Critics Consensus: Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity is an eerie, tense sci-fi thriller that’s masterfully directed and visually stunning.

Synopsis: Dr. Ryan Stone is a medical engineer on her first shuttle mission. Her commander is veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski, helming his last flight before retirement…. View Full Synopsis

Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris, Orto Ignatiussen

Directed By: David Heyman, Christopher DeFaria, Nikki Penny, Stephen Jones

Critics Consensus: The Survivalist‘s deliberate pace pays gripping dividends with a tautly told post-apocalyptic drama that offers some uniquely thought-provoking twists.

Synopsis: During a food shortage a survivalist lives off of a small plot of land in the forest. When two women show up looking for food… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Martin McCann, Mia Goth, Olwen Fouéré, Andrew Simpson

Directed By: Stephen Fingleton, Arnaud Lannic, Simon Lewis, Nick Quested

Critics Consensus: Anchored by another tremendous performance in a career full of them, All Is Lost offers a moving, eminently worthwhile testament to Robert Redford’s ability to hold the screen.

Synopsis: During a solo voyage in the Indian Ocean, a veteran mariner (Robert Redford) awakes to find his vessel taking on water after a collision with… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Robert Redford

Directed By: J.C. Chandor, Cassian Elwes, Laura Rister, Glen Basner

Critics Consensus: As gut-wrenching as it is inspirational, 127 Hours unites one of Danny Boyle’s most beautifully exuberant directorial efforts with a terrific performance from James Franco.

Synopsis: While exploring a remote canyon in Utah, mountaineer and adventurer Aron Ralston becomes trapped when a boulder falls on his arm. Over the next five… View Full Synopsis

Starring: James Franco, Amber Tamblyn, Kate Mara, Clémence Poésy

Directed By: Danny Boyle, Bernard Bellew, John J. Kelly, François Ivernel

Critics Consensus: Gripping even though the outcome is known.

Synopsis: In 1985, two young climbers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, set out to be the first to reach the summit of the Siula Grande in… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Brendan Mackey, Nicholas Aaron, Ollie Ryall

Directed By: Kevin Macdonald, Charles Furneaux, Robin Gutch, Paul Trijbits

Critics Consensus: Alone‘s minimalistic approach makes this heightened thriller a gripping and suspenseful experience.

Synopsis: A cold-blooded killer hunts a widow in the wilderness after she escapes from his remote cabin in the Pacific Northwest.

Starring: Jules Willcox, Marc Menchaca, Anthony Heald, Jonathan Rosenthal

Directed By: John Hyams, Ben Cornwell, Martin Persson, Yeardley Smith

Critics Consensus: Tense, well-acted, and at once atmospheric as well as brutally impactful, Backcountry marks a memorably assured debut from writer-director Adam MacDonald.

Synopsis: A couple (Missy Peregrym, Jeff Roop) on a deep-wilderness hike become hopelessly lost within an aggressive black bear’s territory.

Starring: Missy Peregrym, Jeff Roop, Eric Balfour, Nicholas Campbell

Directed By: Adam MacDonald, Brandon Baker, Michael Baker, Jeff Roop

Critics Consensus: An endearing and exciting underdog story that benefits greatly from its stars (canine and human alike), Togo is a timeless tale, well-told.

Synopsis: Togo is the true story set in the winter of 1925 of champion dogsled trainer Leonhard Seppala and his lead sled dog, Togo. Together, they… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Willem Dafoe, Michael Greyeyes, Julianne Nicholson, Christopher Heyerdahl

Directed By: Ericson Core

Critics Consensus: Dunkirk serves up emotionally satisfying spectacle, delivered by a writer-director in full command of his craft and brought to life by a gifted ensemble cast that honors the fact-based story.

Synopsis: In May 1940, Germany advanced into France, trapping Allied troops on the beaches of Dunkirk. Under air and ground cover from British and French forces,… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jack Lowden, Harry Styles

Directed By: Christopher Nolan, Jake Myers

Critics Consensus: Putting director Sam Raimi’s penchant for diabolical mayhem to great use, Send Help doesn’t need any assistance in thrills thanks to a very game Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien along with a viciously clever script.

Synopsis: In “Send Help,” two colleagues become stranded on a deserted island, the only survivors of a plane crash. On the island, they must overcome past… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O'Brien, Edyll Ismail, Dennis Haysbert

Directed By: Sam Raimi, Jonathan Hook

Critics Consensus: In recreating the troubled space mission, Apollo 13 pulls no punches: it’s a masterfully told drama from director Ron Howard, bolstered by an ensemble of solid performances.

Synopsis: This Hollywood drama is based on the events of the Apollo 13 lunar mission, astronauts Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) and Jack… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise

Directed By: Ron Howard, Todd Hallowell

Critics Consensus: Beautifully filmed and powerfully acted, Walking Out effectively balances tense father-son drama against an affecting wilderness survival story.

Synopsis: When a city teen travels to Montana to go hunting with his estranged father, the trip becomes a battle for survival when they encounter a… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Matt Bomer, Josh Wiggins, Bill Pullman, Alex Neustaedter

Directed By: Alex Smith, Andrew J. Smith, Charlsey Adkins, Jim Burba

Critics Consensus: Smart, thrilling, and surprisingly funny, The Martian offers a faithful adaptation of the bestselling book that brings out the best in leading man Matt Damon and director Ridley Scott.

