Top 100 Best Adventure Movies Of All Time [2024]

 

Adventure contains a little bit of action, fantasy, and science fiction, even real-life drama elements.

 

But the one factor that has come to define this Entertainment genre is its unceasing ability to thrill and regale.

 

Entoin’s list of the best adventure movies of all time comes packing a world of such thrills.

 

They run the gamut from classics to popular 80s and 90s titles and several contemporary selections.

 

None of the movies on this list is given any special importance based on listing or order of appearance.

 

They are equally amazing, give or take, and firmly fill the adventure-genre shoes. Which ones are your favourite?

 

And which ones did you spot on this blog for the very first time?

 

 

 

1. The Mummy (1999)

 

 

 

The high priest who betrayed Pharaoh Seti I, Imhotep (played by Arnold Vosloo) is doomed to suffer unimaginable torture after being mummified alive and entombed just so.

 

His treachery was that he fell for the Pharaoh’s chief lover, Anck-Su-Namun (played by Patricia Velasquez).

 

The magical curse on his tomb has only grown in repute and notoriety over the course of three millennia.

 

In the year 1926, brave American adventurer Rick O’Connell (played by Brendan Fraser) crosses paths with nerdy British Egyptologist Evelyn Carnahan (played by Rachel Weisz) and her brother Jonathan Carnahan (played by John Hannah) to unearth the tomb of Imhotep within the lost city of Hamunaptra.

 

Dangers abound and risks are aplenty, but even that pales in comparison to when the team unwittingly end up resurrecting the dreaded high priest whose curse breathes new life into him.

 

He is now a creature hell-bent on revenge and capable of slow regeneration after consuming the people he kills.

 

Imhotep’s aim comes to light, namely, his plan to unleash ten crippling plagues on Egypt and use the multiple deaths to revive and reunite with his long-lost love Anck-Su-Namun who was executed as a result of her forbidden love affair with him.

 

 

 

2. Avatar (2009)

 

 

 

After learning that his brother was murdered in an attempted robbery, paraplegic U.S. Marine Jake Sully (played by Sam Worthington) is determined to embark on an upcoming military mission in his brother’s stead. 

 

The journey takes him and hundreds of other soldiers to the distant and dangerous planet of Pandora. After a long interstellar journey, Jake finds corporate greed has beat him to the new world. A businessman named Parker Selfridge (played by Giovanni Ribisi) is intent on finding a deceptive way to relocate a local native humanoid tribe called the Na’vi. 

 

They currently call a great tree their home, but under this gigantic and beautiful tree is a rich node of Unobtanium, a mineral that promises to make the RDA (Resources Development Administration) and others very rich.

 

In exchange for his services, Jake is assured a spinal surgery that will see him walk again. So he starts working covertly under orders from Colonel Miles Quaritch (played by Stephen Lang) to accomplish the mission.

 

Jake soon joins Dr. Grace Augustine (played by Sigourney Weaver) and a core team of scientists to technologically ‘project’ their minds into synthetic bio-forms based on the Na’vi people’s physical design. This will help them survive in the perilous plains and fatal jungles of Pandora.

 

Taking on his ‘avatar’, Jake infiltrates the tribe in question only to fall in love with the independent and beautiful Neytiri (played by Zoe Saldana), daughter to the chieftain. 

 

The Colonel, seeing that Jake may be changing sides, initiates a ruthless extermination strategy which results in an epic face-off between the Na’vi and human soldiers.

 

As time goes on, Jake surrenders to his new identity and finds himself relating to the Na’vi people, their culture, and Pandora as if he’d always been one of them.

 

 

 

3. The Shape of Water (2017)

 

 

 

Baltimore in the early 60s, at the peak of both the Cold War and the Space Race, sees a mute woman named Elisa Esposito (played by Sally Hawkins) going about her mundane life as a nighttime janitor contracted by a top-secret underground research facility.

 

Elisa calls just two people her friends, namely her garrulous colleague Zelda Fuller (played by Octavia Spencer) and neighbour Giles (played by Richard Jenkins) who’s a painter.

 

The classified corporation welcomes the arrival of an ‘Amazonian Amphibian Man’ who is secured inside a large water tank.

 

Before long, the creature becomes the cynosure of the organization. Soon, an almost mystical romance develops between Elisa and the Fish-Man, both being drawn to one another for several multi-layered empathetic reasons.

 

The very future of the Mer-Man’s species rests in his genes, but that possibility is threatened when Elisa aims to set him free back in the ocean – even at the risk of losing him forever from her life.

 

This film by Guillermo del Toro won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2018.

 

 

 

4. Jumanji (1995)

 

 

 

When a magically empowered board game called Jumanji ends up in the possession of a curious teenager named Alan Parrish (young version played by Adam Hann-Byrd, older version by Robin Williams), strange things are bound to happen.

 

The year is 1969 when the young man plays this board game with his crush Sarah Whittle (young version played by Laura Bell Bundy, older version by Bonnie Hunt). One thing leads to the next, and he ends up being teleported to a savage African jungle lost to time.

 

Thirty years later, a new family moves into his home. Siblings Judy (played by Kirsten Dunst) and Peter (played by Bradley Pierce) find and start the board game, leaving their single mom Nora Shepherd (played by Bebe Neuwirth) in the dark about some of the weird things that follow. 

 

Wild thrills and deadly misadventures unravel and involves monkeys, an entire African-animal stampede, an angry lion, and not to forget a Colonial-British hunter named Van Pelt (played by Jonathan Hyde) who shoots first and asks questions never.

 

Van Pelt has encountered Alan in Africa and wishes nothing better than to hunt him down in this new urban jungle the game has brought him to. Meanwhile, police officer Bentley (played by David Alan Grier) is also roped into the madness.

 

The siblings track Sarah down and beg her help, especially after one of their dice rolls results in Alan making a magical comeback as a full-grown man. Since all four of them have thus far played the game, it will take all four of them – Alan, Sarah, Judy, and Peter – to finish it.

 

Hopefully, they and the world around them will be in one piece when Jumanji concludes. But it all comes down to the roll of the dice, and what dark and dire results might manifest.

 

 

5. Interstellar (2014)

 

 

 

Set in the near-future American Midwest, ex-pilot and engineer Cooper (played by Matthew McConaughey) is caught up with a farming lifestyle on his estate.

 

He lives and works the land with his daughter Murph (young version played by Mackenzie Foy, and older version by Jessica Chastain) and son Tom (young version played by Timothée Chalamet, and older version by Casey Affleck).

 

The Earth is routinely bombarded by devastating sandstorms, and food production and supply have been severely affected for years.

 

Nearly everyone alive is certain that a future on this planet is non-existent. One day, Cooper accidentally stumbles onto a covert NASA base near his home.

 

Before long, he is tasked with embarking on a daring mission, one that will take him through a space-wormhole.

 

Accompanied by a handful of scientists, Cooper’s former engineering and piloting skills make him more than eligible for this time-warping project intended to find the remaining human population on Earth a new habitable planet several light years away.

 

Cooper is left making a decision that might mean he never sees his children again, or that he might return relatively unchanged while his kids have (scientifically, based on the Laws of Relativity) grown up by several years.

 

 

6. Dune (2021)

 

 

 

This mythic sci-fi adventure remake features the original characters from the 1984 film, all of whom were first inspired by Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’ novels.

 

This latest film sees Paul Atreides (played by Timothée Chalamet), a gifted man born into greatness and prone to visions of powerful change, growing gradually into his destiny.

 

His family – mother Lady Jessica Atreides (played by Rebecca Ferguson) and uncle Duke Leto Atreides (played by Oscar Isaac) – is sent to the ‘Spice Planet’ of Arakkis where they are betrayed by their own Dr. Wellington Yueh (played by Chang Chen). Joining hands against them were the cruel Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (played by Stellan Skarsgård) whose military is led by Beast Rabban Harkonnen (played by Dave Bautista).

 

Accompanying Paul and his family are longtime Atreides loyalists Duncan Idaho (played by Jason Momoa), Gurney Halleck (played by Josh Brolin), and Thufir Hawat (played by Stephen McKinley Henderson).

 

Paul’s fate seems entwined with the Fremen people headed by Stilgar (played by Javier Bardem).

 

The family’s ‘tech and survival guide’ on Arakkis is Dr. Liet Kynes (played by Sharon Duncan-Brewster), a Fremen herself.

 

A girl from the desert tribe named Chani (played by Zendaya) haunts Paul’s visions. When he eventually meets her, not all the Sandworms on Arakkis can stop his destiny from being fulfilled, one that was also foreseen by Reverend Mother Mohiam (played by Charlotte Rampling).

 

Paul’s journey will make him face and conquer his fears or be destroyed by them.

 

This film is Part 1, and Part 2 has already been given the greenlight.

 

 

7. Life of Pi (2012)

 

 

 

A writer pays Indian storyteller Pi Patel (young version played by Suraj Sharma, older version by Irrfan Khan) a visit in Canada in the hopes of learning his life story.

 

The tale goes back to Pondicherry, in Tamil Nadu (South India), where Pi’s father Santhosh Patel (played by Adil Hussain) decides to sell his zoo due to lack of municipality support.

 

He wishes to ship the animals to Canada where the buyer promised he’d find suitable homes for them.

 

Pi himself plans to move to Canada with his son and wife Gita Patel (played by Tabu).

 

When the Japanese cargo ship they boarded meets with a sudden storm, a shipwreck ensues.

 

Left on a lifeboat with an orangutan, a zebra, a hyena, and Bengal Tiger, Pi finds himself in a perilous and tricky situation lost in the Pacific Ocean.

 

The Tiger’s name is Richard Parker but it is far from tame. Pi strives to find a way to survive and thus experiences the most incredible adventure of his life.

 

 

8. The Revenant (2015)

 

 

 

It is mid-winter in snow-capped Missouri, in 19th century North America. The land is host to unforgiving and untamed wilderness.

 

Experienced tracker Hugh Glass (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) along with his adopted Native-American son Hawk (played by Forrest Goodluck) are leading a hunt-and-trap expedition through uncharted territories known to be home to the ruthless Indian Arikara people.

 

The party is attempting to navigate to Fort Kiowa, which is quite a distance away.

 

Just then, a swift and devastating Grizzly Bear attack breaks the team. Hugh is mauled by the beast and is on the brink of death.

 

He somehow survives the ordeal only to learn that his own men have double-crossed him, abandoning him in the wilds instead of coming to his rescue.

 

Between the freezing cold and any number of wild perils, Hugh manages to get up and get going.

 

He makes for Fort Kiowa where he is certain he’ll find the rest of the men.

 

Vengeance and justice weighing heavy on his mind and heart, Hugh experiences a personal rather dark adventure rife with retribution and the sheer will to survive.

 

 

9. Ready Player One (2018)

 

 

 

The year is 2045. The world is a much harsher place despite it boasting superior technology.

 

Wade Watts (played by Tye Sheridan) feels most alive when he is ‘in character’ as Parzival within the global online immersive virtual universe called OASIS.

 

Nearly everyone is in this game, which lets you go anywhere and be anyone, the only limit being your imagination.

 

The ingenious yet eccentric James Halliday (played by Mark Rylance) is credited with designing the innovation.

 

One day he decides to hold a global in-game contest with the winner taking home not just glory but James’s entire amassed fortune.

 

That winner, or winners, will thus become the legitimate heir(s) to his OASIS estate and empire.

 

Suffice to say the game turns cut-throat and heavily competitive. Wade participates, and even passes the first challenge – a reality-warping treasure hunt.

 

Together with his team of online gaming buddies, aka the ‘High Fives’, he goes on a fantastic adventure.

 

Along the way, Wade and the company gradually unravel dangerous truths concerning OASIS and attempt to save it from ill-intentioned parties.

 

 

10. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

 

 

This post-apocalyptic story features broken humanity and shattered dreams. It centres on the life of Imperator Furiosa (played by Charlize Theron) who is secretly harbouring an agenda.

 

She has no choice but to betray her master Immortan Joe (played by Hugh Keays-Byrne) because it means saving his four exploited wives Toast the Knowing (played by Zoë Kravitz), Cheedo the Fragile (played by Courtney Eaton), the Splendid Angharad (played by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), and Capable (played by Riley Keough).

 

Infighting and wars coupled with a serious resource shortage lead Furiosa to depend on her need to return to her childhood homeland where she believes lie several key answers for the future.

 

She wishes to go there and take the wives with her because they’re capable of birthing the children of the future as opposed to everyone else who is sterile.

 

Entering all this is Max Rockatansky (played by Tom Hardy) who is not in a good place – he yearns for peace after losing his wife and child in the chaos that followed the societal apocalypse.

 

Before long, his and Furiosa’s paths cross, and he allies with her cause. Standing against them is a horde of Immortan Joe’s zealous followers, including the insane Nux (played by Nicholas Hoult).

 

 

11. Inception (2010)

 

 

 

The best at ‘extraction’ and a skilled thief all round, Dom Cobb (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) comes highly experienced in extracting information from the subconscious minds of people while they’re in a dream state.

 

Dom’s skills are so rare that he becomes one of the most coveted thieves in the business of corporate espionage.

 

His infamy also isolates the man, rendering him a fugitive who has lost the people closest to him.

 

A chance at redemption comes along and Dom decides to take up the ‘last job’ since it means a chance at regaining a normal life.

 

Before long, he learns that the mission entails an ‘Inception’, meaning he has to plant an idea in the subconscious mind of his target instead of the usual extracting of it.

 

Along with teammates Arthur (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Ariadne (played by Elliot Page), Dom Cobb delves into the mind of Robert Fischer (played by Cillian Murphy).

 

One thing leads to another and Dom and company realize they are playing a much more dangerous game than they ever have before.

 

 

12. Gladiator (2000)

 

 

 

During Roman times in 180 A. D., Marcus Aurelius (played by Richard Harris) becomes an ailing emperor intent on naming his successor before it is too late.

