7 Movies to Watch Instead of ‘A Walk in the Woods’

I didn’t love the movie ‘A Walk in the Woods‘… In fact, most people didn’t… Overall, I think that going for a short walk or hike would have been a much better use of my 104 minutes. However, there are days (typically the cold and rainy ones) when I don’t want to go outside and decide to stay inside and watch a movie. Since I’m a thru-hiker (LT ’98, AT ’13, PCT ’14) and have grown up loving the outdoors, it’s probably not a surprise that I gravitate towards movies featuring outdoor adventures and travel. Here are some of the movies about long walks that I’d recommend watching instead of ‘A Walk in the Woods’ (most are available on Netflix or Amazon):

1. If you’re looking for a movie about the Appalachian Trail, check out:
   • The Appalachian Trail (7/10)
     • This National Geographic documentary explores scenery, wildlife, and some of the current issues facing the Appalachian Trail.
     • Genre: Documentary
     • Release Date: 2009
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2. If you’re looking for a buddy movie involving a long walk and fantastical adventures, check out:
   • Lord of the Rings (9/10)
     • This series of three fantastical adventure movies features two childhood friends, Frodo and Samwise, as they embark upon an epic journey that will shape their lives forever… I absolutely loved these movies, especially the first one, The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).
     • Genres: Adventure, Fantasy
     • Release Dates: 2001, 2002, and 2003, Director: Peter Jackson
     • Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, and Sean Astin
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3.  If you’re looking for a movie about a long walk and issues associated with aging and retirement, check out:
   • Redwood Highway (8/10)
     • A drama/comedy about a stubborn older woman (in her ’70s) that decides to walk from her retirement home to her granddaughter’s wedding… Redwood Highway deals with some of the complex issues associated with aging and retirement, and has a more realistic approach to walking than A Walk in the Woods… It even manages to do it with a side of comedy! I would watch it again.
     • Genre: Drama
     • Release Date: April 5, 2013, Director: Gary Lundgren
     • Starring: Shirley Knight, Tom Skerritt, Danforth Comins
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4. If you’re looking for a movie about a long walk, mid-life crises, and personal transformation, check out:
   • The Way (8/10)
     • A drama about a middle-aged man who goes for a long walk on “El Camino de Santiago” as he deals with the death of his estranged son. The Way is a movie about walking, friendship, midlife crises, and personal transformation.
     • Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
     • Release Date: October 7, 2011 (USA), Director: Director: Emilio Estevez
     • Starring: Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Deborah Kara Unger
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5. If you’re looking for a movie about long walks, youthful arrogance, and personal transformation, check out:
   • Seven Years in Tibet (8/10)
     • A drama about the personal transformation of an arrogant mountaineer who ends up befriending the Dalai Lama.
     • Genres: Adventure, Biography, Drama, History, and War
     • Release Date: October 10, 1997 (USA), Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
     • Starring: Brad Pitt, David Thewlis, BD Wong
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6. If you’re looking for a movie about long walks, childhood perseverance, and Australian history check out:
   • Rabbit-Proof Fence (9/10)
     • A drama about three young aboriginal girls that escape from a government camp and go on a long walk trying to get home… The story is tragic, haunting, and yet uplifting…
     • Genres: Adventure, Biography, Drama, and History
     • Release Date: January 31, 2003 (USA), Director: Philip Noyse
     • Starring: Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury, Kenneth Branagh
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7. If you’re looking for a movie about hikers, friendship, and the beauty of the High Sierras, check out:
   • Mile, Mile and a Half (9/10)
     • A documentary about a group of friends (5 artists) that set out to hike the John Muir Trail and attempt to capture the beautiful sights, sounds, and images of the High Sierra along the way… The film is well done, breathtakingly gorgeous, and captures some of the thoughts, pain, and emotions of people that hike hundreds of miles of trail for the pure joy and beauty of it. Sure, there are bits that annoy me, but mostly it makes me nostalgic for one of the most beautiful sections of the Pacific Crest Trail… Overall I loved it and highly recommend it.
     • Genre: Documentary
     • Release Date: June 1, 2013, Directors: Jason M. Fitzpatrick, Ric Serena
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In addition to movies about long walks, I love watching movies (of all genres except suspense/horror) about the outdoors and outdoor adventures. Here are some of my other favorites (by genre):

