The Best Survival Movies and TV Shows on Prime Video

What it's about: The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu & Epix), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Martial law is declared when a mysterious viral outbreak pushes Korea into a state of emergency. Those on an express train to Busan, a city that has successfully fended off the viral outbreak, must fight for their own survival…

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix, Hiyah & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play, Prime Video & 4 others).

What it's about: In post-Sept. 11 Los Angeles, tensions erupt when the lives of a Brentwood housewife, her district attorney husband, a Persian shopkeeper, two cops, a pair of carjackers and a Korean couple converge during a 36-hour period.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & Prime Video), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Robert Neville is a scientist who was unable to stop the spread of the terrible virus that was incurable and man-made. Immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and perhaps the world. For three years, Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (IFC) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: After a tragic accident, six friends reunite for a caving expedition. Their adventure soon goes horribly wrong when a collapse traps them deep underground and they find themselves pursued by bloodthirsty creatures. As their friendships deteriorate, they find themselves in a desperate struggle to survive the creatures and each other.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu & Epix), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Cinemax & Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: A father and daughter live a perfect but mysterious existence in Forest Park, a beautiful nature reserve near Portland, Oregon, rarely making contact with the world. But when a small mistake tips them off to authorities, they are sent on an increasingly erratic journey in search of a place to call their own.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Werner Herzog's documentary film about the "Grizzly Man" Timothy Treadwell and what the thirteen summers in a National Park in Alaska were like in one man's attempt to protect the grizzly bears. The film is full of unique images and a look into the spirit of a man who sacrificed himself for nature.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: In 1997, the island of Manhattan has been walled off and turned into a giant maximum security prison within which the country's worst criminals are left to form their own anarchic society. However, when the President of the United States crash lands on the island, the authorities turn to a former soldier and current convict to rescue him.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Shudder) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: During a shootout in a saloon, Sheriff Hunt injures a suspicious stranger. One of the villagers takes care of him in prison. One day they both disappear – only the spear of a cannibal tribe is found. Hunt and a few of his men go in search of the prisoner and his nurse.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: At the dawn of WWII, several men escape from a Russian gulag—to take a perilous and uncertain journey to freedom as they cross deserts, mountains and several nations.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu & AcornTV) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A man stranded in the Arctic is finally about to receive his long awaited rescue. However, after a tragic accident, his opportunity is lost and he must then decide whether to remain in the relative safety of his camp or embark on a deadly trek through the unknown for potential salvation.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: As World War I rages, brave and youthful Australians Archy and Frank—both agile runners—become friends and enlist in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps together. They later find themselves part of the Dardanelles Campaign on the Gallipoli peninsula, a brutal eight-month conflict which pit the British and their allies against the Ottoman Empire and left over 500,000 men dead.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A squad of British soldiers on training in the lonesome Scottish wilderness find a wounded Special Forces captain and the remains of his team. As they encounter zoologist Megan, it turns out that werewolves are active in the region. They have to prepare for some action as the there will be a full moon tonight...

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix, Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Shudder) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: The adventures of a present-day, multinational exploration team traveling on the Ancient spaceship Destiny many billions of light years distant from the Milky Way Galaxy. They evacuated there and are now trying to figure out a way to return to Earth, while simultaneously trying to explore and to survive in their unknown area of the universe.

Where to Watch: 40 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu). 40 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Defiance is an American science fiction television show that takes place in the future on a radically transformed Earth containing new species arriving from space. In the show, Joshua Nolan works as the lawman for the town of Defiance, a community where humans and intelligent extraterrestrial species coexist. The show follows Nolan, his adopted alien daughter Irisa, and the town's new mayor Amanda Rosewater.

Where to Watch: 38 episodes (97%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video). 39 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: When legendary hunter Bob Rainsford is shipwrecked on the perilous reefs surrounding a mysterious island, he finds himself the guest of the reclusive and eccentric Count Zaroff. While he is very gracious at first, Zaroff eventually forces Rainsford and two other shipwreck survivors, brother and sister Eve and Martin Towbridge, to participate in a sadistic game of cat and mouse in which they are the prey and he is the hunter.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix, SnagFilms & Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Epix, The Criterion Channel & 1 other), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.00 on 4 services (Google Play, Prime Video & 2 others).