 

His victorious and loyal general Maximus Decimus Meridius (played by Russell Crowe) has his favour.

 

Marcus wishes to appoint Maximus as ‘protector of Rome’, a title he refuses to leave to his own son, the unstable and unreliable Commodus (played by Joaquin Phoenix).

 

Political tensions abound and before long Commodus dispatches armed units to the home of Maximus after labelling him a traitor.

 

By this time his father, Marcus ‘Caesar’, has died, leaving nobody to stand against the royal decree.

 

His family got brutally executed, and Maximus escapes with his life only to end up becoming one of several slaves pressganged into fighting as gladiators under the hard-hearted Proximo (played by Oliver Reed).

 

Re-styling himself as Maximo, Maximus begins his life as a gladiator in the hopes of winning the grand contest and gaining an audience with the Emperor at which point he plans to demand justice for the murder of his wife and son.

 

He will also thus let Rome itself know that someone Marcus Aurelius never favoured now occupies the throne.

 

 

13. Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993)

 

 

 

A family has to go away for a while, but they can’t take their three beloved pets with them for some reason. So they temporarily leave them in the care of a friend who lives hundreds of miles away from the house.

 

Before long, the pets realize they are in a strange place and grow anxious to return home. 

 

The young fun-happy American bulldog Chance (real name Rattler, voiced on-screen by Michael J. Fox), the wise old golden retriever Shadow (real name Ben, voiced on screen by Don Ameche), and the witty and clever Himalayan cat Sassy (real name Tiki, voiced on screen by Sally Field) execute their escape.

 

Soon they are off on quite the adventure across the rugged and risky Sierras, all the while being confused about whether or not their owners are in some kind of trouble.

 

Chance, Shadow, and Sassy keep each other safe as they traverse dangerous terrain, encounter perils and people, and experience a range of incredible moments.

 

 

14. The Neverending Story (1984)

 

 

 

Bastian (played by Barret Oliver) is a little boy who no longer has a mother. His life becomes a lonely one, made worse by a constant barrage of bullying at school.

 

One day, Bastian finds himself fleeing his bullies and finding shelter in an old book store. Its owner shares a secret with him, namely a book titled The Neverending Story in which magic actually comes to life.

 

Desperate for meaning and connection, Bastian steals the book and leaves behind a note promising to return it. He hides the book in the school’s attic and secretly goes there to lose himself in the tale of a magic kingdom called Fantasia.

 

In this alluring place, a young boy named Atreyu (played by Noah Hathaway) goes on a dangerous quest to save his homeland from The Nothing. 

 

With help from Bastian, who was dragged into the book-world, and a kind dragon named Falkor (voiced by Alan Oppenheimer), the boys go on quite the adventure with the express aim of saving Fantasia from evil and bringing honour to the Childlike Empress (played by Tami Stronach).

 

 

15. The Fifth Element (1997)

 

 

 

A great evil threatens the future of Earth. The only way for the people in this 23rd century to stay safe is if the Fifth Element – an entity that comes to the planet every five thousand years – is kept from being killed. 

 

Using four stones to harness the natural elements of fire, water, air, and earth, this Fifth Element shields the Blue Planet from the depredations of dark forces.

 

One such Element is en route to Earth, ferried in a Mondoshawan vessel. The dastardly Mangalores intercept the vessel and annihilate the entity within.

 

What they don’t know is that a handful of scientists later use leftover DNA from the dead Fifth Element and imbue it inside a ‘perfect being,’ namely a human female called Leeloo (played by Milla Jovovich).

 

She eventually escapes the facility only to encounter humble taxi driver and former military man Korben Dallas (played by Bruce Willis). Seeing something special in Leeloo, Korben does not waste time. He heeds her words and gets her safely to Father Vito Cornelius (played by Ian Holm).

 

Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg (played by Gary Oldman) is hot on Leeloo’s trail. He has learned of her existence and sent a troupe of Mangalores to hunt her down. He wants to get to the four elemental stones before she does.

 

But standing in his way are Leeloo’s new friends and allies, including the flamboyant Ruby Rhod (played by Chris Tucker) and the military-trained Korben Dallas.

 

 

16. The Three Musketeers (1921)

 

 

Involved in all sorts of intrigue at Louis XIII’s (played by Adolphe Menjou) court, Cardinal Richelieu (played by Nigel De Brulier) finds himself threatening the queen and ruling indirectly through blackmail.

 

The queen, Anne of Austria (played by Mary MacLaren), happens to secretly be in love with the Duke of Buckingham (played by Thomas Holding).

 

Meanwhile, hailing from Gascony is D’Artagnan (played by Douglas Fairbanks). Harbouring a thirst for glory and honour, he wishes to join the King’s Musketeers to find adventure and renown.

 

His skills with a sword are good enough to allow him entry into the corps.

 

Before long, he befriends the ‘Three Musketeers’ Athos (played by Léon Bary), Porthos (played by George Siegmann), and Aramis (played by Eugene Pallette).

 

After a handful of memorable adventures together, D’Artagnan finds himself England bound where the Musketeers are tasked with retrieving a diamond brooch.

 

The queen had given the king’s gift of this diamond to the Duke of Buckingham as a token of her affection for the man.

 

Louis finds out and turns furious. D’Artagnan returns in the nick of time to save the queen from not just the king but also the cardinal’s politicking.

 

In the process, D’Artagnan earns the affection of the queen’s seamstress Constance (played by Marguerite De La Motte).

 

 

17. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

 

 

 

When a race of secretive aliens visits Earth, they unwittingly leave behind one of their own.

 

The baby alien is confused about its place on the new planet. Growing fearful and anxious about whether or not he will ever see his family or home again, the little extra-terrestrial has no choice but to go exploring if only to find a way back.

 

Soon, he meets lonely ten-year-old Elliott (played by Henry Thomas) and a bond is soon formed between them.

 

Along with friends like Gertie (played by Drew Barrymore) and his older brother Michael (played by Robert MacNaughton), Elliott helps ‘ET’ escape government agents who are after him.

 

He also finds a way to unlock his alien friend’s powers, ones that help grant flight and more.

 

The children do not give up until they see their extra-terrestrial guest and buddy reunited with his intergalactic family.

 

Elliott protects and helps ET despite knowing that soon he will never see his friend again.

 

 

18. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)

 

 

This is the original adventure featuring the enigmatic yet enthralling Willy Wonka (played by Gene Wilder).

 

After years spent as a recluse, he returns with a major announcement – a grand chocolate factory launch.

 

With candy, sweets, and chocolates of all shapes and types, this factory promises to contain some of the most imaginative and innovate delectables the world has ever seen let alone savoured.

 

Wonka sends out special invites that take the form of ‘golden tickets’ nestled inside random chocolate bars.

 

The lucky kids who find them are promised a full tour of his chocolate factory at the end of which one of them will be handpicked by Wonka himself to carry on his legacy.

 

Among the excited and lucky children is a boy named Charlie (played by Peter Ostrum), who hails from an impoverished family and wants to use this opportunity to help his loved ones find financial stability.

 

One by one, bewildering adventures and stunning circumstances await the kids touring the factory. Many a lesson and symbolism abound in this one-of-a-kind adventure story.

 

 

19. Spirited Away (2001)

 

 

This heart-warming adventure Anime movie features Chihiro Ogino (originally voiced by Rumi Hiiragi, with an English dub by Daveigh Chase).

 

She is reluctant to move with her parents – Akio and Yûko Ogino (voiced by Takashi Naitô and Yasuko Sawaguchi, respectively) – to a tiny Japanese town in the rural countryside, but fate takes her there regardless.

 

Along the way, her father gets lost and finds himself facing a lone one-way road that ends at the mouth of a mysterious tunnel.

 

The family leaves their car and finds themselves exploring the area to find a way out.

 

They are naturally drawn to the tunnel, which they enter only to arrive at an abandoned amusement park at the other end.

 

The park stands adjacent to a full-fledged town with restaurants and more. The famished family is drawn to an eatery that is strangely devoid of staff.

 

They help themselves to a meal with the intention of paying later. Chihiro does not feel hungry and so leaves to explore the park where she encounters a little boy named Haku (voiced by Miyu Irino).

 

He promptly warns her to take her parents and leave this place or risk great danger.

 

Chihiro believes him and rushes back to the restaurant to tell her folks, only to discover that her mum and dad have been turned into pigs.

 

The theme park and town transform, revealing their true façade. The entire place is a haven for demons, dark gods, and spirits of all kinds.

 

The town centre is host to an elaborate bathhouse where all the inhabitants go at some point to relax.

 

Owning the bathhouse is an evil witch called Yubaba (originally voiced by Mari Natsuki, with an English dub by Suzanne Pleshette).

 

The witch is hell-bent on press-ganging anyone she deems a trespasser into eternal servitude at her bathhouse.

 

She thus enslaves Chihiro who, before long, relies on Haku to help her save her parents and escape back to her own world.

 

 

20. Demon Slayer: Mugen Train (2020)

 

 

A follow-up to the hit 2019 TV series “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba”, this film contains exquisite adventure value for fans of the franchise.

 

The story features Kamado Tanjirô’s (voiced by Natsuki Hanae) heart-breaking journey toward becoming a demon slayer.

 

His family is massacred by evil entities, leaving his sister the sole survivor. Sadly, Kamado Nezuko (voiced by Akari Kitô) has been turned into a demon.

 

Protecting her as much as he can, Tanjirô embarks on an adventure to find a cure for his sister whom he loves and who is now the last remaining family he has.

 

Along the way, he becomes part of the Demon Slayer Corps and trains at the ‘Butterfly Mansion’.

 

Before long, Tanjirô is sent on a significant mission, one that takes him on the ride of his life within Mugen Train.

 

More than forty people have disappeared from the train during transit, and Tanjirô is sent along with the highly trained Rengoku Kyôjurô (voiced by Satoshi Hino) to investigate.

 

Joining him on the quest are fellow demon slayers: the bizarre Hashibira Inosuke (voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka) prone to bouts of boastful rage, and the quirky Agatsuma Zenitsu (voiced by Hiro Shimono) given to periods of cowardice with brief bursts of great heroic display.

 

Together they must face and put a stop to the demon that’s haunting Mugen Train.

 

 

21. Men in Black (1997)

 

 

 

Based on the hit graphic novels, this action-adventure movie features a highly classified organization named MIB, aka Men In Black, who secretly run a government program that keeps all sorts of alien entities living undetected on Earth.

 

They also work to keep extra-terrestrial threats from derailing the functioning of normal society. Agent “K” (played by Tommy Lee Jones) finds himself recruiting a partner.

 

He reluctantly enrols James Edwards (played by Will Smith), an NYPD officer, into the MIB’s ranks.

 

The agency’s history comes back to haunt it, and it will take the efforts of more than K and James to resolve it.

 

The predatory ‘Bug’ race is up to no good on Earth. Before long, a potential invasion is in the pipeline, starting with one Bug-entity taking on the physical guise of a farmer named Edgar (played by Vincent D’Onofrio).

 

New York becomes an even more dangerous place, what with Edgar ardently seeking to claim a supreme energy source known in underground circles as ‘The Galaxy’.

 

 

22. Zombieland (2009)

 

 

 

North America – and the world – is infested with undead zombies. Any human survivors are few and far between.

 

They include Columbus (played by Jesse Eisenberg) who somehow manages to get through each day, fighting and evading zombies, all the way until he arrives in Ohio looking for his family.

 

Mayhem of all shades surrounds him. Before long, he meets and befriends another person, namely professional survivalist Tallahassee (played by Woody Harrelson) who, for some insane reason, wishes to adopt the responsibility of zombie hunter.

 

He convinces Columbus to take a road trip with him through the realms of Armageddon.

 

Their group soon grows, adding Wichita (played by Emma Stone) and her younger sister Little Rock (played by Abigail Breslin).

 

They inadvertently head toward what seems to be the last unruined location in America: Pacific Playland Amusement Park, LA.

 

Will they meet their end there or will they find clues, truths, and more survivors to help them make life in the zombie apocalypse a little easier?

 

 

23. Armageddon (1998)

 

 

 

NASA has learned of a ‘doomsday asteroid’ heading toward Earth. One of their shuttles is destroyed in its wake, forcing scientists to work double-time to reroute the asteroid that’s now clearly on a collision course.

 

They find just one viable option: drill into its surface, plant a nuclear bomb, and explode it.

 

Though NASA has a competent team of astronauts, none of them can get the drill job done in the time required.

 

The world has also come to learn of the imminent extinction event, and society starts fraying at the edges.

 

They thus turn to Harry S. Stamper (played by Bruce Willis) and his team of miners including A. J. Frost (played by Ben Affleck). They train them in quick time and send them toward the incoming asteroid where they will drill into its surface as swiftly as possible and help save Earth from Armageddon.

 

 

24. Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

 

 

 

The year is 2563. It has been 300 years since a war called ‘The Fall’.

 

Scientist Dr. Dyson Ido (played by Christoph Waltz) comes across a dismantled female cyborg. He ferries her from the junkyard to his covert lab and learns that her human brain is intact, with just several missing memories.

 

He names her after his own daughter, now deceased. Alita (played by Rosa Salazar) thus grows up with a loving ‘father’ who tries his best to keep her safe.

 

One day she encounters Dyson’s ex-wife and scientist Chiren (played by Jennifer Connelly) who works for the powerful Zapan (played by Ed Skrein).

 

Her work sees her befriending Hugo (played by Keean Johnson), the boy who supplies Dyson with cyborg parts crucial for his research.

 

Chiren learns from both Hugo and Alita of their joint dream to live in the floating city of Zalem, a state-of-the-art metropolis reserved for elites in society.

 

Hugo starts training Alita in Motorball, a grand tournament which is held in Zalem.

