20 Best Survival Movies Of All Time
7. 127 Hours
Survival films (mostly) work best when they're as minimal as possible, both in scope and character. Never has that been more true than when referring to the biographical survival film, 127 Hours. Directed by Danny Boyle (28 Days Later) and starring James Franco as real-life climber and canyoneer Aron Ralston, the film is for the most part set in a small slot canyon.
After a bad fall, Ralston finds his arm trapped by a large boulder, with no way of escaping and no way of communicating with anyone to help him.
Franco shines as the trapped adventurer, as he goes from scared and frantic to hallucinating and almost complacent. Pair that with Boyle's as-ever confident direction and some beautiful set pieces, and what you're left with is a quintessential survival movie, full of thick tension, grisly moments (you know the one; if not, good luck) and that classic sense of hopefulness that many of these films do incredibly well.