Synopsis: When astronauts blast off from the planet Mars, they leave behind Mark Watney, presumed dead after a fierce storm. With only a meager amount of… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels

Directed By: Ridley Scott, Drew Goddard

Critics Consensus: Arctic proves that a good survival thriller doesn’t need much in the way of dialogue to get by — especially when Mads Mikkelsen is the one doing the surviving.

Synopsis: A man stranded in the Arctic after an airplane crash must decide whether to remain in the relative safety of his makeshift camp or to… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Maria Thelma Smáradóttir, Tintrinai Thikhasuk

Directed By: Joe Penna, Martha De Laurentiis, Manu Gargi

Critics Consensus: Director Werner Herzog has once again made a compelling tale of man versus nature, and Christian Bale completely immerses himself in the role of fighter pilot (and prisoner of war) Dieter Dengler.

Synopsis: During the Vietnam War, Dieter Dengler (Christian Bale), a U.S. fighter pilot, is shot down over Laos and taken captive by enemy soldiers. Interned in… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Christian Bale, Steve Zahn, Jeremy Davies, Galen Yuen

Directed By: Werner Herzog, Elie Samaha, Gerald Green, Nick N. Raslan

Critics Consensus: Society of the Snow brings masterful technical skill to bear on its tale of real-life tragedy, but none of that spectacle comes at the expense of its simple, powerful message.

Synopsis: In 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which had been chartered to fly a rugby team to Chile, crashed in the heart of the Andes…. View Full Synopsis

Starring: Enzo Vogrincic, Agustín Pardella, Esteban Bigliardi, Simón Hempe

Directed By: J. A. Bayona

Critics Consensus: Oxygen gets the white-knuckle maximum out of its claustrophobic setting, with director Alexandre Aja and star Mélanie Laurent making this a must-watch thriller for sci-fi fans.

Synopsis: Oxygen is a French survival thriller directed by Alexandre Aja. The film tells the story of a young woman (Mélanie Laurent, 6 Underground, Inglourious Basterds),… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Mélanie Laurent, Mathieu Amalric, Malik Zidi, Marc Saez

Directed By: Alexandre Aja, Serge Catoire, Laurence Clerc, James Engle

Critics Consensus: Given primal verve by John Boorman’s unflinching direction and Burt Reynolds’ star-making performance, Deliverance is a terrifying adventure.

Synopsis: Four city-dwelling friends (Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox) decide to get away from their jobs, wives and kids for a week of… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox

Directed By: John Boorman

Critics Consensus: Led by Jodie Comer’s gripping performance in the central role, The End We Start From offers a thoughtful, haunting look at the end of the world.

Synopsis: When an environmental crisis sees London submerged by flood waters, a young family is torn apart in the chaos. As a woman and her newborn… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jodie Comer, Joel Fry, Benedict Cumberbatch, Katherine Waterston

Directed By: Mahalia Belo, Eva Yates, Claudia Yusef, Sébastien Raybaud

Critics Consensus: Powerfully moving and emotionally resonant, Wild finds director Jean-Marc Vallée and star Reese Witherspoon working at the peak of their respective powers.

Synopsis: Driven to the edge by the loss of her beloved mother (Laura Dern), the dissolution of her marriage and a headlong dive into self-destructive behavior,… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Thomas Sadoski, Michiel Huisman

Directed By: Jean-Marc Vallée, Bergen Swanson, Nathan Ross, Nick Hornby

Critics Consensus: Flawed but fascinating, Cast Away offers an intelligent script, some of Robert Zemeckis’ most mature directing, and a showcase performance from Tom Hanks.

Synopsis: Obsessively punctual FedEx executive Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) is en route to an assignment in Malaysia when his plane crashes over the Pacific Ocean during… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, Nick Searcy, Lari White

Directed By: Robert Zemeckis, Joan Bradshaw

Critics Consensus: Only the Brave‘s impressive veteran cast and affecting fact-based story add up to a no-frills drama that’s just as stolidly powerful as the real-life heroes it honors.

Synopsis: Through hope, determination, sacrifice and the drive to protect families and communities, the Granite Mountain Hotshots become one of the most elite firefighting teams in… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Josh Brolin, Miles Teller, Jeff Bridges, Jennifer Connelly

Directed By: Joseph Kosinski, Ellen H. Schwartz

Critics Consensus: Wringing a seemingly impossible amount of gripping drama out of its claustrophobic premise, Buried is a nerve-wracking showcase for Ryan Reynolds’ talent.

Synopsis: A civilian truck driver in Iraq, Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) falls victim to a band of insurgents. An unknown length of time later, Paul awakes… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Robert Paterson, José Luis García-Pérez, Stephen Tobolowsky

Directed By: Rodrigo Cortés, Alejandro Miranda, Rodrigo Cortés

Critics Consensus: Visually beautiful and well-acted, Rabbit-Proof Fence tells a compelling true-life story.

Synopsis: Tells the true story of three aboriginal girls who are forcibly taken from their families in 1931 to be trained as domestic servants as part… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury, Laura Monaghan, David Gulpilil

Directed By: Phillip Noyce, Jeremy Thomas, Kathleen McLaughlin, David Elfick

Critics Consensus: A 3D adaptation of a supposedly “unfilmable” book, Ang Lee’s Life of Pi achieves the near impossible — it’s an astonishing technical achievement that’s also emotionally rewarding.

Synopsis: After deciding to sell their zoo in India and move to Canada, Santosh and Gita Patel board a freighter with their sons and a few… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Rafe Spall

Directed By: Ang Lee, Dean Georgaris

Critics Consensus: Steadily helmed by director Ron Howard, Thirteen Lives offers an incomplete but still gripping dramatization of an incredible true story.

Synopsis: Thirteen Lives recounts the incredible true story of the tremendous global effort to rescue a Thai soccer team who become trapped in the Tham Luang… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, Joel Edgerton, Tom Bateman

Directed By: Ron Howard

Critics Consensus: A rigorously entertaining adventure story told through a spartan script and memorable set pieces, Heart of the Beast pays rousing tribute to man’s best friend.

Synopsis: After a harrowing plane crash, Special Forces veteran James Belmont (Brad Pitt) and his combat dog, Odin, find themselves stranded deep in the Alaskan wilderness…. View Full Synopsis

Starring: Brad Pitt, J.K. Simmons, Anna Lambe

Directed By: David Ayer, Damien Chazelle, D. Scott Lumpkin, Cameron Alexander

Critics Consensus: Rust Creek subverts expectations with a surprisingly layered survival drama anchored in a rich setting and a gripping lead performance from Hermione Corfield.

Synopsis: Sawyer is an ambitious, overachieving college senior who has a seemingly bright future. While on her way to a job interview, a wrong turn leaves… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Hermione Corfield, Jay Paulson, Sean O'Bryan, John Marshall Jones

Directed By: Jen McGowan, Jamie Buckner, Alexandra Jensen

Critics Consensus: A satisfyingly smart action thriller, The Quake delivers plenty of nail-biting tension without sacrificing character development or common sense.

Synopsis: A geologist races against time to save his estranged wife and two children when a devastating earthquake strikes Oslo, Norway.

Starring: Kristoffer Joner, Ane Dahl Torp, Kathrine Thorborg Johansen, Edith Haagenrud-Sande

Directed By: John Andreas Andersen

Critics Consensus: An action-packed creature feature that’s fast, terrifying, and benefits greatly from a completely game Kaya Scodelario, Crawl is a fun throw-back with just enough self-awareness to work.

Synopsis: When a massive hurricane hits her Florida town, young Haley ignores the evacuation orders to search for her missing father, Dave. After finding him gravely… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper, Morfydd Clark, Ross Anderson

Directed By: Alexandre Aja, Grégory Levasseur, Justin Bursch, Lauren Selig

Critics Consensus: A tense and gripping spectacular piece of snow-bound historical German film-making.

Synopsis: German and Austrian mountain climbers scale the Eiger in 1936.

Starring: Benno Fürmann, Johanna Wokalek, Florian Lukas, Simon Schwarz

Directed By: Philipp Stölzl

Critics Consensus: With his sturdy cast and confident direction, Sean Penn has turned a complex work of non-fiction like Into the Wild into an accessible and poignant character study.

Synopsis: A top student and athlete leaves his middle-class life to venture into Alaska, only to meet people who will eventually shape his values and life.

Starring: Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Jena Malone

Directed By: Sean Penn, David Blocker, John J. Kelly, Frank Hildebrand

Critics Consensus: What Tracks lacks in excitement, it more than makes up with gorgeous cinematography and Mia Wasikowska’s outstanding performance.

Synopsis: Accompanied only by her faithful dog and four camels, an Australian (Mia Wasikowska) satisfies her craving for solitude by embarking on a solo trip across… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Adam Driver, Rainer Bock, Rolley Mintuma

Directed By: John Curran, Andrew Mackie, Richard Payten, Xavier Marchand

Critics Consensus: Well-acted and blessed with a refreshingly humanistic focus, The Wave is a disaster film that makes uncommonly smart use of disaster film clichés.

Synopsis: A Norwegian geologist (Kristoffer Joner) and his family (Ane Dahl Torp, Jonas Hoff Oftebro) fight for survival when a massive landslide causes a 250-foot tidal… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Kristoffer Joner, Ane Dahl Torp, Jonas Hoff Oftebro, Edith Haagenrud-Sande

Directed By: Roar Uthaug, Audun Lyngholm Wittenberg, Greg Cohen, Jan Eirik Langoen

Critics Consensus: A well-crafted retelling of an epic true story, Kon Tiki is a throwback to old-school adventure filmmaking that’s exciting and entertaining in spite of its by-the-book plotting.

Synopsis: Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl (Pål Sverre Hagen) suspects that the South Sea Islands were originally colonized by South Americans. In 1947 despite his fear of… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Pål Sverre Hagen, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Tobias Santelmann, Gustaf Skarsgård

Directed By: Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg, Petter Skavlan, Christoph Daniel

Critics Consensus: Deepwater Horizon makes effective use of its titular man-made disaster to deliver an uncommonly serious — yet still suitably gripping — action thriller.

