Documentaries
by nicolaescucalin | created - 06 Mar 2019 | updated - 1 month ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. The Blue Planet (2001)
TV-G | 49 min | Documentary
Mammoth series, five years in the making, taking a look at the rich tapestry of life in the world's oceans.
Stars: David Attenborough, Pierce Brosnan, Peter Scoones
Votes: 42,723
2. Blue Planet II (2017)
TV-G | 52 min | Documentary
David Attenborough returns to the world's oceans in this sequel to the acclaimed documentary filming rare and unusual creatures of the deep, as well as documenting the problems our oceans face.
Stars: David Attenborough, Peter Drost, Roger Munns, Roger Horrocks
Votes: 46,604
3. Frozen Planet (2011–2012)
TV-PG | 33 min | Documentary
Focuses on life and the environment in both the Arctic and Antarctic.
Stars: David Attenborough, Alec Baldwin, Chadden Hunter, Michael Kelem
Votes: 33,001
4. Planet Earth (2006)
TV-PG | 49 min | Documentary, Family
A documentary series on the wildlife found on Earth. Each episode covers a different habitat: deserts, mountains, deep oceans, shallow seas, forests, caves, polar regions, fresh water, plains and jungles. Narrated by David Attenborough.
Stars: Sigourney Weaver, David Attenborough, Nikolay Drozdov, Thomas Anguti Johnston
Votes: 220,344
5. Planet Earth II (2016)
TV-G | 50 min | Documentary
David Attenborough returns with a new wildlife documentary that shows life in a variety of habitats.
Stars: David Attenborough, Chadden Hunter, Gordon Buchanan, Elizabeth White
Votes: 158,312
6. Life (2009)
TV-G | 43 min | Documentary
David Attenborough's legendary BBC crew explains and shows wildlife all over planet earth. From giving an overview of the challenges facing life to hunting the deep sea and various major evolutionary groups of creatures.
Stars: Oprah Winfrey, David Attenborough, Doug Allan, Roger Munns
Votes: 42,821
7. Human Planet (2011)
TV-PG | 50 min | Documentary
A cinematic experience bringing you the most amazing human stories in the world. Humans and wildlife surviving in the most extreme environments on Earth
Stars: John Hurt, Roger Munns
Votes: 27,801
8. Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (2014)
TV-PG | 43 min | Documentary
An exploration of our discovery of the laws of nature and coordinates in space and time.
Stars: Neil deGrasse Tyson, Christopher Emerson, Keythe Farley, Piotr Michael
Votes: 128,748
9. The World at War (1973–1974)
TV-PG | 50 min | Documentary, History, War
A groundbreaking 26-part documentary series narrated by the actor Laurence Olivier about the deadliest conflict in history, World War II.
Stars: Laurence Olivier, Averell Harriman, Anthony Eden, Albert Speer
Votes: 29,517
10. Cold War (1998)
47 min | Documentary, History
A 24-part series which deals with the relations between the United States, the Soviet Union and their respective allies between the end of World War II to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Anatoli Dobrynin, Robert McNamara, Vladimir Yerofeyev
Votes: 1,038
11. Citizenfour (2014)
R | 114 min | Documentary, Biography
A documentarian and a reporter travel to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden.
Director: Laura Poitras | Stars: Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, William Binney, Jacob Appelbaum
Votes: 57,989 | Gross: $2.80M
12. The Vietnam War (2017)
TV-MA | 99 min | Documentary, History, War
A comprehensive history of the United States' involvement in the bitterly divisive armed conflict in Southeast Asia.
Stars: Peter Coyote, Huy Duc, James Willbanks, Duong Van Mai Elliott
Votes: 27,995
13. The Men Who Built America (2012)
TV-14 | 37 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Astor, Ford and Morgan. Their names are part of history and synonymous with the American dream. These men transformed every industry they touched: oil, rail, steel, shipping, automobiles, and finance.
Stars: Campbell Scott, H.W. Brands, Mark Cuban, Donny Deutsch
Votes: 4,581
14. Spies, Lies and the Superbomb (2007)
60 min | Documentary, Drama, History
Looks at the race for Nuclear Superemacy from The Manhatten Project through to The Islamic Bomb.
