Survival movies in the 80s were kind of all over the map since they ranged from the most exotic to the most fantastic and then to the most realistic. They were entertaining no doubt but they also left you wondering just which way you’d need to turn in order to really enjoy the movie from a certain point of view. That being said a lot of them were so out there in terms of the subject that they thrilled a lot of people with the content and made folks forget about reality for a couple of hours so they could just enjoy the continual struggle between humanity and the unknown. Truth be told, that’s the struggle that we all face each and every day since no matter what, no matter how well we know the environment we’re in and what to do in any given situation, the future that each day holds is what we really stand against at times. Survival is a daily thing in many different ways, from the most mundane to the most outlandish scenario.
Here are some of the best survival videos from the 80s.
5. The Blue Lagoon
Two kids are stranded on an island, the only adult with them having died and left them all alone. Well, they’re technically not alone since they have one another and a band of natives that live on the far side of the island where they never go. But as the two grow they begin to notice changes in one another as they mature, changes that draw them together amidst feelings of confusion, passion, and in some cases even genuine feelings for each other. When they conceive and birth a child they feel their lives are complete, but the film ends with them accidentally drifting out to sea and being found by a passing ship.
4. Maximum Overdrive
Who knew the tail of a comet could wreak such havoc? When the earth is caught in the tail of the comet every machine suddenly springs to life, attacking their human owners as they kill many within the first day and then continue their rampage up until the survivors find a way to fight back. A small number of people hole up in a diner and are forced to supply the big rigs that keep coming into the gas station that is run just outside of the diner, at least until they figure out how to sabotage the lead vehicle and make a run for it. From that point they make it to an island where there are no machines and no vehicles allowed.
3. The Bear
Sometimes the greatest thrill in life is to let your enemy live, not seek their life. This is the lesson more or less of The Bear. The orphaned cub tries to bond with the big, raging grizzly throughout the movie and despite the adult’s attempts to brush the cub off the young one remains, needing some sort of protector and companionship to survive. When three hunters come after the pair however they capture the cub and chase the adult off. When the adult corners one of the hunters however he lets the man live and walks away. The hunters eventually make their way from the wilderness, leaving the two bears in peace.
2. Mad Max: The Road Warrior
In the wasteland that is left behind after the great wars that spoiled the earth there is little more than desert, fire, and the need to survive. Gasoline is worth killing over, and the struggle to live through each passing day is only for the strongest that are left. In this ruined world there is no place for weakness, but there are those that champion the cause of others simply because they feel the need to distinguish between right and wrong, law and order. Max is a much more practical man, he just wants enough gasoline to keep his rig running, and he doesn’t want to be tied down to anyone if he doesn’t have to be.
1. Rambo: First Blood
To think, Rambo just wanted a hot meal and perhaps a warm bed to sleep in for the night, and he was denied since he looked like a bum. The good sheriff must have been wondering at some point why he was still pursuing the man that could have killed him and his men with the greatest of ease, but anger was an overriding compulsion at one point and wouldn’t allow him to turn back. Rambo’s commanding officer even warned him more than once, but obviously the sheriff was a rather stubborn man. You don’t go to war with a man that’s been in the thick of one, especially when that man was trained to kill without feeling bad about it.
Survival is a very strong word, but it’s something we deal with every day.
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