 

The champion gets accommodations and a permanent stay there, urging Alita to at least attempt to win.

 

She gradually realizes that her ‘father’ was once a hunter-gatherer. She manages to convince him to make a ‘Battle Angel’ out of her.

 

Secrets come to light and mysteries are unravelled in this memorable and emotional full-3D adventure tale where being truly Human is more complex than it seems.

 

 

25. Charlie’s Angels (2000)

 

 

 

Running a private investigation firm, Charles “Charlie” Townsend (played/voiced by John Forsythe) relies on his agents to complete significant missions.

 

When Knox Technologies programmer Eric Knox (played by Sam Rockwell) finds his game-changing voice-recognition software stolen, he calls on Charlie to help him find it before it reaches the wrong hands.

 

Dispatched into the field are ‘Charlie’s Angels’ Natalie (played by Cameron Diaz), Dylan (played by Drew Barrymore), and Alex (played by Lucy Liu) – three highly-trained agents with bombshell appeal.

 

They are tasked with planting a bug on or near Eric’s rival Roger Corwin (played by Tim Curry) to whom several key clues lead.

 

With support from their field boss Bosley (played by Bill Murray), the Angels get closer to a dark truth.

 

There’s apparently more to solving this mission than meets the eye. In fact, Charlie’s life comes in the direct line of fire, and from a threat who’s been right under their noses.

 

 

26. Apocalypto (2006)

 

 

It is circa 1511. Mexico’s Yucatán is home to various warring tribes. When the unsuspecting villagers of a closely knit community are attacked by a militant and rather blood-thirsty tribe, their fate now rests on the decisions and actions of one of their most athletic and skilled tribe-members, Jaguar Paw (played by Rudy Youngblood).

 

The intrepid hunter and his family have been captured by a tribe known to perform blood sacrifices to appease the gods during an eclipse, one of which is soon approaching.

 

Fuelled by his need to protect his loved ones as well as the all-too-human desire to survive, Jaguar Paw goes out of his way and more than the extra mile to do whatever he can to save his tribe from certain death.

 

The odds are soon stacked against him in this dark adventure story that highlights the power of the human will to pursue good and evil alike.

 

 

27. Love and Monsters (2020)

 

 

 

In this post-apocalyptic world, people have been living for years inside subterranean colonies. Devastating past events saw the arrival and consequent proliferation of actual biological monsters that have threatened the Human Race with extinction.

 

Joel (played by Dylan O’Brien) wants to find meaning in what’s left of his life.

 

He sees others happy, in a way, around him and he wishes to find that happiness in his long-time high school sweetheart Aimee (played by Jessica Henwick).

 

They found themselves separated after the monster-apocalypse and were left romancing one another through a long-distance radio-comm device.

 

One day, Joel finds the courage to brave near-certain death if it means reuniting with his love who is eighty-five miles away.

 

As insane as it sounds, he packs up and leaves on a crazy solo adventure after bidding adieu to his bunker-mates, all of whom try to convince him to stay but realize his need to connect with the one person he ever truly loves.

 

Upon reaching his destination after multiple harrowing experiences, Joel finds himself facing an even weirder set of circumstances that could change his worldview and worldly desires upside down.

 

 

28. The Terminator (1984)

 

 

 

A cold-hearted AI ‘Terminator’ cyborg-assassin (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) is sent to the past from the rather dystopian year 2029.

 

The future sees machines having conquered humanity and ruling over them with an iron mecha-fist.

 

But their plans are threatened by the potential birth of a ‘hacker-redeemer’ in the past, particularly in 1984 Los Angeles.

 

The Terminator is sent back in time by a powerful AI to kill the mother Sarah Connor (played by Linda Hamilton) who has no clue what’s coming her way.

 

From that self-same post-apocalyptic war-torn future comes a saviour, a human named Kyle Reese (played by Michael Biehn).

 

Having caught word of the mission, he is sent back to protect what he and other survivors believe is humanity’s last hope – to cull the AI threat at the source when it was at its weakest.

 

The Terminator is a cold killer that never eats or sleeps, making him a formidable enemy for Linda and Kyle to face up to let alone survive.

 

 

29. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)

 

 

 

San Dimas is a small town a few miles from bustling Los Angeles. Weird, incompetent, and imbecilic teenage besties Bill S. Preston Esq. (played by Alex Winter) and Ted Theodore Logan (played by Keanu Reeves) desire to start their own rock and roll band.

 

Calling themselves the ‘Wyld Stallyns’, the high schoolers hope to make a mark in the music industry.

 

But they are not doing so well at school. They need to pass all their classes if they are to stay together and pursue the ‘American Dream’.

 

This particularly includes History where they have been tasked with preparing a report. Around this time, a man named Rufus (played by the late great George Carlin) approaches them from the literal future and promises to help them with their report.

 

They go on the wildest adventure of their lives, meeting actual historical personalities and gathering all the research they need to write a great report that will help them pass, all so they can finish high school and chase their musical aspirations in earnest.

 

But where Bill and Ted are concerned, anything can and does go wrong. This hilarious action-sci-fi-adventure movie portrays as much.

 

 

30. Jungle Cruise (2021)

 

 

 

The year is 1916. British doctor of botany and feminist Dr. Lily Houghton (played by Emily Blunt) wants nothing better than to get to the bottom of an ancient mystery.

 

Along with her style-conscious brother MacGregor Houghton (played by Jack Whitehall), she embarks on a dangerous adventure through the Amazon Rainforest in search of lost history.

 

To manoeuvre the La Quila River, she finds herself in need of a riverboat skipper.

 

Before long, she has little choice but to hire the wisecracking and rather arrogant Captain Frank Wolff (played by Dwayne Johnson).

 

With a heartless German aristocrat Prince Joachim (played by Jesse Plemons) also after the secret nestled deep in the Amazon, Lily and company venture into perilous terrain where a certain curse is said to exist involving magically transformed Spanish conquistadors led by the ruthless Don Aguirre (played by Edgar Ramírez).

 

 

31. Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

 

 

 

When Gary “Eggsy” Unwin’s (played by Taron Egerton) father passed away, the boy grew up with his mother who had a ‘creep’ for a companion.

 

The new man in their life proves abusive, forcing Gary to take out his frustrations on one of the man’s friends.

 

When he gets arrested, he finds himself calling a number that a random person gave him around the same time his father died.

 

The promise of help is answered. Before long, Harry Hart (played by Colin Firth) takes Gary under his wing.

 

He introduces the young man to a secret organization called ‘Kingsman’ wherein spies serve the British Monarchy’s interests at home and abroad.

 

Apparently, Harry personally knew Gary’s father – the latter was a Kingman spy himself. Around this time, Harry’s combat prowess is revealed when he single-handedly faces up to the man Gary slighted.

 

Gary soon begins his journey to keep the world safe as a Kingsman spy, just like his father once did.

 

Following a gruelling training regimen, Gary embarks on a mission to investigate the death of a fellow Kingman.

 

His path leads him to tech billionaire Valentine “V” (played by Samuel L. Jackson) who does not wish to have his dark agenda exposed let alone derailed.

 

 

32. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

 

 

 

Nestled in the former Republic of Zubrowka, in the distant lands of Eastern Europe, stands the Grand Budapest Hotel.

 

A writer recalls fond memories of his stay here many years ago, in 1968. That was when he heard tales of the hotel’s glorious past from its aged owner Mr. Zero Moustafa (younger version played by Tony Revolori, with the older version played by F. Murray Abraham).

 

Zero tells the writer about events in 1932 that led to his owning the hotel and why exactly he still holds on to it even though it is making him no money.

 

He shares details regarding the hotel’s devoted concierge M. Gustave (played by Ralph Fiennes) – Zero was a young immigrant lobby boy then.

 

He tells of how he once accompanied Gustave to a reading of the will following the death of one of their regular guests.

 

After the passing of Madame Céline Villeneuve Desgoffe-und-Taxis (played by Tilda Swinton), a certain Renaissance painting named “Boy with Apple” is left to Gustave in her will.

 

The wealthy woman’s son Dmitri (played by Adrian Brody) contests the decision. When Gustave and Moustafa are left with little choice but to steal the painting, Céline’s death gets pinned on the concierge.

 

It falls to his friend, baker’s assistant Agatha (played by Saoirse Ronan), and others to help clear his good name.

 

 

33. Aliens (1986)

 

 

 

Lieutenant First Class Ellen Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver) becomes the only survivor following the dreaded massacre on the spacecraft Nostromo.

 

For over 57 years, she has remained in suspended animation and awakens within a salvage vessel heading to Earth.

 

Being the sole survivor comes with consequences, and a disgraced Ellen prepares to face them head-on.

 

It begins when she is tasked with escorting junior executive Carter Burke (played by Paul Reiser) and a tough squad of U.S. Marines to a terraforming and mining colony called ‘Hadley’s Hope’ situated on the planet LV-426.

 

In exchange for her tactical services, Ellen is promised the return of her pilot’s license.

 

But dark entities call the isolated exoplanetary satellite home. These extra-terrestrial threats are essentially predatory endoparasitic creatures called Xenomorphs.

 

They remind Ellen of the very creature that compromised Nostromo. A full-fledged face-off gradually unfolds on the distant planet.

 

Ellen Ripley once again finds herself facing grave danger, only this time she has the know-how, firepower, and sheer grit needed to put an end to the aliens.

 

 

34. Vivo (2021)

 

 

 

A heart-warming Netflix animation musical, this tale follows the poignant adventures of a kinkajou (i.e., a rainforest monkey, aka ‘honey bear’) called Vivo (voiced by Lin-Manuel Miranda) whose ‘music partner’ Andrés (voiced by Juan de Marcos González) dies of old age without realizing his one dream.

 

Andrés once made a noble sacrifice so that the love of his life Marta Sandoval (voiced by Gloria Estefan) could realize her dreams in the United States.

 

He wrote her a special song, one that was never really meant to see the light of day.

 

Until an invite arrives from Marta herself, calling Andrés to join her in a farewell concert.

 

Unfortunately, he dies, leaving Vivo coming up with a way to convince his grand-daughter Gabi (voiced by Ynairaly Simo) and eventually her mother Rosa (voiced by Zoe Saldana) to bring the song to Marta so she can sing it at her farewell concert and pay homage to the man who had been silently in love with her for decades.

 

 

35. Almost Famous (2000)

 

 

 

Unravelling in the year 1973, this movie chronicles the emotional and often hilarious coming-of-age adventures of fifteen-year-old William Miller (played by Patrick Fugit).

 

He is an open music fan who finds ample inspiration in one of the biggest bands of the time.

 

Before long, William lands an interview gig at Rolling Stone magazine. He is tasked with chronicling the rising-star band ‘Stillwater’.

 

From the moment he meets lead guitarist Russell Hammond (played by Billy Crudup) and the band’s lead singer Jeff Bebe (played by Jason Lee), William goes on the adventure of a lifetime, notwithstanding the reservations and concerns of his mother Elaine Miller (played by Frances McDormand).

 

 

36. Papillon (2017)

 

 

 

After being framed for murder, Parisian safe-breaker Henri Charrière (played by Charlie Hunnam), is sentenced to life in prison in the horrible penal colony called Devil’s Island, situated off the coast of French Guiana.

 

Henri has another name, ‘Papillon’, which is French for ‘butterfly’. The name was inspired by the butterfly tattoo on his chest.

 

The notorious safe-cracker now faces a dangerous conundrum. His life imprisonment for a crime he didn’t commit feels like a fate worse than simply dropping dead.

 

In jail, Henri makes a deal with the infamous forger Louis Dega (played by Rami Malek) and the two of them promptly start hatching an escape plan at great risk of being caught in the act and sent into dreaded solitary confinement.

 

Henri will be pushed to his limits in his attempts to escape what he believes and knows in his heart to be a miscarriage of justice.

 

 

37. The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf (2021)

 

 

 

Going back in lore-time to when Geralt was a young boy yet to train as a Witcher, this adventure animation film fully focuses on the life and times of his mentor Vesemir (voiced by Theo James) who carried on the Witcher tradition of slaying monsters for coin.

 

A new threat arises, one that will test Vesemir to the fullest. A dangerous conspiracy involving the then head of the Witcher’s ‘School of the Wolf’ Deglan (voiced by Graham McTavish) comes to light.

 

Standing against the Witchers and accusing them of corruption is Tetra (voiced by Lara Pulver), a powerful mage and crown-advisor.

 

Standing with the Witchers in the hope of absolving them is Lady Zerbst (voiced by Mary McDonnell) whose friendship with the relatively slow-aging Vesemir goes back years.

 

A dark demonic agenda is unravelling in this deceptive world where politics pale in comparison to the evil that is coming.

 

Vesemir not only has to confront his past, he also has to make some of the most difficult decisions in his life if there is to be any future at all for Witchers.

 

 

38. Cinderella (2021)

 

 

 

A live-action remake of the original animation classic, this film takes liberties to tell a more empowered storyline featuring the titular character.

 

Cinderella (played by Camila Cabello) harbours dreams of opening her own dress shop in the kingdom but finds the going tough with her zealously traditional step-mother Vivian (played by Idina Menzel).

 

The time comes for a grand ball at the palace where King Rowan (played by Pierce Brosnan) and Queen Beatrice (played by Minnie Driver) hope to find a suitable bride for their headstrong son Prince Robert (played by Nicholas Galitzine).

 

They overlook their daughter Princess Gwen (played by Tallulah Greive) who is actually better suited and more passionate about politics and ruling compared to her brother.

 

Robert sees a future with a common girl he meets when roving about the kingdom in disguise.

 

That girl happens to be Cinderella, and he is completely taken by her independent spirit.

 

One thing leads to another and Cinderella makes herself a gorgeous dress and wishes to attend the ball for ‘business’ purposes.