What it's about: A reality show contest where sixteen or more castaways split between two or more “Tribes” are taken to a remote isolated location and are forced to live off the land with meager supplies for roughly 39 days. Frequent physical challenges are used to pit the tribes against each other for rewards, such as food or luxuries, or for “Immunity”, forcing the other tribe to attend “Tribal Council”, where they must vote off one of their players.

Where to Watch: 3 episodes (0%) are available to watch free online (CBS). 593 episodes (98%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu, CBS All Access & 1 other). 484 episodes (80%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Tremé takes its name from a neighborhood of New Orleans and portrays life in the aftermath of the 2005 hurricane. Beginning three months after Hurricane Katrina, the residents of New Orleans, including musicians, chefs, Mardi Gras Indians, and other New Orleanians struggle to rebuild their lives, their homes and their unique culture.

Where to Watch: 36 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO & Prime Video). 36 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO). 36 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: In rural Connecticut, baseball players Ben and Mickey are trying to survive a zombie plague. They are forced to form a battery: a catcher and a pitcher who work together to outwit the batter, the one who hits the ball. And the batter in this case just happens to be a zombie. Tough Ben and gentle Mickey frequently disagree on the best way to go about the situation. Then they suddenly hear a human voice through their walkie-talkies. Is salvation nearby, like Mickey thinks, or is Ben’s suspicion justified?

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Mary Henry ends up the sole survivor of a fatal car accident through mysterious circumstances. Trying to put the incident behind her, she moves to Utah and takes a job as a church organist. But her fresh start is interrupted by visions of a fiendish man. As the visions begin to occur more frequently, Mary finds herself drawn to the deserted carnival on the outskirts of town. The strangely alluring carnival may hold the secret to her tragic past.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix, SnagFilms & Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Fandor, Epix & 3 others), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix & AMC) & rent or buy from $2.00 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: When his SUV breaks down on a remote Southwestern road, Jeff Taylor lets his wife, Amy, hitch a ride with a trucker to get help. When she doesn't return, Jeff fixes his SUV and tracks down the trucker -- who tells the police he's never seen Amy. Johnathan Mostow's tense thriller then follows Jeff's desperate search for his wife, which eventually uncovers a small town's murderous secret.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: An impromptu goodbye party for Professor John Oldman becomes a mysterious interrogation after the retiring scholar reveals to his colleagues he never ages and has walked the earth for 14,000 years.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A squad of National Guards on an isolated weekend exercise in the Louisiana swamp must fight for their lives when they anger local Cajuns by stealing their canoes. Without live ammunition and in a strange country, their experience begins to mirror the Vietnam experience.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle & Tubi) & stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video).

What it's about: A dramatization of the Montreal Massacre of 1989 where several female engineering students were murdered by an unstable misogynist.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Fandor & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: When a disease turns all of humanity into the living dead, the last man on earth becomes a reluctant vampire hunter.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix, SnagFilms & Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Fandor, ConTV & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: A bush pilot in nothern Canada who with the aid of modernity thinks he can handle it all & knows it all. After reluctantly agreeing to transport a local indian girl to a medical facility his light plane crashes & they have to survive whilst finding their way back to civilization. Along the journey the man finds a new respect for the native ways as they battle to survive the elements.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (Google Play, Prime Video & YouTube).

What it's about: Wendy, a near-penniless drifter, is traveling to Alaska in search of work, and her only companion is her dog, Lucy. Already perilously close to losing everything, Wendy hits a bigger bump in the road when her old car breaks down and she is arrested for shoplifting dog food. When she posts bail and returns to retrieve Lucy, she finds that the dog is gone, prompting a frantic search for her pet.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Sundance Now & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: A young husband and wife must fight to return home in a post-apocalyptic mid-western landscape ravaged by gangs.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu & Epix), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: An enigmatic tale of four people whose lives are intertwined by destiny are subject to the laws of fate. They discover that luck is something they cannot afford to be without as they gamble with the highest stakes possible in a deadly game from which only one of them will emerge intact.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: On September, 11th 2001, after the terrorist attack to the World Trade Center, the building collapses over the rescue team from the Port Authority Police Department. Will Jimeno and his sergeant John McLoughlin are found alive trapped under the wreckage while the rescue teams fight to save them.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle & PopcornFlix), stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & Prime Video), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: After waking up in an apartment where only the night before a party was raging, Sam is forced to come to grips with reality: He is now alone and the living dead have invaded the streets of Paris. Petrified with fear, Sam is going to have to barricade himself inside the building and organize his survival. But is he really the sole survivor?

