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Survival film

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The survival film is a film genre in which one or more characters make an effort at physical survival. It often overlaps with other film genres. It is a subgenre of the adventure film, along with swashbuckler films, war films, and safari films.[1] Survival films are darker than most other adventure films which usually focus their storyline on a single character, usually the protagonist. The films tend to be "located primarily in a contemporary context" so film audiences are familiar with the setting, meaning the characters' activities are less romanticized.[2]

In a 1988 book, Thomas Sobchack compared the survival film to romance: "They both emphasize the heroic triumph over obstacles which threaten social order and the reaffirmation of predominant social values such as fair play and respect for merit and cooperation."[2] The author said survival films "identify and isolate a microcosm of society", such as the surviving group from the plane crash in The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) or those on the overturned ocean liner in The Poseidon Adventure (1972). Sobchack explained, "Most of the time in a survival film is spent depicting the process whereby the group, cut off from the securities and certainties of the ordinary support networks of civilized life, forms itself into a functioning, effective unit." The group often varies in types of characters, sometimes to the point of caricature. While women have historically been stereotyped in such films, they "often play a decisive role in the success or failure of the group".[3]

List of films

Film Year Ref.
The 33 2015 [4]
127 Hours 2010 [5]
Against the Sun 2014 [6]
Alive 1993 [7]
All Is Lost 2013 [8]
Apollo 13 1995 [9]
Arctic 2018 [10]
Back from Eternity 1956 [11]
Buried 2010 [5]
Captain Phillips 2013 [12]
Cast Away 2000 [5]
The Deep 2012 [13]
Deliverance 1972 [7]
Dunkirk 2017 [5]
The Edge 1997 [7]
Escape from Alcatraz 1979 [14]
Everest 2015 [15]
Five Came Back 1939 [11]
The Flight of the Phoenix 1965 [3]
Gravity 2013 [12]
The Grey 2011 [16]
A Hijacking 2012 [9]
The Impossible 2012 [17]
In the Heart of the Sea 2015 [18]
Inferno 1953 [11]
Into the Wild 2007 [5]
Jeremiah Johnson 1971 [19]
Life of Pi 2012 [20]
Lifeboat 1944 [21]
Lone Survivor 2013 [12]
Lord of the Flies 1963 [11]
Marooned 1969 [21]
The Martian 2015 [22]
Man in the Wilderness 1971 [21]
Meek's Cutoff 2010 [19]
My Side of the Mountain 1969 [11]
The Naked Prey 1965 [21]
No Blade of Grass 1970 [11]
Nobody Wants the Night 2015 [23]
The Omega Man 1971 [21]
On the Beach 1959 [21]
Open Water 2003 [5]
Panic in Year Zero! 1962 [21]
Planet of the Apes 1968 [21]
The Poseidon Adventure 1972 [3]
Quest for Fire 1981 [5]
Rabbit-Proof Fence 2002 [5]
Rescue Dawn 2006 [5]
The Revenant 2015 [24]
The Road 2009 [9]
Robinson Crusoe 1954 [11]
Robinson Crusoe on Mars 1965 [25]
Sanctum 2011 [26]
Sands of the Kalahari 1965 [21]
The Savage Is Loose 1974 [21]
The Secret Land 1948 [11]
Seven Waves Away 1957 [9]
The Shallows 2016 [27]
Southern Comfort 1981 [19]
Soylent Green 1973 [21]
Stranded: I've Come from a Plane that Crashed in the Mountains 2007 [9]
Survival Quest 1989 [7]
Swiss Family Robinson 1960 [16]
Teenage Caveman 1958 [21]
Touching the Void 2003 [5]
The Ultimate Warrior 1975 [28]
The War Game 1965 [21]
Walkabout 1971 [9]
The Way Back 2010 [5]
The World, the Flesh and the Devil 1959 [21]
Z.P.G. 1972 [21]

