Adventure Movies 2003 List

Set in the late 1870s, this epic film depicts the beginnings of the modernization of Japan, as the island nation evolved past a feudal society, as symbolized by the eradication of the samurai way of life. We see all this happen from the point of view of an alcoholic Civil War veteran turned Winchester guns spokesman, Captain Woodrow Algren (Tom Cruise), who arrives in Japan to train the troops of the emperor, Meiji, as part of a break away from the long-held tradition of relying on employed samurai warriors to protect territories, as the emperor's new army prepares to wipe out the remaining samurai warriors. When Algren is injured in combat and captured by the samurai, he learns about their warrior honor code from their leader, Katsumoto, which forces him to decide which side of the conflict he actually wants to be on.

Normally, the mantis shrimp only grows to about a foot long or so, but in this movie, a seven-foot-long one shows up in England (by way of the Philippines). Pub owner and failed boxer Bill (Kevin McNally) buys the creature, seeing it as his chance to become rich and famous, training the ferocious crustacean to box. Hitting the road with his amateur boxer best friend, Steve (Perry Fitzpatrick), a trainee hairdresser (Louise Mardenborough) and the giant sea creature, Bill heads to London to convince a TV network to feature the crustacean on an 'American Gladiators'-style event hosted by Ulrika Jonsson.

The third of the trilogy. As the shadow of Mordor grows across the land, Aragorn is revealed as the hidden heir to the ancient kings. Gandolf miraculously returns and defeats the evil wizard, Saruman. Sam leaves his master for the dead after a battle with the giant spider, Shelob; but Frodo is still alive--in the hands of the Orcs. And while the armies of the Dark Lord are massing--and the one ring comes ever closer to the Cracks of Doom.

Based on the short story by Philip K. Dick, "Paycheck" is about world famous genius Michael Jennings (Ben Affleck), who does specialized projects for high-tech corporations. Once a job is complete, his memory is erased so as not to divulge any company secrets. Highly paid for his work, Jennings expects to earn $4.4 billion for his latest 5-year project, but upon completion of the job, instead of a big paycheck, he is given an envelope full of random objects and told that he has agreed to forfeit all payment. With his memory erased per usual, Jennings has no defense, until he discovers that the objects are clues to his past. Now, with the help of Rachel (Uma Thurman), the woman he has worked with and loved for the last three years, Jennings is in a race against time to put the pieces of his past together before the people he once worked for have him killed.

Peter Pan is the boy who won't age, who lives in Neverland with other ageless kids, the Lost Boys. Tinkerbelle, a fairy, gives three children: Wendy, John, and Michael Darling the ability to fly; and soon they're off to Neverland, where they're soon in battle with the evil Captain Hook and his band of pirates.

In a tiny village, when the Earth was young and ice still covered the land, a headstrong teenager, Kenai, has an issue with bears. And why not -- the bears compete for the same food and land, loot his village, and ruin his coming of age ceremony. When his oldest brother is lost in a perilous battle with a ferocious grizzly, Kenai ignores the village teachings of brotherhood, choosing instead to track down the bear and satisfy his thirst for vengeance. Kenai, voiced by Joaquin Phoenix, is changed into a bear by the Great Spirits, forcing him to examine the world through the eyes of his enemy. In his quest to regain his human form, Kenai enlists the help of an adorable, talkative and sometimes-pesky bear cub named Koda. Their journey propels them across the northern territory, through glacial caverns, frosty tundra, a valley of fire and treacherous gorges. Over the course of the journey with Koda, Kenai is forced to question everything he knows and learns many important lessons about the true meaning of brotherhood. Ultimately, he realizes that his physical transformation from a man to a bear is insignificant compared to the change that has occurred within him.

In this third installment that concerns itself with death, Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus--along with the rest of their battling posse--continue to come against the machines that have systematically enslaved the human race in the Matrix. Now displaying a greater confidence in his own power, Neo fully realizes that he is a superhuman figure capable of amazing feats, and is totally aware that he's able to see the codes of people and things with which he comes into contact. Simultaneously more humans, who are struggling to live in the real world, have awoken out of the Matrix. As their numbers increase, the machines invade Zion, the center of human resistance--considered the last real-world city.

