The Adventure Genre: A Journey Through Cult Classics
The adventure genre has given the world instant classics like Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Goonies. Inspiring imaginations around the world, these films follow everything from dark fantasy quests to treasure hunts, focusing on an endless stream of heroes. While many of these movies soar to the top of the box office upon release, others can take years to find the appreciation they deserve, with some never breaking into the mainstream.
Every genre has its share of cult classics, movies that don’t rake it in at the box office but still earn the devotion of fans, often depending on childhood nostalgia. Whether they’re overlooked ’80s gems or ambitious flops from the 21st century, these films are always yearning to be rediscovered by more people. Above all else, they’re proof that both critics and moviegoers can get it wrong, making time the friend of these great stories.
Flight of the Navigator: A Sci-Fi Childhood Adventure
Flight of the Navigator begins when a young boy named David Freeman falls down a hill. When he wakes up, he learns that eight years have passed, and he hasn’t aged, while his family has grown up in the shadow of his disappearance. Shortly after he’s found, NASA discovers an alien spacecraft, which they realize is connected to David. When the boy hops aboard, he meets and befriends the robot pilot, whom he names Max. As their telepathic connection gives Max a more friendly personality, they take a trip across the world together.
A unique brand of sci-fi adventure, Flight of the Navigator tries to give younger viewers the perfect escapist experience, soaring around the world inside a friendly starship. Borrowing aspects of Saturday-morning cartoons and ’80s comedy, and exploring the value of family, it didn’t take long for a niche audience to resonate with its story. Even now, the film is still Alan Ritchson’s favorite movie.
Van Helsing: Created a Shared Universal Monsters Adventure
Van Helsing casts Hugh Jackman as the titular vampire hunter, reimagining him as a pulpy monster-hunting hero who serves the Vatican. Fearing the demise of a family sworn to defeat Dracula, the church sends him to Transylvania, tasking him with defeating the vampire count before it’s too late. Aided by a young friar and the tough Anna Valerious, he begins his quest to vanquish evil from the land, with the Wolfman and Frankenstein’s Monster thrown in for good measure.
A love-letter to Universal Monsters in the vein of The Mummy, Stephen Sommers proved he was a master of Gothic horror-adventure a second time with this modern classic. It didn’t land at the box office, but it won over fans of old-school monsters and action to become an underrated gem, capitalizing on the star near the height of his Wolverine fame.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow: Feels Like a Comic Book
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow brings viewers to a diesel-punk retro-futuristic world ripped from the pages of old-school science fiction magazines. Here, New York City is defended by a maverick fighter pilot, Sky Captain, and his elite squadron, who spring into action to fend off an attack by giant robots. After his base is attacked, he reunites with his old girlfriend, Polly Perkins, to embark on a quest to find out who’s responsible.
From its ground-breaking digital backlot shooting to its retro filter, Sky Captain was always fighting an uphill battle with the audience. Made less as a mainstream blockbuster and more as an experimental love-letter to pulp magazines and science fiction serials, the film found a small but sentimental and appreciative fan base. Even famed critic Roger Ebert felt it was similar to a modern-day Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: A Steampunk Spy Caper
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen takes place at the end of the 19th century, and follows the assembly of various characters from Victorian literature: Allan Quatermain, Jekyll & Hyde, Captain Nemo, Mina Harker, Tom Sawyer, Dorian Grey, and The Invisible Man. Brought together to defend the British Empire from a sinister plot, they set out aboard the Nautilus in search of the shadowy force that seeks to instigate a Great War.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is still widely panned by mainstream audiences and critics alike, but has found more love over the last two decades. For some, it’s a self-aware steampunk adventure that delivers for fans of Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s source material. If anything, the movie is a great love letter to the era that inspired it, combining espionage, action, horror and science fiction into an under-appreciated quest and has aged far better than its source material.
The Phantom: Adapts a Classic Comic Strip
Based on Lee Falk’s comic strip of the same name, The Phantom casts Billy Zane in the role of Kit Walker, the 21st man to bear the mantle of The Ghost Who Walks. As protector of the small African nation of Bangalla, he sets off to uncover the truth behind an international crime syndicate bent on acquiring a trio of mystical skulls that could help them conquer the world.
