Who doesn't love a good adventure movie? These films take us on epic, sweeping journeys, from the depths of space to ancient Rome. The adventure can be about anything. Maybe it's a quest that leads to riches and powerful objects. Or maybe the adventure is born from something as simple and basic as the need to survive. The adventure might include magic that sparks our imaginations and fills our eyes with wonder, or battle scenes and death-defying moments that make us sweat. But there is one constant in all great adventure movies: they capture our hearts -- and also make them pound against our chests.

Here are nine epic adventure movies that make our hearts race from beginning to end.

9 Jumanji (1995)

Jumanji
Sony Pictures Releasing

Who knew that a board game could be so fun and terrifying? 1995's Jumanji forces four players across generations to complete a magical, jungle-themed board game called Jumanji. The game brings jungle dangers to life, from stampedes to poisonous plants to deranged hunters, as the players, led by the legendary Robin Williams, race to finish the game. For a children's movie, Jumanji has a lot of scary, heart-pounding moments.

In the first ten minutes, we see a child unwillingly get sucked into the board game and remain trapped there for twenty-six years. Everything that comes out of the game is eager to kill you. It's nerve-wracking whenever the players roll the dice and lean forward to read Jumanji's words, unsure of what horrifying threat will come to life next. A franchise of indirect sequels came years later, with a fourth Jumanji film supposedly in the works.

Related: Best Magical Movies That Aren't Harry Potter

8 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow and Orlando Bloom as Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

There are a lot of movies in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. But the best one by far in terms of heart-pounding adventure and overall quality is The Curse of the Black Pearl.

You'd think that a movie based on a Disney theme park ride would be a bomb (and there definitely have been some), but this one proved to be the opposite. Black Pearl is a unique, swash-buckling adventure with epic sword fights and cursed treasure. The Black Pearl's villainous pirates are like something out of a horror movie, especially in the frightening scene where they reveal their ghostly nature. Hans Zimmer's iconic score amplifies the movie's epic feel, ramping up our adrenaline throughout the journey.

7 Interstellar (2014)

Matthew McConaughey in Interstellar (2014)
Paramount Pictures

Interstellar is Christopher Nolan's sci-fi adventure, where explorers from a dying Earth traverse across space in search of a new world. As if that isn't stressful enough, the movie is filled with things that nearly kill the main characters, like massive tidal waves and deceitful astronauts. Traveling with main character Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) through a black hole is a heart-pounding ride that's both incredible and terrifying. But just making our hearts race isn't enough.

The movie also has to break them, as we watch Cooper travel back in time and relive the tear-jerking events that kicked off his story. Add Hans Zimmer's score to the mix, its notes building up to an intense and powerful crescendo, and you get one exhilarating adventure.

6 Gladiator (2000)

Russell Crowe in Gladiator (2000)
Universal Pictures

Gladiator is Ridley Scott's adventure masterpiece and one of the best films of the 2000s. It gives audiences a realistic glance at the ancient Roman Empire and a front row view of the legendary gladiator battles. Stepping into the Coliseum with main character Maximus (Russell Crowe) and seeing this modern wonder in its prime is breathtaking. The gladiator battle scenes are violent but epic. You never know what kind of gorey death is about to take place. And Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) teasing the audience, both in the Coliseum and at home, with the gladiators' fates with his thumb is bound to make you bite your own thumb in anxiety. To many people's surprise, a Gladiator sequel was announced earlier this year and is reportedly in the works.

Related: Gladiator 2: What Fans Can Expect

5 Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Josh Brolin as Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Avengers: Infinity War was the Marvel event that everybody was waiting for, the climax that every film in the MCU had been building toward. Fans love to debate whether Infinity War is better than its sequel Avengers: End Game, which concluded the Thanos story arc. But between the two movies, Infinity War is definitely more thrilling. It assembled iconic heroes who had never crossed paths before and created fun interactions, like Tony Stark meeting his match with Dr. Strange, or Star-Lord being intimidated by Thor.