Russell Crowe is Lucky Jack Aubrey, the Navy's greatest fighting captain and Paul Bettany is ship's doctor Stephen Maturin. The ship, the Surprise, is suddenly attacked by a superior enemy. With the Surprise badly damaged and much of his crew injured, Aubrey – the "Master" of the Surprise and "Commander" of his men – is torn between duty and friendship as he sets sail in a high-stakes chase across two oceans, to the far side of the world, to intercept and capture their foe. It's a mission that can decide the fate of a nation – or destroy Lucky Jack and his crew. The film is based on the narrative outline of the tenth book in Patrick O'Brian's legendary "Aubrey/Maturin" series of high seas novels about the British navy during the Napoleonic Wars.

Set in a live-action world in which Warner Bros.' beloved assortment of irreverent animated entertainers interact with human characters for maximum comic effect, the story unfolds on the Studio backlot and careens all over the map in time-honored Looney Tunes style. Our celluloid heroes embark on a hilarious adventure that takes them from Hollywood to Las Vegas, Paris and the jungles of Africa in search of Fraser's character's missing father and the mythical Blue Monkey Diamond.

When a man (Eddie Murphy) and his family encounter a ghost while visiting a haunted house during a job interview, he learns the value of family, and the lesson that he should make sure he never neglects them. Based upon the popular Disney theme park attraction.

A mystery suspense thriller based on Michael Crichton's best-selling novel about a team of student archaeologists on a dig at a medieval site in France. When Professor Johnston, their team leader, disappears, they suddenly find themselves in 14th century feudal France on a perilous journey beyond their wildest dreams. Now, to find their missing professor and avoid a potentially catastrophic event, they won't be excavating the past, they'll be living it.

A band of college students go to a rave on a mysterious island and get more than they bargained for when they find themselves stalked by killer zombies and terrifying creatures intent on feasting on the flesh of the living. With only a few weapons and time running out, they take shelter in an ancient house, inside which they will uncover the secrets of the "House of the Dead".

Twelve-year-old Owen Baker has been working as a dog- walker all summer long, and his hard work has finally paid off -- he gets to adopt a dog of his own! But Owen gets more than puppy love when he discovers his new dog, Hubble, is an interplanetary scout from the "Dog Star" Sirius. Thousands of years ago, dogs from Sirius came to colonize and dominate the Earth, but rumors have spread across the galaxy that Earth dogs have strayed from their original mission. Hubble has come to investigate. Now Owen must help Hubble train a group of undisciplined neighborhood dogs to shape up for a visit from their leader, the powerful Greater Dane. The fate of all Earth dogs hangs in the balance.

Takeshi Kaneshiro stars in this thriller as Miyamoto, an assassin who accidentally wounds a young woman during a shoot out. When Miyamoto goes to help her, she tells him that she has been sent from the future to prevent an alien invasion that will occur in 72 hours. She informs him that because he has injured her, he must now help her carry out her mission or else be responsible for the destruction of humanity.

On August 20th 1973, police were dispatched to the remote farmhouse of Thomas Hewitt, a former head-skinner at a local slaughterhouse in Travis County, Texas. What they found within the confines of his cryptic residence was the butchered remains of 33 victims, a chilling discovery that shocked and horrified a nation in what many still call the most gruesome mass murder case of all time. Brandishing a chainsaw and wearing the grotesque flesh masks of his victims, the killer became forever known as "Leatherface" when sensational headlines were splashed across newspapers throughout the state of Texas: "House of Horrors Stuns Nation - Massacre in Texas." Police and FBI eventually gunned down a man wearing a leathery mask and declared they had their killer and abruptly closed the case. However, in the years that followed, many close to the grisly murder case would come forward to level accusations that police had botched the investigation and knowingly killed the wrong man. Now, for the first time, the only known survivor of the killing spree has broken the silence and come forward to tell the real story of what happened on that deserted rural Texas highway when a group of five young kids inadvertently found themselves besieged by a chainsaw wielding madman who would leave a trail of blood and terror that would forever be known as "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre".

