The Top 10 Best Movie Explorers
These Movie Explorers Have No Problem Going Off the Beaten Path.
Few things are as exciting as watching brave movie explorers, going off into the great unknown. Seeing them discover rare artifacts, secret conspiracies, or supernatural beings is always quite the thrill. That’s why this week’s top 10 list is devoted to the big screen daredevils who seek out adventure in the remote corners of the world and even the universe. The rules for this list is that the characters have to be live-action, and have to actively be seeking out something or someplace surrounded in mystery. That means that most characters from survival movies won’t be eligible because they get forced into their situations through bad luck. That doesn’t mean these adventurers don’t face life or death situations, just that they hurl themselves into them.
10. Benjamin Franklin Gates- National Treasure and National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Look no one is going to argue that the National Treasure movies are what we might refer to as “good movies.” In fact, they’re absolutely absurd. However, the films keep such a straight face despite a shockingly stupid plots that they have managed to earn themselves a place in pop culture history. Because of that, I decided that Benjamin Franklin Gates deserves a spot on this list simply because he is every cliché that audiences love to see in movie explorers. After all, he’s got an encyclopedic knowledge of American history and secret societies. Plus he’s not afraid to get on the field and be on the front line when it comes to searching out secret relics. He might be a bit of a joke overall, but who doesn’t love a good joke every now and then?
9. Dr. Smolder Bravestone- Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Now, I might not have been as big of a fan of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle as most people, but I won’t deny that Dwayne Johnson’s Dr. Smoulder Bravestone is the very definition of everything we look for in heroic movie explorers. He’s strong, brave, and has a sort of smoldering intensity to him that the ladies love (it’s in his name after all). Of course, in the film, he’s controlled by a shy teenager who isn’t exactly a courageous adventurer. Still, with all the skills and strengths of Bravestone at his disposal, he manages to make his way across the dangerous world of Jumanji. While we don’t get to know the actual Dr. Bravestone, the avatar definitely deserves a spot among these movie explorers.
8. Percy Fawcett- The Lost City of Z
Percy Fawcett is one of the only movie explorers on this list that actually existed. In the film, The Lost City of Z, he’s played by the much more handsome Charlie Hunnam who sports a mustache in honor of the real Fawcett. He’s a British officer who sets off in search of a fabled city of gold hidden somewhere in the rainforests of Brazil. I’m sure the lost city of El Dorado springs to mind as well as the fact that it’s never been found. This doesn’t stop Fawcett from making multiple treks into the jungle in search of it. However, the jungle is a harsh and unforgiving place and he encounters plenty of harrowing terrors in its heart. His obsession with his quest ends up costing him dearly, but that tends to happen to movie explorers.
7. Don Lope de Aguirre- Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Turns out that journeying into the great unknown can take a serious toll on one’s sanity. Case and point is the second character on this list of movie explorers based on a real person. Aguirre, the Wrath of God is a weird movie because it’s a German film about a 15th-century Spanish conquistador. Like Percy Fawcett, Don Lope de Aguirre was in search of a fabled lost city of gold. Spoiler alert, he never actually manages to find it. All Aguirre manages to find in the jungle is madness. His trip is filled with tragedy and as his expedition wanes, he finds himself becoming a more and more oppressive leader as he tries to force his men to continue their death march. Aguirre earns a spot thanks to the brilliant performance by Klaus Kinski and because not all movie explorers are heroes in the end.
6. Jack Colton- Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile
I’ll be the first to admit that while I love Romancing the Stone, the sequel, The Jewel of the Nile leaves a lot to be desired. Still, that doesn’t make Jack Colton any less deserving of being on this list. When romance writer Joan Wilder arrives in Colombia in search of her sister, she’s going to need a guide to survive the jungle and that’s where Jack comes in. The ex-pat has made a living scouring the jungle and is all too happy to earn a buck wherever he can. Things take a wild turn though as the two find themselves in over their heads as they decide to follow a treasure map that promises to lead to an incredible prize. Of course, Jack has more to worry about than just the jungle as plenty of baddies set out after him in hopes of getting their hands on the treasure first.