7 Best Movies About Exploration That You Should Watching Update 04/2024

Movies About Exploration

There are a lot of our plans on hold because we can’t go outside or gather large groups of people while we’re quarantined. We had to postpone a slew of vacation plans due to the stay-at-home directive, including vacations out of state, hikes, and music festivals. Many of us are unsure as to when we can resume our previously scheduled activities without fear of being injured.

In the meantime, we need to keep our sense of adventure alive. As soon as the weather gets back to normal, nothing motivates us more than a good adventure/exploration movie. Listed below are seven of my favorite adventure and exploration films, sure to inspire the intrepid explorer in us all and perhaps even give us some intriguing ideas to look into after quarantine expires.

1. Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)

Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)

Brendan Fraser and Josh Hutcherson star in this film about a journey to the center of the Earth, largely based on Jules Verne’s book of the same name. The film follows Hutcherson and his tour guide on a thrilling journey deep inside a cavern, when Fraser appears as Hutcherson’s on-screen uncle. As difficulties occur, the only way out is through dangerous environments, encountering weird animals, and waging a losing battle to stay alive. Moviegoers are left wondering what the Earth’s core could look like after watching this film. As a whole, it’s a fantastic action film.

2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

In spite of the fact that all four Indiana Jones films are enjoyable to watch, this post will focus on the fourth one. During the 1950s, Harrison Ford plays a college lecturer and archaeologist named Indiana Jones, who sets out to find a long-lost item. In this film, he is on a mission to find the famous Akator Crystal Skull in Peru. With the help of Mutt (Shia LaBeouf), the villainous Soviet operatives who seek the skull for their own selfish reasons are thwarted in their quest by him. We’ll all want to be intrepid archaeologists after seeing this film, and the theme tune will be stuck in our heads for days.

3. Jurassic Park (1993)

Jurassic Park (1993)

It’s time to see this movie if you’ve already been on the water coaster at Universal Studios based on it. Jurassic Park, a film directed by Steven Spielberg, depicts a world where dinosaurs have been genetically resurrected from primordial DNA in the current period. John Hammond, a wealthy businessman, plans to build a dinosaur-themed theme park on an island. All three paleontologists and a mathematician are invited to the park by Hammond, along with Hammond’s two young grandkids, to see it for themselves. This tour party learns the hard way that dinosaurs, despite their beautiful appearance, are just as dangerous as the escaping predators they encounter. The action is fast-paced as the characters race against time to make it back to the theme park alive.

4. Onward (2020)

This Disney film follows Ian (Tom Holland) and Barley (Chris Platt), two teenage brothers who embark on a trip together and encounter both problems and joys along the way. They set out to gather the mystical ingredients for a spell that would bring their father back to life for one day in a fantasy world, where their father was a wizard. Against the clock, the brothers must overcome difficulties and battle mystical creatures as their mother sets out on her own search for her missing sons. It’s a fun movie about a road trip between two siblings that makes us want to go on one ourselves.

5. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)

Percy Jackson & the Olympians The Lightning Thief (2010)

For those who enjoy Greek mythology, this is a must-see movie. He was a normal high school student until he discovered that he was the son of the Greek god Poseidon and had been charged with murder, and Logan Lerman portrays him in the movie Percy Jackson and the Olympians. After making this revelation, he enrolls in a training camp where he learns how to harness his newfound abilities and meets other youths who are deity children. On a journey to clear Percy’s record, he joins forces with Annabeth and Grover to rescue his mother from Hades, the god of the underworld. This film also has a “road trip” feel to it, as the characters stop at various sites and encounter fantastical hurdles along the way.

6. National Treasure (2004)

My list of the best movies about history would not be complete if I didn’t include this one. Nicholas Cage plays historian Ben Gates, who is on a quest to locate a long-lost treasure from the American Revolution. He needs the Declaration of Independence to uncover the wealth, but he’s not the only one. Abigail, a National Archives employee, is on hand to assist Ben in his quest to find the treasure. Riley, a specialist in computer programming, is also there to help him along the way. In this scenario, Ben must avoid the FBI and an ex-partner turned gangster who is also searching for the wealth, because no voyage would be complete without some challenges along the route. Even if you have no interest in history, I can assure you that you will not want to miss a single moment of this film.

7. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

As a great Marvel fan, I had a difficult time deciding on just one adventure/exploration movie. “Guardians of the Galaxy,” on the other hand, is a story about the ultimate voyage, one that carries the heroes throughout the entire galaxy. Star Lord, played by Chris Pratt, is a galactic explorer who travels the galaxy collecting and trading baubles from other planets. The wicked dictator Ronan (Lee Pace) wants him to take a magical orb, so he does, and he ends up in jail. In order to escape and retrieve the orb from Ronan, who intends to destroy planets, he teams up with a diverse group of unlikely allies, including the fearsome Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), genetically modified racoon Rocket (Bradley Cooper), and tree-like creature Groot (Vin Diesel). As a result of the film’s plot and comedy, the audience is compelled to join in on the fun.

While there are many more films that I could have included, I hope you appreciate my selection of lighthearted adventure and exploration flicks and are inspired to see one of them. It’s important to keep our adventurous spirit alive and continue making plans even if we are unable to go on excursions right now.