 

Vivian has ‘materialistic’ plans for her daughters Malvolia (played by Maddie Baillio) and Narissa (played by Charlotte Spencer), and so thwarts Cinderella.

 

Coming to her rescue is Ella’s ‘Fabulous Godmother’ (played by Billy Porter) who ‘bibbidy-bobbidy-boos’ an outfit sure to make Cinderella the ‘belle of the ball’.

 

Plenty of other notable characters, including James Corden, play various fun and significant roles in this rather unique re-telling of the classic fairytale adventure.

 

 

39. Aladdin (2019)

 

 

 

Inspired by the hit 1992 Disney animation film, this 2019 live-action remake follows the story of the titular Aladdin (played by Mena Massoud), a humble street urchin who resorts to thievery to survive.

 

He encounters and falls for a gorgeous young girl whom he doesn’t realize is actually Princess Jasmine (played by Naomi Scott).

 

Before long, Aladdin is caught in a trap of Jafar’s (played by Marwan Kenzari) making, and it involves the claiming of a mysterious and ancient oil lamp.

 

Only later does Aladdin realize – once he is trapped inside the ‘Cave of Wonders’ with the lamp and a multitude of treasures – that the lamp is home to a powerful Genie (played by Will Smith) given to comical moments.

 

This Disney live-action musical adventure sees Aladdin befriending the Genie, as well as a flying Magic Carpet that seems to have a mind of its own.

 

He braves the political and sorcerous whims of Jafar who wants to take over Agrabah through a wily coup that will only throw the kingdom into chaos.

 

 

40. Luca (2021)

 

 

 

Two young boys and besties Luca Paguro (voiced by Jacob Tremblay) and Alberto Scorfano (voiced by Jack Dylan Grazer) gather the courage to go visit the gorgeous fishing village of Portorosso.

 

Both of them are hiding a secret – when they jump into the water, they become Mer-people.

 

Ordinary people have long seen their underwater race as ‘sea monsters’, which is why Luca and Alberto need to keep their ‘other selves’ hidden.

 

Luca dreams to attend a human school where he can learn more and be more than a humble underwater sea-farmer.

 

Explorers at heart and curious to learn more about life outside the sea, the two boys make decisions that take on a risk-ridden demeanour.

 

Circumstances heat up when they enter a local competition. Before long, it starts to rain – wherever the water touches their skin, their true selves are revealed.

 

 

41. Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

 

 

 

It has been more than five centuries since the magical dragons of old sacrificed themselves to protect Kumandra.

 

Before that time, dragons and humans used to co-exist peacefully. Over the decades, Kumandra fell into political disarray and now stands as five nations divided.

 

Mistrust and wars have made matters harder for residents of each nation to come together.

 

Meanwhile, the Druun are busy causing all sorts of havoc against Kumandra. The Princess of Heart, who is the sword-wielding Guardian of the Dragon Gem, soon embarks on a crucial quest.

 

Her name is Raya (voiced by Kelly Marie Tran) and she is off to track down a myth that will heal the land once more.

 

This myth is none other than the last dragon Sisu (voiced by Awkwafina) who has the potential to usher in a new world where people and dragons can once again co-exist.

 

 

42. Ratatouille (2007)

 

 

 

A gifted rat named Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt) aspires to become a world-class French chef, even going against the wishes of his cautious and world-wise father Django (voiced by Brian Dennehy), the patriarch of his rat pack.

 

Fate sees Remy lost in the sewers of Paris following a mass evacuation of his family when they are discovered and threatened with grave harm.

 

Before long, Remy finds himself staring into a popular French restaurant owned by the late celebrity chef Auguste Gusteau (voiced by Brad Garrett).

 

Facing up to danger and the obviously rat-phobic food business, Remy gives in to his desire to cook.

 

He ends up making an ordinary soup taste so good that it attracts the attention of the restaurant’s current top chef Skinner (voiced by Ian Holm).

 

One thing leads to another, and blame for the ‘great soup’ is placed on the newly hired cleaning boy Linguini (voiced by Lou Romano), who is later revealed to be the unknown son of master chef Gusteau.

 

Politics and power-play bloom in this adventure-animation film, which soon sees Remy forging a strange and special bond, and cooking technique, with Linguini.

 

The two of them soon draw the attention of France’s top critic Anton Ego (voiced by Peter O’Toole).

 

The ‘rat race’ turns hot, promising to alter the very soul of the legendary culinary history of Paris.

 

 

43. Independence Day (1996)

 

 

 

Communications systems all over the world fritz one fateful July 2nd, the cause being unusual atmospheric interference.

 

Before long, military scientists establish that several sizeable objects are heading to Earth, and they seem to be on a collision course.

 

What they mistook at first to be meteors is soon revealed to be a vast extra-terrestrial invasion force.

 

Large alien spacecraft start establishing their presence on Earth. Communications with the off-world invaders fail to reap any response.

 

Former scientist turned cable technician David Levinson (played by Jeff Goldblum) spreads word of his findings, that the aliens have targeted key metropolitan cities for annihilation starting July 3rd.

 

These urban hubs include London, Moscow, Paris, and American cities like New York, Washington, Houston, and Los Angeles.

 

Military units make their way to Area 51 where it has long been rumoured that the U.S. Government once secured and has been studying an alien spacecraft and its inhuman pilot.

 

Come July 4th, the Human Race faces up to a serious alien threat, one that will define what the Americans think about their national ‘Independence Day’.

 

 

44. Chaos Walking (2021)

 

 

 

In a strange and rather different future, Todd Hewitt (played by Tom Holland) encounters Viola (played by Daisy Ridley) in a society where all women were thought to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

 

The men are left with the strange ability to visually see and actually hear one another’s thoughts.

 

Called simply ‘The Noise’, this bizarre ability prevails in a community held together by power and politics, under a linear hierarchy led by Mayor Prentiss (played by Mads Mikkelsen) whose son Davy Prentiss, Jr. (played by Nick Jonas) is part of his military corps along with men like Matthew (played by Ray McKinnon).

 

Viola’s appearance proves that she, and most probably other women, are capable of hiding their ‘Noise’, meaning no male can hear or see their thoughts.

 

This puts Viola in the direct line of fire from some men in society who do not trust her.

 

Todd takes it upon himself to safeguard Viola, and the two of them experience a harrowing escape to a rumoured place said to have women – led by Hildy (played by Cynthia Erivo) – and men living in harmony, and in secret.

 

The planet is directly responsible for the men’s ‘Noise’ capabilities, and the mystery surrounding it gradually comes to light.

 

This adventure thriller is based on the best-selling novel “The Knife of Never Letting Go” by Patrick Ness – this is the first book in his “Chaos Walking” series.

 

 

45. The Hunger Games (2012)

 

 

 

The totalitarian nation of Panem rules from the Capitol, governing over a dystopian future where society has been segregated into twelve Districts.

 

Every year sees a pair of young and able ‘contestants’ enter a death match called ‘The Hunger Games’ for the entertainment of those residing in the relatively affluent Capitol.

 

The Games are partly a form of retribution or punishment for a past rebellion carried out by the poor populace, all of whom have since been distributed among the various Districts.

 

The Games, with twenty-four players in total, are televised all across Panem. The players essentially fight and kill one another to keep the attention and gain the favour of high-profile Capitol citizens.

 

The final contestant left alive earns a huge cash prize and a place in the Capitol.

 

One of the players is sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence) who volunteered to replace her younger sister who was chosen for this year’s games.

 

Recruiting players from sundry Districts is Capitol-appointed Effie Trinket (played by Elizabeth Banks). Hosting the games on TV is Caesar Flickerman (played by Stanley Tucci).

 

Becoming Katniss’s unlikely ally, and later more than that is fellow-contestant Peeta Mellark (played by Josh Hutcherson).

 

The other players bring their own deadly skills to the extensive wilderness arena in which they are all let loose with an assortment of weapons to choose from.

 

The players are left to rely on their wits and sheer will to survive the ordeal, which is captured from start to finish on live-camera.

 

 

46. Jaws (1975)

 

 

 

The Fourth of July is only a week away, and Martin Brody (played by Roy Scheider) is settling into his new role as police chief for a small summer resort town called Amity Island.

 

He comes across the mangled corpse of a swimmer who was only recently reported missing.

 

Martin surmises that a shark had something to do with it, seeing as how the apex predators are common in the waters surrounding the island – the body was also mangled in such a way that it informed Martin’s guess.

 

Unsuspecting tourists are always coming and going, making Martin anxious for their safety. He even goes so far as to request they close the beaches.

 

Mayor Larry Vaughn’s (played by Murray Hamilton) greed, however, prevents him from obliging Martin’s request.

 

More bloody attacks follow and security on the island is compromised, forcing Martin to take matters into his own hands.

 

Along with marine biologist Matt Hooper (played by Richard Dreyfuss), he sails out into the deep blue waters to find and stop the shark that’s causing all the chaos.

 

On the boat with him is seasoned shark hunter Quint (played by Robert Shaw). They discover an abnormally immense Great White Shark and soon learn why this species is considered the undisputed ruler of the ocean.

 

 

47. News of the World (2020)

 

 

 

The Civil War in America has come to an end. Five years thence, war veteran (of three battles) Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (played by Tom Hanks) makes a living moving from one town to the next sharing news about what’s happening in the world.

 

He reads from newspapers – which were rare at the time with no major distribution network – detailing thrilling adventures, heartbreaking catastrophes, incredible feuds, and presidential as well as royal politicking.

 

He gives each tale a unique narrative twist that draws people to come to listen. One day in Texas, he encounters a little girl named Johanna (played by Helena Zengel).

 

At only ten years old, she’s quite the survivor. Johanna was raised by the Kiowa people for several years after she became an orphan.

 

At long last, she is found and is returned to her aunt and uncle, Doris and Simon Boudlin (played by Mare Winningham and Ray McKinnon, respectively).

 

The latter are not good people, and Johanna is justifiably against living with them. Her native habits do not sit well with ‘civilized’ people, adding to the difficulty of rehabilitating her.

 

Jefferson is tasked with returning Johanna only for him to later realize that she is better off not being forced to live a life that goes against her very nature.

 

He unofficially adopts her and the two of them travel together. From the moment he met her, Jefferson has encountered perils and threats in the ‘Wild West’ wilderness.

 

Such challenges only endear him to Johanna, though. More adventures await these two unlikely friends as they seek a purpose together in this dark and unforgiving world.

 

 

48. Mortal Kombat (1995)

 

 

 

In order to conquer Earth, the Emperor of Outworld has to win ten tournaments through Mortal Kombat.

 

With help from his sorcerer Shang Tsung (played by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), the Emperor has earned nine victories in this ancient combat system with divine and magical origins.

 

On Earth, however, three powerful humans stand between him and total victory. These are Liu Kang (played by Robin Shou), Sonya Blade (played by Bridgette Wilson-Sampras), and Johnny Cage (played by Linden Ashby).

 

They are guided and aided by the divine Lord Raiden (played by Christopher Lambert). Liu has a score to settle with Shang for the murder of his brother.

 

Sonya is a law enforcement officer who was lured into the tournament under the false pretext that she will discover the identity of her partner’s killer.

 

Johnny is a typical egotistic movie star who enters the tournament to prove that he is no fake.

 

Raiden attempts to help each of them find the warrior within, at which point they will unleash their most powerful selves to destroy Shang Tsung and safeguard Earth from a cruel cosmic takeover.

 

 

49. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

 

 

 

It is the 28th century. In this distant future is a space station named Alpha.

 

A veritable city, Alpha draws entities and beings from various planets and star systems to come exchange culture and knowledge.

 

A human force maintains peace and order. This adventure tale focuses on the experiences of Major Valerian (played by Dane DeHaan) and his partner Sergeant Laureline (played BY Cara Delevingne).

 

The Minster of Defense (played by Herbie Hancock) tasks them with retrieving a last-of-its-kind converter from a distant planet.

 

The mission is rife with danger, but Valerian and Laureline succeed only for them to return home and learn that unidentified humanoids have kidnapped Commander Arun Filitt (played by Clive Owen) in their attempts to steal the converter.

 

They whisk Arun to a perilous location that seems fatally infected. Valerian and Laureline trace the aliens back to this forbidden place and learn more than they thought possible about what these new parties have planned.

 

 

50. The Green Knight (2021)

 

 

 

Based on the classic Arthurian legend, this epic fantasy adventure focuses on the experiences of Sir Gawain (played by Dev Patel).

 

Starting out as the headstrong and carefree nephew of King Arthur (played by Sean Harris), Gawain ventures on a bold quest that turns him into a wiser soul.

 

It all begins when a mysterious supernatural humanoid known as the ‘Green Knight’ (played by Ralph Ineson) appears at court and demands a test – one man shall be allowed to cut off his vegetative head but a year hence that man will have to kneel and submit to his own head being cut off.

 

The Green Knight’s words unnerve those gathered at Arthur’s court, with Sir Gawain eventually taking up the test with no real conviction that anything untoward would happen a year later.

 

The time comes and he leaves the kingdom to go keep his promise to the Green Knight.

 

Along the way, Gawain encounters various obstructions and revelations – from thieves and deceivers to giants and ghosts.

 

Gawain is also caught between his romance with the low-born Helen (played by Anaïs Rizzo) and his blossoming love for the high-born Essel (played by Alicia Vikander), who happens to be the wife of a Lord (played by Joel Edgerton).

 

On this character-redefining journey, Sir Gawain grows and evolves as a human being, and gets closer to proving his self-worth to not just his kingdom, the king, and its queen (played by Kate Dickie), but also his family especially his mother Circe (played by Sarita Choudhury).

 

This adventure tale is a brave and highly symbolic spin on the traditional classic featuring King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

 

 

51. The Lost City of Z (2016)

 

 

 

The year is 1905 and British Army Major Percy Fawcett (played by Charlie Hunnam) is dispatched on a potent adventure to Bolivia’s deep jungles.