Stars: Sean Pertwee, Joe Jones, Marco Hofschneider, Mike Lawler
Votes: 135
15. Killer Stress: A National Geographic Special (2008 TV Movie)
50 min | Documentary
National Geographic investigates the root causes and eventual effects of stress.
Director: John Heminway | Stars: Elizabeth Blackburn, Elissa Epel, Marcus Lovett, Michael Marmot
Votes: 263
16. Cosmos (1980)
TV-PG | 60 min | Documentary
Astronomer Carl Sagan leads us on an engaging guided tour of the various elements and cosmological theories of the universe.
Stars: Carl Sagan, Jaromír Hanzlík, Jonathan Fahn, Jean Charney
Votes: 44,177
17. The Civil War (1990)
TV-14 | 76 min | Documentary, History, War
A comprehensive survey of the American Civil War.
Stars: David McCullough, Sam Waterston, Julie Harris, Jason Robards
Votes: 18,569
18. Inside Job (2010)
PG-13 | 109 min | Documentary, Crime
Takes a closer look at what brought about the 2008 financial meltdown.
Director: Charles Ferguson | Stars: Matt Damon, Gylfi Zoega, Andri Snær Magnason, Sigridur Benediktsdottir
Votes: 78,992 | Gross: $4.31M
19. In the Womb (2005 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 120 min | Documentary
Documents the 9 month journey from conception to birth with images taken inside the womb. New photographic and camera techniques allow the viewer to see previously unknown images concerning a time we all go through.
Director: Toby Macdonald | Star: Dilly Barlow
Votes: 323
20. When the Road Bends... Tales of a Gypsy Caravan (2006)
Unrated | 110 min | Documentary, Music
A brief look into Romani culture and Rom (Gypsies) from around the globe as five famous Romani groups tour the USA. The film visits their families at home in Spain, India, Macedonia and Romania.
Director: Jasmine Dellal | Stars: Maharaja, Esma Redzepova, Taraf de Haidouks, Antonio El Pipa
Votes: 488 | Gross: $0.44M
21. Home (I) (2009)
Not Rated | 118 min | Documentary, Family
With aerial footage from fifty-four countries, 'Home' is a depiction of how Earth's problems are all interlinked.
Director: Yann Arthus-Bertrand | Stars: Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Glenn Close, Jacques Gamblin
Votes: 23,053
22. The China Hustle (2017)
R | 82 min | Documentary
An unsettling and eye-opening Wall Street horror story about Chinese companies, the American stock market, and the opportunistic greed behind the biggest heist you've never heard of.
Director: Jed Rothstein | Stars: Dan David, Matthew Wiechert, Herb Greenberg, Roddy Boyd
Votes: 3,940 | Gross: $0.05M
23. Food, Inc. (2008)
PG | 94 min | Documentary, News
An unflattering look inside America's corporate controlled food industry.
Director: Robert Kenner | Stars: Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser, Richard Lobb, Vince Edwards
Votes: 52,227 | Gross: $4.42M
24. Racing Extinction (2015)
Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary, Adventure, News
A documentary that follows undercover activists trying to stave off a man-made mass extinction.
Director: Louie Psihoyos | Stars: Elon Musk, Joel Sartore, Louie Psihoyos, Charles Hambleton
Votes: 8,196
25. Forks Over Knives (2011)
PG | 90 min | Documentary
Examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods.
Director: Lee Fulkerson | Stars: Lee Fulkerson, Matthew Lederman, Alona Pulde, T. Colin Campbell
Votes: 12,698
26. Kurzgesagt: In a Nutshell (2013– )
TV-G | Documentary, Animation
Various scientific subjects are explained in animation.
Stars: Steve Taylor, CGP Grey, Jake Roper, John Green
Votes: 876
27. Collective (2019)
Not Rated | 109 min | Documentary, Crime
Director Alexander Nanau follows a crack team of investigators at the Romanian newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor as they try to uncover a vast health-care fraud that enriched moguls and politicians and led to the deaths of innocent citizens.
Director: Alexander Nanau | Stars: Dan Alexandru Condrea, Liviu Iolu, Razvan Lutac, Mirela Neag
Votes: 13,442
28. Requiem for the American Dream (2015)
Not Rated | 73 min | Documentary, Biography, News
Renowned academic and author Noam Chomsky elucidates 10 principles of concentration of wealth and power that have led to unprecedented inequality and the hollowing out of the American middle class.
