Summary

• Survival movies based on true stories provide a glimpse into impossible situations that real people have faced and overcome.
• Some films stick closely to the truth, while others add drama or fictional elements to enhance the story.
• These movies can be difficult to watch but are also inspiring, revealing the power of hope and resilience in the face of adversity.

One of the most stressful of genres, survival movies based on true stories take viewers inside what looks to be an impossible situation, made worse by the fact that it happened to someone in real life before it was ever made into a movie. The world is a dangerous place, but there are amazing stories of humans surviving against the odds and many of these have become great movies. From sinking ships and tsunamis to being trapped in the wilderness, there are many true stories worth being put on the big screen.

Some of these survival movies stick more to the truth while others add some flare to add drama or intensity to the movie on the big screen. Many are based on first-hand accounts or nonfiction books about the events, and others take a historical tragedy and add new characters, or even fictionalized versions of real people. These films are sometimes hard to watch, but they are also quite inspirational. They prove that there is hope despite hopelessness, and those who survive come out very different from before they went in.

1 Apollo 13 (1995)

Based On The Aborted 1970 Apollo 13 Lunar Mission

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Directed by Ron Howard, Apollo 13 is the true-life story of the survivors of the aborted 1970 Apollo 13 lunar mission. Based on the book by two of the astronauts, the movie tells the story of the astronauts' attempts to return home after an onboard explosion takes out most of the spacecraft's oxygen supply and electrical power. The cast was great, with Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton as the three astronauts and even more major acting talent on the ground. It was also highly accurate to the actual events.

The movie picked up universal acclaim, sitting at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. It was also a huge success at the box office, earning $355 million on a $52 million budget (via Box Office Mojo). It ended up picking up an impressive nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and two acting nods. However, it only won for Best Film Editing and Best Sound.

2 The Impossible (2012)

Based On The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

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The Impossible tells the true story of Spanish doctor María Belón, who survived the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. The tragedy happened when she was on a vacation in Thailand with her husband, Enrique (Quique) Álvarez, and their three sons. Belón is severely injured and nearly dies, but eventually survives. The cast saw Naomi Watts star as the mother, while Ewan McGregor played the dad and future Spider-Man actor Tom Holland as their young son.

While the movie's central English family (the Bennetts) were Spanish in real life, survivors of the disaster praised The Impossible for being accurate. Screenwriter Sergio G. Sánchez worked closely with Belón to ensure her story was told with the authenticity and respect it deserved, despite these notable changes. Watts earned an Oscar nomination for her performance, while Holland Best Performance in a Feature Film at the Young Artist Awards.

Future Spider-Man actor Tom Holland starred in The Impossible when he was 14.

3 127 Hours (2010)

Based On Aron Ralston Getting Trapped In Bluejohn Canyon

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The protagonist of 127 Hours is Aron Ralston, who's best known for surviving a canyoning accident by cutting off his arm with a pocket knife. He initially got his arm trapped between a boulder and the side of a canyon wall after an unlucky fall. After five days of being trapped, he managed to amputate his limb to get free and find rescue. He later wrote about this experience in his book that is fittingly named Between a Rock and a Hard Place.

Ralston stated that most of the film is "so factually accurate it is as close to a documentary as you can get and still be a drama." Directed by Danny Boyle and starring James Franco, 127 Hours was a critical favorite as well. The American Film Institute named it in the top 10 movies of 2010, and it picked up six Oscar nominations. This included Best Picture and Best Actor for James Franco, although it didn't get a directing nomination for Danny Boyle.

4 Lone Survivor (2013)

Based On The Operation Red Wings SEAL Mission

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The Lone Survivor story and film revolves around an unsuccessful mission, though what makes Lone Survivor stand out is that it's a wartime tale. Lone Survivor tells the story of the 2005 mission "Operation Red Wings," in which a four-man SEAL reconnaissance team has the task of tracking down a Taliban leader in Afghanistan. Things go awry, and the team is reduced to one, and he must do what he can until rescue arrives.

Lone Survivor is adapted from a book that was written by the single survivor of the SEAL team, Marcus Luttrell. Mark Wahlberg stars as Marcus, while Peter Berg directs the movie. The National Board of Review named it one of the top 10 movies of 2013, and it got two Oscar nominations. Those nominations were for Best Sound and Best Sound Mixing.

5 Rescue Dawn (2006)

Based On Dieter Dengler, Who Was Shot Down In The Vietnam War

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This film tells the true story of Dieter Dengler, who survived being a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. He was a pilot who was shot down in Laos and held captive for months on end. During his imprisonment, Dengler was tortured, starved, and put in a camp with six other prisoners. During their escape, Dengler and a man named Phisit Intharathat were the only ones who made it out alive.