Synopsis: On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, igniting a massive fireball that kills several crew members. Chief… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, Douglas M. Griffin, James DuMont

Directed By: Peter Berg, Jonathan King, Jeff Skoll, Mark Wahlberg

Critics Consensus: The screenplay isn’t quite as powerful as the direction or the acting, but with such an astonishing real-life story at its center, The Impossible is never less than compelling.

Synopsis: A couple and their three sons encounter terror, courage and compassion following the December 2004 tsunami that devastated Thailand.

Starring: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin

Directed By: J. A. Bayona, Sandra Hermida, Javier Ugarte

Critics Consensus: The Grey is an exciting tale of survival, populated with fleshed-out characters and a surprising philosophical agenda.

Synopsis: Following a grueling five-week shift at an Alaskan oil refinery, workers led by sharpshooter John Ottway are flying home for a much-needed vacation. A brutal… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Liam Neeson, Frank Grillo, Dermot Mulroney, Dallas Roberts

Directed By: Joe Carnahan, Jim Seibel, Bill Johnson, Tony Scott

Critics Consensus: Fundamentally absurd yet as evocatively minimalist as its title, Fall is a sustained adrenaline rush for viewers willing to suspend disbelief.

Synopsis: For best friends Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and Hunter (Virginia Gardner), life is all about conquering fears and pushing limits. But after they climb 2,000… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Grace Caroline Currey, Virginia Gardner, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Mason Gooding

Directed By: Scott Mann, Roman Viaris, Dan Asma, John Long

Critics Consensus: Well-acted and beautifully filmed, Alpha offers a canine-assisted epic adventure that blends rousing action with an extra helping of canine charm.

Synopsis: Young Keda tries to survive alone in the wilderness after he’s left for dead during his first hunt with his Cro-Magnon tribe. He soon forms… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Marcin Kowalczyk, Jens Hultén

Directed By: Albert Hughes, Guo Guangchang, Louise Rosner, Stuart M. Besser

Critics Consensus: Its deliberate pace may test the patience, but viewers attuned to Light of My Life‘s sober wavelength will be rewarded with a thought-provoking chiller.

Synopsis: “Dad” (Casey Affleck) and daughter, “Rag” (Anna Pniowsky) journey through the outskirts of society a decade after a pandemic has wiped out nearly all the… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Casey Affleck, Elisabeth Moss, Anna Pniowsky, Tom Bower

Directed By: Casey Affleck, Whitaker Lader, Michael Heimler, Ben Stillman

Critics Consensus: Plane charts a standard action-adventure course with its cruising altitude just a few miles above Direct-to-Video — but with Gerard Butler in the cockpit, thriller enthusiasts will still find this a fun flight.

Synopsis: In the white-knuckle action movie PLANE, pilot Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler) saves his passengers from a lightning strike by making a risky landing on a… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Yoson An, Daniella Pineda

Directed By: Jean-François Richet, Alastair Burlingham, Michael Cho, J.P. Davis

Synopsis: Two men at a remote Arctic base begin mistrusting each other after an important radio message.

Starring: Grigoriy Dobrygin, Sergey Puskepalis, Igor Csernyevics, Ilya Sobolev

Directed By: Aleksei Popogrebsky

Critics Consensus: As starkly beautiful as it is harshly uncompromising, The Revenant uses Leonardo DiCaprio’s committed performance as fuel for an absorbing drama that offers punishing challenges — and rich rewards.

Synopsis: While exploring the uncharted wilderness in 1823, frontiersman Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) sustains life-threatening injuries from a brutal bear attack. When a member (Tom Hardy)… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter

Directed By: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Brett Ratner, James Packer, Jennifer Davisson Killoran

Critics Consensus: Lean and solidly crafted, The Shallows transcends tired shark-attack tropes with nasty thrills and a powerful performance from Blake Lively.

Synopsis: Still reeling from the loss of her mother, medical student Nancy Adams (Blake Lively) travels to a secluded beach for some much-needed solace. Despite the… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Blake Lively, Óscar Jaenada, Brett Cullen, Sedona Legge

Directed By: Jaume Collet-Serra, Douglas C. Merrifield, Jaume Collet-Serra

Critics Consensus: Ratcheting up the tension to a riveting degree, Last Breath tells a remarkable true story with the utmost efficiency and a dependably terrific performance from Woody Harrelson.

Synopsis: A heart-pounding film that follows seasoned deep-sea divers as they battle the raging elements to rescue their crewmate trapped hundreds of feet below the ocean’s… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, Finn Cole, Cliff Curtis

Directed By: Alex Parkinson, Mitchell LaFortune, Daryl Katz, Chloe Katz

Critics Consensus: Though it’s light on character development and cultural empathy, Black Hawk Down is a visceral, pulse-pounding portrait of war, elevated by Ridley Scott’s superb technical skill.

Synopsis: In 1993, the U.S. sends special forces into Somalia to destabilize the government and bring food and humanitarian aid to the starving population. Using Black… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana

Directed By: Ridley Scott, Branko Lustig, Chad Oman, Mike Stenson

Critics Consensus: A true account of military courage and survival, Lone Survivor wields enough visceral power to mitigate its heavy-handed jingoism.

