Best Outdoors Movies

[Alex]

I also liked Touching the Void and Into the Wild. A few more suggestions I haven't seen above:

The Edge

The River Wild

180 degrees south

Deliverance

[waldy]

Definitely think Touching the Void is the best!  The principles in the true story were involved in the making of the movie, so it's about as realistic as it can get; they even personally starred in part of the film. 

[lonerock]

In addiion to many of the above, I would add westerns, as noted in some posts, with some great cinematography  that transport me back to a time when the west was largely unspoiled and open. I guess that's why I 've always preferred to hike/backpack in wilderness areas.

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

I liked Into the Wild, and somewhat outdoors related in a western themed type way - put me down for Dances with Wolves and the Lonesome Dove series. (Can't press play on that last one or I'm locked in for the entire thing) Specific to hiking and backpacking though...still need to see Wild...but while they haven't rolled through your local AMC theater I've watched a couple videos online related to the CDT that I thought were really entertaining and may have used a lot of corporate time and bandwidth back in the day - Cookie and Paul's CDT hike and @Disco's The Walkumentary:
 

Full series of the Walkumentary here, Part 1:

[kwick6]

Got to go with The Edge and Backcountry. 

[HikerJen]

Here are my fav outdoor movies in no particular order -

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - really interesting, and the soundtrack is outstanding.  

Wild was good but I enjoyed the book more.  I was hoping to see more scenery...  

The Way - touching, with the right amount of humor.  The acting (Martin Sheen) was awesome.

180 degrees south - an outstanding documentary that I can watch over and over.  The scenery was breathtaking and commentary was really eye opening.  Again, a really outstanding soundtrack. (Kudos to Alex for having seen it!)

A Mile, Mile and a half - very good documentary (should watch it again soon)

I just saw Everest over the weekend.  I'm glad I saw it, but I've seen better K2 movies (Vertical Limit, to name one), and A Walk in the Woods?  Meh - the acting was fine, but they should have picked actors that were the right age...

Did nobody see 127 Hours, the movie about Aaron Ralston?  That was pretty good - hard to get thru.

[lonerock]

I saw 127 Hours. You're right, it was kind of hard to get through. For me, it was the thought that I could end up in that situation and whether I  would have the courage to do what he did. I've been in many difficult siuations over the years. One time I  was on a solo trip and got injured 18 miles from the trailhead. I stayed in my tent to treat myself and recover enough to try and make it out the next day. I woke up the next day to several inches of unexpected  snow  near Lake Tahoe in October.. I made it out but it took a lot of will power each step of the way. My point is, and that of the movie,is a about our will to survive and how far we will go to do so. Next time someone blurts out that they would give their right arm to do a certain hike, refer them to 127 Hours

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was also good, both the old version and the newer one. Little Big Man with Dusin Hoffman was another favorite.

[Rocket]

I'll have to second Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

[kwhowell]

I'm surprised that 180 Degrees South was only mentioned twice. Great documentary! Definitely my favorite!

[SecretWeasley]

For me Into the Wild really hit home, especially in reguards to his views on society, also Wild with Reese Witherspoon is a favorite of mine. There is just something about the ones that give me the drive to really hit the trail.

If you are looking for a great documentary Mile, Mile and a Half was amazing as well, the movie really made me want to meet other hikers and enjoy the experience with them.

Edited March 5, 2016 by SecretWeasley