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12 adventure documentaries that will send a shiver down your spine
Forget Barbenheimer or the latest Marvel release, for a real thrill, check out these adrenaline-boosting, heart-pounding, life-affirming Red Bull sports docs.
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We all crave a little adventure in our daily lives, but often, it’s difficult to actually get out into the world and face these challenges ourselves. Things like impossible rock walls, raging rivers, and impenetrable ice tend to put a damper on our desire to explore.
Not so for the inspiring, enduring and slightly worrying exploits of the world’s best adventure athletes, whose exploits are collated here in a series of 12 must-watch Red Bull adventure documentaries.
From climbing to rally driving, diving to caving, there’s something here for everyone. So, settle yourself precariously on to the edge of your sofa, as that’s where you’ll be remaining for the duration…
01
Dawn Wall
Possibly the most famous climbing film of all time, you’d need a heart of granite to not get emotional watching Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson spend weeks living on the Dawn Wall’s sheer vertical face in Yosemite National Park. Yes, they make it to the top, but how they get there is where the gut-churning twists come in.
For Caldwell, scaling this seemingly impassible 3,000ft rock face was about so much more than sporting glory: having once been taken hostage by rebels in Kyrgyzstan, lost his index finger in a previous accident, and recently seen his marriage fall apart, he had set himself the challenge as a way to numb the pain and prove to himself that he could truly conquer anything.
As earnest and searing a portrait of adventure as you're ever likely to see caught on camera.
02
Tribute to Failure
1 h 6 min
Tribute to Failure
Four Swiss alpinists attempt the first ascent of a new route on the 6,543m Shivling in India.
This 2023 film about climbing Mount Shivling in India perfectly encapsulates the existential nature of pitting yourself against the harshest environments in the world.
Over an hour and six minutes, we watch Swiss Alpinists Hojac, Siegrist, Schild and Scharf attempt a first ascent of a route on the 6,543m Shivling. As in every climb, success is not guaranteed, even if suffering is.
Tribute to Failure digs down to ask the deep question: how much can we endure before admitting defeat?
03
Beneath the Ice
17 min
Beneath the Ice
Will Gadd uses his unmatched ice climbing skills and knowledge to lead a scientific expedition into a previously unexplored territory beneath the Greenland ice sheet.
The 2018 documentary Beneath the Ice is slowly becoming a classic of Arctic exploration. It all began when Canadian climber Will Gadd and glacial hydrologist Jason Gulley, set out to explore the uncharted territory beneath Greenland’s massive ice sheet.
The resulting film is eerie, breath-taking and unlike anything you’ll ever seen. Watch as they trek across desolate tundra, scale sheer walls of ice, and vanish down into the blue depths in an attempt to understand how the water beneath the world’s largest island behaves, and just how fast sea levels might rise.
04
Cliff Hunter
42 min
Cliff Hunter
Three Red Bull Cliff Diving World Champions take a road trip across Guatemala to find remote diving spots.
From its title alone, you know Cliff Hunter is going to be a good time. Not one for the faint of heart, the film follows Orlando Duque, Jonathan Paredes, and Rhianna Iffland – all Red Bull cliff diving world champions – as they road trip in search of remote cliff dives, including a first-ever at the most distant waterfall in Guatemala.
Expect lots of climbing, lots of arial acrobatics, and lots of staring over impossibly high ledges before the inevitable leap – and splash – into the abyss.
05
Fairy Flight
21 min
Fairy Flight
Valentin Delluc drops from a hot air balloon for a speedflying adventure in Turkey's magical Cappadocia.
In this airy 2022 documentary, Frenchman Valentin Delluc drops from the iconic hot air balloons of magical Cappadocia in Turkey for a speedflying adventure filled with action.
It’s another film filled with vertigo, but also incredible beauty. Very few of us have the opportunity to see some of the world’s most stunning landscapes from thousands of feet up. This is your chance.
But don’t expect a mellow, laid-back watch. Delluc doesn’t drift gently down to earth: this is speedflying, with Delluc completing as many high speed twists and turns as a falcon chasing its prey. Expect to watch Fairy Flight with your heart firmly in your mouth.
06
Wild Waters
Released in 2022, Wild Waters charts the incredible story of a kayaking pioneer. From Olympic pools to wild rivers to world championship podiums, Nouria Newman can do it all. There’s a reason she’s been called the most gifted kayaker of her generation. Across 86 minutes of viewing, you’ll find out why.