Synopsis: In 2005 Afghanistan, Navy SEALs Marcus Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg), Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch) and Matthew “Axe” Axelson (Ben Foster) deploy on… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Eric Bana, Emile Hirsch

Directed By: Peter Berg, George Furla, Simon Fawcett, Braden Aftergood

Critics Consensus: The Road‘s commitment to Cormac McCarthy’s dark vision may prove too unyielding for some, but the film benefits from hauntingly powerful performances from Viggo Mortensen and Kodi McPhee.

Synopsis: America is a grim, gray shadow of itself after a catastrophe. A man (Viggo Mortensen) and his young son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) wander through this post-apocalyptic… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall

Directed By: John Hillcoat, Todd Wagner, Mark Cuban, Rudd Simmons

Critics Consensus: An exceptionally well-acted apocalyptic thriller, Leave the World Behind steadily draws the viewer in despite its leisurely pace and somewhat simplistic messaging.

Synopsis: In this apocalyptic thriller from award-winning writer and director Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot), Amanda (Academy Award winner Julia Roberts) and her husband Clay (Academy Award… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha'la Herrold

Directed By: Sam Esmail, Rumaan Alam, Tonia Davis, Barack Obama

Critics Consensus: Featuring a stellar cast of marooned mutts, who deftly display emotion, tenderness, loyalty and resolve, Eight Below is a heartwarming and exhilarating adventure film.

Synopsis: The frozen wasteland of Antarctica serves as the background for a tale about the bonds of friendship and loyalty. Three members of a scientific expedition,… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Paul Walker, Bruce Greenwood, Moon Bloodgood, Jason Biggs

Directed By: Frank Marshall, Christine Iso, Masaru Kakutani, Todd Lieberman

Critics Consensus: It isn’t as emotionally involving as it should be, but this Peter Weir epic offers sweeping ambition and strong performances to go with its grand visual spectacle.

Synopsis: Denounced by his wife as a possible spy in 1939, Janusz (Jim Sturgess) finds himself in a remote Siberian labor camp. Faced with brutal conditions… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell, Saoirse Ronan

Directed By: Peter Weir, Keith Clarke, John Ptak, Guy East

Synopsis: A breathtaking adaptation of the manga series by renowned manga artist Jirô Taniguchi and writer Baku Yumemakura, THE SUMMIT OF THE GODS follows a young… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Lazare Herson-Macarel, Eric Herson-Macarel, Damien Boisseau, Élisabeth Ventura

Directed By: Patrick Imbert, Thibaut Ruby

Critics Consensus: Kilo Two Bravo honors its fact-based story with an almost unbearably tense drama that captures the horrors — and the human cost — of modern warfare.

Synopsis: During the war in Afghanistan, British soldiers embark on a mission to save their trapped comrades after one (Benjamin O’Mahony) loses a leg to a… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Mark Stanley, David Elliot, Scott Kyle, Benjamin O'Mahony

Directed By: Paul Katis

Synopsis: Research scientist Tyler (Charles Martin Smith) is sent to the desolate Canadian tundra to find out whether the local wolf population is responsible for decimating… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Charles Martin Smith, Brian Dennehy, Zachary Ittimangnaq, Samson Jorah

Directed By: Carroll Ballard, Ron Miller

Synopsis: A car salesman (Ha Jung-woo) fights for survival inside a collapsed tunnel while rescue workers race against time to free him.

Starring: Ha Jung-woo, Bae Doo-na, Oh Dal-su, Kim Hae-sook

Directed By: Kim Seong-hun, You Jeong-hun

Critics Consensus: Jeremiah Johnson‘s deliberate pace demands an investment from the viewer, but it’s rewarded with a thoughtful drama anchored by a starring performance from Robert Redford.

Synopsis: A Mexican-American War veteran, Jeremiah Johnson (Robert Redford), heads to the mountains to live in isolation. Woefully unequipped for the task at hand, Johnson is… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Robert Redford, Will Geer, Stefan Gierasch, Allyn Ann McLerie

Directed By: Sydney Pollack

Synopsis: Amidst a nuclear war, a plane carrying a group of schoolboys crash lands on a deserted island. With no adult survivors, the boys are forced… View Full Synopsis

Starring: James Aubrey, Tom Chapin, Hugh Edwards, Roger Elwin

Directed By: Peter Brook, Al Hine

Critics Consensus: Its characters can’t do much more than grunt, but that doesn’t keep Quest for Fire from offering a deeply resonant — and surprisingly funny — look at the beginning of the human race.

Synopsis: In the prehistoric world, a Cro-Magnon tribe depends on an ever-burning source of fire, which eventually extinguishes. Lacking the knowledge to start a new fire,… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Everett McGill, Rae Dawn Chong, Ron Perlman, Nicholas Kadi

Directed By: Jean-Jacques Annaud

Synopsis: A bear cub is left alone, unable to feed or defend itself, when its mother is killed in a rockslide. Eventually, the cub attempts to… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Tchéky Karyo, Jack Wallace, André Lacombe

Directed By: Jean-Jacques Annaud

Synopsis: After a failed anti-Nazi sabotage mission leaves his 11 comrades dead, Norwegian resistance fighter Jan Baalsrud finds himself fleeing from the Gestapo through the snowbound… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Thomas Gullestad, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Mads Sjøgård Pettersen, Maria Grazia Di Meo

Directed By: Harald Zwart, Henrik Zein, Petter Skavlan, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers

Critics Consensus: Disney’s remake of The Incredible Journey successfully replicates, and in some ways improves upon, the simple charms of the original, with its cross-country animal odyssey sure to delight kids.

