My Top 15 Favorite Adventure Films

By now, I've gotten a bit tired of the superhero genre trumping through the cinemas at the moment, and I genuinely miss the good, old Indiana Jones days where characters didn't exactly need magic or fantastic powers to deal with tough situations and where 'the bad guys' could be anyone or anything lurking in the depth of the jungle, in dark corners of a smoky saloon or simply could be the harsh elements of mother nature. That's why I call for a comeback for adventure films..! Well, not exactly adventure films as in the specific action packed film genre, but what I would call exotic adventure films often taking place in the jungle, deserts or lonely islands and undiscovered, uncivilized places, and with people travelling towards a specific destination/goal or simply letting fate decide the course. "Tarzan the Ape Man" and "The Jungle Book" are the classic examples of the original genre - and of course they're terrific stories, yet the films I've chosen are often structered after the typical fairytale model: the 'home-out-home' journey, including nearly all the elements from fairytales with a certain morale/change in our characters by the end when they come home again - or have 'completed' the adventure, so to speak. Actually, most Hollywood films are structured after that model if you think about it. "The Wizard of Oz" is likely the most literal adaptation of this structure.

That's why I've listed below some of the most adventurous, comic and/or subtle adventures ..in my opinion, as always. You may disagree with the order - I myself may even as well - and I'm sure I've left some obvious movies out, but bear with me.

By the way, don't blame me for not putting up "The Blue Lagoon" on the list. It's just not worth it.

1. The Indiana Jones film series (1981, 1984, 1989, 2008)
2. Out of Africa (1985)
3. The Mummy (1999) and the sequel The Mummy Returns (2001) (the third installment doesn't exist)
4. The Black Stallion (1979)
5. The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)
6. Romancing the Stone (1984) and the sequel The Jewel of the Nile (1985)
7. Six Days Seven Nights (1998)
8. Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (1994)
9. Hodja from Pjort (screen version from 1984 of a children's book by the Danish and beloved author Ole Lund Kirkegaard)
10. The Dollars Trilogy (1964, 1965, 1966)
11. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
12. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001, 2002, 2003)
13. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
14. Gorillas in The Mist (1988)
15. Medicine Man (1992)