Many of the best kids movies that the whole family will love tend to fall under a genre category that people of all ages and all walks of life can enjoy: adventure. With so many great titles to choose from, we figured we would save you the time and compile some of favorite adventure family movies that would be perfect for your next big movie night. Let the journeys begin!
The Goonies (1985)
A group of young friends must evade deadly booby traps and outwit a ruthless criminal family in search of buried loot that could save their neighborhood.
Why it is one of the best adventure family movies: The Goonies is easily one of director Richard Donner’s best movies for its funny take on adventure tropes from a child’s perspective.
Stream The Goonies on Tubi.
Rent or buy The Goonies on Amazon.
How To Train Your Dragon (2010)
A young man (voiced by Jay Baruchel) strikes up a relationship with a dragon that could change the course of people’s war with the creatures forever.
Why it is one of the best adventure family movies: By flipping the script on how humans typically interact with winged, fire-breathing creatures in most fantasy tales, the exciting How to Train Your Dragon cements itself as one of the best DreamWorks Animation movies ever.
Stream How To Train Your Dragon on Netflix.
Stream How To Train Your Dragon on Amazon Prime.
Stream How To Train Your Dragon on Peacock.
Shrek (2001)
A cantankerous ogre (voiced by Mike Myers) and a talking donkey (voiced by Eddie Murphy) set out to rescue a princess (voiced by Cameron Diaz) so the selfish Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) will remove fairy tale creatures from the ogre’s swamp.
Why it is one of the best adventure family movies: DreamWorks’ groundbreaking adaptation of William Stieg’s children’s book, Shrek, was the clear winner for the first Best Animated Feature Oscar for its ruthless parody of animated fantasy movies at the time.
Stream Shrek on Peacock.
Rent or buy Shrek on Amazon.
Spy Kids (2001)
Two children (played Alexa PenaVega and Daryl Sabara) discover their kidnapped parents (Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino) are secret agents and become their last hope to be rescued.
Why it is one of the best adventure family movies: While the filmmaker is known better for grown-up entertainment, Spy Kids is still one of director Robert Rodriguez’s best movies for brilliantly bringing a child’s idea of espionage to life.
Stream Spy Kids on Netflix.
Stream Spy Kids on Paramount+.
Rent or buy Spy Kids on Amazon.
The NeverEnding Story (1984)
A lonely boy named Bastian (Barret Oliver) becomes transfixed by the wondrous world of a mysterious book.
Why it is one of the best adventure family movies: You too will be transfixed by the incredible visuals and hair-raising thrills in Wolfgang Petersen’s adaptation of Michael Ende’s novel, The NeverEnding Story.
Rent or buy The NeverEnding Story on Amazon.
The Princess Bride (1987)
The story of a heroic loner (played by Cary Elwes) aspiring to reunite with his true love (played by Robin Wright) is read to a sick boy (played by Fred Savage) by his grandfather (played by Peter Falk).
Why it is one of the best adventure family movies: Director Rob Reiner’s action-packed, surprisingly funny, and endearingly romantic adaptation of screenwriter William Goldwyn’s novel, The Princess Bride, is a beloved, undisputed classic of the adventure genre.
Stream The Princess Bride on Disney+.
Rent or buy The Princess Bride on Amazon.
Honey, I Shrunk The Kids (1989)
An inventor (played by Rick Moranis) discovers his shrink ray works, but only after it accidentally makes his son, daughter, and next door neighbors’ two boys microscopic.
Why it is one of the best adventure family movies: Arguably the best Honey, I Shrunk the Kids movie is Disney’s timeless original, in which the bulk of the action takes place in a grassy backyard that seems like a dangerous jungle from our young protagonists’ perspective.
Stream Honey, I Shrunk the Kids on Disney+.
Rent or buy Honey, I Shrunk the Kids on Amazon.
Peter Pan (1953)
A group of siblings are taken by the chivalrous leader of the Lost Boys to a magical land where no one ever ages and pirates like Captain Hook sail the seas.
Why it is one of the best adventure family movies: Not only is Disney’s classic animated movie, Peter Pan one of the definitive adaptations of J.M. Barrie’s seminal stage play, but it is also one of the best pirate movies ever made.
Stream Peter Pan on Disney+.
Rent or buy Peter Pan on Amazon.
An American Tail (1986)
A young Russian mouse (voiced by Phillip Glasser) struggles to find his family after becoming separated from them while immigrating to America.
Why it is one of the best adventure family movies: A classic you might have thought was a Disney movie growing up, An American Tail is one of animation legend Don Bluth’s most exciting, and heart-wrenching, masterworks.
Rent or buy An American Tail on Amazon.
The Wizard Of Oz (1939)
Dorothy (Judy Garland), her dog, Toto, and others embark on a quest through a wondrous land “somewhere over the rainbow” to find a legendary being who may be able to send her home.
Why it is one of the best adventure family movies: Few films from Hollywood’s golden age are quite as influential to the fantasy/adventure genre, especially in terms of aesthetic, than this adaptation of Frank Baum’s novel, The Wizard of Oz — a not-so-scary witch movie with a still-pretty-creepy and wicked antagonist.
Stream The Wizard of Oz on Max.
Rent or buy The Wizard of Oz on Amazon.
Spirited Away (2001)
A young girl (voiced by Daveigh Chase) finds herself in a strange place inhabited by odd creatures that were once human.
Why it is one of the best adventure family movies: Perhaps the best anime movie for both kids and adults is writer and director Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning Studio Ghibli classic, Spirited Away.
Stream Spirited Away on Max.
Rent or buy Spirited Away on Amazon.
The Spider-Verse Movies (2018, 2023)
A teenager (voiced by Shameik Moore) embarks on thrilling adventures with people from different realities after a radioactive spider bite gives him extraordinary powers.
Why it is one of the best adventure family movies: Arguably the greatest Spider-Man movies so far are Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (also one of the best superhero movies to win an Oscar, for Best Animated Feature) and its first follow-up, Across the Spider-Verse, for their unbelievably inventive depiction of the Multiverse.
Rent or buy Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse on Amazon.
Stream Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on Netflix.
Rent or buy Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on Amazon.
Jumanji (1995)
Two children (played by Kirsten Dunst and Bradley Pierce) play a board game that releases a man who has been trapped in the jungle for decades (played by Academy Award winner Robin Williams) and must help them finish the game to stop its exotic mayhem.
Why it is one of the best adventure family movies: While this franchise has changed dramatically in recent years, despite a few things that don’t make too much sense, director Joe Johnston’s original Jumanji is, arguably, the most dazzling adaptation of Chris Van Allsburg’s children’s book to date.
Stream Jumanji on Amazon Prime.
Labyrinth (1986)
After her wish sends her infant stepbrother into an enchanted land, a teenage girl (played by Jennifer Connelly) must set out to rescue him from the Goblin King, Jareth (David Bowie), before it is too late.
Why it is one of the best adventure family movies: Jim Henson’s most iconic creations may be the Muppets, but his cult favorite fantasy epic, Labyrinth (which was also executive produced by George Lucas), has a very special place in the hearts of its devoted followers.
Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985)
Pee-wee (played the late Paul Reubens) searches far and wide for his prized, stolen bicycle.
Why it is one of the best adventure family movies: Reubens’ iconic man-child headlines his first big screen effort in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, which is not only one of director Tim Burton’s best movies, but also his feature-length debut.
Rent or buy Pee-wee’s Big Adventure on Amazon.
You and your whole family can have an epic time without leaving your home by watching these classic adventure movies.