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: The “Abyss” is the last unexplored region, an enormous and treacherous cave system filled with ancient relics and strange creatures. Only the bravest of adventurers can traverse its depths, earning them the nickname, “Cave Raiders.” Within the depths of the Abyss, a girl named Riko stumbles upon a robot who looks like a young boy. Tantalized by the Abyss, Riko and her new friend descend into uncharted territory to unlock its mysteries, but what lies in wait for them in the darkness?

Where to Watch: 13 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Two men at a remote Arctic base begin mistrusting each other after an important radio message.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: James Reese has a good job as an ambassador's aid in France, but his real passion is a side gig—working in a minor role in the CIA. He would love to be a full-fledged agent and can't believe his luck when he lands an assignment with Charlie Wax. Trigger-happy Charlie soon has James crying for his desk job, but when he learns that the same guys they're trying to catch are after him, James realises that Charlie may be his only hope of survival.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A particle physicist grieving over the loss of her husband in a car crash uses a revolutionary machine to bring him back, with dire consequences for her family.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Suburbanite Ron is spoiled, young and not overly worried about the marijuana charges leveled against him. But, after being made out to be a drug dealer, he faces a five-year jail sentence in San Quentin State Prison. Physically frail and unaccustomed to his rough surroundings, Ron is primed to fall victim to sexual predators and bullying guards – that is, until he's befriended by Earl, a veteran inmate who finds meaning in protecting the vulnerable new kid.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Sundance Now & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: At an international school in Jakarta, a philosophy teacher challenges his class of twenty graduating seniors to choose which ten of them would take shelter underground and reboot the human race in the event of a nuclear apocalypse.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A once-abused woman devotes herself to ridding victims of their domestic abusers while hunting down the one she must kill to be truly free.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $4.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Truckers form a mile long "convoy" in support of a trucker's vendetta with an abusive sheriff...Based on the country song of same title by C.W. McCall.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (SnagFilms & Tubi) & stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video).

What it's about: In 1825 an English aristocrat is captured by Indians. He lives with them and begins to understand/accept their lifestyles. Eventually he is accepted as part of the tribe and becomes their leader.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: After a virus of epic proportions overwhelms the planet—with more infected than uninfected—humanity is losing its grip on survival and its only hope is finding a cure and keeping the infected contained. Lauren, a doctor, arrives in Los Angeles with her crack team to lead the hunt for uncontaminated civilian survivors, but nothing can prepare them for the blood-soaked mayhem they witness as they head into the Californian streets where everything is considered a trap.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $4.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: Survivorman is a Canadian-produced television program, broadcast in Canada on the Outdoor Life Network, and internationally on Discovery Channel and Science Channel. The show aired three seasons and 4 specials – 2004, 2007, 2008, and 2012. The title refers to the host of the show, Canadian filmmaker and survival expert Les Stroud, who used survival skills and knowledge to survive for up to ten days alone videotaping his adventures in remote locales where he brought with him little or no food, water, or equipment. According to the show's website, each location was scouted and pre-planned extensively by Stroud and his team who consulted with survival specialists and natives of each area. The fact that Stroud spent his time alone without a production crew is a major focus of the show.

Where to Watch: 39 episodes (54%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu & fuboTV). 44 episodes (61%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (Science). 55 episodes (76%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Distraught, confused, and half-wild with fear, Sarah Carter emerges alone from the Appalachian cave system where she encountered unspeakable terrors. Unable to plausibly explain to the authorities what happened - or why she's covered in her friends' blood - Sarah is forced back to the subterranean depths to help locate her five missing companions.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu & Epix), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A great white shark hunts the crew of a capsized sailboat along the Great Barrier Reef.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Shudder) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Sidney Poitier makes his long-overdue return to films in this 1988 thriller, playing an FBI agent on the trail of an elusive killer. Reluctantly teamed with tracker Tom Berenger, the city-dwelling Poitier braves the wilds of the Pacific Northwest in search of his quarry.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.00 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Bear strands himself in popular wilderness destinations where tourists often find themselves lost or in danger.

Where to Watch: 51 episodes (61%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu & fuboTV). 36 episodes (43%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (BBC America). 76 episodes (92%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).