Last Updated on 15 January 2025

I searched the Internet for lists of the best survival movies of all time. Criteria included the movies being ranked, not just listed, and generally created by groups, whether teams or committees or based on general public voting (like Ranker.com).

I was able to find 21 lists. I took the 21 lists and added all their content into a spreadsheet, noting the rank of every film. I ended up averaging the rankings each movie got (there were 71 that were on at least 2 lists) and dividing that average by a factor of the number of lists that movie was on. The lowest score meant a high ranking average on many lists. The complete spreadsheet is attached at the bottom.

The movies that were on the most lists (out of 32) were:

  • 127 Hours (2010) – 19 lists
  • Cast Away (2000) – 17 lists
  • The Revenant (2015) – 17 lists
  • The Martian (2015) – 14 lists
  • Into the Wild (2007) – 13 lists
  • Life of Pi (2012) – 12 lists
  • The Grey (2011) – 10 lists
  • The Road (2009) – 10 lists
  • Touching the Void (2003) – 10 lists

Here are links to the lists I used along with dates the lists were created:

Loading