Our Picks

10 Great Documentaries (10 titles)

So good, you couldn't make this up.

by: Here's Johnny from London

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Grizzly Man

Come, witness the mental demise of Timothy Treadwell. Ace.

Grizzly Man on DVD (2005)
Starring: Timothy Treadwell
Director: Werner Herzog
Certificate:
Documentary from acclaimed director Werner Herzog which explores the life and death of amateur grizzly bear expert and wildlife preservationist Timothy Treadwell. Treadwell lived unarmed among the bears for 13 summers and filmed his adventures in the wild during his final five seasons. In October ..read more »
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- 70
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One Day In September

A brilliant documentary about the kidnapping of members of the Israeli Olympic team in 1972.

One Day In September on DVD (1999)
Starring: Michael Douglas
Director: Kevin Macdonald
Certificate:
Kevin MacDonald directs this Oscar-winning documentary, examining the events of the 1972 Munich Olympics when the extreme Palestinian group Black September held eleven Israeli athletes hostage. Archive material and music mingles with interview footage of those involved at the time, including the ..read more »
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- 70
- from 3739 members

The Sorrow And The Pity

Long, black and white and quite slow... but SO GOOD YOU ABSOLUELY HAVE TO WATCH IT. There are more lessons to be learnt from the World War II than just 'Hitler was bad'.

The Sorrow And The Pity (2 discs) on DVD (1969)
Starring: Pierre Mendès-France, Marcel Verdier, Robert Anthony Eden
Director: Marcel Ophuls
Certificate:
Powerful documentary originally made for French television in 1969 by director Marcel Ophuls. The film chronicles the Nazi occupation of France from 1940 to 1944, using archive footage such as propagandist newsreels and footage of Maurice Chevalier singing for the German troops, coupled with ..read more »
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- 70
- from 1833 members

March of the Penguins

All human life is there... and I'm not really interested in Penguins (apart from the chocolate ones).

March of the Penguins on DVD (2005)
Starring: Luc Jacquet, Morgan Freeman
Director: Luc Jacquet, Luc Jacquet
Certificate:
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In the Antarctic, every March since the beginning of time, the quest begins to find the perfect mate and start a family. This courtship will begin with a long journey - a journey that will take them hundreds of miles across the continent by foot, in freezing cold temperatures, in brittle, icy winds ..read more »
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- 70
- from 45,501 members

When We Were Kings

I know nothing about boxing, but this documentary about 'The Rumble in the Jungle' was a knockout (clever, huh? Ok, not really).

When We Were Kings on DVD (1996)
Starring: Don King, Muhammad Ali, George Plimpton
Director: Leon Gast
Certificate:
In 1974, boxers Muhammad Ali and George Foreman came to the still-emerging and politically unstable African nation of Zaire for what Ali called the Rumble in the Jungle, a highly publicized world heavyweight championship fight. Documentarian Leon Gast flew to Zaire to film both the fight and a ..read more »
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- 70
- from 6499 members

Hearts And Minds

Moving, smart, hard-hitting. Watch and learn.

Hearts And Minds on DVD (1975)
Starring: Georges Bidault, Daniel Ellsberg, Gearges Bidault
Director: Peter Davis
Certificate:
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
Peter Davis' 30-year-old, landmark documentary unflinchingly confronts the United States' involvement in Vietnam. Using a wealth of sources -- from interviews to newsreels to documentary footage of the conflict at home and abroad -- Davis constructs a powerfully affecting portrait of the disastrous ..read more »
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- 70
- from 2431 members

Capturing The Friedmans

It asks more questions than it answers, but this is a compelling film about a family that's falling to pieces in the wake of accusations of child abuse. Amazingly, they videoed their experience: it's like reading someone's diary.

Capturing The Friedmans to Watch Now
Starring: Arnold Friedman, Elaine Friedman, David Friedman
Director: Andrew Jarecki
Certificate:
Run time: 108 minutes
Documentary about an upper-middleclass Jewish family, whose father and youngest son are arrested and charged with child molestation, and how it affected the family and community around them.
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- 70
- from 94 members

An Inconvenient Truth

Ok, maybe it's not really a 'great' documentary; maybe Al Gore's not the most charismatic guy in the world; maybe it's not subtle... but you should see it. You'll never buy another regular light bulb.

An Inconvenient Truth on DVD (2006)
Starring: Al Gore (Pres, Narr)
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Certificate:
Humanity is sitting on a time bomb. If the vast majority of the world's scientists are right, we have just ten years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet's climate system into a tail-spin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and killer ..read more »
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- 70
- from 37,519 members

Spellbound

Spellbound on DVD (2002)
Starring: Angela Arenivar, Ted Brigham, Harry Altman
Director: Jeffrey Blitz
Certificate:
An award winning documentary, this is the journey of eight competitive youngsters living in hope of becoming the National Spelling Bee champion. Director Jeff Blitz turns the cameras to the backgrounds and study methods of these driven young people, which vary dramatically - from April, who ..read more »
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- 60
- from 11,792 members

Nick Broomfield - His Big White Self Revisited

It was either this or Eileen... but they're both great. South Africa is a complex place indeed.

Nick Broomfield - His Big White Self Rev... (2 discs) on DVD (2006)
Starring: Eugene Terreblanche, Nick Broomfield
Director: Nick Broomfield
Certificate:
Two documentaries from controversial filmmaker Nick Broomfield. In 'The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife' (1991), Broomfield turns his camera on the neo-Nazi Afrikaner Resistance Movement in South Africa. Using his bumbling style, he manages to lull the subjects into portraying themselves ..read more »
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- 70
- from 767 members