15 jungle movies for those who dream of travel

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Some pictures will make you laugh, while others will convince you to stay away from the rainforest.

1. Apocalypse Now

• USA, 1979.
• Military, drama, history, thriller.
• Duration: 194 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 4.

Captain Willard is sent to find Walter Kurtz in the jungle, a crazy colonel who deserted and created something of a personal army. But on the way, the hero sees such that he himself begins to lose touch with reality.

The great Francis Ford Coppola set out to show all the boundless horror of the war, and he undoubtedly succeeded. Moreover, the director, after the end of filming, brought the film to perfection for two more years.

2. Fitzcarraldo

• Germany, Peru, 1982.
• Drama, adventure.
• Duration: 157 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 1.

Brian Fitzgerald decided to build an opera house in the jungle and invite Caruso to sing there. The hero decides to earn money for this crazy project by breaking up a rubber plantation in the floodplain of the Amazon River.

The filming of the film was postponed several times due to the fact that the actors refused to work after seeing what was expected of them. The fact is that director Werner Herzog forced the team to work in the very depths of the impenetrable jungle, and even at the border point of the military conflict between Peru and Ecuador. All this was done for the sake of stunning shots of untouched nature. In the end, only Klaus Kinski, the director's favorite artist, agreed to such conditions.

True, Kinski was not a gift. It got to the point that the leader of the Indian tribe, who was present on the site, even suggested to Herzog to finish off the absurd actor who was bored to death with all his antics.

3. Platoon

• USA, UK, 1986.
• Military, history, drama.
• Duration: 115 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 1.

Young Chris Taylor drops out of college and volunteers to fight in Vietnam. From there he returns shaken, but not broken.

Writer and director Oliver Stone survived the war himself. Almost everything that happens to his character on the screen, he took from personal experience, in particular the memorable episode with the rescue of a girl.

The director waited for the financial opportunity to realize his idea for 10 years, and for good reason. The brutal growing up story, set against the backdrop of the Vietnamese jungle, has won four Academy Awards.

4. Jurassic Park

• USA, 1993.
• Adventure, fantasy, family friendly.
• Duration: 127 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 1.

A group of paleontologists come to an unusual amusement park with live dinosaurs to inspect the attraction before it opens. But because of the sabotage organized by one of the employees, the lizards break free.

An entire generation has grown up on the Jurassic Park franchise. The series owes its success not only to the directorial talent of Steven Spielberg, but also to the work of computer graphics specialists.

Many episodes were filmed in a real jungle on the northern coast of the Dominican Republic. Nevertheless, the special effects department still had to work hard to make the prehistoric forest look realistic. But most importantly, they created dinosaurs that looked convincing on the big screen.

5. Jumanji

• USA, 1995.
• Adventure, fantasy, comedy.
• Duration: 104 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 0.

The son of a shoe manufacturer Alan Parrish finds an unusual board game "Jumanji". The hero decides to play it together with his friend Sarah Whittle, but in the process he disappears without a trace right in front of the amazed girl's eyes.

After 26 years, young Judy and Peter Shepard rescue Alan from captivity. It turned out that the boy was then thrown into the jungle, where he managed to grow up. Now, in order to bring everything back, the heroes need to find Sarah and finish the game together. But they are opposed by poisonous plants, wild animals, as well as an obsessed hunter.

Joe Johnson's Jumanji is the perfect family movie. At the time of its release, the picture won the hearts of absolutely all viewers, regardless of age, and the special effects look good even in our time.

6. George of the Jungle

• USA, 1997.
• Melodrama, Comedy, Adventure, Family.
• Duration: 92 minutes.
• IMDb: 5, 5.

Adventurer Ursula Stanhope learns that a new species of primates has allegedly appeared in the African wilderness. But the mysterious monkey turns out to be an ordinary person named George. The latter grew up in the jungle and has no idea what civilization is. The girl takes the savage to San Francisco and gradually falls in love with him.

Sam Wiseman's comedy pokes fun at Tarzan, The Lion King and other popular African stories. First of all, the film will appeal to fans of Brendan Fraser, who is at his peak here.

7. King Kong

• New Zealand, USA, Germany, 2005.
• Drama, romance, adventure, fantasy.
• Duration: 187 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 2.

Unrecognized filmmaker Karl Denham brings a film crew to a remote island in the Indian Ocean. He is going to make an adventure film, but he does not even suspect what dangers await them there.

Another picture about King Kong is amazing with great action and an excellent story. The scenes shot in the jungle are especially good. Peter Jackson showed the rainforest, where a deadly trap awaits the heroes at every step, and this is truly frightening.

8. Apocalypse

• USA, Mexico, UK, 2006.
• Thriller, drama, adventure.
• Duration: 139 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 8.

