Touch grass: 20 awesome movies that take place mostly outdoors

Turquoise waters, quaint countrysides and puffballs soaring across the sky. Federico Fellini turns his hometown into a playground for his childhood self. His autobiographical film is one of the great postcards for Italy's natural beauty.

There's a reason Cast Away is some people's desert island film. As much as it would suck to be Tom Hanks stranded on that island, it's a pretty cool island to be stranded on. Who didn't watch this movie and picture themselves lost on that tropical beach? It's a gorgeous beach to explore.

Pro tip: if you have a fear of heights, make sure you prepare yourself for this documentary. A look at the horrors of rock climbing, this film may have you hanging on the edge of your seat. 

Shots of nature? Check. David Attenborough? Check. A bunch of animals? Check. A bunch of locations? Check. This is a nature documentary, alright. And there's so much nature to see. 

Children have always been drawn to the great outdoors--maybe a little less now that cell phones have arrived. But there's nothing that feeds a child's appetite for discovery quite like nature. Stand By Me understands that and delivers a riveting trek through the woods of self-discovery. 

A fish turns into a human and goes on a journey of self-discovery with her human friend--these children are going to find themselves in nature! But not just any kind of nature. The lyrical, fantastical and whimsical kind that only Hayao Miyazaki can deliver. 

There are not many movies about the divide between industrial cities and natural beauty. You can find commentaries on this in the background of Ozu films, but perhaps never has there been a more blatant film about this divide than Leave No Trace, which sees a father and daughter hide in the woods from civilization. 

This is basically just an advertisement for kids to travel, get outdoors and do something other than rot on their phones, which is something many children need to see right now. With every summer, this tale of besties going on vacation and the magical pants that keep them connected gets even more beautiful.

Want to bounce back from a divorce? Leave the city for a joyous life in Italy. Of course, this personal renovation comes with a home renovation, and Diane Lane has some fixing to do.

Okay, so camping doesn't always go the way you expect it, especially if you don't even know what camping is. In this slapstick comedy, the humor comes from a dude who doesn't know how to function outdoors. 

Being outdoors sucks if you are stuck in a war, get caught in ice storm, are eaten by a bear, almost drown in a river, watch your child get slaughtered, have nothing to eat and have no place to sleep. For the rest of us, being outdoors is great!

Westerns are often great showcases for the great outdoors since industrialization hadn't happened yet. With the exception of some saloons, there wasn't much other than the great outdoors. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is the genre's most entertaining journey through nature, with best friends on the run through gorgeously photographed scenery. 

Jaques Tati delivers a cinematic vacation unlike any other. There are gorgeous beaches, sunny countrysides and lots of childish slapstick. It's a quirky cinematic escape.

It's Bonnie and Clyde with elementary school kids. Plus, some incredible shots of nature.

There's nothing quite like watching Alain Delon lounge by the pool with his girlfriend. Sexy, sunny and seriously cool, it's a vacation that turns into a thriller when Delon's friends arrive. 

There aren't many indoor scenes in The Princess Bride. This is a rollicking journey through oceans and countrysides as a princess is rescued by her true love. 

What would happen if nature turned on us? Alfred Hitchcock turned the great outdoors into a great death trap with The Birds, a horror flick about birds attacking people. 

A boat ride through the jungle makes for some tranquil scenery in The African Queen, as two singles who couldn't be more different bond over their journey. It's messy and magnificent in equal measure.

Okay, so maybe this is a war movie about the death of soldiers. But it's so much more than that. It's a profound study on the human psyche, the meaninglessness of war, the importance of faith and how nature is going to outlive us all. After the bullets stop, all that remains is a forest of trees. It opens with a montage of nature and ends with a shot of nature standing amidst the rubble.

A father brings his children to the countryside when their mother gets sick. It's a place of healing, nature and fantastical creatures. It's the backdrop for the greatest animated movie ever made, a wonderful example of what cinema can be.