It’s official: world economies are in shambles, political systems are dysfunctional, and food supplies are increasingly vulnerable to weather extremes, war, and attacks.
Now the question is: are you ready for what’s next?
If not, there is no need to worry because I’ve compiled a list of 50 great movies that can teach homesteaders essential skills for survival.
#50. The Road (2009)
A father and his son travel through the devastated landscape in search of a better place to call home. Along the way, they must fight for their lives against various threats, including other survivors who are not as friendly.
Movie Trailer: Here
#49. The Book of Eli (2010)
A “lone wolf” named Eli (Denzel Washington) is on a personal quest to deliver a precious book that could save humanity. Along the way, he faces many challenges and must use all his skills to survive.
Movie Trailer: Here
#48. The War of the Worlds (2005)
Dockworker Cruise and his two children flee from Newark, New Jersey, in an effort to make it to their in-laws’ house in urban Boston.
Along the way, Cruise is forced to improvise on the fly because he has no food or medical supplies or strategy. This classic sci-fi novel by H.G. Wells has been adapted to film several times, most recently in 2005.
Movie Trailer: Here
Related: 20 Grandma’s Depression Foods We Will Need Soon
#47. The Revenant (2015)
A renowned frontiersman Hugh Glass was left for dead after being mauled by a bear. He managed to survive and crawl his way back to safety. This movie follows his incredible story of survival. It’s so thrilling that it eventually won Leonardo DiCaprio an Oscar.
Movie Trailer: Here
#46. 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
This movie, produced by J.J. Abrams, is a sequel to the 2008 film Cloverfield. It follows a woman held captive in a bunker by a man who claims the outside world has been destroyed.
Movie Trailer: Here
#45. The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Global warming has created massive superstorms that devastate the planet. This thriller follows survivors in the aftermath of a cataclysmic climate event.
Movie Trailer: Here
#44. The Walk (2015)
This film is about French tightrope walker Philippe Petit, who illegally walked between the World Trade Center Twin Towers in 1974.
Movie Trailer: Here
#43. The Happening (2008)
The world was ravaged by an airborne virus that made people commit suicide. A group of survivors must find a way to escape the infected zone.
Movie Trailer: Here
#42.127 Hours (2010)
Aron Ralston was trapped by a boulder for five days while canyoneering in Utah. He was forced to amputate his arm to free himself, and the movie tells his story of survival against all odds.
Movie Trailer: Here
#41. The Edge (1997)
This movie stars Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin as two rivals stranded in the wilderness after a plane crash. They must put aside their differences and work together to make it out alive.
Movie Trailer: Here
#40. Robinson Crusoe (1997)
A man is stranded on a deserted island and must use his ingenuity and courage to survive.
Movie Trailer: Here
#39. The Life of Pi (2012)
This movie is based on the best-selling novel of the same name. It tells the story of a boy stranded on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. Together, they must find a way to survive their ordeal.
Movie Trailer: Here
#38. Room (2015)
Room is a tale of a mother and son who were kept captive by a kidnapper in a solitary room for years with little access to necessities like food and sunshine. However, they succeed in escaping and regaining their freedom.
Movie Trailer: Here
#37. Swiss Family Robinson (1960)
A family is shipwrecked on a deserted island. They must work together to build a new life and find a way back to civilization.
Movie Trailer: Here
#36. Edge of Winter (2016)
A recently divorced guy chooses to spend some quality time with his two sons in the woods. Unfortunately, they quickly become stuck, forcing the boys’ father to find a place to stay.
Movie Trailer: Here
#35. Tank Girl (1995)
This post-apocalyptic action comedy is set in a future where water is the most precious commodity on Earth. A group of survivors must find a way to escape the tyrannical rule of the Water and Power company.
Movie Trailer: Here
#34. American Blackout (2006)
American Blackout is a 90-minute “docu-drama” exploring the consequences of a cyberattack that brought down the US electrical infrastructure. It explores the question: What should we do if the lights go out?
Movie Trailer: Here
#33. 28 Days Later (2002)
A bicycle courier woke up in a London hospital four weeks after being diagnosed with a mysterious illness.
The illness spread all over England, forcing him and a small group of survivors to fight their way out of the city to seek refuge in the countryside.
Movie Trailer: Here
#32. Deep Impact (1998)
Deep Impact follows the story of a group of people who must prepare for – and survive a massive comet on a collision course with Earth.
Movie Trailer: Here
#31. A Quiet Place (2018)
What appears to be a horror thriller is actually a story about a family struggling to survive. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic world where dangerous animals wiped off most of the human population.
This film tells the story of a family that fights to survive the gruesome environment. To communicate, the family uses sign language because the animals were all blind.
Movie Trailer: Here
#30. The Beach (2000)
Leonardo DiCaprio finds a secret island paradise. However, paradise is not all it seems, and he must find a way to escape before it destroys him.
Movie Trailer: Here
#29. The Shallows (2016)
A woman becomes stranded on a small island after being attacked by a great white shark. She must find a way to get back to safety before the shark comes back for more.
Movie Trailer: Here
#28. The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)
Two journalists investigate strange events that seem to lead to the world’s end.
Movie Trailer: Here
#27. The Island (2005)
A group of people chose to live in a utopia. However, they soon realize that the utopia is not all that it seems, and they must find a way to escape.
Movie Trailer: Here
#26. The Omega Man (1971)
Dr Robert Neville is thought to be one of the few humans to survive a biological war between Russia and China.
He is not, and Neville quickly realizes that while living in the ruins of what was once Los Angeles. He battles a horde of ghostly pale mutants who have designated him a top target because of the cure he developed that could save humanity.