The Mayan population began to decline, and the high priests decide that it is necessary to bring another human sacrifice to the gods. A detachment of cutthroats is sent for the captives to a Mayan village lost in the jungle. Now the hero named Paw Jaguar has to save himself and protect his pregnant wife and little son from death.

Director Mel Gibson tried to achieve authenticity, so he invited non-professional actors to the picture. The characters speak Yucatec, and the film was filmed in a real jungle in Mexico.

9. Jurassic World

• USA, 2015.
• Science fiction, adventure.
• Duration: 125 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 0.

The action takes place 22 years after the events of Jurassic Park. The ill-fated attraction with dinosaurs is still opened, but there are fewer and fewer visitors. In order to regain the interest of the people, the leaders decide to raise a new huge pangolin. He, of course, breaks free, and now all hope is for the former Marine Owen Grady.

14 years after the release of Jurassic Park 3, the producers decided to resurrect the franchise. The new picture was filmed by people who have nothing to do with the original trilogy, and even the name of Steven Spielberg is mentioned only formally in the credits. But there are still many emerald jungles, dangerous creatures and intense pursuits.

10. Tarzan. Legend

• UK, Canada, USA, 2016.
• Fantasy, action, drama, melodrama, adventure.
• Duration: 110 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 2.

The savage Tarzan was raised by monkeys. When the hero grew up, he met the Englishwoman Jane, went to London, married and became known as John Clayton. However, the Belgians capture his native Congo and trick the hero back into the jungle.

Briton David Yates, author of the last four Harry Potter films and the Fantastic Beasts franchise, was responsible for the production of Tarzan. The creators decided not to re-shoot the story of the formation of the character, which is already familiar to many, but briefly retold it in flashbacks.

The idea is interesting, but the tape came out unreasonably gloomy and serious. Although the authors managed to convey the spirit of adventure.

11. The Jungle Book

• UK, USA, 2016.
• Fantasy, drama, adventure, family.
• Duration: 105 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 4.

The severe tiger Sher Khan vowed to kill the found Mowgli, who grew up with wolves. However, his foster family and friends, as well as a good half of the jungle, stand up to protect the boy.

The Disney studio entrusted Jon Favreau, the creator of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, to shoot a "live" remake of its classic "The Jungle Book". The decision was very correct, because the director managed to make a major hit out of the familiar story. True, for this it was necessary to deviate quite strongly from the canon of Rudyard Kipling.

12. Jungle

• Australia, Columbia, UK, 2017.
• Thriller, drama, adventure.
• Duration: 115 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 7.

Israeli Yossi Ginsberg succumbs to the persuasion of a mysterious German to accompany him to an ancient Indian settlement, where you can profit from gold. Having assembled a team of four people, the hero goes to the impenetrable jungles of South America. But things are not going according to plan.

Director Greg McLean has already brought up the subject of the collision of man with nature in the movie "Crocodile". In addition, the tape was released with the support of the Discovery Channel, so the jungle in the picture looks, though dangerous, but majestic.

Separately, it is necessary to praise the play of Daniel Radcliffe, who, in an attempt to distance himself from the image of Harry Potter, always chooses not the most obvious and rather difficult roles.

13. Kong: Skull Island

• USA, 2017.
• Adventure, action, fantasy.
• Duration: 118 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 6.

A team of scientists and military personnel are sent to a remote archipelago. They do not yet realize about the huge monsters living here, and the trip quickly turns into a struggle between man and nature.

Aspiring director Jordan Vot-Roberts did not want his work to be compared to a Peter Jackson film, so he suggested that Legendary move the action back to the 70s. Therefore, according to the plot, this time it is not filmmakers who are sent to fight Kong in the jungle, but the military, prepared for Vietnam.

14. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

• USA, India, Canada, UK, Australia, Germany, 2017.
• Fantasy, action, comedy, adventure.
• Duration: 119 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 9.

Four teenagers find an old console with a single Jumanji cartridge inside. They turn on the game and find themselves in the African jungle. Now they have to fight not only for victory, but also for life. Moreover, they must do this while in other people's bodies.

The film is associated with the 1995 tape rather symbolically, and the director, actors and even the rules of survival are completely new here. From a board game, the game has become a cartridge for a console, and the characters, once inside Jumanji, face various conventions of the virtual world. And it looks sometimes incredibly funny.

If you enjoy Welcome to the Jungle, check out the sequel to The Next Level, featuring the same cast - Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black and more.

15. Mowgli

• UK, USA, 2018.
• Fantasy, drama, adventure.
• Duration: 104 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 5.

A boy named Mowgli grew up in a wolf pack. He has to find his place in the world, because the hero is alien to both people and animals living in the jungle.

This version of Rudyard Kipling's story was directed by Andy Sirkis. Unlike Jon Favreau, he did not need to make a film with a family audience in mind. As a result, the picture turned out to be much more adult and even scary, but at the same time much closer to the literary source.