17 Best Movies About Treasures and Treasure Hunters

All the best treasure hunt adventure films in one list! It used to be that finding a good treasure hunt movie was harder than finding the treasure itself.

2001 / USA, UK, Japan, Germany / directed by Simon West

Audiences flocked to theaters just to see what the real, living Lara Croft looked like. And she didn't disappoint (Angelina Jolie is never one to disappoint). The plot, admittedly, fades from your mind immediately after the end credits, but the stunts and fights are a wonderful way to kill time. Ultimately, you can just imagine Lara Croft traveling the world in search of her lost script.

1984 / USA, Mexico / directed by Robert Zemeckis

Continuing our precious list of the best treasure-hunting adventure films is the magnificent film by Robert Zemeckis, the same man who directed Back to the Future and Forrest Gump. Romancing the Stone was no less popular in its day, which is logical: a super-lightweight film about a romantic couple (Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner) running through the jungle in search of treasure and love.

One of the biggest hits of its era, it grossed ten times its budget at the box office. In 1984, Hollywood's top 10 box office hits included two treasure-themed films: Romancing the Stone and the second Indiana Jones film.

1981 / USA / directed by Steven Spielberg

But we'll put the first "Indiana Jones" film, not the second, on our list, and it's unlikely anyone will seriously argue or threaten to sue. It's the film that took the incredibly ancient genre of "treasure hunt movies" to a new level and which, until "Pirates of the Caribbean," no one could compete with. Incidentally, "The Ark" cost a paltry $18 million by today's standards.

1995 / USA, Europe / Directed by Renny Harlin

This epic, $100 million film about a treasure hunt at sea flopped so spectacularly at the box office that it put producers off investing in pirate films for a long time. But don't let the film's reputation fool you: it's truly a daring picture. A pirate's daughter pieces together the pieces of a map revealing the pirate's treasure, and she does so with utter gusto, thanks to actress Geena Davis.

2005 / Europe, USA / directed by Breck Eisner

Another overpriced flop, which, upon closer inspection, turns out to be quite a lively film. It's just too expensive for its era. Matthew McConaughey and Penélope Cruz search Africa for the mysterious "Death Ship," turning the film into something between Indiana Jones and James Bond.

1972 / Germany / directed by Werner Herzog

The darkest film on our list, but in many ways also the best. For the '70s generation, it was roughly what DiCaprio's The Revenant is for today: an endless road trip to survival. Only here, the travelers also face the specter of a luxurious, fairytale El Dorado, a search for which they set out, ignoring common sense and the instinct for self-preservation.

1986 / USA / directed by J. Lee Thompson

A slightly inappropriate, but overall successful attempt by the filmmakers to create something like "Romancing the Stone," but with Chuck Norris in the lead role! Treasure hunters search for yet another Aztec treasure and have a blast, especially when Chuck gets his hands on his signature leaping, spinning kicks.

1973 / Italy / director Eldar Ryazanov

Russia, too, should be famous worldwide for its treasures—Eldar Ryazanov logically assumed, and began filming this adventure comedy. It follows a group of foreign swindlers who turn Leningrad upside down, trying to find a hidden treasure buried under a mysterious lion. In fact, the lion also appears in the film and outperforms professional actors, even Andrei Mironov.

1971 / director Leonid Gaidai

This is also a story about the search for hidden Russian treasures. The only question left for debate is: which of the film adaptations of Ilf and Petrov's novel is considered the most important? For now, we'll settle on this one, starring the inimitable Gomiashvili.

1976 / Italy / directed by Sergio Corbucci

An ode to Italian adventure, starring Adriano Celentano, of course. The plot centers on a convoluted scam involving mythical ancient treasures, but ultimately, it's just a pretext for gags, chases, and Celentano-esque antics.

2006 / USA, Europe / directed by Ron Howard

For almost the entire film (and in the book as well), the protagonist doesn't really understand what he's looking for. Murders, chases, and kidnappings constantly distract him from understanding and focusing. This was, in fact, the novel's core drive, slightly dimmed in the film but not entirely lost. Whether thanks to, or despite, Tom Hanks in the lead role.

1985 / USA / directed by J. Lee Thompson

A popular plot with a completely typical romantic adventure couple. But it's important to remember that this is a film adaptation of the original source, the 1885 novel of the same name. Although in the book, the cast was predominantly male. It's not exactly a success (especially compared to "Romancing the Stone" and "Indiana Jones"), but Sharon Stone is constantly in the frame. And that, you know, is incredibly important!

2004 / USA / directed by Jon Turteltaub

A film about a treasure hunt, the key to which is encrypted in the US Declaration of Independence. It sounds crazy, but, whatever one might say, "National Treasure" is one of the most successful treasure-hunting films of our century. For Nicolas Cage, it's one of his last box office successes.

The film wasn't cheap (the budget was $100 million), but Cage's presence lends a touch of cheapness. But this is the kind of film you can swallow without even chewing—it's so easily digestible and cholesterol-free.

1999 / USA / directed by Stephen Sommers

A surprise hit in 1999, everyone suddenly realized how much they missed those old movies about torch-lit catacomb chases. The special effects, which were fresh for the time, and the unexpectedly charismatic Brendan Fraser also played a major role.

2003 / USA / directed by Gore Verbinski

It's funny to think about it now, but analysts and critics didn't predict much success for the film, convinced in advance that it was plagued by the same curse that had prevented pirated films from making a decent box office for years. And then the film broke all possible molds and breathed new life into the moribund sea adventure genre. And Johnny Depp suddenly became a commercially successful actor, something no one, least of all himself, had believed.

1981 / Australia, New Zealand, USA / directed by David Hemmings

A Soviet box office hit, this upbeat comedy action film about the search for a plane crashed in New Zealand carrying gold bars. It's certainly hard to watch the film today with the same eyes that Soviet audiences devoured it with. And yet, it's easy to see that the film's subtle irony and picturesqueness are still there.

2012-2014 / USA, New Zealand / directed by Peter Jackson

A bloated, yet somehow captivating saga based on Tolkien's book, about a band of dwarves, heavily armed with greed, who set out to reclaim gold from a dragon. Curiously, all the formal hallmarks of a treasure hunt are present in "The Hobbit": a cipher map, coded doors, and, of course, fierce guards. But what's a match for the Shire's finest burglar?