20 Best Films About Man and Animal of All Time
In the trailer for his new movie, The Beast , which opens today, Idris Elba is punching a lion. Sounds like gibberish, but the animal attack/survival thriller genre is wide, including prestigious Oscar-winning films, extreme gore festivals, and plenty of inexpensive junk (both good and bad).
These disparate films are united in that they explore the idea that nature is uncontrollable and can turn against us at any moment, turning our hikes, jungle excursions and surf safaris on its head. It’s fun to watch our protagonists find ways to survive (if they can) in the face of bestial fury, or vice versa; Personally, I rarely get into the idea of rooting for people.
These are the top 20 examples of this weird subgenre. We stick to real animals that you can find in nature, so no dinosaurs or talking monkeys. That doesn’t mean they’re nature documentaries – don’t look for too much precision when it comes to animal size or behavior.