What Are Your Ten Desert Island Movies?

Kevin

Picture this: You’ve been stranded on a desert island. There’s no rescue in sight, your shelter is mostly held together with palm leaves, and you’re already deeply regretting never learning how to open a coconut. Thankfully, the island does come with one unexpected luxury: a state-of-the-art home theatre system, complete with a giant screen, flawless surround sound, and an apparently endless supply of electricity. Don’t question it. Island magic.

But, as always, there’s a catch. You can only choose ten movies to watch. These will be your comfort, your entertainment, and possibly your only defence against going absolutely insane and befriending a volleyball. So, which films would make the cut? Do you choose soothing favourites, rewatchable classics, or something practical like Cast Away? You know, for the survival tips. With that in mind, here are my ten desert island movies.

The Shining

Stanley Kubrick’s films have long ranked among my favourites, but it took me some time to fully appreciate them. I can still remember my first encounter with The Shining. I hadn’t read Stephen King’s novel and knew very little about the story. In fact, my main frame of reference was the Treehouse of Horror segment from The Simpsons that famously spoofed it. No TV and no beer make Homer something something.

When I finally watched the film, I didn’t love it. Oh well, I thought. I guess it just wasn’t for me.

Several years later, I decided to give it another chance, and, to my surprise, I enjoyed it much more. I returned to it again not long after, and this time I loved it. Every subsequent viewing has revealed something new: an overlooked detail, an unsettling visual, or another possible interpretation to turn over in my mind.

That, more than anything, is what makes The Shining such an ideal desert island movie. No matter how many times I revisit the Overlook Hotel, it never feels quite the same, and I don’t think I’ll ever grow tired of wandering its halls.

Predator

If you’re going to be trapped on a desert island, you need at least one great action movie. I went back and forth between Predator and Die Hard, but I’m a sci-fi guy at heart, so Predator gets the spot.

This was my introduction to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Before The Terminator, Conan the Barbarian, Commando, or Total Recall, there was Predator: a lean, mean, endlessly quotable movie that’s incredibly difficult to beat.

For its opening stretch, the film plays like a fairly typical ’80s action flick, with an elite team of muscle-bound commandos carrying oversized weapons and enough testosterone to level a small jungle. Then it gradually transforms into a tense sci-fi horror movie, as these seemingly indestructible men realize they’re being hunted by something far more dangerous than they are.

Schwarzenegger is fantastic, as is the entire team, but none of it would work if the Predator itself weren’t one of the greatest movie monsters ever created. Much like Alien, the film wisely keeps the creature mostly hidden until the final showdown, allowing the tension to build as the commandos are stripped of their firepower and confidence. By the end, Dutch is forced to rely on instinct, mud, and some extremely elaborate jungle traps.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I’ve always loved a good Western, and Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly remains one of the very best. The culmination of the Dollars Trilogy, featuring Clint Eastwood’s iconic Man with No Name, expands upon the previous two films with a much grander story, an epic Civil War backdrop, and three unforgettable central characters.

Eastwood is effortlessly cool as Blondie, but Lee Van Cleef’s ruthless Angel Eyes and Eli Wallach’s loud, unpredictable Tuco give him a serious run for his money. None of them could exactly be described as noble. Each is greedy, selfish, and willing to betray the others whenever it suits him, but it’s the constantly shifting dynamic between the three that elevates the film to another level.

It all culminates in one of the greatest finales in cinema history: the wonderfully drawn-out three-way standoff in the cemetery. Leone stretches the tension almost beyond endurance, cutting between twitching hands and suspicious glances as Ennio Morricone’s magnificent score swells around them.

Burial Ground

Who says every desert island movie needs to be a respected cinematic masterpiece? Sometimes you need something trashy and ridiculous, and for me, Burial Ground fits the bill perfectly.

Is it one of the greatest zombie movies ever made? No. Does it feature the genre’s best makeup effects or most inventive kills? Not really. Does it have compelling, three-dimensional characters? Absolutely not. But the film is so delightfully bizarre that I can’t help but love it.

The plot is exceptionally simple. A group of people arrives at a secluded Italian villa and wastes little time indulging in some freaky fun. Unfortunately, their getaway is interrupted by hordes of extremely ugly zombies, and all hell promptly breaks loose. That’s essentially the entire movie, and honestly, it doesn’t need to be anything more.

Then there’s Michael, supposedly a young boy, whose deeply uncomfortable attachment to his mother gives the film some of its most unforgettable moments. Because Italian laws restricted the use of child actors in violent or adult material, the role was played by 25-year-old Pietro Barzocchini, who did not look remotely like a child.

