The Best Adventure Movies | Outside Online

Outside Magazine, June 2005

Outside Goes to the Movies
Evolution of the Adventure Hero
From Tarzan and Bogie to Spicoli and Depp, a look at the rise of cinema's indestructible action archetype

By Steven Kotler

1920 The Mark of Zorro: Swashbuckling and silent, Zorro (Douglas Fairbanks) becomes Tinseltown's first adventure icon.

1932 Tarzan the Ape Man: Olympic swimmer Johnny Weissmuller has gold-winning shoulders and the willingness to wear a loincloth on camera.

1938 The Adventures of Robin Hood: Hollywood takes men in tights seriously with Errol Flynn's gentleman bandit combining fancy swordplay and suave sophistication.

1950 Rio Grande: Ten-gallon hats, bandannas worn with rakish esprit, trotting off into sunsets—is there a western cliché that came before the Duke?

1951 The African Queen: Bogart's boozy riverboat captain, Charlie Allnut, brings gravitas and dry wit to the adventure stud.

1956 Moby Dick: As Captain Ahab, Gregory Peck tracks his beast, gets his butt kicked, and . . . dies lashed to the great whale's back. Well played!

1960 Spartacus: Who is Spartacus? Kirk Douglas is Spartacus! And he proves that men can wear sandals and miniskirts and still be tough as nails.

1962 Dr. No: Sean Connery is Bond—James Bond—a tuxedo-wearing, babe-shagging, licensed-to-kill Brit spy. Vodka martini sales go way up.

1963 The Great Escape: Steve McQueen establishes the strong, silent type, and more and more men let their motorcycles do the talking.

1969 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Newman and Redford dish rugged charm, subtle humor, and fine acting as the infamous Wild West duo.

1973 Enter the Dragon: And enter Bruce Lee, auteur of the combat sequence. Lee choreographs all his own fights based on jeet kune do, his own form of martial art.

1975 The Eiger Sanction: As mountaineer Jonathan Hemlock, Clint Eastwood (who also directs) trades his pistol for automatic weapons and alpine espionage.

1977 Star Wars: Luke and Han enter the pop pantheon, as does Chewie (Peter Mayhew), loyal—and hairy—as a sheep dog.

1979 Alien: "This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off." So says Sigourney Weaver, the first ass-kicking outer-space babe.

1982 The Man From Snowy River: Ah, a man and his horse . . . ride down a sheer cliff! Welcome to the club, Jim Craig (Tom Burlinson).

1982 Fast Times at Ridgemont High: "All I need is a cool buzz and some tasty waves and I'm fine." Sean Penn steps up as stoner surf master Spicoli, bane of a certain Mr. Hand.

1982 Conan The Barbarian: Arnold Schwarzenegger hits the silver screen, sword swinging—and we all buy gym memberships, hoping to get huge.

1985 Better Off Dead: John Cusack schusses Squaw Valley's K-12 chute to impress the belle of his high school. Who says angst-ridden teens can't be heroes, too?

1985 Pee-Wee's Big Adventure: Gotta love a guy whose dream is to win the Tour de France.

1986 "Crocodile" Dundee: Paul Hogan is an Aussie croc hunter in New York. A cliché is born.

1988 Die Hard: As John McClane, Bruce Willis wages a one-man war on terror long before it's cool.

1988 The Great Outdoors: In the misadventurous spirit of Tim Cahill, John Candy and Dan Aykroyd take their turns as bumbling outdoorsmen of the big screen.

1992 A River Runs Through It: Brad Pitt puts fly-fishing on the map. We're still trying to figure out what the hell "shadow casting" is.

1992 The Last of the Mohicans: Daniel Day-Lewis pulls off Hawkeye, pioneer-turned-Indian. Not bad for an English actor!

1993 CliffHanger: Absurd, sure, but revel in the spectacle of Sly dangling in the Dolomites. "Yo, Adrian, I'm on belay!"

1993 Free Willy: Orcas make great pets. Er, actually, no, they don't. Willy (Keiko) proves it.

1994 The River Wild: Meryl Streep—performing most of her own stunts—is Gail, a retired river guide and the ultimate backcountry supermom.

1997 Seven Years in Tibet: Pitt again, now as Austrian alpinist and Dalai Lama chum Heinrich Harrer. free tibet sticker, anyone?

1997 Austin Powers: international man of mystery: Secret agent Powers (Mike Myers) ranks somewhere between Pee-wee and Chewbacca—but is oh-so quotable!

1999 The Matrix: Keanu Reeves's Neo navigates a virtual wilderness. Nice metaphor for the modern workplace.

2000 The Perfect Storm: Swordfishing-boat captain Billy Tyne (George Clooney) takes on an angry Ma Nature. Guess who wins?

2001 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: The ultimate nerd-pleaser: Angelina Jolie as an archaeologist, in Lycra, traipsing through a humid Cambodian jungle.

2002 The Scorpion King: The Rock stole the show in The Mummy Returns, so he gets his very own prequel.

2002 xXx: Vin Diesel wheelies into the spotlight as Hollywood's beefcake du jour.

2002 Blue Crush: Kate Bosworth, we love you. Will you marry us?

2003 Pirates of the Caribbean: Johnny Depp is swishy pirate and rake Jack Sparrow. Finally, someone brings a little class to the rogue's rogue.

2004 The Day After Tomorrow: As a fearless climatologist, Dennis Quaid battles nature at its very, very worst. Global warming was never so exciting.

2004 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou: Bill Murray brings heady dysfunction and an ever-present doobie to his role as a Jacques Cousteau–like undersea explorer bent on avenging his best friend's death at the jaws of the elusive "jaguar shark."

2005 Sin City: Frank Miller's graphic novel gone cinematic gives us a resurrected Mickey Rourke as noir vigilante Marv, a righteous comic hero who leaves appalling slaughter in his wake.

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