See also

References

  1. ^ Sobchack 1988, p. 12
  2. ^ a b Sobchack 1988, p. 14
  3. ^ a b c Sobchack 1988, p. 15
  4. ^ Long, Tom (November 13, 2015). "Review: 'The 33,' true story of struggle for survival". The Detroit News. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Staff (January 23, 2012). "The 10 Best Survival Movies". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  6. ^ Laskin, Nicholas (November 18, 2014). "Watch: Trailer For WWII Survival Film 'Against The Sun' Starring Garret Dillahunt, Tom Felton, Jake Abel". The Playlist. Indiewire. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  7. ^ a b c d Ferguson, Lee (November 12, 2010). "127 Hours and five other great survival movies". cbc.ca. CBC News. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  8. ^ Savage, Sophia (August 7, 2012). "First Look at J.C. Chandor's 'All is Lost' with Robert Redford". Thompson on Hollywood. indieWire. Retrieved September 24, 2012.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Staff (October 17, 2013). "20 Survival Films That Will Take You Into The Abyss". The Playlist. Indiewire. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  10. ^ Barraclough, Leo (May 22, 2017). "Mads Mikkelsen on Surviving the Polar Wilderness in 'Arctic'". Variety. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h Fristoe, Roger (December 22, 2017). "Survival Movies: Fridays in January". tcm.com. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  12. ^ a b c McGrath, Charles (November 1, 2013). "Tales of Danger for You to Survive". The New York Times. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  13. ^ Kaufman, Amy (September 3, 2015). "Fall Movie Guide: Making 'Everest' was a tall order for filmmakers". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  14. ^ Vanhala, Helena (2011). "International Terrorism and the Commercial Hollywood Film Industry". The Depiction of Terrorists in Blockbuster Hollywood Films, 1980-2001: An Analytical Study. McFarland. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-7864-3662-0.
  15. ^ Adams, Sam (September 2, 2015). "First Reviews of 'Everest': Stunning Spectacle, So-So Drama". Criticwire. Indiewire. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  16. ^ a b Guzman, Rafer (January 27, 2012). "Survivor films: Which live, which die – and why?". The Sacramento Bee.
  17. ^ Topel, Fred (November 6, 2012). "AFI 2012 Review: The Impossible". CraveOnline.com. CraveOnline Media, LLC. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
  18. ^ Chang, Justin (December 2, 2015). "Film Review: 'In the Heart of the Sea'". Variety. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  19. ^ a b c Mertes, Micah (November 1, 2013). "The 10 best survival movies". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  20. ^ Holden, Ed (December 19, 2012). "Life of Pi review". MSN Movies. MSN. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Yacowar, Maurice (2003). "The Bug in the Rug". In Grant, Barry Keith (ed.). Film Genre Reader III. University of Texas Press. pp. 281–282. ISBN 978-0-292-70185-4.
  22. ^ Gettell, Oliver (June 8, 2015). "'The Martian' trailer: Matt Damon is lost in space (again)". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  23. ^ Roddy, Michael (February 5, 2015). "Arctic survival film, from female perspective, kicks off Berlin fest". reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  24. ^ Bahr, Lindsey (January 11, 2016). "'Martian,' 'Revenant' get awards boost with top Globes wins". ap.org. Associated Press. Archived from the original on January 11, 2016. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  25. ^ Leskosky, Richard J. (February 2, 2014). "A new film genre: Solitary survival". The News-Gazette. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  26. ^ Burr, Ty (February 4, 2011). "Sanctum". The Boston Globe.
  27. ^ Stolworthy, Jacob (June 9, 2016). "The Shallows could be the shark film all horror fans have been waiting for since Jaws". The Independent. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  28. ^ Shapiro, Jerome F. (2001). Atomic Bomb Cinema: The Apocalyptic Imagination on Film. Routledge. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-415-93660-6.

Bibliography

  • Sobchack, Thomas (1988). "The Adventure Film". In Gehring, Wes D (ed.). Handbook of American Film Genres. Greenwood. ISBN 978-0-313-24715-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
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