Synopsis: Before the Seavers leave for a family vacation to San Francisco, they drop off their pets — Chance (Michael J. Fox), an adventurous American bulldog;… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Don Ameche, Michael J. Fox, Sally Field, Don Adler

Directed By: Duwayne Dunham, Donald W. Ernst, Kirk Wise

Critics Consensus: Nicole Kidman’s coiled intensity and muscular direction by Phillip Noyce give this nautical thriller a disquieting sense of dread.

Synopsis: Rae Ingram (Nicole Kidman) and her husband, John (Sam Neill), struggle to overcome the sudden death of their young son. In an attempt to move… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman, Billy Zane, Rod Mullinar

Directed By: Phillip Noyce

Synopsis: American Bill Markham (Powers Boothe) has taken his family to the jungles of Brazil, where he has been hired to design a dam. Unexpectedly, a… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Powers Boothe, Charley Boorman, Meg Foster, William Rodriquez

Directed By: John Boorman

Synopsis: Rugged American adventure-travel journalist Pete McKell joins a cruise along a crocodile-infested river organized by tomboyish guide Kate Ryan. As if dealing with their fellow… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Radha Mitchell, Michael Vartan, Sam Worthington, John Jarratt

Directed By: Greg McLean, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Joel Perlman

Synopsis: During the Vietnam War, a squad of National Guardsmen — including Hardin (Powers Boothe), a no-nonsense Texan; Reece (Fred Ward), a hunter; and Spencer (Keith… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Fred Ward, Franklyn Seales

Directed By: Walter Hill, William J. Immerman

Critics Consensus: Wholesome and energetic, the ingenious Swiss Family Robinson guides us through a thrilling adventure that leaves us wondering whether modern civilization is all it’s cracked up to be.

Synopsis: In this family film, the Robinson clan — mother, father (John Mills) and their three sons, Fritz, Ernst and Francis — flee the reign of… View Full Synopsis

Starring: John Mills, Dorothy McGuire, James MacArthur, Janet Munro

Directed By: Ken Annakin

Synopsis: In the swamps of Northern Australia, a killer crocodile stalks a pregnant woman, her boyfriend and her sister.

Starring: Diana Glenn, Maeve Dermody, Andy Rodoreda, Ben Oxenbould

Directed By: David Nerlich, Andrew Traucki, Gary Rogers, Michelle Harrison

Critics Consensus: A gripping example of less-is-more horror, The Reef is the rare shark attack movie that isn’t content to merely tread water.

Synopsis: A sailing trip becomes a disaster for a group of friends when the boat sinks and a white shark hunts the helpless passengers.

Starring: Damian Walshe-Howling, Gyton Grantley, Adrienne Pickering, Zoe Naylor

Directed By: Andrew Traucki, Michael Baskin, Janine Pearce

Synopsis: When Jessica Watson sets out to be the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world, she must overcome her greatest fear… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Teagan Croft, Cliff Curtis, Anna Paquin, Josh Lawson

Directed By: Sarah Spillane, David Brookwell, Brent Emery, Suzanne Farwell

Critics Consensus: Everest boasts all the dizzying cinematography a person could hope to get out a movie about mountain climbers, even if it’s content to tread less challenging narrative terrain.

Synopsis: On the morning of May 10, 1996, climbers (Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin) from two expeditions start their final ascent toward the summit of Mount Everest,… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Robin Wright

Directed By: Baltasar Kormákur, Angela Morrison, Liza Chasin, Evan Hayes

Critics Consensus: The Mercy sails on Colin Firth’s layered central performance, which adds necessary depth and nuance that the story sometimes lacks.

Synopsis: Yachtsman Donald Crowhurst creates an outrageous account of his disastrous attempt to win the 1968 Golden Globe Race.

Starring: Rachel Weisz, Colin Firth, David Thewlis, Finn Elliot

Directed By: James Marsh, Dan MacRae, Diarmuid McKeown, Jonny Persey

Synopsis: “Dersu Uzala” is epic in form yet intimate in scope. Set in the forests of Eastern Siberia at the turn of the century, it is… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Maxim Munzuk, Yuri Solomin, Vladimir Kremena, Suymenkul Chokmorov

Directed By: Akira Kurosawa

Critics Consensus: The Command plumbs the depths of real-life disaster to tell an uneven yet reasonably diverting story of lives caught between bureaucracy and certain doom.

Synopsis: On Aug. 12, 2000, explosions aboard the Russian submarine Kursk cause it to sink during a naval exercise in the Barents Sea, leaving 23 survivors… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Matthias Schoenaerts, Léa Seydoux, Colin Firth, Peter Simonischek

Directed By: Thomas Vinterberg, C. Thomas Paschall, Ray Wu, Lisa Ellzey

Critics Consensus: A low budget thriller with some intense moments.