Watch as Newman drops, nose first down vertical waterfalls, and navigates furious rapids across the globe. First, though, comes the days' long trek through the jungle and downstream journeys in search of those perfect, beautifully life-endangering spots. The stuff of legends, indeed.
07
Red Bull Dual Ascent
36 min
Red Bull Dual Ascent
Sixteen world-class athletes on eight teams battle to be the fastest up a wall of six gruelling pitches.
After its inclusion in the Tokyo Olympics, bouldering is going from strength to strength. This 2022 doc is the perfect celebration of this, featuring a who’s who of the world’s best climbers as they take on the first true multi-pitch climbing contest.
That’s sixteen world-class athletes in eight teams of two, all battling to be the fastest up the wall of gruelling six pitches at Red Bull Dual Ascent: two exact routes, side-by-side, 180m high, one winning team.
Featuring the likes of Sasha DiGiulian, Domen Škofic, Angie Scarth-Johnson, Shauna Coxsey, and Alberto Gines López, you’ll need a strong head for heights to keep up.
08
Flying Between Giants
33 min
Flying Between Giants
Paraglider pilots Tom de Dorlodot and Horacio Llorens flew past four of Pakistan's peaks in just one day.
When it comes to adventure, Pakistan may not be top of your list. This 2023 film will make you reconsider. In just over half an hour, we chart the progress of world-class paraglider pilots Tom de Dorlodot and Horacio Llorens as they fly past four of Pakistan's peaks in just one day, including K2, the world's second-highest mountain, in a spectacular high-altitude feat.
Known as the Karakoram, this mountain range in Kashmir – and on the borders of China, Pakistan, and India – has long been the site of political turmoil. But up here, in the air, the problems of the real world seem very far away indeed.
09
Island X
50 min
Island X
From great loss to new gain: surf photographer Mark McInnis tracks down waves on an unlikely island.
Again, another great title. If you’re intrigued as to what ‘Island X’ is, let us help: there is no Island X, instead, we’re treated to a 50-minute journey to the edge of the surf map in search of the biggest and best undiscovered waves.
That might sound like the best surf trip of all time, but it isn’t all barbecues and beach beers: the film follows surf photographer Mark McInnis who, after losing his life’s work in a fire, looks to regain the inspiration that started him on the path of photography by tracking down undiscovered waves in the harshest environments.
McInnis is one of the most talented adventure sports photographers working today. The story of his own incredibly journey is suitably beautiful, in more ways than one.
10
Gravity
20 min
Gravity
John John Florence's latest film highlights the historic 2021/2022 winter on the North Shore of O’ahu, Hawaii.
No, this isn’t the Sandra Bullock in space film, but a patchwork story of an historic winter on the North Shore of the Hawaiian Island of O’ahu.
If that all sounds like a slow day in paradise, think again: this 2022 release takes a punk rock approach to surfing, cutting together an electric and inspiring compilation of footage – all of it cut to an explosive soundtrack.
Remember: when you’re facing some of the best waves in the world it really is gravity that keeps them – and you – crashing down…
11
Gigante de Pedra
37 min
Gigante de Pedra
Brazilian climber Felipe Camargo climbs the world's largest cave mouth at PETAR in the interior of São Paulo.
Fancy a trip inside the world's largest cave? Sure you do. This is exactly what Brazilian climber Felipe Camargo sets out to do in this 37-minute, 2022 documentary.
Located at PETAR, in the interior of São Paulo, Camargo must climb hundreds of feet above the forest canopy to reach his prize.
It’s a mind-blowing achievement, and the most difficult climb ever made in Brazil. Naturally, it’s a visually stunning film, from the forest-floor scenes of preparation to the climb itself, and, eventually, the dark depths of the gigantic behemoth of a cave. A must watch.
12
Sébastien Ogier: The Final Season
1 h 18 min
Sébastien Ogier: The Final Season
Discover how Sébastien Ogier won his eighth and last world title before calling time on his career.
One for the rally fans out there, The Final Season traces the career of French legend Sébastien Ogier, looking at how he built his formidable career and how – you guessed it – he bowed out at the top by winning his eighth and final world title in the last season of his career.
With appearances from Andrea Kaiser, Carlos Sainz, Sébastien Loeb, and Tim Lobinger, this is a truly remarkable tale of one of the finest, most dedicated athletes on the planet, and a masterclass in how to end a truly amazing career on your own terms.
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