 

His trip is commissioned by the Royal Geographical Society, which aims to map out the Brazilian border in select uncharted zones.

 

Being the son of a disgraced ex-military man, Percy has much riding on the success of this venture.

 

Along with his aide-de-camp Henry Costin (played by Robert Pattinson), he makes it to Amazonia and initiates a treacherous exploration rife with intolerable heat, wild animals, perilous indigenous tribes, and possible starvation.

 

Along the way, Percy and Henry find clues that point to a grand pre-historic civilization that is so mythic and near-impossible it draws ire from Society members.

 

Known simply as the ‘Lost City of Z’, Percy makes haste to prove its existence within the lush jungles of Amazonia, and thus vindicate his image.

 

Sadly, the man disappeared under unusual circumstances in 1925 and was never heard from again.

 

 

52. Free Guy (2021)

 

 

 

A bank teller named Guy (played by Ryan Reynolds) discovers that he is, in truth, an NPC (non-playable character) living out the same daily routines, or rather programs, inside a brutal open-world PVP-centric video game.

 

One of its top players Millie, aka Molotovgirl (played by Jodie Comer), is seeking clues in-game to a lost ‘code’ that will help her sue the parent company for stealing the game from her.

 

The real-world baddie in question is game studio head Antwan (played by Taiki Waititi). Millie’s code partner Keys (played by Joe Keery) still works for him, along with a colleague named Mouser (played by Utkarsh Ambudkar) who provides significant support when the time comes.

 

Until Guy proves to gain a level of independent consciousness that serves as proof of the AI code potential that Millie and Keys worked on together.

 

Along with a bunch of other notable characters amidst admirable game-style design elements, the story progresses toward quite a shocking conclusion but not before providing thrills and comedy in good measure.

 

 

53. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

 

 

 

A race of aliens called ‘The Mimics’ have invaded Earth and annihilated Europe. The Old Continent has but one defensive stronghold left, namely London.

 

General Brigham (played by Brendan Gleeson) strategizes an assault on France targeting a major Mimic stronghold in the hopes of crippling the aliens and helping his military defeat them soon after.

 

To this end, he hires American PR officer Major William Cage (played by Tom Cruise) to cover the historic event.

 

Cage is uninterested in making history and is keener on exposing the General’s hidden truths, starting with how many human casualties he covered up so far into the war.

 

Labelled a traitor and accused of desertion, General Brigham pulls the ropes needed to have Cage demoted to the rank of Private and enlisted into the fight.

 

He is put under the command of the tough-as-nails Master Sergeant Farell (played by Bill Paxton).

 

The invasion goes as planned, and several soldiers perish. Cage manages to kill a Mimic but is sprayed with its toxic blood and thus dies.

 

He awakens back in Heathrow Base only to relive the invasion time and again. No matter what he does to resolve his time-travelling situation, Cage fails.

 

His path soon crosses with that of Sergeant Rita Vrataski (played by Emily Blunt). She introduces him to Dr. Carter (played by Noah Taylor) who educates Cage on the nuances of his predicament. When he was touched by the blood of what was apparently an Alpha alien entity, he inadvertently started to reset real-time in bizarre ways.

 

Together, they plan a way to use Cage’s new ‘ability’ to root out a fatal weakness among the Mimics.

 

Their aim is to kill their leader named Omega. This decisive mission demands that only Rita and Cage perform it to avoid alerting high-ranking Mimics.

 

 

54. The Jungle Book (2016)

 

 

 

A wise black panther named Bagheera (voiced by Ben Kingsley) takes in an orphaned human child who was lost deep in the jungles of India.

 

He entrusts the raising of the baby to a pack of wolves led by Alpha male Akela (voiced by Giancarlo Esposito) and cautious female matriarch Raksha (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o).

 

They name the boy Mowgli (played by Neel Sethi) and he soon takes to his wild side, learning all he can from the jungle and his wolf family.

 

Bagheera keeps him under his watchful eye, particularly after the ‘water truce’ incident when the ferocious Bengal Tiger Shere Khan (voiced by Idris Elba) discovers the boy and vows to kill him.

 

Shere Khan has always hated Humankind, especially since it was a Man who once burned him after trespassing in the jungle that Shere Khan considers his fiefdom.

 

Shere Khan wishes to kill Mowgli before he can grow into a man and endanger the jungle.

 

Afraid of the Tiger and unnerved by his threat, Mowgli decides to keep his wolf family safe from the powerful feline and so runs away into the lush jungle where he encounters friends like Baloo the Bear (voiced by Bill Murray) and perils like Kaa the Python (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) and King Louie the Orangutan (voiced by Christopher Walken).

 

As a mere human boy, Mowgli finds himself with his heart in the jungle but his fate among people like himself.

 

 

55. Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves (2023)

 

 

 

Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves is a live-action film based on the famous game of the same name. It is a tale of redemption and sacrifice, heroism and familial bonds. 

 

A bard Edgin Darvis, once a Harper peacekeeper, seeks to resurrect his wife after a tragic loss orchestrated by a Red Wizard. He forms a band with barbarian Holga Kilgore, including rogue Forge, sorcerer Simon, and enigmatic Sofina.

 

However, they were deceived and all that they worked for was washed away due to treachery. Imprisoned for years, they escape to confront Forge, now a lord in Neverwinter, during the High Sun Games.

 

To prove their innocence and thwart Sofina’s undead army plan, they embark on a perilous journey. Alongside Tiefling Druid Doric and Paladin Xenk, they face challenges, discovering relics and magic.

 

Amid deception and battles, the group unveils truths, with Edgin realizing his family’s true worth. In a climactic showdown, sacrifices are made, forging new bonds and restoring honour.

 

 

56. The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

 

 

 

18th-century Colonial America is host to wars between French and British troops who find support in different Native American factions and settlers to help them in their fight.

 

Reluctant to see their homes undefended, local colonial militiamen join the British when they’re invited into their ranks.

 

A free man named Hawkeye (real name Nathaniel Poe, played by Daniel Day-Lewis) was raised as a Mohican after he became an orphaned settler.

 

Hawkeye grew up with a dying tribe called the Mohicans who counted only three members, including him, a ‘white man’.

 

He joins the Brits in their war and encounters a dire situation en route to Kentucky.

 

Native Americans have assaulted a small Brit regiment heading to a fort, and have thus endangered the lives of innocent civilians including two sisters Alice (played by Jodhi May) and Cora Munro (played by Madeleine Stowe) who also happen to be a British Colonel’s daughters.

 

Before long, Hawkeye falls for one of the daughters. His blooming romance with Cora Munro does not sit well with her family.

 

Hawkeye soon starts forging his own agenda in the name of love and freedom, thus complicating matters for the British forces.

 

 

57. Inglourious Basterds (2009)

 

 

 

Jewish refugee Shosanna Dreyfus (played by Mélanie Laurent) witnesses her family being slaughtered by Nazis in her homeland, which is now German-occupied France.

 

Colonel Hans Landa (played by Christoph Waltz) is determined to root out all Jews and thoroughly control France in the name of Hitler.

 

After narrowly surviving the pogrom, Shosanna goes into hiding but vows to exact revenge. It will be many years before she’ll get the chance to do so.

 

The time comes when a German war hero named Fredrick Zoller (played by Daniel Brühl) takes a liking to Shosanna who by this time has managed to run a successful movie theatre.

 

She has gone to great lengths to keep her Jewish identity hidden, all so she can plan a way to get all major Nazi officers under her cinema roof and blow them all to smithereens soon after.

 

A major premiere is scheduled. The event does not go unnoticed by a group of Jewish-American guerrilla soldiers calling themselves ‘The Basterds’.

 

Headed by the hard-hearted Lt. Aldo Raine (played by Brad Pitt), this covert and secretive group is intent on culling Nazis wherever they can find them.

 

With Shosanna’s plans inching closer to fruition and with the Basterds planning something bloody for the Nazis during the grand premiere, History itself seems set to be made when the time comes for action.

 

 

58. Van Helsing (2004)

 

 

 

It is the 19th century. A legendary vampire hunter by the name of Gabriel Van Helsing (played by Hugh Jackman) believes himself cursed with a great burden.

 

He is ever striving to discover a part of his past, one that has left him encountering plenty of dark supernatural beings while working for the Vatican.

 

Van Helsing now finds himself being sent to Transylvania to confront and stop the fearfully mighty Count Dracula (played by Richard Roxburgh).

 

His journey has him crossing paths with Anna Valerious (played by Kate Beckinsale), who is the last of a regional royal family, all of whom sacrificed their lives or died fighting the vampire scourge in their broken country.

 

Her brother Velkan (played by Will Kemp) was only recently killed in such a manner, or so she thought.

 

Anna later learns that Dracula transformed Velkan into a Werewolf and subjugated him into service.

 

Anna brings her own set of skills to the fight, and she is determined to end Dracula before the last of her lineage is annihilated, thus leaving Transylvania forever in the Count’s fatal grip.

 

Van Helsing travels with the Vatican-appointed academic Carl (played by David Wenham). Along the way, he also encounters and befriends the Frankenstein Monster (played by Shuler Hensley) who is later revealed to be instrumental in Dracula’s ambition to take over Transylvania.

 

The immortal Dracula harbours a secret that connects him to Van Helsing. He is also busy executing an agenda, with help from his ever-loyal servant Igor (played by Kevin J. O’Connor) that will birth him a small army of vampiric spawn through his three beautiful and powerful brides Verona (played by Silvia Colloca), Aleera (played by Elena Anaya), and Marishka (played by Josie Maran).

 

 

59. The Armour of God (1986)

 

 

Along with his bumbling sidekick Alan (played by Alan Tam), Asian Hawk (played by Jackie Chan) is a former singer turned fortune hunter who finds himself on a quest across Europe to uncover the whereabouts of his kidnapped ex-girlfriend Lorelei (played by Rosamund Kwan).

 

Her current partner entails Asian Hawk’s help in tracking her. During his search, he learns of an enigmatic treasure that has remained in the secret possession of a group of mysterious monks, the same shadowy order that abducted Lorelei.

 

This group also planned a trap to bring Asian Hawk to them, for reasons that he will soon discover.

 

 

60. City of Ember (2008)

 

 

 

In this post-apocalyptic movie, Humanity has reached the end of the line. The last few people alive survive inside self-sufficient cities under the ground with the express aim of waiting for two hundred years for the Earth’s surface to become habitable again.

 

One generation after the next is born and grows up in such conditions. They all follow instructions left by their ancestors and predecessors.

 

The family of Mayors who govern the underground ‘city of Ember’ closely guards these guidelines.

 

One day, the instructions vanish, and its inhabitants are left to strive and survive in a city that’s fast losing power and experiencing life-threatening scenarios.

 

Longer blackouts are in effect and the city’s main power generator is constantly in need of repair.

 

Even food has to be rationed. One special day in Ember is ‘Assignment Day’, when young citizens are allotted career roles that will help sustain the city.

 

Teenagers and longtime friends Lina Mayfleet (played by Saoirse Ronan) and Doon Harrow (played by Harry Treadaway) are given jobs as a pipework engineer and messenger, respectively.

 

They secretly swap jobs with each other. Before long, Lina comes across the powerful Mayoral survival guidelines in her grandmother’s house.

 

Lina learns that she’s the direct descendant of Ember City’s seventh Mayor. She lets Doon in on her discovery and together they plan a trek to find a way out of Ember, if only to prove a way out exists.

 

Along the way, they learn that the current Mayor is a corrupt impostor who, along with his henchmen, is stealing food from the citizens of Ember.

 

The Mayor’s thugs are sent after Lina and Doon, setting the teens racing against the clock to find the storied exit to the surface and help save Ember’s remaining people from a life of starvation, oppression, permanent darkness, and extinction.

 

 

61. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)

 

 

 

Almost done perfecting his innovative ‘shrinking machine’, inventor and family man Professor Wayne Szalinski (played by Rick Moranis) finally completes a fully functional model.

 

An accident sees the machine zapping his own children and friends, veritably shrinking them into tiny people.

 

Being ant-sized comes with huge challenges, like returning home safely and in one piece to figure out a way to undo the shrink.

 

The family realizes just how dangerous their own backyard can be, and how many traps and perils it contains.

 

They couldn’t have realized this when they were normal-sized, but now they must manoeuvre all those dangers if they are to see a new dawn.

 

 

62. Enola Holmes (2020)

 

 

The year is 1884. England is on the edge of great change. On the morning of her sixteenth birthday, Enola Holmes (played by Millie Bobby Brown) awakens only to discover that her mother Eudoria Holmes (played by Helena Bonham Carter) has gone missing.

 

She left behind a motley set of presents that contain clues as to her whereabouts.

 

Enola reaches out to her famous older brother Sherlock Holmes (played by Henry Cavill) and her oldest brother Mycroft Holmes (played by Sam Claflin).

 

They are intent on taking over the reins of the ‘case’ to find their mother while making it clear that they plan to send Enola to a finishing school that trains ‘proper’ young ladies.

 

The independent and free-thinking Enola Holmes goes out of her way to find her mother on her own.

 

She encounters the runaway Lord Tewkesbury (played by Louis Partridge), and has him join the search.

 

Enola gradually slips into the shoes of a super-sleuth, much like her brother Sherlock. She even beats him to the end of the hunt for Eudoria.

 

Dangers come to light along the way, and it involves a conspiracy that threatens to change the course of England’s history.

 

 

63. The Princess Bride (1987)

 

 

 

This tale unravels in a fictional realm where people live in Fire Swamps that are host to lagoons containing shrieking eels and quicksand zones.

 

There are also giant rodents and a most beautiful woman named Buttercup (played by Robin Wright) who is the titular Princess Bride.