Directed by Werner Herzog, Rescue Dawn was a box office failure despite its critical acclaim (90% on Rotten Tomatoes). There is also a documentary film about this survival story called Little Dieter Needs to Fly. It should be noted that Rescue Dawn has attracted some criticism due to its supposed inaccuracy, with one notable change being that the film only features six prisoners attempting the escape when there were, in fact, seven.

6 Titanic (1997)

Based On The 1912 Sinking Of The Titanic

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Titanic is more of a disaster movie than a survival story. However, it deserves the perspective of a survival story based on a true event, as the movie looks back on the disaster from the memories of one of the survivors of the tragic accident. James Cameron did a lot of research on the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, and it shows in this film.

Cameron also made a huge marriage between fictional and historical characters. Historical characters on the ship include Margaret Brown, Thomas Andrews, Captain Edward John Smith, J. Bruce Ismay, and many more. However, a good number of the crew were depicted as incompetent or villainous, with First Officer William Murdoch being the most egregious example. Thanks to the drama and romance added to the disaster, Titanic ended up as the highest-grossing movie of all time upon its release.

Titanic was the highest-grossing movie for 12 years before it was topped by James Cameron's Avatar.

7 Touching The Void (2003)

Based On The First Successful Ascent Of The West Face Of The Siula Grande

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Touching the Void is a docudrama that retells the true story of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates's near-fatal climb of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes of Peru in 1985. This movie was based on a novel of the same name as well that was written by Simpson. The climb is not as eventful as the descent of the mountain, leaving the two men separated and one with a broken leg during a storm. Simpson survived and wrote the book the film is based on.

Interestingly, director Kevin Macdonald invited both Simpson and Yates to Siula Grande. On the DVD special features, Simpson said he dealt with PTSD upon his return while Yates said that he had no unresolved issues from their incident. Simpson said he was happy with the movie, while Yates wanted nothing to do with the production. The movie earned positive reviews and won the Best British Film Award at the BAFTAs.

8 Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)

Based On A Family Who Escaped The Moore River Native Settlement

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This Australian film is based on the book Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence, which is the true story about 14-year-old Molly Kelly (an Australian Martu Aboriginal girl) and her escape from the Moore River Native Settlement while being chased by white law enforcement and an aboriginal tracker. This happened in 1931, and the girl walked over 900 miles with her half-sister, Daisy Kadibil, and cousin, Gracie. Their goal was to return to their aboriginal families.

These two were part of the "Stolen Generations" - Australian Aboriginal children stolen from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies between 1905 and 1967. While done to "protect" the Aboriginal population from going extinct, more than 100,000 children were stolen from their parents. The book was written by Molly Kelly's daughter. As for the movie, the British Film Institute listed it as a movie everyone should see by the age of 14.

9 The Revenant (2015)

Based On The Life Of Frontiersman Hugh Glass

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The Revenant tells the story of Hugh Glass, a frontiersman and explorer who lived from 1783 to 1833. It is based on the 1915 poem The Song of Hugh Glass, and the movie was directed by multi-time Oscar-winning director, Alejandro González Iñárritu. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Hugh Glass, as he and a party of men are attacked by a grizzly bear, and Glass is gravely wounded. One of his fellow trappers, John Fitzgerald, convinces the party to abandon Glass since he likely would not survive the return to camp.

It took six weeks for Glass to return to a settlement, but he survived nonetheless. The Revenant portrays Glass's hardships and adds a bit of closure to his revenge against Fitzgerald. No one was killed in real life. The Revenant was a box-office success and continued Iñárritu's success at the Oscars, with 12 nominations. While it only won three awards, they were big ones for Best Director, Best Actor for DiCaprio, and Best Cinematography.

10 North Face (2008)

Based On The 1936 Attempt To Climb The Eiger North Face In The Alps

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North Face focuses on two German climbers who are locked in a competition to climb the most dangerous rock face in the Alps: the Eiger's eponymous north face. The 1936 disaster which the film is based on resulted in the deaths of five climbers, as they were bombarded with terrible weather, falling rocks, and even an avalanche. North Face puts a lot of historical elements of the event into its plot, though its characters are mostly fictionalized.

Instead, the survival movie's characters are loosely based on the real people from the disaster, such as Andreas Hinterstoisser and Toni Kurz. The German movie had a successful run in that country, and it picked up several awards and nominations, including the 2009 German Film Award in Gold for Best Cinematography and the 2009 German Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay.