Conflicts come in many types and at different levels to highlight topics to the right audience. Sometimes it’s social conflict or of the protagonist Conflicts with others and even with oneself. But the roots of all conflict begin in the natural world: the birthplace of humanity and the place where we learned to fight and try to survive. regardless it is Fight against cold weather, sharks or nightmare weather scenarios tornado (2024)the world has wanted to kill us from day one. it is It’s only natural that stories of humans and nature are some of the most famous and poignant in media today. The struggles we see between people and their environment reflect the typical struggles within us—or at least in part.
Exploring stories like the one below can go a long way toward showing our human side No Always see modernity: face to face with nature.
Script for this article
abandon (2000)
screenwriter: William Broyles Jr.
On the one hand, the story follows one man’s struggle for hope and sanity in isolation, but on the other, it follows Chuck Holland (Tom Hanks) during an ill-fated sea flight Become a survivor story. This story paints a picture in equal measure: one needs to believe that one day one can return home. After all his efforts to save himself from death and isolation, it’s no wonder.
Download the script!
wilderness (2014)
screenwriter: Nick Hornby
“Finding yourself” in the wilderness means something different to everyone. This usually happens when you’re ready to make a change or you’ve been through something drastic. After all, nature is a melting pot that can change a person if given the chance. The same goes for Cheryl Strayed (Reese Witherspoon), who feels uncomfortable with her identity. Seeking her own test, she set out on the famously long and difficult Pacific Crest Trail with no experience and no one by her side.
Download the script!
The Revenant (2015)
screenwriter: Mark Smith
Real-life fur trapper Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is left for dead by his hunting party and forced to traverse miles of snow-covered 19th-century wilderness. But he’s not just back for safety, to escape nature’s wrath. Glass’s rough experiences on America’s wild frontier fostered in him a thirst for revenge against the man who tried to kill him out of convenience. As he nears his destination, he has a choice: give in to his thirst, or regain his humanity by taming the animal he has been forced to transform into in the cold.
Download the script!
martian (2015)
screenwriter: Drew Goddard
Imagine being left to die – or thought to be dead – only to find yourself alone and left to survive in a hostile environment. Now, imagine that the element is barren red rock on Mars and you are the only surviving human. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to hang on to your own skin by the teeth of your teeth and ancient human ingenuity—at least long enough for others to notice you’re calling out and carry out the interstellar rescue mission you need. Mark Watney (Matt Damon) has to do just that in this adaptation of Andy Weir’s acclaimed science fiction novel of the same name.
Download the script!
Read more: An out-of-this-world science fiction script
127 hours (2010)
screenwriter: Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle
Do you still think you can go hiking alone? After watching this movie, you won’t have such thoughts anymore. In this film based on a true story, Aaron Ralston (James Franco) finds himself trapped by a boulder in a Utah canyon. Trapped by the camera and many hallucinations, Allen slowly realizes that he screwed up by not telling anyone where he went. For five days, Allen dealt with broken limbs and dehydration, doing what he could to meet the needs of his tired, battered body before time ran out and he could hold on no longer.
Download the script!
great white shark (1975)
screenwriter: Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb, Howard Sackler, John Milius and Robert Shaw
It’s almost enough to be a monster movie, giving it the feel of a different kind of conflict, but make no mistake. great white shark (1975) It’s about nature’s deadly steel trap. Showcasing the sheer and brutal power of animal will against human will, the film is so epic in its execution that it has earned the right to be called Hollywood’s first blockbuster. This shark menace is bigger and smarter than what the people of Amity Island are used to, so Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Schneider) teams up with some aquatic experts to take real action against the ocean terrors .
Download the script!
Read more: Screenwriting 101: When summer blockbusters make you think
the day after tomorrow (2004)
screenwriter: Roland Emmerich and Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Dark times are ahead of us. When we realize that the world is in trouble, the world may end. Or we might find ourselves lucky enough to see tomorrow as a gift that buffers us from eventual global catastrophe. If everything came crashing down like a wave – at the same time – there’s a movie that captures this idea just right. the day after tomorrow (2004) We are presented with an apocalyptic version of man versus nature, with a science fiction interpretation and a sense of gravitas backed up by many modern documentaries. Humanity’s last stand against the now inevitable climate change becomes the film’s disaster-ridden backdrop, and that’s where it succeeds.