 

She falls for a humble stable boy named Westley (played by Cary Elwes). This campy, often comical, adventure features popular characters like Iñigo Montoya (played by Mandy Patinkin), and his sidekick Fezzik (played by André the Giant).

 

Iñigo is still hunting the six-fingered man who killed his father. Another crazy character is Miracle Max (played by Billy Crystal).

 

After a while, pirates abduct Buttercup and she is later brought before Prince Humperdinck (played by Chris Sarandon) who makes it clear that he wishes to marry her.

 

Action and hilarity abound in this memorable film.

 

 

64. Stardust (2007)

 

 

 

During the 1800s, klutzy teen Tristan Thorn (played by Charlie Cox) decides to cross his town’s border wall and enter the forbidden magical realm of ‘Stormhold’.

 

His aim is to find and bring back a fallen star, in keeping with the promise he made to his darling Victoria (played by Sienna Miller).

 

He does not yet realize that Victoria is but a spoiled girl who is not quite in love with him.

 

With the promise that she will wed him if he returns with a fallen star, Tristan ventures into the unknown where he learns that the ‘star’ is a magical person, in this case Yvaine (played by Claire Danes).

 

Binding her with a magic rope, Tristan promises Yvaine that he will release her just as soon as he’s done introducing her to Victoria.

 

Tristan remains ignorant of yet another fact, that the cruel King (played by Peter O’Toole) of Stormhold had cast a spell on Yvaine.

 

He promises one of his sons – Primus (played by Jason Flemyng), Tertius (played by Mark Heap), and Septimus (played by Mark Strong) – the throne if they can go out into the dark world, find Yvaine, and bring her back to the castle.

 

Three witches are also after Yvaine the ‘fallen star’, so they can consume her and reclaim their youth.

 

The witches are led by the cunning Lamia (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) who will stop at nothing to get her hands on Yvaine who, little to their knowledge, has a powerful magic ruby necklace still around her neck that may end up turning the tide in her favour.

 

 

65. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

 

 

 

The year is 1938. It has been two years since Indiana Jones resolved the matter concerning Nazis and their hunt for the Ark of the Covenant.

 

In this story, he is off to search for his missing father, Professor Henry Jones (played by Sean Connery).

 

His parent, though long estranged, was ardently seeking the mythical ‘Holy Grail’. Indiana picks up where his father left off, in the hopes of finding clues that will lead him to the man.

 

With help from Marcus Brody (played by Denholm Elliott), Indy sets off to Venice after which he traces further clues to Austria.

 

Gorgeous blonde archaeologist Dr. Elsa Schneider (played by Alison Doody) becomes part of the search.

 

When they run into the ruthless SS commander Colonel Ernst Vogel (played by Michael Byrne), it looks like Indy’s journey will come to a fatal stop.

 

The power-hungry Colonel is also seeking the Grail. Plenty of curious connections are revealed as Indiana Jones gets closer to saving his dad while also keeping the Holy Grail out of the hands of megalomaniacs.

 

 

66. Labyrinth (1986)

 

 

 

The teenage Sarah (played by Jennifer Connelly) has no choice but to obey her dad (played by Christopher Malcolm) and stepmother (played by Shelley Thompson) and babysit her brother Toby (played by Toby Froud).

 

Toby has made a terrible habit of crying his lungs out, forcing an irate and frustrated Sarah to make a wish.

 

She wishes her little brother to be taken by the Goblin King Jareth (played by David Bowie).

 

Little does she suspect that her wishful thinking would come true. Jareth appears and abducts the little boy, whisking him off to his grand castle in Goblin City, smack in the middle of an inescapable labyrinth.

 

A repentant Sarah pleads with Jareth to return her baby brother but the Goblin King only leaves her with a dark choice – to save Toby from his labyrinth before midnight or be forever free of the child.

 

Teaming up with allies, Sarah makes a bold move to reclaim her brother. The journey to him is fraught with traps and dangers.

 

 

67. The Witches (1990)

 

 

 

Along with his parents, young Luke (played by Jasen Fisher) is off to his grandmother’s to pay her a visit.

 

They are on their vacation and have made plans with Helga (played by Mai Zetterling), in Norway, that they will be coming over to spend time with her.

 

Helga is filled with stories of witches, especially the one about her childhood friend who was abducted by one.

 

Sometime during their vacation, Luke’s parents meet with a grave car accident that claims both their lives.

 

Helga thus becomes Luke’s guardian and they move to live in England. After all the stories his grandmother told him about witches, Luke is able to recognize one when it approaches him.

 

Around this time, an ageing Helga is diagnosed with diabetes and is recommended rest and relaxation.

 

To this end, Helga and Luke book a stay at a seaside hotel where the young boy meets and befriends Bruno Jenkins (played by Charlie Potter).

 

The boys do not find a good host in Mr. Stringer (played by Rowan Atkinson), the hotel manager whose pet white mice are more a nuisance than a delight.

 

Checking into the hotel around this time is a troupe of women belonging to the ‘Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’.

 

They’re in town for a convention, but hidden behind a veneer of perfection and good deeds are witches who secretly plan to turn more children – whom witches despise, by the way – into mice.

 

Led by the bold and beautiful Miss Eva Ernst (the Grand High Witch, played by Anjelica Huston), the witches are quietly preparing a proprietary magic potion that will transform all of England’s kiddies into mice.

 

Will Luke convince Helga about the conspiracy and will he, with help from Bruno, be able to stop the witches before they make good on their agenda?

 

 

68. The Croods (2013)

 

 

 

Desperate to explore more of the great outdoors and learn about all the things that exist outside her humble rock-cave dwelling, a young prehistoric teen girl named Eep (voiced by Emma Stone) is the first in her family to crave real adventure.

 

The Croods are a simple bunch with simpler survival-centric values. Suffice it to say Eep’s ‘need for more’ does not sit well with her good-intentioned but overprotective father Grug (voiced by Nicholas Cage) and it raises plenty of concerns from her mother Ugga (voiced by Catherine Keener).

 

One day their home is threatened to the point that the family has no choice but to migrate elsewhere.

 

The Palaeolithic land is filled with perils, but they now have a new ‘stranger’ in their family.

 

The young and cocky prehistoric teen boy named Guy (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) captures the Croods’ reluctant interest because he promises to lead them to a new home in one piece.

 

His warnings of an impending catastrophe force the Croods to prioritize survival, as they routinely have been doing all these years.

 

Meanwhile, Guy has also captured the special attention of Eep.

 

 

69. Zathura (2005)

 

 

Siblings Walter (played by Josh Hutcherson) and his baby brother Danny (played by Jonah Bobo) are bored and prone to bickering.

 

One day they come across an unknown 1950s space-adventure board game in their basement. As soon as the boys begin to play it, strange things start to happen, like when a dangerous meteor shower manifests out of nowhere and destroys their living room.

 

The game even ends up literally uprooting their entire house and practically making it an incredible spaceship that is now on its way to the planet Saturn.

 

Along with their teenage sister Lisa (played by Kristen Stewart), the brothers are now desperate to find a way to end the game and return safely to their ordinary lives.

 

They learn to work together and face all sorts of maddening outer-space scenarios that include escaping a deadly asteroid belt and later striving to survive their encounter with a fatalistic race of reptilian aliens called ‘The Zorgons’.

 

With each move of their piece on the game board, Walter, Danny, and Lisa inch closer to a safe return, but also toward perilous possibilities.

 

 

70. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

 

 

 

Indiana “Indy” Jones is a renowned archaeologist and reputed professor. In this action-adventure film, he pits his wits against the rising Nazi threat.

 

Apparently, Hitler’s ‘occult’ ambitions have made him dispatch agents to claim a sacred biblical artefact of war known as ‘The Ark of the Covenant’ that is said to contain God’s Ten Commandments.

 

The American Government, realizing that only folly and doom rest down that road, enlists Indiana to stop the Germans before they get their hands on this potential ‘weapon of mass destruction’.

 

Indy makes his way first to the mountainous terrain of Nepal and then on to Cairo, Egypt.

 

His trip sees him crossing paths with an old flame named Marion (played by Karen Allen) and an old buddy called Sallah (played by John Rhys-Davies).

 

Indiana is racing against the clock to get to the sacred relic first before his archrival Dr René Belloq (played by Paul Freeman) does.

 

René is a French archaeologist of notorious repute and the Nazis have hired him as their front man in the hunt for the Ark.

 

Indy later faces up to the sadistic Major Toht (played by Ronald Lacey), a Gestapo Commander.

 

Toht and his fellow Nazis are hell-bent on finding and using the Ark since it means assured victory for their Fuhrer in World War II.

 

 

71. The Man Who Would Be King (1975)

 

 

 

A miserable-looking man pays a visit to newspaper correspondent Rudyard Kipling (played by Christopher Plummer) and reveals himself to be the swindler Peachy Carnehan (played by Michael Caine).

 

He shares a tale about his exploits with fellow army vet and partner-in-crime Daniel “Danny” Dravot (played by Sean Connery).

 

He details their ventures in a backward Himalayan tribal warfare zone called Kafiristan. The place stood outside the British viceroy’s colonial influence, and it was there Peachy and Danny made their fortune.

 

Peachy also shares with Rudyard how close he and his partner came to death in the mountains, and how their encounter with an expedition’s sole surviving Gurkha led to them heading a tribe and conquering several regional zones.

 

An incident with a freak arrow soon leads the tribals to believe that Danny might be invulnerable.

 

They think he is Sikander, the much-awaited divine son of Alexander the Great, returned to them in Danny’s body.

 

One thing leads to another and Danny is crowned theocratic King of Kafiristan. But Danny is unsure how long he can keep maintaining the guise of a god-king when he is in truth only a man with an uncanny lucky streak that has helped him survive near-death scenarios.

 

 

72. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

 

 

This movie is a semi-fictional depiction of the life of times of legendary British military officer T. E. Lawrence (played on screen by Peter O’Toole) during World War II, as well as a sharp prologue of his funeral in 1935.

 

In that particular scene, Lawrence’s contemporaries discuss his contributions to the ‘Great War’, and what they thought of him as a military man.

 

He was often considered insolent and rebellious in his own way. He started out as a desk lieutenant in Cairo Intelligence.

 

Before long, Lawrence was dispatched to the Arabian Peninsula on a reconnaissance mission. He was tasked with assessing the situation between the Turks and Prince Faisal.

 

The British were busy focusing on the actual war effort. They sent Lawrence, chosen mainly for his know-how on all things Arabia, to learn if a new problem was going to weigh them down in the near future.

 

Lawrence gradually goes against orders and advice from higher-ranking officials. He starts to befriend the locals, including the Prince and Sherif Ali.

 

He actually joins them in their fight to gather disparate Arabian Bedouin tribes into one force.

 

The British Military eventually get involved and make things harder, especially for T. E. Lawrence.

 

Where the latter believes he’s fighting for justice, the English (according to Lawrence) are only in it for money and power.

 

 

73. Starship Troopers (1997)

 

 

 

This SciFi-Adventure is set on a future Earth and features the experiences of a young student named Johnny Rico (played by Casper Van Dien).

 

He has recently started dating Carmen Ibanez (played by Denise Richards). In this story, all people earn their citizenship only by serving their country on a military basis.

 

Carmen expresses her plans to become one such ‘class citizen’ by enrolling into the military academy.

 

Before long, Johnny follows her into the corps. The military is constantly going up against an alien threat that was originally sourced from an asteroid that came from the planet ‘Klendathu’.

 

It brought with it a scourge of giant swiftly reproducing killer bugs whose numbers have grown out of proportion.

 

When the asteroid collided with Earth, specifically landing in Buenos Aires (Johnny’s hometown), his family was among the casualties.

 

A while after his military training, Johnny Rico and fellow ‘Starship Troopers’ go to meet the enemy head-on, starting by heading to the source itself, namely the aliens’ home-planet ‘Klendathu’.

 

 

74. The Martian (2015)

 

 

 

Astronaut Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) is sent on a manned mission to Mars.

 

A fierce space storm rises and abates, leaving much destruction in its wake. In truth, Mark has survived it only to find himself stranded on a hostile planet.

 

His supplies are low and he has little time left to send a distress signal.

 

Relying on his wits and training, Mark strives to subsist on the arid ‘Red Planet’ and attempts to put together a means to send a signal back to Earth.

 

Back on the ‘Blue Planet’, NASA has just about given up the search when they receive Mark’s SOS.

 

A new mission entailing scientists from all over the world is initiated to help bring ‘The Martian’ back home.

 

His crewmates, on the other hand, are relatively closer in distance. Having realized that they’d left a man behind, they attempt to craft an ingenious scientific way to rescue Mark and bring him back aboard their space shuttle.

 

The world is watching and rooting for the safe return of Mark “The Martian” Watney.

 

 

75. Conan the Barbarian (1982)

 

 

 

This epic adventure movie goes back in time to a land of brutal wars and Herculean heroes.

 

After witnessing the undead wizard Thulsa Doom (played by James Earl Jones) and his ilk murder his blacksmith father and massacre his whole village, Conan (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) becomes an orphaned Cimmerian.

 

He is enslaved and forced to train and fight for the glory of the serpent-god Set.

 

Bound to the ‘Wheel of Pain’ boy grows into man, and soon man takes up the mantle of barbarian.

 

He fights for his freedom and justly earns it in the arena. But Conan never forgot the fate of his family and people.

 

He silently bides his time, teaming up with Hyrkanian thief Subotai (played by Gerry Lopez) and Bandit queen Valeria (played by Sandahl Bergman).

 

When he feels the time is right, he traces a path to the Mountain of Power wherein stands the mysterious Snake Cult Temple.

 

Conan and company go seeking vengeance and lasting freedom from the cult’s all-controlling reach across the land.

 

 

76. The African Queen (1951)

 

 

 

The year is 1914. News is making the rounds in a German Eastern African colony that the ‘Fatherland’ has gone to war.