Synopsis: Daniel (Daniel Travis) and Susan (Blanchard Ryan) embark on a tropical vacation with their scuba-diving certifications in tow. During a group dive, the two separate… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis, Saul Stein, Estelle Lau

Directed By: Chris Kentis, Ruben Samuel Sachs

Critics Consensus: The Burning Sea falls back on disaster movie formula, but the end results are gripping enough to satisfy.

Synopsis: In 1969, the Norwegian government announces their discovery of one of the world’s largest oil fields in the neighboring North Sea, launching a prosperous period… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Kristine Kujath Thorp, Henrik Bjelland, Rolf Kristian Larsen, Daniel Frikstad

Directed By: John Andreas Andersen

Synopsis: Five mountaineers stumble into a vicious kidnapping scheme after they rescue a child they find buried alive in the Scottish Highlands.

Starring: Melissa George, Ed Speleers, Eamonn Walker, Sean Harris

Directed By: Julian Gilbey, Mark Foligno, Terry Loveday, Toby Richards

Synopsis: In an effort to heal after witnessing her sister’s horrific murder, Nic travels to a tropical resort with her friends for a kayaking and diving… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Teressa Liane, Ann Truong, Saskia Archer, Kate Lister

Directed By: Andrew Traucki, Nina Kolokouri, James Norrie, Bob Portal

Critics Consensus: Adrift sails smoothly between love story and survival drama, thanks in large part to a gripping central performance from Shailene Woodley.

Synopsis: Tami Oldham and Richard Sharp couldn’t anticipate that they would be sailing directly into one of the most catastrophic hurricanes in recorded history. In the… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Shailene Woodley, Sam Claflin, Jeffrey Thomas, Elizabeth Hawthorne

Directed By: Baltasar Kormákur, Ralph Winter, Magnús Viðar Sigurðsson, Andrea Scarso

Critics Consensus: Want to watch Idris Elba fight a lion? The admirably lean yet ultimately disposable Beast is just the movie you’re looking for.

Synopsis: Idris Elba (Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, The Suicide Squad) stars in a pulse-pounding new thriller about a father and his two teenage… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Idris Elba, Sharlto Copley, Iyana Halley, Leah Jeffries

Directed By: Baltasar Kormákur, Jaime Primak Sullivan, Bernard Bellew

Critics Consensus: Benefitting from astonishing Australian locations and Charlize Theron’s raw athleticism while skimping on the finer details, Apex doesn’t mark the zenith of survival thrillers but makes for a solid entry.

Synopsis: A grieving woman testing her limits in the Australian wilderness is suddenly ensnared in a deadly game with a ruthless predator.

Starring: Charlize Theron, Taron Egerton, Eric Bana, Bessie Holland

Directed By: Baltasar Kormákur, Ray Angelic, Will McCance, Dawn Parouse

Synopsis: During World War II, Japanese naval officer Captain Tsuruhiko Kuroda (Toshirô Mifune) is stranded on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean. He soon discovers… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Lee Marvin, Toshiro Mifune

Directed By: John Boorman, Henry G. Saperstein, Selig J. Seligman

Critics Consensus: As a visually stunning tribute to lives lost in tragedy, World Trade Center succeeds unequivocally, and it is more politically muted than many of Stone’s other works.

Synopsis: Two Port Authority officers, Sgt. John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage) and Officer Will Jimeno (Michael Peña), become trapped in the rubble of the World Trade Center… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Michael Peña, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Maria Bello

Directed By: Oliver Stone, Donald J. Lee Jr., Norman Golightly

Critics Consensus: Apocalypto is a brilliantly filmed, if mercilessly bloody, examination of a once great civilization.

Synopsis: The Mayan kingdom is at the height of its opulence and power, but the foundations of the empire are beginning to crumble. The leaders believe… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Rudy Youngblood, Raoul Max Trujillo, Dalia Hernández, Gerardo Taracena

Directed By: Mel Gibson, Ned Dowd, Vicki Christianson

Critics Consensus: The Dive‘s taut tension and real-time unraveling of its action make this an entertainingly harrowing experience despite occasionally murky visuals and a fairly standard survival story.

Synopsis: A deep-sea diving trip at one of the world’s most remote spots becomes a fight for survival for sisters Drew and May when a catastrophic… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Louisa Krause, Sophie Lowe

Directed By: Maximilian Erlenwein, Dave Bishop, Celine Dornier, Luane Gauer

Synopsis: While investigating a terroristic threat that goes viral online, Korean authorities discover that a suspect has recently boarded an international flight bound for the United… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, Jeon Do-yeon, Kim Nam-gil

Directed By: Han Jae-rim

Synopsis: First responders try to save drivers trapped inside a cold Norwegian tunnel after a tanker truck crashes and catches fire.

Starring: Thorbjørn Harr, Ylva Fuglerud, Lisa Carlehed, Ingvild Holthe Bygdnes

Directed By: Pål Øie, Aage Aaberge, Sveinung Golimo, Sigurd Mikal Karoliussen

Critics Consensus: Old-fashioned to a fault, The Finest Hours will satisfy those seeking a traditional rescue drama – but may leave more adventurous viewers wanting more.

