December 22, 2017). "Survival Movies: Fridays in January". tcm.com. Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  14. ↑ Crandol, Michael (2021). Ghost in the Well: The Hidden History of Horror Films in Japan. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 3. ISBN   978-1-350-17874-8.
  15. 1 2 3 McGrath, Charles (November 1, 2013). "Tales of Danger for You to Survive". The New York Times . Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Robinson, Alex; Farabee, Kelsey (November 22, 2010). "The Best Survival Movies Ever". Outdoor Life . Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 Kurland, Daniel (February 13, 2024). "10 Best Survival Horror Films Of All Time, Ranked". Comic Book Resources . Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  18. ↑ Kaufman, Amy (September 3, 2015). "Fall Movie Guide: Making 'Everest' was a tall order for filmmakers". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  19. ↑ Wilkinson, Alissa (January 18, 2024). "'The End We Start From' Review: A Watery Apocalypse and a New Beginning". The New York Times . Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  20. ↑ Vanhala, Helena (2011). "International Terrorism and the Commercial Hollywood Film Industry". The Depiction of Terrorists in Blockbuster Hollywood Films, 1980–2001: An Analytical Study. McFarland. p. 105. ISBN   978-0-7864-3662-0.
  21. ↑ Adams, Sam (September 2, 2015). "First Reviews of 'Everest': Stunning Spectacle, So-So Drama". Criticwire. Indiewire . Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  22. ↑ Wood, Jennifer M. (February 9, 2010). "Adam Green Reaches New Heights With Frozen". MovieMaker . Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  23. 1 2 Guzman, Rafer (January 27, 2012). "Survivor films: Which live, which die – and why?". The Sacramento Bee . Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  24. ↑ Chang, Justin (December 2, 2015). "Film Review: 'In the Heart of the Sea'". Variety . Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  25. 1 2 3 Mertes, Micah (November 1, 2013). "The 10 best survival movies". Omaha World-Herald . Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  26. ↑ Abele, Robert (October 19, 2017). "Review: Daniel Radcliffe fights terror and reality in problematic survival story 'Jungle'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  27. ↑ Holden, Ed (December 19, 2012). "Life of Pi review". MSN Movies. MSN. Archived from the original on May 20, 2013. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
  28. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Yacowar, Maurice (2003). "The Bug in the Rug". In Grant, Barry Keith (ed.). Film Genre Reader III . University of Texas Press. pp.  281–282. ISBN   978-0-292-70185-4.
  29. ↑ Roddy, Michael (February 5, 2015). "Arctic survival film, from female perspective, kicks off Berlin fest". reuters.com. Reuters . Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  30. ↑ Holden, Stephen (January 28, 2010). "'Because It's There' Is the Least of Their Reasons". The New York Times . Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  31. ↑ Tartaglione, Nancy (May 12, 2021). "'Oxygen': Alexandre Aja & Mélanie Laurent On Why Making Netflix's Confined Thriller Was A Breath Of Fresh Air". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  32. ↑ Leskosky, Richard J. (February 2, 2014). "A new film genre: Solitary survival". The News-Gazette . Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  33. ↑ Burr, Ty (February 4, 2011). "Sanctum". The Boston Globe .
  34. ↑ Baughan, Nikki (September 10, 2022). "'Sisu': Toronto Review". Screen Daily . Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  35. ↑ Bradshaw, Peter (December 19, 2023). "Review: 'Society of the Snow' review – cannibalism in the ice in incredible real-life survival tale". The Guardian . Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  36. ↑ Shapiro, Jerome F. (2001). Atomic Bomb Cinema: The Apocalyptic Imagination on Film. Routledge. p. 160. ISBN   978-0-415-93660-6.

Bibliography

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