It’s strange, sleazy, and completely unlike anything else. You really have to see it to believe it.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

I love Star Trek, so naturally, I’m going to need at least one entry from the franchise on my desert island. And while there are several worthy candidates, the choice ultimately has to be Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

It isn’t merely one of the best Star Trek movies; it’s one of the greatest science-fiction sequels ever made. Period.

The cast delivers some of its finest work, particularly William Shatner, who gives Kirk a vulnerability rarely seen before. Of course, everyone is aided considerably by the return of Ricardo Montalbán as Khan, delivering one of the all-time great villain performances. Intelligent, theatrical, and utterly consumed by revenge, he dominates every scene—even though he and Shatner never actually appear together.

Exciting, funny, and deeply moving, The Wrath of Khan represents Star Trek at its absolute best. I’ve watched it more times than I could possibly count, and its final moments still get me every single time.

Goodfellas

Of all the fantastic movies Martin Scorsese has made—and there are certainly plenty to choose from—Goodfellas is the one I revisit most often. Henry Hill’s rise and inevitable fall unfolds at a masterful pace, driven by all-time-great performances from Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, and Paul Sorvino.

The film is practically overflowing with unforgettable moments: the dazzling one-shot that follows Henry and Karen through the Copacabana; Paulie slicing garlic paper-thin with a razor blade during the prison dinner; the unbearable tension of “How am I funny?”; the bodies piling up during the “Layla” montage; and Tommy discovering that becoming a made man isn’t quite what he expected.

For me, Goodfellas remains the gold standard of gangster movies—and a film I could happily watch again and again.

Alien

It’s the eternal question: Which is better, Alien or Aliens? I love James Cameron’s action-packed sequel, but when forced to choose, my heart has always belonged to the original.

Ridley Scott’s depiction of a grimy, working-class science-fiction future feels completely authentic. The Nostromo isn’t some gleaming vessel crewed by heroic explorers; it’s an industrial workplace filled with cramped rooms, exposed machinery, and dark, twisting corridors. Essentially, it’s a haunted house in space; The perfect environment for an unknown alien terror to stalk the crew.

While later films would sometimes show far too much of the xenomorph, Alien wisely keeps the creature largely hidden, revealing it through fleeting glimpses and shadows. Even when it does emerge, its peculiar shape and unnatural movements make it feel genuinely otherworldly. You completely forget that there’s simply a very tall man inside a suit.

More than four decades later, Alien remains every bit as tense, beautiful, and terrifying as ever.

Seven Samurai

When I first watched The Magnificent Seven—a film I came very close to including on this list—my father informed me that it was actually a Western remake of a Japanese movie: Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai.

It took me a few years to finally seek it out, but when I did, it completely blew me away. Here was a true epic filled with superb sword fights, thrilling battles, and an ensemble of unforgettable characters. There’s Takashi Shimura’s wise and weary Kambei Shimada, the natural leader who understands the terrible cost of the fight ahead, and Toshirō Mifune’s wild, temperamental Kikuchiyo, who brings humour, unpredictability, and surprising emotional depth to the group.

Seven Samurai introduced me not only to the films of Kurosawa but to samurai cinema in general, and it’s difficult to imagine a better entry point.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

The entire Lord of the Rings trilogy is magnificent, but if I could take only one installment with me, it would have to be The Fellowship of the Ring. I can still remember attending the midnight premiere like it was yesterday—because it sure as shit wasn’t 25 years ago. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a damn liar.

Moving on.

The Fellowship of the Ring was unlike anything I had seen at the time. Peter Jackson brought Middle-earth to life on a scale I never thought possible, combining the spirit of old-school adventure filmmaking with cutting-edge visual effects, stunning production design, Howard Shore’s unforgettable score, and a cast that couldn’t have been more perfectly chosen.

Of the three films, Fellowship is also the one that best captures the wonder of discovering this world for the first time. From the comfort of the Shire to the darkness of Moria, every new location feels like another chapter in a grand adventure. Even after all these years, it’s never lost that sense of awe and magic.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Whenever someone asks me to name my all-time favourite movie, I usually struggle to give them a straight answer. There are simply too many great films to choose from. But when push comes to shove, I always seem to arrive at the same conclusion: it has to be Raiders of the Lost Ark.

For me, it’s about as close to a perfect movie as you can get. It has unforgettable characters, spectacular action, and a pace that barely pauses for breath from the opening sequence to the final moments.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched Raiders of the Lost Ark, but it has never lost its magic. In fact, I may enjoy it even more now than I did the first time.

Now It’s Your Turn

So, those are my ten desert island movies, but what about you? Which ten films would you happily watch again and again until rescue arrives? Let us know in the comments.