Looking for the best adventure movies of all time? A good adventure story has the ability to draw us into a world we might otherwise never explore. With adventure movies, we come to care about the characters and the things that are important to them. We visit places we would normally never choose to go and sometimes glimpse a little spark of adventure inside us we didn’t know was there.
This is why most people look for the best adventure movies that provide a thrill-seeking experience. With so many classics and thrilling new releases, it’s difficult to the best adventure movies. For this, we have gone through many movie critics to select the best adventure movies of all time.
Best Adventure Movies
1. The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003)
Director: Peter Jackson
Genres: Fantasy/Adventure
Star Cast: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson from a screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Jackson, based on 1955’s The Return of the King, the third volume of the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.
The sequel to 2002’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the film is the final installment in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Continuing the plot of the previous film, Frodo, Sam and Gollum are making their final way toward Mount Doom in Mordor in order to destroy the One Ring, unaware of Gollum’s true intentions, while Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and the rest are joining forces together against Sauron and his legions in Minas Tirith.
2. Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001)
Director: Peter Jackson
Genres: Fantasy/Adventure
Star Cast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a 2001 epic fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson from a screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Jackson, based on 1954’s The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume of the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.
The film is the first installment in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Set in Middle-earth, the story tells of the Dark Lord Sauron, who seeks the One Ring, which contains part of his might, to return to power.
The Ring has found its way to the young hobbit Frodo Baggins. The fate of Middle-earth hangs in the balance as Frodo and eight companions (who form the Fellowship of the Ring) begin their journey to Mount Doom in the land of Mordor, the only place where the Ring can be destroyed.
3. Inception (2010)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Genres: Action/Sci-fi/Adventure
Star Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page
Inception is a 2010 science fiction action film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who also produced the film with Emma Thomas, his wife.
The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets. He is offered a chance to have his criminal history erased as payment for the implantation of another person’s idea into a target’s subconscious.
4. The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Director: Peter Jackson
Genres: Fantasy/Adventure
Star Cast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a 2002 epic fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson from a screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair, and Jackson, based on 1954’s The Two Towers, the second volume of the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Continuing the plot of the previous film, it intercuts three storylines. Frodo and Sam continue their journey towards Mordor to destroy the One Ring, meeting and joined by Gollum, the ring’s former keeper.
Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli come to the war-torn nation of Rohan and are reunited with the resurrected Gandalf, before fighting against the legions of the treacherous wizard Saruman at the Battle of Helm’s Deep. Merry and Pippin escape capture, meet Treebeard the Ent, and help to plan an attack on Isengard, fortress of Saruman.
5. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Director: Irvin Kershner
Genres: Action/Sci-fi/Adventure
Star Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
The Empire Strikes Back also known as Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas.
Set three years after the events of Star Wars, the film recounts the battle between the malevolent Galactic Empire, led by the Emperor, and the Rebel Alliance, led by Princess Leia. Luke Skywalker trains to master the Force so he can confront the powerful Sith lord, Darth Vader.
6. Interstellar (2014)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Genres: Sci-fi/Adventure
Star Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain
Interstellar is a 2014 science fiction film co-written, directed and produced by Christopher Nolan. Set in a dystopian future where humanity is struggling to survive, the film follows a group of astronauts who travel through a wormhole near Saturn in search of a new home for mankind.
7. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Director: George Lucas
Genres: Action/Adventure
Star Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope is a 1977 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas, produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox.
Set “a long time ago” in a fictional universe where the galaxy is ruled by the tyrannical Galactic Empire, the story focuses on a group of freedom fighters known as the Rebel Alliance, who aim to destroy the Empire’s newest weapon, the Death Star.
Luke Skywalker becomes caught in the conflict while learning the ways of a metaphysical power known as “the Force” from Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.
8. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Genres: Action/Sci-fi/Adventure
Star Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo
Avengers: Endgame is a 2019 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the direct sequel to Avengers: Infinity War (2018). In the film, the surviving members of the Avengers and their allies attempt to reverse the destruction caused by Thanos in Infinity War.
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9. Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (1989)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Genres: Adventure/Action
Star Cast: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Alison Doody
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. It is the third installment in the Indiana Jones franchise.
In the film, set largely in 1938, Indiana searches for his father, a Holy Grail scholar, who has been kidnapped and held hostage by the Nazis while on a journey to find the Holy Grail.
10. Jaws (1975)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Genres: Adventure/Thriller
Star Cast: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss
Jaws is a 1975 American thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the 1974 novel by Peter Benchley. It stars Roy Scheider as police chief Martin Brody, who, with the help of a marine biologist (Richard Dreyfuss) and a professional shark hunter (Robert Shaw), hunts a man-eating great white shark that attacks beachgoers at a summer resort town.
11. Avatar (2009)
Director: James Cameron
Genres: Action/Sci-fi/Adventure
Star Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver
Avatar is a 2009 American epic science fiction film directed, written, produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. It is set in the mid-22nd century when humans are colonizing Pandora, a lush habitable moon of a gas giant in the Alpha Centauri star system, in order to mine the valuable mineral unobtanium.
The expansion of the mining colony threatens the continued existence of a local tribe of Na’vi – a humanoid species indigenous to Pandora. The film’s title refers to a genetically engineered Na’vi body operated from the brain of a remotely located human that is used to interacting with the natives of Pandora.
12. Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom (1984)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Genres: Adventure/Action
Star Cast: Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a 1984 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second installment in the Indiana Jones franchise, and a prequel to the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, featuring Harrison Ford who reprises his role as the title character.
In the film, after arriving in India, Indiana Jones is asked by desperate villagers to find a mystical stone and rescue their children from a Thuggee cult practicing child slavery, black magic, and ritual human sacrifice in honor of the goddess Kali.
13. Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Director: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
Genres: Adventure/Sci-fi
Star Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Jamie Lee Curtis
Everything Everywhere All at Once is a 2022 American absurdist science fiction comedy-drama film written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who produced it with the Russo brothers.
It stars Michelle Yeoh as a Chinese American woman being audited by the IRS who discovers that she must connect with parallel universe versions of herself to prevent a powerful being from causing the destruction of the multiverse.
14. Prey (2022)
Director: Dan Trachtenberg
Genres: Action/Adventure/Drama
Star Cast: Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Dane DiLiegro, Stormee Kipp
Prey is a 2022 American science fiction action horror film based on the Predator franchise. It is the fifth installment and is a prequel to the first four films, being set in the Northern Great Plains in North America in 1719. The film is directed by Dan Trachtenberg and written by Patrick Aison.
The story revolves around Naru, a skilled Comanche warrior, who is striving to prove herself as a hunter. She finds herself having to protect her people from a vicious, humanoid alien that hunts humans for sport, as well as from French fur traders who are destroying the buffalo they rely on for survival.
15. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Director: Jon Watts
Genres: Action/Adventure/Fantasy
Star Cast: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon
Spider-Man: No Way Home is a 2021 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, co-produced by Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing.
In the film, Parker asks Dr. Stephen Strange to use magic to make his identity as Spider-Man a secret again following its public revelation at the end of Far From Home. When the spell goes wrong because of Parker’s actions, the multiverse is broken open, which allows visitors from alternate realities to enter Parker’s universe.