Synopsis: On Feb. 18, 1952, a massive storm splits the SS Pendleton in two, trapping more than 30 sailors inside the tanker’s sinking stern. Engineer Ray… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Holliday Grainger

Directed By: Craig Gillespie, Douglas C. Merrifield

Critics Consensus: Writer/director Adam Green has the beginnings of an inventive, frightening yarn in Frozen, but neither the script nor the cast are quite strong enough to truly do it justice.

Synopsis: As a winter storm approaches, three people become stranded on a chairlift high above the ground after a ski resort closes for the night.

Starring: Emma Bell, Shawn Ashmore, Kevin Zegers, Ed Ackerman

Directed By: Adam Green, Tim Williams, John Penotti, Michael Hogan

Critics Consensus: The Edge is an entertaining hybrid of brainy Mamet dialogue with brawny outdoors action — albeit one that sadly lacks as much bite as its furry antagonist.

Synopsis: The plane carrying wealthy Charles Morse (Anthony Hopkins) crashes down in the Alaskan wilderness. Together with the two other passengers, photographer Robert Green (Alec Baldwin)… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin, Elle Macpherson, Harold Perrineau

Directed By: Lee Tamahori, Lloyd Phillips

Synopsis: Stranded after a plane crash in the Andes mountains, individual members of Uruguay’s rugby team respond differently. Group leader Nando (Ethan Hawke) tries to keep… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Vincent Spano, Josh Hamilton, Bruce Ramsay

Directed By: Frank Marshall

Critics Consensus: While the script isn’t amazing and the story’s race issues linger, this adaptation of John Marsden’s book is an exciting, action-heavy adventure that should please fans of the series.

Synopsis: Ellie Linton (Caitlin Stasey), a teen from an Australian coastal town, leads her friends (Rachel Hurd-Wood, Lincoln Lewis) on an excursion to a camp deep… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Caitlin Stasey, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Lincoln Lewis, Deniz Akdeniz

Directed By: Stuart Beattie, Peter D. Graves, Christopher Mapp, Matthew Street

Synopsis: Eight candidates cooperate in order to secure a job with a prestigious company.

Starring: Luke Mably, Adar Beck, Chris Carey, Gemma Chan

Directed By: Stuart Hazeldine

Critics Consensus: A gripping drama even though the filmmakers have taken liberties with the facts.

Synopsis: Follows Captain Alexei Vostrikov who, at the height of the Cold War, is ordered to take over command of the nuclear missile submarine K-19, pride… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, Peter Sarsgaard, Joss Ackland

Directed By: Kathryn Bigelow, Harrison Ford, Nigel Sinclair, Moritz Borman

Critics Consensus: Daniel Radcliffe does right by Jungle‘s fact-based story with a clearly committed performance, even if the film around him doesn’t always match his efforts.

Synopsis: A mysterious guide escorts an enthusiastic adventurer and his friend into the Amazon jungle. Their journey turns into a terrifying ordeal as the darkest elements… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Alex Russell, Thomas Kretschmann, Joel Jackson

Directed By: Greg McLean, Yossi Ghinsberg, Lawrence Greenberg, Jeff Harrison

Critics Consensus: Professionally made but artistically uninspired, Ed Zwick’s story of Jews surviving WWII in the Belarus forest lacks the emotional punch of the actual history.

Synopsis: In 1941, Nazi soldiers are slaughtering Eastern European Jews by the thousands. Three brothers, Tuvia (Daniel Craig), Zus (Liev Schreiber) and Asael (Jamie Bell), manage… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, Alexa Davalos

Directed By: Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz

Critics Consensus: A cohesive theme gets marooned in Eden‘s melodramatic dramatization of a colorful true story, but it does provide a starry cast and salacious thrills as compensation.

Synopsis: Director Ron Howard’s Eden unravels the shocking true story of a group of disillusioned outsiders who abandon modern society in search of a new beginning…. View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Daniel Brühl

Directed By: Ron Howard, David Taghioff, Zach Garrett, Mathias Herndl

Critics Consensus: Though it gets occasionally bogged down by touchy-feely sentiment, White Squall benefits greatly from Jeff Bridges’ assured lead performance and Ridley Scott’s visceral, exciting direction.

Synopsis: In 1960, a hardy group of prep school students boards an old-fashioned sailing ship. With Capt. Christopher Sheldon (Jeff Bridges) at the helm, the oceangoing… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Caroline Goodall, Scott Wolf, John Savage

Directed By: Ridley Scott, Ridley Scott

Critics Consensus: Against the Ice isn’t the most original or exciting wilderness thriller, but viewers in search of man-versus-nature entertainment could easily do worse.

Synopsis: Against the Ice is a true story of friendship, love, survival, and the power of the human spirit as two men (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Joe Cole)… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Joe Cole, Heida Reed, Charles Dance

Directed By: Peter Flinth, Jasmin Torbati

Critics Consensus: Infinite Storm‘s dramatization of a real-life story feels frustratingly incomplete, but that’s often outweighed by Naomi Watts’ outstanding performance.

Synopsis: As an experienced climber (Naomi Watts) ascends Mt. Washington, she turns back before she reaches the summit as a huge blizzard approaches. But on her… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Naomi Watts, Billy Howle, Denis O'Hare, Parker Sawyers

Directed By: Małgorzata Szumowska, Nic Marshall, Joshua Rollins, Jason De Beer