A fast and furious action tale of three tough, hard-hitting women who take on a powerful pair of computer moguls, the Hong Kong police, two deadly assassins, and... each other. Shu Qi and Zhao Wei play sisters whose family inheritances are a state-of-the-art computer surveillance system and an unresolved family vendetta. After a wealthy Shanghai computer magnate is murdered, a beautiful and ambitious young undercover detective (Mok) is assigned to the case. Finding herself further drawn-in when she discovers the criminal masterminds are two women, the young detective eventually comes face-to-face with the sisters who, despite their delicate appearance, hold mental and combat skill to match her own. A battle of wits and force ensues in this tale of technological wizardry.

"Underworld" reimagines Vampires as a secretive clan of modern, aristocratic sophisticates whose mortal enemies are the Lycans (werewolves), a shrewd gang of street thugs who prowl the city's underbelly. The balance of power is upset when a beautiful young Vampire and a nascent Lycan - deadly rivals for centuries - fall in love. Len Wiseman directs Kate Beckinsdale and Scott Speedman in a fast-paced, modern-day tale of deadly action, ruthless intrigue and forbidden love, all set against the backdrop of an ancient feud between the two tribes in a timeless, Gothic metropolis.

This is the true story of how a Japanese businessman from Los Angeles, Eishy Hayata, built an emerald mining empire in Columbia that is today one of the world's largest and most powerful, starting in the 1970s as an "esmeraldero", an emerald buyer who goes directly to rural areas where emeralds can be procured from locals at bargain prices in their rough form. Central to the film's intrigue are Columbia's more brutal realities, as guerrilla warfare and street kidnappings are quite common. To combat this, Hayata fashions himself as a sort of modern cowboy, armed and dressed to fit the bill, along with a powerful cadre of personal bodyguards.

When Travis (Seann William Scott), the son of an underworld kingpin, disappears in the Amazon in search of a priceless artifact, Beck (The Rock), the kingpin's retrieval expert, is sent to get him. Despite their hostility - and their love for the same woman (Rosario Dawson) - the two must eventually join forces to fight the evil head (Christopher Walken) of a gold-mining corporation who is after the same treasure.

Boss Spearman (Robert Duvall), Charley Waite (Kevin Costner), Mose Harrison (Abraham Benrubi) and "Button" (Diego Luna) freegraze their cattle across the vast prairies of the West, sharing their friendship forged by a steadfast code of honor and living a life unencumbered by civilization. When their wayward her forces them near the small town of Harmonville, the cowboys encounter a corrupt Sheriff (James Russo) and kingpin rancher (Michael Gambon) who govern the territory through fear, tyranny and violence. Boss Charley find themselves inextricably drawn towards the inevitable showdown as they are forced to defend the freedom and values of a lifestyle that is all to quickly vanishing. Amidst this turmoil, life suddenly takes an unexpected turn for loner Charley when he meets the beautiful and warm-spirited Sue Barlow (Annette Bening), a woman who embraces both his heart and his soul. As these courageous men prepare for the decisive battle that looms, they are also forced to confront and conquer their own internal demons.

Television made him famous, but his biggest hits happened off screen. "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" is the story of a legendary showman's double life - television producer by day, CIA assassin by night. At the height of his TV career, Chuck Barris was recruited by the CIA and trained to become a covert operative.

Arnold Schwarzenegger returns in this third installment of the popular sci-fi action saga as a cyborg from the future once again becoming involved in the affairs of twentysomething John Connor and his first battles with the SkyNet machine network.

Aboard the Black Pearl, infamous pirate Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) attacks the city of Port Royal and kidnaps a governor's daughter, Elizabeth (Keira Knightley). Barbossa then sets sail with his hostage toward a secret hideaway, hoping to lift an ancient curse by sacrificing her and returning a once-plundered treasure. Elizabeth's childhood friend Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) meets an eccentric seaman, Jack Sparrow, who reveals that the Black Pearl was formerly his ship, until Barbossa committed mutiny. Together, they assemble a ragtag crew and commandeer a British vessel, hoping to chase down and free both Elizabeth and Sparrow's Pearl. Following after them is the British military, led by Elizabeth's would-be fiancé, Commodore Norrington (Jack Davenport).