Movie Trailer: Here
#25. The World’s End (2013)
This apocalyptic comedy follows a group of friends who reunite for a pub crawl and must fight for their lives when they realize the world is about to end.
Movie Trailer: Here
#24. The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
An alien comes to Earth to warn humanity of their impending destruction. He must find a way to make them understand before it’s too late.
Movie Trailer: Here
#23. The Andromeda Strain (1971)
A team of scientists investigate a deadly virus that has decimated a small town. They must find a way to contain the outbreak before it spreads.
Movie Trailer: Here
#22. The Grey (2011)
John Ottoway (Liam Neeson) is a talented marksman who makes a career by taking out wolves that pose a threat to nearby oil drilling operations. Ottoway is already in a dangerous frame of mind from being separated from his wife. Plus the demanding way of life in the north is making him lose his mind. Ottoway and his coworkers board a trip back to the mainland once his contract with the oil business expires, but their plane crashes in the middle of nowhere.
Movie Trailer: Here
#21. The Postman (1997)
A conflict that decimated most of the population, and the government left America ruined in 2013. People struggle to survive in the face of a rogue militia and famine.
Movie Trailer: Here
#20. Reign of Fire (2002)
Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey lead survivor groups after dragons—yes, dragons— wreaked havoc worldwide. This movie shows various aspects of community, leadership, food growing, electricity, etc., in the craziest times to live.
Movie Trailer: Here
#19. Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
In order to live alone, Robert Redford relocates to the mountains. As soon as he becomes overwhelmed, local Indians and mountain men teach him some survival skills.
Movie Trailer: Here
Related: Are You A Community Member Or A Lone Wolf?
#18. The Divergent Series (2015)
In a dystopian Chicago, people are divided into several factions based on human virtue. They are forced to choose between different factions and must find a way to survive in a dangerous world.
Movie Trailer: Here
#17. Alive (1993)
This film is based on the true story of an Uruguayan rugby team stranded in the Andes Mountains after their plane crashed.
Movie Trailer: Here
#16. Cast Away (2000)
Tom Hanks is stranded on a barren island. Observe him as he gathers food and water and manages the survival pressures.
Movie Trailer: Here
#15. The Lost City of Z (2016)
Percy Fawcett disappeared while searching for a lost city in the Amazon. The movie follows his son, who sets out to find out what happened to his father.
Movie Trailer: Here
#14. The Way Back (2010)
This movie is based on the true story of prisoners who escaped a Siberian gulag during World War II.
Movie Trailer: Here
#13. The Wind and the Lion (1975)
American diplomats are kidnapped by a Moroccan sheik in the 1900s. They must find a way to escape and return to their homes.
Movie Trailer: Here
#12. Touching the Void (2003)
Joe Simpson falls and breaks his leg while climbing the Andes with Simon Yates. The two climbers go up the west face of Siula Grande in search of help.
Movie Trailer: Here
#11. Buried (2010)
Ryan Reynolds is a US truck driver in Iraq. After being attacked, he awakens to discover that he is still alive and is holding only a lighter and a cell phone in a coffin.
Movie Trailer: Here
#10. I Am Legend (2007)
A killer plague kills most of humanity and turns those who are infected into monsters. Will Smith is a lone military research researcher who is heroically trying to find a cure for humanity while striving to survive in New York City.
Movie Trailer: Here
#9. The Impossible (2012)
This movie is mainly on this list because it depicts “street level” events following a catastrophic calamity, with torn-apart families attempting to reunite amid the mayhem.
Movie Trailer: Here
#8. All Is Lost (2013)
This film stars Robert Redford as a man stranded in the middle of the ocean with only a small raft and a few supplies.
Movie Trailer: Here
#7. The 33 (2015)
The 33 accurately accounts for the 33 Chilean miners that spent 69 days underground.
Movie Trailer: Here
#6. Greenland (2020)
Greenland is a high-budget disaster film that centers its narrative on a family attempting to survive an unexpected worldwide calamity.
It’s worth seeing. However, Gerard and Allison Butler’s constant foolish choices made me upset. So take this as a two-hour example of what not to do during a disaster.
Movie Trailer: Here
Related: How To Make A Self Feeding Fire
#5. How I Live Now (2013)
As war engulfs the globe around her, a young American girl sent to live with relatives in the English countryside discovers love and purpose while struggling to survive. A terrific family movie that is more geared at young adults.
Movie Trailer: Here
#4. It Comes at Night (2017)
A family in a rural home develops protocols for quarantine, self-defense while searching for supplies, how to interact with strangers, etc., as the world implodes. It raises a fundamental prepping concern: Will you assist strangers if SHTF?
Movie Trailer: Here
#3. White Hunter Black Heart (1990)
This movie is based on the true story of director John Huston, who goes to Africa to make a movie about big game hunting. However, he becomes obsessed with killing an elephant and must find a way to control his urges.
Movie Trailer: Here
#2. Contagion (2011)
A deadly virus with very unsettling similarities to COVID-19 begins in China and spreads worldwide. Matt Damon portrays a father trying to guide his family through food shortages, looting, government errors, and more.
Movie Trailer: Here
#1. 2012 (2009)
This movie is about the widely publicized Mayan calendar prophecy of the end of the world in 2012 (remember that?). I’ve seen this movie five times, although it really has nothing to do with preparation.
Movie Trailer: Here
Which movies have you watched, and which ones do you think should be on the list? Let us know in the comments below!
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The movie idiocracy. It is prophecy, and it won’t take 500 years for us to get there.
The Day After 1983, and Miracle Mile 1988.