A flop at the box office, The Phantom was a movie that struggled to find an audience in the ’90s, a decade growing accustomed to darker superhero stories and grim thrillers. There wasn’t much room for a campy and pulpy jungle adventure, especially as Tim Burton’s Batman series pushed comic adaptations in a different direction. Billy Zane was a great hero, and the film’s tone is one of great fun, and it’s only become better-appreciated as the years have gone by and proof The Phantom needs a reboot.
Congo: Owns Its Unserious Vibe
Congo begins when an expedition to Congo on behalf of a tech company ends in disaster, with the fiancé of a missing man mounting a second trip. She’s joined by a primatologist and his signing gorilla, a shady Romanian entrepreneur and a charismatic adventurer, who leads them into the heart of Africa. Struggling through coups and killer apes, they inch closer towards the site of the last mission, discovering the existence of terrifying creatures.
Following the success of Jurassic Park, studios continued adapting the works of Michael Crichton, and Congo was first on the list. A combination of science fiction and jungle adventure, it’s one of the few films that was elevated by its supporting cast, with Ernie Hudson and Tim Curry stealing the show from Dylan Walsh and Laura Linney.
Hook: Reinvented Peter Pan for a Generation
In 1991, Steven Spielberg reinvented the story of Peter Pan for a generation when he cast Robin Williams as J.M. Barrie’s treasured hero. The story follows Peter as an adult living in modern America, where he’s a workaholic lawyer struggling to be present for his kids. Things take a turn when Captain Hook abducts his children, hoping to lure his old foe back to Neverland for some excitement. However, with no memory of his adventurous childhood, he has to reunite with the Lost Boys and Tinkerbell to rekindle his imagination.
The history of Hook has been up and down with both critics and the box office, being declared a critical and financial disappointment when it was released. In the years since, it’s earned the devotion of adventure fans, in no small part thanks to Dustin Hoffman’s iconic performance as Captain Hook struggling through a midlife crisis.
The Rundown: An Underrated Bounty Hunter Caper
The Rundown follows Dwayne Johnson as Beck, a bounty hunter enforcer for a crime boss, who sends him down to the jungles of Brazil to locate his adventure-seeking son, Travis. When he arrives, he’s forced to bargain with a tyrannical mine boss, Hatcher, who has enslaved locals to dig for him and wants Travis for his own reasons. Learning that his target is hunting for a lost idol deep in the heart of the jungle, Beck reluctantly agrees to accompany the man on his search.
The Rundown, also known as Welcome to the Jungle, combines the jungle adventure of The Phantom with the plot of Midnight Run, making for a near-perfect action flick. Despite returning to the genre several times throughout his career, it remains the best and most underrated adventure film in Dwayne Johnson’s career, and offers as much comedy as it does mystery.
Sorcerer: A Rare Adventure Thriller
Sorcerer follows the arrival of four unrelated wanted criminals to a small village in Central America, where they each hide out in hopes of getting new documentation. They’re approached by an oil company, which offers all four fresh passports if they’ll drive two trucks loaded with nitroglycerin to help plug a burning oil well. In order to complete the journey, they have to drive through thick jungles, over narrow mountain roads, and into guerrilla rebel territory, all with explosive substances in the back.
Sorcerer is a movie that offers a uniquely dark and realistic approach to the adventure genre, crafting a perilous trek through the terrain of Central America. While many know William Friedkin best for films like The Exorcist and The French Connection, his 1977 jungle thriller has every bit as much claim to be his magnum opus, and is woefully under-appreciated. Above all else, it’s one of the most tense and suspense-driven adventure films ever made, even garnering the love of Stephen King.
The Princess Bride: Took Decades to Become an Icon
The Princess Bride begins with the love story of Princess Buttercup and her farmhand, Westley, interrupted by the latter having to leave. When word reaches the princess of his death at the hands of the Dread Pirate Roberts, she bitterly agrees to marry Prince Humperdink. When a gang of mercenaries kidnaps her, Roberts arrives just in time to save her, leading to a love-driven rescue mission.
At the time of its release, The Princess Bride was seen as a quotable, fun fairy-tale movie that lived in the shadow of movies like Romancing the Stone. However, as time passed, it gradually earned the love and affection of younger generations, who embraced its tender and romantic approach to the adventure genre. Decades later, few films are as strong a testament to the strength of nostalgia and enduring fan love for high adventure as The Princess Bride.