Based very loosely on the Alan Moore graphic novel epic of the same name, this is the story of a group of characters drawn from famous works of literature, including Captain Nemo, Allan Quatermain, The Invisible Man, Mina Murray and Dr. Jekyll, banding together to combat criminal undertakings of the highest order near the turn of the 19th century. Rather than remain true to the comic roots, the film also incorporates Tom Sawyer and Dorian Gray, in an apparent effort to keep the cast from being entirely without Americans, and it is set in New York.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are back - and oh so bad - on the streets of Miami in "Bad Boys II", reuniting them with director Michael Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Narcotics detectives Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) have been assigned to a high-tech task force investigating the flow of designer ecstasy into Miami. Their inquiries inadvertently lead them to a major conspiracy involving a vicious kingpin (Jordi Molla), whose ambitions to take over the city's drug trade have ignited a bloody turf war. But Mike and Marcus's friendship and working relationship is threatened when Mike begins to develop feelings for Marcus' sister Syd (Gabrielle Union). Unless they can separate the personal from the professional, the bad boys are in danger of blowing the case and endangering Syd's life in the process.

On their most mind-blowing mission yet, the Spy Kids are about to enter an entirely new dimension: the third dimension. In "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over", state-of-the-art digital 3D technology puts something special into special effects action for the whole family. On their latest assignment, under-age Juni and Carmen Cortez (Sabara and Vega) journey inside the virtual reality wolrd of a cool but crazy video game, where anything is possible, including the impossible. Action film veteran Sylvester Stallone joins the cast as the power-hungry villain the 'Toymaker', who wants to take over the youth of the world, and Juni and Carmen must battle their way through tougher and tougher levels of a three-dimensional game ingeniously designed to outwit and defeat them. Using their usual humor, gadgetry, bravery and family bonds, the Spy Kids must win every high-flying, puzzle-solving challenge, from racing road warriors to surfing on boiling lava. Meanwhile, high-definition digital 3-D sequences and special viewing glasses give the audience a chance to interact with the larger-than-life excitement on screen. Adding to the visual fun, "Spy Kids 3D: Game Over" also features all-new inventions from the mind of writer/director Robert Rodriguez, who lets his imagination loose in a blazingly colorful, futuristic game world come to life. In this latest chapter of the Spy Kids trilogy, Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino reprise their roles as suave spy-parents Gregorio and Ingrid Cortez and Ricardo Montalban makes a comeback as the Spy Kids' grandfather, who plays a pivotal role in their mission. Also returning are Steve Buscemi as the mad scientist Romero; Alan Cumming as Floop; Bill Paxton as Dinky Winks; Cheech Marin as Uncle Felix; and Danny Trejo as Uncle Machete.

Facing her greatest challenges and dangers yet, Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) shows off her physical prowess like never before. During this exciting installment of her adventures, the intrepid tomb raider jet skies, horseback rides, motorcycles and much more through such countries as Hong Kong, Kenya, Wales, Greece and Africa as she searches for an infamous site known as "The Cradle of Life."

Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker), stripped of his badge after the events of the first film, gets a chance to redeem himself by going undercover to infiltrate the world of Miami street racing.

In this adaptation of the long-running Marvel comic "The Incredible Hulk," research scientist Dr. Bruce Banner's (Eric Bana) failed experiments cause him to mutate into a monstrously powerful and savage green-skinned behemoth whenever he loses control of his emotions. Jennifer Connelly plays his love interest Betty Ross, Nick Nolte plays Bruce's dangerous father, and Sam Elliott plays Betty's father, the tough-as-nails General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross.

Set in 16th century Thailand over the course of 57 years (1491-1548), this is an epic tale and political history of the Kingdom of Ayothaya, culminating in the story of Queen Phra Suriyothai (M.L. Piyapas Bhirombhakdi), who rode into battle against the Burmese invasion to protect her husband at the Battle of Hantawaddy in 1548.

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle is a sequel to the blockbuster action-adventure-comedy hit released by Columbia Pictures and inspired by the popular television series. The sequel reunites Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu as the indomitable crime-fighting heriones. In the Angels' new adventure, the captivating trio once again demonstrates their expertise as espionage and martial arts, and disguise.