There were so many intense moments, most of which involved the villain Thanos. Watching our heroes finally come face-to-face with the mastermind that's been pulling the strings all along is exhilarating. Their encounters lead to some epic brawls, especially at the end. Our normally invincible heroes try stopping Thanos, but the villain casts them aside like they're nothing. It's a thrilling sequence that ends with a mind-blowing death (literally) -- and with Thanos finally collecting every Infinity Stone. It's a rare case where the bad guy actually wins, leaving us with a dark but memorable ending.

4 Ben-Hur (1959)

Ben-Hur directed by William Wyler
Loew's Inc

For an older movie, Ben-Hur is an exhilarating adventure. It's a sprawling epic that brilliantly intertwines a revenge story with the rise and fall of Jesus. Its epic battles don't rely on CGI to make your heart race (instead, it relies on thousands upon thousands of extras and animals). And the film's chariot scene is worthy of its iconic status. It feels so real and intense, leaving you to wonder if people really died during its filming. One of the movie's most thrilling scenes, though, isn't even a battle. Here, Ben-Hur and his fellow slaves are furiously rowing their master's ship as a drum pounds in the background, making our own hearts pound along with it.

3 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Elijah Wood in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
New Line Cinema

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a fantasy masterpiece and three and a half hours of adventure. It's packed with epic battle sequences, where you don't know who will win and who will die. Orcs, wizards, elves, dwarves, and would-be kings -- they all come clashing together in a storm of swords and arrows. And as these battles rage on, we finally see Frodo and Sam reach the peak of Mount Doom.

Our hearts race as we watch Frodo stand at the precipice, debating what to do. We beg him to toss that damn ring into the flames. But the Hobbit just has to make things difficult. What follows is a heart-pounding finale, as Frodo, Sam, and of course, Gollum fight for possession of the ring, the flames of Mount Doom blazing in the background.

Related: Every Lord of the Rings and Hobbit Movie, Ranked

2 Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Raiders of the Lost Ark
Paramount Pictures.

When you think of heart-pounding adventure movies, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is probably one of the first films that come to mind. It's the very definition of an adventure film: an archeologist and literal adventurer, who wields a whip and the most bad*ss name ever, journeys around the world, fighting bad guys and uncovering historical treasure.

The movie is a shot of adrenaline right from the get-go. We watch his companions fall victim to booby traps, while Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) solves life-threatening puzzles and braves multiple dangers. That enormous ball chasing Indiana through the temple is an iconic moment -- and it happens in the very beginning of the film. After that, Indiana scraps with Nazis, gets into shootouts, and finds the lost Ark of the Covenant. Our hearts race when the bad guys open the chest to reveal what's inside. And once we see it, our hearts stop altogether. Even its final scene, one of the greatest movie endings ever, leaves us chilled to the bone.

1 Jurassic Park (1993)

T-Rex scene from Jurassic Park
Universal Pictures

No adventure movie gets your heart racing from start to finish like Steven Spielberg's original Jurassic Park. In the very first scene, we see a guard get demolished by an imprisoned velociraptor, which sets the tone for the rest of the story. Our hearts start pounding the moment we set foot in Jurassic Park, as we anticipate looking upon these extinct creatures for the first time. And when we do, it's an awe-inspiring moment. The movie picks up the pace when the park loses power, and the dinosaurs break free.

One of Jurassic Park's most thrilling and iconic moments is when the T-rex steps out of its cage, revealing itself for the first time, and releases a blood-curdling roar. The dinosaur's booming footsteps, paired with those close-ups of rippling water, builds the movie's suspense, making our hearts pound before the T-rex even shows up. The terror only builds from there as we become participants in a nerve-wracking car chase, watching the T-rex get closer and closer in our side view mirror. And let's not forget the velociraptors, who spend all their time hunting our heroes, creating heart-pounding scenes that belong in a horror movie.

Related: Jurassic Park Movies Ranked from Worst to First