Alaska has wild landscapes, challenging climates, and epic stories. Films shot there capture the beauty of seclusion, the struggle with the natural world, and the struggle with the self. For the adventure, comedy, and drama genres, the state is the ideal scenery for the story. Here is the best selection of the finest films about Alaska, transporting the viewer through its breathtaking landscapes and introducing the living conditions in the world’s most challenging places.
Content
- White Fang
- Into the Wild
- Grizzly Man
- Never Cry Wolf
- Mystery, Alaska
- Runaway Train
- Big Miracle
- The Grey
- Hold the Dark
- Togo
White Fang
IMDb: 6.7/10
1991, Adventure, Drama
USA, PG
Director: Randal Kleiser
Top Cast: Ethan Hawke, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Seymour Cassel
White Fang is an adventure drama of Jack London’s novel. It is about the Klondike Gold Rush during the late 1800s. Jack Conroy (Ethan Hawke) is a San Francisco young man who heads to the Yukon to seek his dead father’s gold claim. Along his journey, he befriends a half-wolf, half-dog called White Fang. The beast is savage and wary at first, but Jack and White Fang later have a very friendly relationship. They need to battle against the brutal cold climate north, fighting men, wild beasts, and dangerous weather.
It was shot in the stunning, realistic wilderness of Canada and Alaska. The snowy landscapes and mountains create a real setting. It is a classic survival story that depicts the struggles of people trying to find gold and settle in the North. The relationship between White Fang and Jack is the epicenter of the movie, developing gradually as they get used to each other. They are what make the movie thrilling and emotional. While the film has some action scenes and dramatic moments, it is a family movie that appeals to many people.
Into the Wild
IMDb: 8.1/10
2007, Adventure, Biography, Drama
USA, R
Director: Sean Penn
Top Cast: Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt
Into the Wild is a biographical drama film adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s nonfiction book. The film is the real-life account of Christopher McCandless (played by Emile Hirsch), a young man from a well-off family who chooses to live without material goods. He graduated from college in 1990, donated his savings to charity, abandoned his car, and hitchhiked across the United States. Along the journey, he meets people who impact his worldview. His final destination is Alaska, where he hopes to live alone, relying only on nature. The harsh conditions and lack of experience create serious obstacles.
A majority of the events in the movie occur very close to how they happened in real life. The Magic Bus that McCandless inhabited has become a symbol of adventure and discovery. It attracted tourists to the Alaskan bush until the government removed it in 2020 for safety reasons. Emile Hirsch lost 40 pounds (18 kg) to depict McCandless’s physical decline accurately. Sean Penn waited ten years to bring this film to life, adhering strictly to accuracy and emotional impact.
Grizzly Man
IMDb: 7.8/10
2005, Documentary, Biography
USA, R
Director: Werner Herzog
Top Cast: Timothy Treadwell, Amie Huguenard, Werner Herzog (narrator)
Grizzly Man is a documentary by Werner Herzog that tells the story of Timothy Treadwell, an ecologist who spent 13 summers among grizzly bears in Alaska. Treadwell believed that he was unique to the bears and their guardian. He taped his encounters with them, talking directly to the camera about how much he loved them and kept them safe from hunters.
Treadwell was killed by a grizzly bear in 2003, along with his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard. The documentary, taken from over 100 hours of footage shot by Treadwell, examines his personality, beliefs, and the fine line between passion and peril. The footage is accompanied by interviews with people who knew Treadwell, providing a nuanced picture of his life.
Never Cry Wolf
IMDb: 7.5/10
1983, Adventure, Drama
USA, PG
Director: Carroll Ballard
Top Cast: Charles Martin Smith, Brian Dennehy, Zachary Ittimangnaq
Never Cry Wolf is a drama adventure film based on Farley Mowat’s novel. Tyler (Charles Martin Smith), a scientist, is dispatched to the Arctic to study wolves and find out how they impact the caribou herd. The people believe that the wolf is slaughtering the caribou, and it is Tyler’s job to provide proof of it.
As he spends months on the tundra, he keeps a close eye on the wolves and learns to live among them. He gradually realizes that they are not man-eating brutes but intelligent social creatures. Instead of killing caribou herds, they hunt weakened or diseased animals, and so help even out nature. His experience changes his perspective, and he learns to respect the wild, endure the harsh climate, and question human notions about nature.
Mystery, Alaska
IMDb: 6.7/10
1999, Comedy, Drama, Sport
USA, R
Director: Jay Roach
Top Cast: Russell Crowe, Burt Reynolds, Hank Azaria
Mystery, Alaska is a sports drama about a small Alaskan town where hockey is life, not sport. Every week, the town’s best players come together and play a community game on an ice lake. Their skills are spotted by a national reporter who writes about them, and suddenly, they’re faced with an unexpected challenge: a game against the NHL’s New York Rangers.