The X-Men have opponents new and old to face this time around. Magneto is back, but there is also a threat to Professor Xavier's school for mutants led by a human named Stryker, not to mention a vicious woman named Yuriko who has it in for Wolverine.

Neo, Morpheus, Trinity, and the rest of their crew continue to battle the machines that have enslaved the human race in the Matrix. Now, more humans are waking up out of the matrix and attempting to live in the real world. As their numbers grow, the battle moves to Zion, the last real-world city and center of human resistance.

The comedic and eventful journeys of two fish - Marlin and his son Nemo - who become separated in the Great Barrier Reef when Nemo is unexpectedly taken far from home and thrust into a fish tank in a dentist's office overlooking Sydney harbor. Buoyed by the companionship of a friendly-but-forgetful fish named Dory, the overly cautious father embarks on a dangerous trek and finds himself the unlikely hero of an epic journey to rescue his son - who hatches a few daring plans of his own to return safely home.

A band of thieves, led by Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg), pulls off the ultimate heist by rigging the stoplights of the city of Los Angeles so that they can drive right out of the city with a carful of gold (in a safe that they're stealing back after Croker's double-crossing ex-partner, played by Edward Norton, stole it from Croker first), with nothing but greenlights, while everyone else gets redlights, thus keeping the roads plugged with the largest traffic jam in L.A. history, and the police from pursuing them. Aiding their escape is the fact that the bandits are driving BMW Mini Coopers (tiny cars), so they're able to use sidewalks and the subway system in addition to L.A.'s streets and highways. That, of course, is how it's *supposed* to work...

Set on Mars in the year 2071, "Cowboy Bebop: The Movie" is based on the much-loved animated television series by Japanese director Shinichiro Watanabe. As the film begins, Spike (David Lucas) and his gang of gypsy vigilantes are roaming the city, looking for trouble when Faye (Wendee Lee) witnesses a bioterrorist attack. Hovering above the city in her spaceship, she sees a man fleeing the scene. Over 500 people die in the attack, and the city offers a monetary reward for any information. The gang jumps at the opportunity. They decide to branch out, each using their own tactics to research the tragedy. Spike slinks through Chinatown, being led by shady underground characters. Faye traces the image of the man she saw back to military files. And the young Ed (Mellisa Fahn) and her dog Ein do some handy computer research. Meanwhile Jet (Beau Billinglsea), holds down the fort, worried about the gang. When the criminal Vincent (Daran Norris), is identified, with a connection to Spike's love interest Elektra (Jennifer Hale), the real action begins.

"Cowboy Bebop" is a visually dramatic film that combines several styles of illustration into one beautiful, cohesive animated environment. The Mars of this film is a combination of cities: New York, Hong Kong, London, Paris, and many more. Viewers are compelled to identify monuments and familiar structures, while the terrorist thematic hits fearfully close to home.

For 60 years, a mysterious monk with no name (Chow Yun-Fat) has traversed the globe to protect an ancient scroll - a scroll that holds the key to unlimited power. Now the Monk must look for a new scrollkeeper. Kar (Seann William Scott) is an unlikely candidate, a streetwise young man who only cares about himself. But when he inadvertently saves the Bulletproof Monk from capture, the two become partners in a scheme to save the world from the scroll's most avid pursuer. The Monk, Kar and a sexy Russian mob princess called Bad Girl (Jaime King) must struggle to find, face and fight the ultimate enemy.

In director Antoine Fuqua's new action-adventure film, Bruce Willis stars as Lt. A.K. Waters, the loyal veteran officer of a Navy S.E.A.L unit. When he's sent into the heart of Africa, the usually hard-bitten Waters finds himself deeply conflicted at having to choose between following orders and the dictates of his own conscience. Though a fictionalization, Tears of the Sun deals with the gritty realism of human conflict as Lt. Waters travels to war-torn central Africa to rescue Dr. Lena Kendricks (Monica Bellucci), a U.S. citizen who runs a mission in the countryside. But when Lt. Waters arrives Dr. Kendricks refuses to abandon the refugees under her care. She implores Waters to escort them on a dangerous trek through the dense jungle to the nearby border. During the journey the S.E.A.L.s find themselves the unwitting guardians of a man sought by the rebel militia. This further endangers their already hazardous mission, but all the while strengthening Waters' resolve to protect Lena and the refugees, and to deliver them safely across the border.