• Documentaries:
  • Desert Runners (9/10): An awesome documentary about desert ultra-marathons and the people that run them. (Available on Netflix)
  • Chasing Ice (10/10): A stunningly beautiful documentary about glaciers, the environment, and global warming. Watch it! (Available on Netflix)
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  •  Touching the Void (10/10): A powerfully moving docu-drama about two mountaineers and their struggle to overcome disaster. (Available on Netflix)
  • Happy People (7/10): A people-focused documentary that I enjoyed once I finally got over the title and the slow beginning… Once I got sucked into it, I enjoyed it, but it isn’t a movie that I watch over and over again. (Available on Netflix)
  • McConkey (9/10): An exciting, and sobering, look at the life and adventures of Shane McConkey, an influential skier, base-jumper, and adventure athlete. (If you like McConkey, check out Senna, which is about a Brazilian Formula 1 Race Car Driver.)
• Dramas:
  • Tracks (8/10): A drama about one woman’s long walk through the Australian desert. It deals with themes of solitude, adventure, wanderlust, and the bonds that she forms both with people, and animals, along the way. The content in the movie is great, and as a solo adventurer, there were many parts of the movie that I could really relate to, but the pacing was a little slow. (Available on Netflix)
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  • Wild (~8/10): A drama about a woman’s personal growth and development as she hikes a long section of the Pacific Crest Trail. I watched this movie on its opening night, right after I completed my own solo Pacific Crest Trail hike in 2014… Though the main characters journey was in many ways very different than my own, many of the scenes and her experiences on the trail really resonated with me. I thought the movie was powerful and well done, and was better than the book… I hope to watch it again so that I can write-up a more in-depth review.
  •  Cast Away (7/10): A drama about a man marooned on a desert island. It deals with themes of solitude, the wilderness, personal growth and development, and re-entry into society. As a solo thru-hiker there were many aspects of the movie that I identified with, like making friends with inanimate objects, adjusting to a different kind of reality, and they trying to figure out how you fit back into the old reality when it’s all over…
  •  A River Runs Through It (6/10): A coming-of-age drama about one man’s life fishing along a river. It deals with themes of family, friendship, rebellion, and wilderness. I thought the content was good, the scenery amazing, but the pacing was very slow!
• Comedies: (I really struggled trying to come up with good comedies about the outdoors… What are your favorites?)
  • Ice Age (9/10): An animated family comedy about a group of animals going on a long walk and the adventures they encounter along the way.
  • Crocodile Dundee (7/10): An outdoor adventure comedy that I loved as a kid… Watching it as an adult, it suffers from a lot of the challenges associated with race, culture, and gender of it’s era and genre, but I still managed to have fun watching it. (Available on Netflix) 

Here are some other outdoor adventure movies I’ve seen, but not recently enough to rate:

• 127 Hours (2010): I watched it when it first came out, and I thought that it was a gruesome, yet gripping movie that contained some very strong and important messages… “Make Sure Someone Has Your Itinerary and Knows Where You Are!”… It thought it was an excellent film, definitely worth seeing, but not something that I want to  watch again… I felt similarly about Schindler’s List.
• The Blair With Project (1999): I tried to watch this movie in the theater when it first came out, but the visuals made me intensely motion sick and I ended up puking in the bathroom the whole time… It’s one of the few times I’ve had to walk out of a theater!
• The Land Before Time (1988): An animated coming-of-age movie about a group of dinosaurs setting of on a journey to find a new life. I loved this movie when it first came out!
• Cliffhanger (1993): Cliffhanger is a classic action moving starring Sylvester Stallone. I watched this movie when it first came out, and some of the images from it are vividly seared into my memory… I thought it was good at the time… I wonder what I would think of it now?
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Hiking/Outdoor Adventure Movies I’ve heard good things about, but haven’t seen yet (or saw so long ago I don’t remember them):

• Adventure/Drama:
  • Never Cry Wolf (1983), The Bear (1988), Jeremiah Johnson (1972)- starring Robert Redford, Dances with Wolves (1990), White Fang (1991), Southbounders (2005), Legends of the Fall (1994), Last of the Mohicans (1992),Walkabout (1971), Into the Wild (2007)
• Action/Adventure:
  • The Edge (1997), Alive (1993), The Grey (2011), K2 (1991), The River Wild (1994)
• Comedy:
  • The Great Outdoors (1998)
• Documentary:
  • Alone in the Wilderness (2004)
• Thriller:
  • Deliverance (1972), The Loneliest Planet (2011), White Water Summer (1987)

What are your favorite movies about hiking and the Outdoors? Which movies about outdoor adventures have I forgotten in my lists? Are there movies that you’d recommend that I haven’t watched yet, or that I should re-watch? Leave a comment below and let me know!