Download the script!
Into the wilderness (2007)
screenwriter: Sean Penn
The biopic tells the story of a young man who decides to escape the comfort of his family and embark on his longest journey ever, driving and hitchhiking across the continent until he reaches rugged and romantic Alaska. A story of disillusionment, part of Chris McCandless’s (Emile Hirsch) conflict is with himself and his expectations for life. His previous life was not what it seemed, and every new place he chose was less perfect than he had hoped. Even arriving in the Alaskan wilderness, it seems idyllic until harsh conditions push him to his limits and, in McCandless’s case, prove nature’s brutal grip on her domain.
Download the script!
Read more: Real drama: The scripts you should read if you’re writing a biopic
shoal (2016)
screenwriter: Anthony Jaswinski
If only there was a movie up to the challenge of proving just how powerful nature’s enemies can be, shoal (2016) is one of them. Nancy Adam (Blake Lively) is attacked by a merciless shark, but she stands alone 200 yards from a safe shore. Wounded and separated from the rest of humanity enough to be brutally tortured for their closeness, Nancy quickly sees nature’s great advantage in this ancient conflict: it’s everywhere. The shark cornered her and no one in the shallows could hear or see her. This horror movie proves the point: when humans get into trouble like Nancy, they can only rely on their quick thinking to avoid certain death.
Download the script!
tornado (1996)
screenwriter: Michael Clayton and Anne Marie Martin
We may be seeing a lot of things happen right now, but tornadoes have always been a wild card in meteorology. So it’s no surprise that a group of storm chasers, led by Joe Harding (Helen Hunt), want to make a big advance in weather science – catching tornadoes before they appear. The problem is, their efforts encounter many obstacles: from rival teams to hurt relationships to the need for a real tornado to test their methods. But if nature isn’t an obstacle to be overcome in the name of progress, what is it? This is a dangerous development.
Download the script!
The life of pi (2012)
screenwriter: David Magee
The story of Pi (Sura Sharma) follows the catastrophic death of his family and his survival on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean. But not only does he tango with the sun and waves during his long floating journey, he also has a hungry Bengal tiger, Richard Parker, by his side. Just as nature is seen as an obstacle, it is also its own entity – a character in itself. As Pi and Richard Parker come to terms with their dilemma and needs, the conflict between them becomes one of trust and survival. After all, only with this kind of trust can they hope to reach land safely.
Download the script!
save (1972)
screenwriter: James Dickey and John Bowman
Most people would start to argue that this movie is more about human cruelty than it is about nature. But in the remote backcountry wilderness of Georgia, there’s certainly a little bit of both for those who venture there. Caught between evil locals and rocky rapids, it soon becomes apparent that the four tourists may not be able to escape this place intact.
Download the script!
lord of the flies (1990)
screenwriter: Jay Presson Allen
People can turn into animals, and so on: if nature doesn’t kill you, it may conquer you and make you someone else entirely. In William Golding’s classic novel, this is what happens to the boys who end up trapped together. In the 1990 adaptation, these schoolboys touched by isolation became ideological caricatures. Soon, their differences grew, leading to war and the horrors of humanity becoming as common as the natural oppression of the surrounding islands.
Download the script!
—
No matter when and where, nature is the external force that sustains our survival and tests our will. Without the genius of modern invention, things like storms and summer heat would be enough to kill a lot of people—and this conflict is so ingrained in us that it never quite leaves our consciousness. Maybe that’s why these stories speak to us, and why our ideas of horror include the effects of nature on people.
Regardless, they are powerful stories for a reason, and anyone should learn from them. Especially if you go swimming or hiking alone. Or, maybe, just don’t do it. Nature doesn’t have to win so easily.
Read more: When Nature Calls: Survival Movies on the Big Screen