To his family and friends, Cody Banks (Frankie Muniz) is a typical teen - he loves to skateboard, hates math, and feels like a complete idiot around girls. But Cody's got a secret - he's actually part of a secret teen CIA program. Cody's living every boy's dream life - he can drive like a stuntman, has an incredible arsenal of cool gadgets, and his agency mentor, Ronica Miles (Angie Harmon), is totally hot. But Cody's training is put to the test when he's sent to pose as a prep school student and befriend fellow teen Natalie Connors (Hilary Duff) in order to gain access to her father, a scientist unknowingly developing a fleet of deadly nanobots for the evil organization ERIS. From runaway cars and high-speed snowboard chases to a spectacular final mountaintop showdown, Cody has to use everything he's learned to prove himself as an agent and stop ERIS-and maybe even get the girl.

Geophysicist Dr. Josh Keyes (Aaron Eckhart) discovers that an unknown force has caused the earth's inner core to stop rotating. With the planet's magnetic field rapidly deteriorating, our atmosphere literally starts to come apart at the seams with catastrophic consequences. To resolve the crisis, Keyes, along with a team of the world's most gifted scientists, travel into the earth's core in a subterranean craft piloted by "terranauts," Major Rebecca "Beck" Childs (Hilary Swank) and Colonel Robert Iverson (Bruce Greenwood). Their mission: detonate a device that will reactivate the core.

After taming the wild west in the comedy "Shanghai Noon", Chon Wang (Jackie Chan) and Roy O'Bannon (Owen Wilson) are back in the saddle, but off the range - this time, they're out to settle a score in civilized London in the sequel, "Shanghai Knights". When a Chinese rebel murders Chon's estranged father and escapes to England, Chon and Roy make their way to London with revenge on their minds. Chon's sister, Lin, has the same idea, and uncovers a worldwide conspiracy to murder the royal family - but almost no one will believe her. With the help of a kindly Scotland Yard Inspector and a 10-year-old street urchin, the acro- batic Chon (Chan) gives Victorian Britain a kick in the pants as he attempts to avenge his father's death - and keep the romance-minded Roy away from his sister. Hilarious escapades and hair-raising adventure await our heroes as they do for Big Ben, Madame Toussaud's, and the Convent Gardens what they did for the Old West.

Based on the popular Marvel Comics character, this is the story of Matt Murdock, son of a boxer who gets killed by petty criminals for refusing to take a dive. This drives young Matt to fight crime, despite a childhood accident that robbed him of his sight. That same accident, however, also granted him exceptionally advanced senses of hearing, touch, taste and smell, as well as providing him with a strange sort of mental radar that helps to compensate for his lack of vision. After training hard in the martial arts, as well as excelling in law school, Murdock becomes a lawyer by day and a vigilante calling himself Daredevil by night.

Earl Montgomery (Martin Lawrence) is a cocky L.A.P.D. cadet who would probably be a great cop if it weren't for his rebellious behavior. When his attitude gets him kicked out of the police academy, he can only find employment as a lowly security guard at "National Security." After Earl accuses uptight police officer Hank Rafferty (Steve Zahn) of harassment, Hank is stripped of his badge and ends up as a guard at National Security as well, where Earl's overzealous style of police work leads to the discovery of a sophisticated smuggling operation led by Nash (Eric Roberts) and a possible police cover-up. Now everyone wants Earl and Hank dead – though they just may kill each other first.

"Biker Boyz" is an contemporary Western on wheels with desperados who live every day on the edge. Lawyers and city workers by day, they take to the streets in their leathers to race by night. In the world of underground motorcycle clubs, the undefeated racer known as Smoke (Laurence Fishburne) is the undisputed "King of Cali." But Smoke's dominance of the set is about to be threatened by a young motorcycle racing prodigy called Kid (Derek Luke), who is determined to win Smoke's helmet and earn the coveted title.