 

Reverend Samuel Sayer (played by Robert Morley) thus becomes an enemy and a foreigner at that.

 

Before long, German troops burn his mission down, beat up the man, and leave him for dead.

 

His snobbish sister, the well-educated Rose Sayer (played by Katharine Hepburn), buries her brother before taking the only available transport out of Africa.

 

She finds a place on Charlie Allnut’s (played by Humphrey Bogart) river steamboat named ‘African Queen’.

 

The journey promises to be a long and difficult one. Rose tries to come up with any way she can contribute to the British war effort if only to avenge the death of her brother.

 

Charlie and Rose put their minds together and repurpose what equipment they have to make their steamboat ready to go up against a large German warship called ‘The Louisa’.

 

It is said to be stationed somewhere on a giant lake and seems all but impossible to find.

 

The expedition turns daunting, and Charlie is in need of some convincing, but Rose eventually has him ferrying them up the Ulana braving bloodthirsty parasites, furious rapids, and an ever-branching river system in which one mistake can mean getting lost in the swamp for weeks.

 

The going gets tough and tensions rise between Charlie and Rose, but they eventually make their way to the Germans.

 

Now all that remains is how they’re going to put aside their difference and cripple the enemy for Queen and Country.

 

 

77. National Treasure (2004)

 

 

 

Hailing from a line of treasure hunters, Benjamin Franklin Gates (played by Nicholas Cage) learns the truth of a yet-to-be-discovered ‘national treasure’ from his grandfather John Adams Gates (played by Christopher Plummer).

 

The clues leading to this American treasure are hidden in select places all over the nation containing ciphers that need to be cracked.

 

Benjamin’s father Patrick Gates (played by Jon Voight), on the other hand, despises everything to do with treasure hunting.

 

His ire stems from the fact that he wasted twenty years of his life pursuing such quests.

 

Ian Howe (played by Sean Bean) comes up with a daring scheme, in keeping with his experience as Benjamin’s accomplice in all treasure-hunting ventures.

 

Ian’s agenda to steal the ‘Declaration of Independence’ is put forth, and Benjamin soon learns why.

 

The first hidden clue to the unknown national treasure is in the original Declaration parchment.

 

When Ben refuses, Ian decides to go it alone. Ben next makes up his mind to steal the sacrosanct Declaration if only to keep Ian from getting his hands on it.

 

Upon successfully stealing the parchment, Benjamin encounters archive curator Abigail Chase (played by Diane Kruger).

 

Ben comes clean, bringing Abigail into the ongoing hunt to help him decrypt sundry clues that will lead them to eventually find the enigmatic national treasure that Ben’s grandfather promised is waiting to be discovered.

 

 

78. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

 

 

 

When a bizarre ebony monolith appears on Earth, scientists are justifiably baffled. The object has strange effects on different types of people.

 

This curious SciFi-adventure tale portrays how this monolith might have influenced human evolution four million years ago.

 

Something similar seems to be happening in the year 2001. Five astronauts aboard a space shuttle called ‘Discovery One’ are on a mission that’s taking them to the planet Jupiter.

 

Three are in stasis, a hibernation sleep to conserve resources. Mission commander Dr. Dave Bowman (played by Keir Dullea) and Dr. Frank Poole (played by Gary Lockwood) are the only two helming the vessel. HAL 9000 (voiced by Douglas Rain) is technically another astronaut, only he’s the craft’s Artificial Intelligence system.

 

He engages in conversation with the crew and even sounds almost human. Data regarding the Monolith at a lunar outpost called Clavius (eighteen months previously) suddenly falls into Hal 9000’s memory, causing him to malfunction.

 

Poole and Bowman are at their wits’ end because Hal is said to be infallible.

 

A mystery gradually unfolds, but first, the astronauts need to survive their own AI. This mission is life-or-death not just for them but also for the entire Human Race.

 

 

79. The Goonies (1985)

 

 

 

Along with his close circle of buddies, Mikey (played by Sean Astin) plans to go on an adventure.

 

They are in Mikey’s attic one night when they come across an old map. Mikey has often wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding a mythical character named One-Eyed Willy – the map promises to reveal a truth about him.

 

A comical adventure thus unfolds, with the group heading to Mama Fratelli’s (played by Anne Ramsey) restaurant through which the map says is a secret passage to an enigmatic cave.

 

Mama ends up grabbing Chunk (played by Jeff Cohen) and the others are forced to leave him behind.

 

Mikey forges on, only to meet one of Mama Fratelli’s sons, the frightfully disfigured Sloth (played by John Matuszak).

 

He finds a way to convince Sloth to join them. Around this time, the friends realize that Mama and her other sons Jake Fratelli (played by Robert Davi) and Francis Fratelli (played by Joe Pantoliano) are also attempting to get their hands on One-Eyed Willy’s treasure.

 

Chunk remains captured and the success of this rather hilarious mission rests on Mikey and the rest of the kids and adolescents – Brand (played by Josh Brolin), Mouth (played by Corey Feldman), Data (played by Jonathan Ke Quan), Andy (played by Kerri Green), and Stef (played by Martha Plimpton) – to complete it.

 

 

80. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

 

 

 

Fred C. Dobbs (played by Humphrey Bogart) and Curtin (played by Tim Holt) decide to work for a contractor in Mexico named Pat McCormick (played by Barton MacLane).

 

They are ushered to an isolated site and are promised pay only upon completion of the work.

 

Fred and Curtin do what’s required and return to collect their payment. There, they are given a few dollars and asked to wait while Pat goes to collect the rest of their payroll from the bank.

 

During this time, the men encounter a wizened prospector who tells them about the surrounding hills still harbouring gold.

 

He says he needs manpower to gather enough of it and is willing to wait for them to hire him as their guide.

 

A little persuasion is required for Fred and Curtin to successfully wrest their due from Pat after which they team up with the old prospector and make for the hills.

 

Little do they know the sheer perils and unknowns that await them.

 

 

81.  Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019)

 

 

 

This movie is a live-action version of our beloved animated series Dora The Explorer. “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” follows teenage explorer Dora as she embarks on her most challenging adventure yet: high school.

 

When her parents disappear in search of the legendary Parapata city, Dora, along with her friends, is thrust into a real-life jungle quest.

 

Navigating treacherous terrain and outsmarting treasure hunters, they unravel the city’s secrets and save her family. The film cleverly blends action, humour, and self-discovery, staying faithful to the spirit of the beloved animated series.

 

Isabela Moner shines as Dora, infusing the character with charm and wit.

 

With its diverse cast and lighthearted tone, the movie received praise for its entertaining approach to a live-action adaptation and garnered solid box office success, appealing to both fans and newcomers.

 

 

82. White Fang (1991)

 

 

 

Gold hunter Jack Conroy (played by Ethan Hawke) is pursuing the valuable metal in the vast snow-packed plains of Alaska.

 

He finds and saves a mixed-breed wolf-dog from a hard-hearted man. He calls his new pet companion ‘White Fang’, thus beginning a beautiful friendship between dog and man.

 

This wolf-dog was abandoned in the wild after his mother was killed by a hunter.

 

After a while spent in Jack’s company, the same man from whom Jack rescued White Fang sends an agent to dognap the pet and bring it back to make money on behalf of its owners as a pit-fighting canine.

 

The sheer heartlessness of it all gradually turns White Fang into a killer. Jack tries searching for him but in vain.

 

He eventually reunites with White Fang after a prolonged stretch of time and the bond between them is lit anew.

 

Jack has by this time found an enviable stash of gold, which has attracted the attention of a band of thieves.

 

White Fang becomes the only force standing in their way to ill-gotten riches. The wolf-dog is determined to protect Jack at all costs.

 

 

83. The Mask of Zorro (1998)

 

 

 

The year is 1821. Old California is rampant with corruption and slavery. A caped crusader wearing a mask and donning a rapier sword rises to free the oppressed from the nefarious exploitation established by Spanish governor Don Rafael Montero (played by Stuart Wilson).

 

The original ‘Zorro’ was a nobleman named Don Diego de la Vega (played by Anthony Hopkins).

 

He fails to stop Rafael and before long finds himself languishing in prison. He loses his infant daughter Elena (a grown version played by Catherine Zeta-Jones) to the cruel man, who raises the girl as his own purely to spite Diego.

 

After two whole decades, the aged Zorro makes an escape. Knowing he has outgrown the rigours of his masked calling, he finds, convinces, and trains a young outlaw named Alejandro Murietta (played by Antonio Banderas) and mentors him into becoming the next Zorro.

 

Together, they aim to shut Rafael down and keep him from oppressing their people even further.

 

 

84. A Wrinkle in Time (2018)

 

 

 

When 13-year-old middle schooler Meg Murry (played by Storm Reid) finds adjusting hard at both school and home, she ponders her purpose in an uncertain future.

 

Her father Alex Murry (played by Chris Pine), a renowned scientist, disappeared when she was quite young.

 

He was working on significant astrophysics research at the time he went missing. Meg grew up with a mother, Kate Murry (played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw), who loved her and baby brother Charles Wallace (played by Deric McCabe).

 

Both mum and daughter silently realized that Alex had discovered something profound in his work and that he was in an alternate world right now – Meg and Alex both knew he was researching something similar along those lines.

 

One fateful night, Meg’s younger brother Charles bids a red-haired stranger named Mrs. Whatsit (played by Reese Witherspoon) welcome him into his family home.

 

The elaborately dressed Mrs. Whatsit spills some truths to the little boy, about how a strange device called a Tesseract enabled his father to space-travel.

 

She leaves soon after confirming the device and their father’s existence. The following day Charles takes classmate Calvin O’Keefe (played by Levi Miller) to the abode of Mrs. Who (played by Mindy Kaling), another mysterious person prone to speaking exclusively in quotations. She seems to be expecting Charles, and before long sets the family on a path that will unite them with their long-lost father.

 

Along the way, they are guided by the powerful and noble Mrs. Which (played by Oprah Winfrey).

 

 

85. The Northman (2022)

 

 

A biking prince who lost his kingdom and father is driven by revenge to kill the murderer of his father and take back what’s rightfully his own. Amleth (the prince) played by Alexander Skarsgård has become a bitter, musclebound warrior with unbreakable resolve. 

 

The storyline shows a time when people believe having death by a blade to be more honourable and their duty is to avenge their loved ones. The movie successfully employs these concepts and the characters were able to bring the emotions that gripped the audience for the entire run.

 

The movie has some major casting that include Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, and of course our lead actor Alexander Skarsgård.

 

 

86. Chicken Run (2000)

 

 

 

One of the hens on Tweedy Egg Farm – run by Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy (voiced by Tony Haygarth and Miranda Richardson, respectively) – is Ginger (voiced by Julia Sawalha).

 

This claymation adventure film sees her attempting to escape the farm, and by extension death, only to be held down and back by less competent chickens.

 

One fateful night she sees another chicken meeting the axe. Fear and despair lead Ginger out the farm gate where she spots a rooster flying high.

 

He crash-lands and is consequently injured, prompting Ginger to bring him into the pen to recover.

 

Only then does she realize that the rooster is the famed Rocky Rhodes (voiced by Mel Gibson) whose relative freedom following his escape from a circus has made him cocky; for want of a better word.

 

The circus is searching for him, though. Ginger promises protection in exchange for Rocky teaching them all to fly so they can escape the farm.

 

Rocky still does not understand the other hens’ urgency. His behaviour rattles Ginger and other prominent chickens like former Royal Air Force ‘vet’ Officer Fowler (voiced by Benjamin Whitrow).

 

The situation at the farm is turning dire, what with the Tweedy’s having purchased a machine that will help them make, bake, and sell chicken pies in the dozens.

 

 

87. Big Fish (2003)

 

 

 

Journalist Will Bloom (played by Billy Crudup) works for the United Press International while his French photojournalist wife Josephine Bloom (played by Marion Cotillard) is a freelancer now pregnant with their first baby.

 

They decide to leave Paris for Will’s Alabama home in Ashton. The reason behind their move is disheartening.

 

Will’s father Edward Bloom (played by Albert Finney) has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and will be off to chemotherapy after which he may not get to see his son ever again.

 

Both Ed and Will have been estranged for a few years since he wed Josephine.

 

He remains connected only through Will’s mother and Ed’s wife Sandra Bloom (played by Jessica Lange).

 

Will never quite forgave his father for all those fanciful stories he told about his early life, and the way he went around telling it to anyone who would listen.

 

Edward was quite the absent father, being a travelling salesman and all, leaving Will only those fake stories to believe in growing up.

 

He wishes that even now his father would just stop exaggerating his own life and tell him the truth of things before the end.

 

One of Ed’s many tall tales takes prominence, the one where he said he’d witnessed his own end in the ‘glass eye of a witch’.

 

Will attempts to make sense of a lot of things related to his father, and even goes so far as to adventure around learning about the man from outside sources.

 

Will is eager to find a particular strain of closure, one that will help him move on from all those years he genuinely believed his father’s self-made stories.

 

The younger version of Ed Bloom (played by Ewan McGregor) comes and goes in select scenes as William roves about learning who his dad really was back when he was a young travelling salesman.

 

 

88. Hook (1991)

 

 

 

An alternate retelling of the classic Peter Pan story, this film features Robin Williams in the role of the mischievous sprite known as Peter Pan with Dustin Hoffman playing his arch-nemesis Captain James Hook.

 

Set in real life, Peter grows up and becomes a shrewd merger and acquisitions lawyer.

 

He wed Wendy’s (played by Maggie Smith) granddaughter Moira Banning (played by Caroline Goodall). History repeats, in a manner of speaking, and Hook kidnaps Peter’s kids Jack (played by Charlie Korsmo) and Maggie (played by Amber Scott) and whisks them off to Neverland.

