My Favorite Adventure Films
"MY FAVORITE ADVENTURE FILMS"
Adventure films have always been one of my favorite genres. Below is a list of what I considered to be my all time favorite adventure films:
1. "Indiana Jones and the Temple Doom" (1984) - This second Indiana Jones movie pits the intrepid Dr. Jones (Harrison Ford) against a Thugee cult in 1935 India. This is considered the least popular in the franchise. Ironically, this is my favorite. I think it has the strongest story amongst the four films.
2. "King Solomon's Mine" (1950) - MGM released this version of H. Rider Haggard's adventure novel. Starring Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr, this movie earned several Academy Awards, including one for Best Picture. And I love it.
3. "The Four Feathers" (2002) - Although the 1939 version of A.E.W. Mason's novel is more popular, I happened to be more fond of this version that was directed by Shekhar Kapur. Many tend to view it as too "politically correct" for their tastes. I suspect that this is the reason why I like it so much. The movie starred Heath Ledger, Kate Hudson, Wes Bentley and Djimon Hounsou.
4. "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) - This was the movie that introduced Indiana Jones to the world. Many considered it the best of the franchise. I don't exactly agree, but I love it anyway.
5. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (2006) - The second of the "PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN" franchise and much to my suprise . . . my favorite. This movie has Jack Sparrow, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann pitted against Davy Jones and the East India Trading Company. The finale is one of my all time favorites in film history.
6. "Charge of the Light Brigade" (1936) - This has become my favorite Errol Flynn movie of all time. Despite its title, the Crimean War plays a small part in this tale about how a regiment of British lancers' conflict with a minor Indian majarajah. This movie featured a surprisingly first-rate performance by Flynn and an appallingly wild and crazy calvary charge.
7. "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003) - This first movie in the "PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEN" franchise that introduced the world to roguish pirate Jack Sparrow (memorably portrayed by Johnny Depp), along with Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann and Hector Barbossa. This story involved a cursed Aztec treasure.
8. "Last of the Mohicans" (1992) - This umpteenth version of James Fenimore Cooper's novel featured Daniel Day Lewis as the American frontiersman who becomes involved with the daughters of a British officer during the Seven Years' War.
9. "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (2007) - The last of the "PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN" trilogy that involved Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and his co-horts' conflict with the East India Trading Company.
10. "The Sea Hawk" (1940) - Barely based upon Rafael Sabatini's novel (and I do mean barely), this Errol Flynn swashbuckler is about the battle between an English privateer and Spain's empire.
11. "The Three Musketeers" (1973) - This is the seventh or eighth version of Alexander Dumas' classic adventure novel. And this is my favorite version. It starred Michael York, Oliver Reed, Faye Dunaway, Raquel Welsh, Richard Chamberlain, Frank Finlay, Christopher Lee, Geraldine Chaplin and Charlton Heston.
12. "The Mark of Zorro" (1940) - Based on the Johnston McCulley story, "The Curse of Capistrano", this swashbuckler set in early California starred Tyrone Power as a Californio aristocrat who helps the locals resist the tyranny of a corrupt alcalde and his henchmen. The movie co-starred Linda Darnell and Basil Rathbone.
I have other favorites, but the above are my top favorites.