The town is anxious and thrilled. The amateur players, who have played only among themselves, must demonstrate what they can do when faced with professionals. The tournament introduces personal strife, discord, and hope anew in the town’s citizens. The book is about small-town pride, harmony, and an incorrigible love for hockey. It illustrates how sport unites people and pushes them to perform better.
Runaway Train
IMDb: 7.2/10
1985, Action, Adventure, Drama
USA, R
Director: Andrei Konchalovsky
Top Cast: Jon Voight, Eric Roberts, Rebecca De Mornay
Runaway Train is an action thriller about two escaped convicts trapped on a runaway train in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. Manny (Jon Voight) is an older prisoner who is highly respected and feared by fellow prisoners. Buck (Eric Roberts) is younger and eager to begin a new life. They break out of a maximum-security prison and climb aboard a train, believing it will take them to freedom.
Their escape turns dangerous when the train’s engineer has a heart attack, and the train starts racing out of control. Manny and Buck must work together despite their inner conflict as it speeds towards disaster. Meanwhile, the prison’s ruthless warden (John P. Ryan) will stop at nothing to get Manny back.
Big Miracle
IMDb: 6.5/10
2012, Biography, Drama, Romance
USA, UK, PG
Director: Ken Kwapis
Top Cast: Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski, John Pingayak
Big Miracle is a drama that recounts the true story of a rescue operation to release three gray whales trapped in the ice near a small Alaskan town. Adam Carlson (John Krasinski), a reporter in Barrow, Alaska, discovers that a family of whales is trapped in a small breathing hole and cannot access open water. His examination draws nationwide and worldwide attention, assembling such environmental activists, reporters, oil firms, local Inuit aboriginals, and even the Soviet and US armies to assist him.
The operation becomes even more complex with icy conditions and political disputes. Adam also reunites with his ex-girlfriend, environmentalist Rachel Kramer (Drew Barrymore), who is devoted to saving the whales.
The Grey
IMDb: 6.8/10
2011, Action, Adventure, Drama
USA, R
Director: Joe Carnahan
Top Cast: Liam Neeson, Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo
The Grey is a survival thriller in which a group of oil rig workers are stranded in the Alaskan wilderness after their plane crashes. John Ottway (Liam Neeson), a skilled marksman brought in to protect workers from wolves, takes charge of the survivors as they battle sub-freezing temperatures, injuries, and starvation. Their biggest threat, however, is from a pack of ruthless wolves that begin to stalk and kill them individually.
As they move through the snowy landscape, exhaustion and fear creep in. Ottway tries to keep them moving and lead them to safety, but the extreme conditions and personal demons make survival impossible. The film is about life, death, human nature, and how people act under extreme pressure.
Hold the Dark
IMDb: 5.6/10
2018, Action, Drama, Mystery
USA, TV-MA
Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Top Cast: Jeffrey Wright, Alexander Skarsgård, Riley Keough
Hold the Dark is an Alaskan-set thriller mystery. Medora Slone (Riley Keough) believes wolves have abducted her six-year-old son. She approaches wolf expert Russell Core (Jeffrey Wright). Core goes to the location, explores the rugged terrain, and observes the suspicious behavior of the locals. Eventually, he finds out that the truth is even more terrifying.
Meanwhile, Medora’s husband, Vernon Slone (Alexander Skarsgård), returns from war and behaves erratically about his son’s disappearance. This becomes the catalyst for a violent series of events. Core is left trapped in a precarious situation, seeking truth concealed behind manhood, brutality, and myth.
Togo
IMDb: 8.0/10
2019, Adventure, Biography, Drama
USA, PG
Director: Ericson Core
Top Cast: Willem Dafoe, Julianne Nicholson, Christopher Heyerdahl
Togo is a historical drama adventure film based on the events of the 1925 Serum Run to Nome, Alaska. The film follows Leonhard Seppala (Willem Dafoe), an experienced dog sled musher, and his lead sled dog, Togo, as they race to deliver life-saving diphtheria medicine across nearly 700 miles of frozen land.
Togo was considered too weak and small to pull a sled as a puppy. But Seppala discovers that the dog has tremendous willpower, endurance, and intelligence. Together, they fight horrific storms, treacherous ice, and death-defying challenges as they race the clock to contain the epidemic.
The real Togo traveled 264 miles — more than any other dog team. In the name of authenticity, some scenes were filmed under freezing conditions in Alberta, Canada. The dog who plays Togo in the film is a direct descendant of the real Togo, ensuring his legacy lives on.
