Movies Like Survival!

If you liked Survival! (1980), a family and drama movie directed by Alan Madison, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Life in a Day (2011)
★ 7.2/10Also documentary and drama
A documentary shot by filmmakers all over the world that serves as a time capsule to show future generations what it was like to be alive on the 24th of July, 2010.
2
Elephant (2020)
★ 7.7/10Also documentary and family
Disneynature’s Elephant follows African elephant Shani and her spirited son Jomo as their herd make an epic journey hundreds of miles across the vast Kalahari Desert. Led by their great matriarch, Gaia, the family…
3
Polar Bear (2022)
★ 7.2/10Also documentary and family
A new mother’s memories of her own youth prepare her to navigate motherhood in the increasingly challenging world that polar bears face today.
4
Ashes and Snow (2005)
★ 7.3/10Also documentary and drama
Ashes and Snow, a film by Gregory Colbert, uses both still and movie cameras to explore extraordinary interactions between humans and animals. The 60-minute feature is a poetic narrative rather than a documentary. It…
5
Oceans (2010)
★ 7.5/10Also documentary and family
An ecological drama/documentary, filmed throughout the globe. Part thriller, part meditation on the vanishing wonders of the sub-aquatic world.
6
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet (2020)
★ 8.4/10Also documentary and drama
The story of life on our planet by the man who has seen more of the natural world than any other. In more than 90 years, Attenborough has visited every continent on the globe, exploring the wild places of our planet…
7
The 11th Hour (2007)
★ 6.8/10Also documentary and drama
A look at the state of the global environment including visionary and practical solutions for restoring the planet's ecosystems. Featuring ongoing dialogues of experts from all over the world, including former Soviet…
8
The Elephant Queen (2019)
★ 7.3/10Also documentary and family
Embark on an epic journey of family, courage, and coming home in this feature-length documentary. Join Athena, the majestic matriarch, as she leads her elephant herd across an unforgiving African landscape filled with…
9
Collapse (2009)
★ 7.2/10Also documentary and drama
From the acclaimed director of American Movie, the documentary follows former Los Angeles police officer turned independent reporter Michael Ruppert. He recounts his career as a radical thinker and spells out his…
10
Antarctica: A Year on Ice (2013)
★ 7.3/10Also drama and documentary
Filling the giant screen with stunning time-lapse vistas of Antarctica, and detailing year-round life at McMurdo and Scott Base, Anthony Powell’s documentary is a potent hymn to the icy continent and the heavens above.
11
David Blaine: Real or Magic (2013)
★ 6.8/10Also family and documentary
David Blaine's signature brand of street magic mystifies the most recognisable celebrities in the world, such as Jamie Foxx, Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Ricky Gervais, Katy Perry, Woody Allen, and Robert DeNiro, to…
12
Dolphin Reef (2018)
★ 6.8/10Also documentary and family
Echo is a youngster who can't quite decide if it's time to grow up and take on new responsibilities-or give in to her silly side and just have fun. Dolphin society is tricky, and the coral reef that Echo and his family…
13
Ryan (2004)
★ 6.8/10Also documentary and drama
Centres on Canadian animator Ryan Larkin, who in later years lived on skid row in Montreal following a history of drug and alcohol abuse.
14
The Devil on Trial (2023)
★ 5.9/10Also documentary and drama
Explore the first – and only – time “demonic possession” has officially been used as a defense in a U.S. murder trial. Including firsthand accounts of alleged devil possession and a shocking murder, this extraordinary…
15
The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari (2022)
★ 7.2/10Also documentary and drama
A close examination of the Whakaari / White Island volcanic eruption of 2019 in which 22 lives were lost, the film viscerally recounts a day when ordinary people were called upon to do extraordinary things, placing…
16
Touching the Void (2003)
★ 7.6/10Also documentary and drama
The true story of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates' disastrous and nearly-fatal mountain climb of 6,344m Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.
17
The Eagle Huntress (2016)
★ 7/10Also family and documentary
Follow Aisholpan, a 13-year-old girl, as she trains to become the first female in twelve generations of her Kazakh family to become an eagle hunter, and rise to the pinnacle of a tradition that has been typically been…
18
The Meerkats (2008)
★ 6.7/10Also documentary and family
A coming of age story following a young meerkat pup, Kolo, growing up in the Kalahari desert; and an inspiring look at how one family's connection to each other and their surroundings is a model of resilience and…
19
All That Breathes (2022)
★ 6.9/10Also documentary and drama
Against the darkening backdrop of New Delhi's apocalyptic air and escalating violence, two brothers devote their lives to protecting one casualty of the turbulent times: the bird known as the black kite.
20
The Rescue (2021)
★ 8/10Also documentary and drama
The enthralling, against-all-odds story that transfixed the world in 2018: the daring rescue of twelve boys and their coach from deep inside a flooded cave in Northern Thailand.