 

Peter is forced to follow, desperate to rescue his children. He inadvertently returns to his original home as a grown man.

 

Before long, Peter encounters Tinkerbell (played by Julia Roberts) and the Lost Boys. One thing leads to another, they team up and together go after Captain Hook to save the kids.

 

 

89. Flight of the Navigator (1986)

 

 

 

After disappearing in 1978, 12-year-old David Freeman (played by Joey Cramer) reappears in the year 1986.

 

Despite the eight-year gap, he remains the same, unchanged and unaged. His family is still around that year, and living in the same house.

 

They are perplexed at his unaltered appearance but regardless welcome him with open arms. David never told anyone about the cause of his disappearance – a futuristic alien space vessel.

 

After several years, David returns exponentially wiser in facts most people on Earth are unaware of concerning the farthest reaches of Outer Space.

 

He steals onto a base owned by NASA and starts casually navigating a classified spacecraft.

 

David confidently fulfils the role of navigator and flies the craft where he wills.

 

 

90. Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)

 

 

 

The year is 1880. Professor Oliver S. Lindenbrook (played by James Mason) has recently been awarded the title of ‘Sir’.

 

His students have pooled money together to buy him a gift to commemorate the occasion, a gift that includes a rare lava stone.

 

When the professor later studies the stone, he gradually discovers that a scientist named Count Saknussemm (played by Thayer David) sent it to the surface from his impossible position at the centre of the Earth and that he’d sent it over a hundred years ago.

 

Stupefied by what he’s learned, Oliver sends his notes to a colleague in Stockholm, namely Prof. Peter Goetabaug (uncredited, played by Ivan Triesault). Instead of endorsing his research, Peter takes off to Iceland where he gets busy organizing an expedition intended to take him to the so-called centre of the Earth, veritably making him the first person to officially discover the place.

 

Oliver, along with his protégée Alexander “Alec” McKuen (played by Pat Boone), follows the academic traitor and aims to beat him to the Earth’s centre.

 

Count Saknussemm, on the other hand, firmly believes it is his duty to protect the place, which he considers his ancestral legacy.

 

Joining up with the widow Carla Goetabaug (played by Arlene Dahl), Oliver and Alec end up reluctantly teaming with local strongman Hans Belker (played by Peter Ronson) and his rather odd duck named Gertrude.

 

The troupe finds a volcano that is said to contain the surest path down to the centre of the Earth, a destination that has thus far been a mere myth to Oliver.

 

But no matter the path, all roads to the Earth’s centre are fraught with their own dangers and adventures.

 

 

91. The Mitchells vs the Machines (2021)

 

 

 

Comedy, action, and adventure blend in this family-oriented animation film featuring the Mitchells who end up having to find a way to save the world from a full-scale robot apocalypse.

 

Katie Mitchell (voiced by Abbi Jacobson) lands a covetous seat in a prestigious film school that she’s always had an eye on.

 

Having been an ‘outsider’ for a large portion of her life, she is eager to go find ‘her people’ at the new school.

 

Her nature-adoring father Rick Mitchell (voiced by Danny McBride) finds a way to convince the others to take a family road trip that will conclude with them dropping Katie off.

 

The trip is both forced and awkward, with the family trying to bond but failing miserably at it.

 

Just when things look like they’re going nowhere, the Mitchells encounter the fledgling rise of a robot apocalypse.

 

The invasion worsens, with the robots taking over almost everything digital. Along with her little brother Aaron Mitchell (voiced by Michael Rianda), pug pet Monchi, two ‘turned’ robots, and mom Linda Mitchell, (voiced by Maya Rudolph), Katie strives to find a way to save the world, and her future.

 

Her dad contributes big time when the need arises, adding wonderful emotional value to this family adventure tale.

 

 

92. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

 

 

 

The ocean is a dangerous place, especially during the years 1860-1892 when not much was known or properly charted regarding the ‘Big Blue’.

 

Many a ship has been lost to the sea, never to return. Many a sailor even returns to this or that port carrying tales of horror and dread, of monsters in the deep.

 

One such ‘monster’ is a Narwhal, a large whale with a long horn on its head.

 

It seems to have gained renown as a legendary ‘sinker of ships’. Naturalist and Professor Pierre Aronnax (played by Paul Lukas) sails with his assistant Conseil (played by Peter Lorre).

 

They are joined in the (American) expedition by Ned Land (played by Kirk Douglas) who has expertise in professional whaling.

 

They end up encountering the beast only to learn that it is in truth a submarine called The Nautilus led by the notorious Captain Nemo (played by James Mason).

 

The men are asked to join Nemo on a serious quest, one that will take them 20,000 leagues under the sea where deadly creatures and unforgettable adventures are waiting to be met.

 

 

93. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

 

 

 

When the Holy Land demands the presence of King Richard the Lionheart (played by Ian Hunter), his brother Prince John (played by Claude Rains) does not shy from seizing the throne in his absence.

 

The royal rule that follows is quite harsh on the people, especially Saxon peasants. John soon learns that Richard has been captured in Vienna and that there’s a ransom for his safe return.

 

The kingdom finds itself hard-pressed to pay the exorbitant sum, and so raises taxes by a shocking amount.

 

A Saxon lord by the name of Sir Robin of Locksley (played by Errol Flynn) turns rebel and stands steadfastly against Prince John’s unreasonable tax policy.

 

He finds himself facing not just the prince but also his henchman Sir Guy of Gisbourne (played by Basil Rathbone).

 

Robin is branded an outlaw and becomes a fugitive who has to go into hiding.

 

He finds shelter in Sherwood Forest where he gathers all those who are still loyal to King Richard.

 

These ‘merry men’ are Little John (played by Alan Hale), Friar Tuck (played by Eugene Pallette), Will Scarlet (played by Patric Knowles), and sundry others.

 

Prince John lays a trap for ‘Robin Hood’ as the Lord has come to restyle himself.

 

An archery contest draws Robin into the net, and if not for Maid Marion (played by Olivia de Havilland) he’d not have escaped.

 

Robin and his allies learn that Richard is back in England and so go to his rescue, all the while aiming to uproot Prince John from his ill-claimed seat of power.

 

 

94. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

 

 

 

The year is 1805. The Napoleonic Wars are in full swing. A British frigate named H. M. S. Surprise sails under the command of Captain Jack Aubrey (played by Russell Crowe).

 

They have military orders to track down and either capture or annihilate Acheron, a French privateer vessel.

 

That ship is currently located off South America and is sailing Atlantic waters. It is making its way to the Pacific where it was tasked with helping extend Napoleon’s war-reach.

 

The first battle between Surprise and Acheron results in Jack realizing that the enemy has the superior vessel.

 

The odds are ever-mounting against Jack and his men, but the captain is determined to do good for his country and his crew.

 

He turns to his most trusted advisor and dearest friend Dr. Stephen Maturin (played by Paul Bettany) who is also the ship’s doctor and a naturalist.

 

A series of bad luck creates obstacles for those sailing the Surprise. It all comes down to the scientific ideas proposed by Stephen to help Jack even the odds and complete his mission.

 

 

95. The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)

 

 

 

Adapted from the novel by Alexander Dumas, this film focuses on the tale of Edmond Dantès (played by Jim Caviezel).

 

The man was wrongly accused of treason by none other than his own best friend Fernand (played by Guy Pearce) just so he can steal the girl he loves Mercedes (played by Dagmara Dominczyk) whose heart is strongly tied to Edmond.

 

Jailed on an island and inside the impregnable Chateau d’If, Edmond languishes for thirteen years, all the while plotting revenge for the one who wronged him.

 

With help from a fellow prisoner, Edmond makes good his escape and finds a hidden treasure that his escape partner said was hidden away.

 

Edmond thus remakes himself as the Count of Monte Cristo. He slowly but surely lures Fernand into a trap where he will meet with the righteous sword of justice.

 

 

96. Prey (2022)

 

 

A prequel to the original “Predator” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, this movie takes place in 1719. A young girl named Naru played by Amber Midthunder wishes to be a hunter just like other male hunters in her tribe including her brother Taabe.

 

She is teased because they believe hunting is men’s job but nonetheless, she follows them on one such hunt. Unlucky for them, this time a predator itself is on the hunt and now the hunter will serve his prey.

 

The movie received positive responses from critics for its well-crafted action sequences and chase scenes. The movie never got a theatrical release since the production team was not optimistic about its success so it was streamed on Disney+.

 

 

97. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

 

 

 

Part of a wealthy British aristocratic family, Lara Croft (played by Angelina Jolie) carries on the legacy and tradition of her father Lord Richard Croft (Jon Voight).

 

She pursues her passion for Archaeology in ways that help safeguard and communicate the truth behind History as opposed to keeping it hidden or worse, exploiting it for capital gains.

 

She travels the world in search of artefacts and ancient treasures, experiences many a danger, and safeguards her discoveries from ruthless and greedy hands.

 

Trained in the handling of various weapons as well as martial arts, Lara is no pushover.

 

Her academic and linguistic skills also come in mighty handy in her line of work.

 

This movie sees Lara unwittingly prepping for a major astronomical event, one where all the planets will be aligning.

 

This is said to happen only once every five thousand years, a point that a secret society called The Illuminati is well aware of.

 

They have agents out in the world hunting an age-old talisman that will give them the power to control Time itself.

 

They also need a certain clock and key mechanism to help with the planned ritual, or else they’re going to have to wait another five thousand years before they can try again.

 

The key in question was hidden by Lord Richard in his mansion, and Lara eventually finds it.

 

Her home is later assaulted by Illuminati agents who steal the key and very nearly kill her in the process.

 

Lara survives and later finds a special letter that her father, long deceased, left with clues leading up to the talisman’s discovery.

 

In this letter, her father also details the Illuminati’s agenda and asks his daughter to do whatever it takes to destroy the talisman and obstruct the society agents from fulfilling their dark goal.

 

Supporting Lara on her quest are Hillary (played by Chris Barrie) and Bryce (played by Noah Taylor).

 

Standing against her are various echelons of agents including Manfred Powell (played by Iain Glen), his lackey Mr. Pimms (played by Julian Rhind-Tutt), and corrupt money-hungry archaeologist Alex West (played by Daniel Craig).

 

 

98. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

 

 

 

Bold and daring professor of archaeology Dr. Indiana Jones (played by Harrison Ford) finds himself in distant India.

 

He recently escaped from a near-death situation in Hong Kong. With keen support from a twelve-year-old informant and guide named Short Round (played by Ke Huy Quan), and an urban-loving completely unprepared nightclub singer named Willie Scott (played by Kate Capshaw), “Indy” goes on a deadly quest that takes him deep into India’s forests to discover and safeguard a sacred object known as the Sankara Stone.

 

It was stolen from the shrine of a poor village community along with several of its children who were kidnapped.

 

A dark Thuggee cult led by Mola Ram (played by Amrish Puri) is hatching a diabolical scheme that entails slave labour and blood sacrifice.

 

Indiana and company also find themselves on tricky terrain in the Palace of Pankot where armed zealots and subterranean perils are only half their troubles.

 

 

99. The Great Escape (1963)

 

 

 

The year is 1942. World War II is well past the starting line, and the Germans have constructed several so-called escape-proof Prisoner of War camps.

 

They put multiple troublemaking prisoners in one such camp where they can better keep an eye on them.

 

The Germans, however, seem unduly overconfident that incarcerating several ‘escape artists’ in one pen will be convenient.

 

It doesn’t help that it is regarded as the prisoners’ military duty to try and escape.

 

That way, they keep the enemies watching over them busy and away from helping with the war effort.

 

Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Bartlett “Big X” (played by Richard Attenborough) is planning an ambitious escape that will see two hundred and fifty men making their way out of the prison camp under cover of darkness via specially dug tunnels.

 

His idea is that even if the Germans find one tunnel, another tunnel will still be ready, leading to exit points outside the camp.

 

The escapees are also prepping clothing and forged documents to help get them over enemy lines and back into Allied territory.

 

Different prisoners come with different skills, and they are each aptly given charge over specific tasks related to the great escape being planned.

 

Captain Hilts (aka The Cooler King, played by Steve McQueen) and Flying Officer Ives (aka The Mole, played by Angus Lennie) seem to be relatively ignorant of most goings-on in this regard.

 

These two have spent a major amount of time in ‘solitary’ for causing trouble at the camp via simple escape attempts after which they (along with other prisoners) are taken into town for labour work.

 

They fulfilled their roles as decoys, keeping the enemy’s focus more on them while they brought back crucial intelligence on the town’s layout and other data.

 

Some of the prisoners at camp prove to be liabilities owing to some personal issues, but other than that a great escape is brewing at this particular German POW camp.

 

This classic adventure movie has several A-list names and one of the most thrilling scripts ever written and directed for the screen.

 

 

100. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

 

 

 

A freak tornado catches Dorothy Gale (played by Judy Garland) and her dog Toto in its gale-force funnel and sweeps them up and away ‘over the rainbow’ to a mystical and magical land known as Oz.

 

The film starts in black and while and transitions into vivid colour, marking cinema’s similar shift in the 30s.

 

Dorothy finds herself among a pygmy race of people called the Munchkins. Before long, she learns that a good witch (Glinda, played by Billie Burke) and a bad one (Gulch, played by Margaret Hamilton) reside in this strange world and that she has to follow the Yellow Brick Road to the Wizard of Oz who alone has the means to send her back home.

 

Along the way she meets and teams up with a scarecrow in need of a brain (played by Ray Bolger), a lion in need of courage (played by Bert Lahr), and a tin man in need of a heart (played by Jack Haley).

 

They are all ‘off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz’ in the hopes that he can grant them their desires.

 

Attempting to keep them from realizing their goals is the Wicked Witch of the West who sends her minion monkeys flying after them.

 

Plenty of wonder, awe, and symbolism pervades this exquisite classic adventure-fantasy film.