Directors: Peter D. Hutchison, Kelly Nyks, Jared P. Scott | Stars: Noam Chomsky, Alan Greenspan, Malcolm X, Richard Nixon
Votes: 9,889 | Gross: $0.13M
29. My Octopus Teacher (2020)
TV-G | 85 min | Documentary, Drama
A filmmaker forges an unusual friendship with an octopus living in a South African kelp forest, learning as the animal shares the mysteries of her world.
Directors: Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed | Stars: Craig Foster, Tom Foster
Votes: 63,868
30. David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet (2020 TV Movie)
PG | 83 min | Documentary, Biography
One man has seen more of the natural world than any other. This unique feature documentary is his witness statement.
Directors: Alastair Fothergill, Jonathan Hughes, Keith Scholey | Stars: David Attenborough, Max Hughes
Votes: 34,567
31. Explained (2018–2021)
TV-MA | 18 min | Documentary
A documentary series that looks to explore the big questions of today.
Stars: Estelle Caswell, Samira Wiley, Maria Bello, Kyle MacLachlan
Votes: 9,944
32. Memory Games (2018)
85 min | Documentary
Glimpse into the brain's vast potential for memorization through the eyes of four competitive memory athletes as they share techniques and insights.
Directors: Janet Tobias, Claus Wehlisch | Stars: Yanjaa Wintersoul, Andy Fong, Kyle Bryan Johnson, Simon Reinhard
Votes: 464
33. Mind Field (2017– )
TV-14 | Documentary, Adventure
Join me on a journey into the mysterious depths of the human psyche as I investigate the strange and surprising terrain of the Mind Field.
Stars: Michael Stevens, Trin Miller, Philip Zimbardo, Alie Ward
Votes: 2,752
34. One Strange Rock (2018)
TV-PG | 47 min | Documentary
The extraordinary story of Earth and why it is special and uniquely brimming with life among a largely unknown but harsh cosmic arena; astronauts tell the story of Earth through a unique perspective.
Stars: Will Smith, Chris Hadfield, Jerry Linenger, Mae C. Jemison
Votes: 8,289
35. Dirty Money (2018–2020)
TV-14 | 60 min | Documentary, Crime
A Netflix Original Series documenting various stories about exposing the greed, corruption, and crime spreading through the global economy.
Stars: Matt Taibbi, Fisher Stevens, Alex Gibney, Fahmi Quadir
Votes: 10,188
36. Dark Tourist (2018)
TV-MA | 40 min | Documentary, Adventure
From a nuclear lake to a haunted forest, New Zealand filmmaker and journalist David Farrier ('Tickled') visits unusual -- and often macabre -- tourism spots around the world.
Stars: David Farrier, Christian Wolf, Jhon Jairo Velásquez, Scott Michaels
Votes: 8,168
37. Icarus (2017)
TV-MA | 120 min | Documentary, Sport
When Bryan sets out to uncover the truth about doping in sports, a chance meeting with a Russian scientist transforms his story from a personal experiment into a geopolitical thriller.
Director: Bryan Fogel | Stars: Bryan Fogel, Dave Zabriskie, Don Catlin, Grigory Rodchenkov
Votes: 54,726
38. The Putin Interviews (2017)
TV-PG | 58 min | Documentary, Biography
Academy Award-winning film-maker Oliver Stone interviews Russian president Vladimir Putin about divisive issues related to U.S.-Russia relations.
Stars: Oliver Stone, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Chudinov, Fernando Sulichin
Votes: 5,272
39. Apollo 11 (I) (2019)
G | 93 min | Documentary, History
A look at the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon led by commander Neil Armstrong and pilots Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins.
Director: Todd Douglas Miller | Stars: Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins, Buzz Aldrin, Deke Slayton
Votes: 27,225 | Gross: $9.04M
40. Leaving Neverland (2019)
TV-MA | 240 min | Documentary
At the height of his stardom, the world's biggest pop star, Michael Jackson, began long-running relationships with two young boys, aged between seven and ten, along their families. They now allege that he sexually abused them.
Director: Dan Reed | Stars: Michael Jackson, Wade Robson, Joy Robson, Chantal Robson
Votes: 31,130
41. Rise of Empires: Ottoman (2020–2022)
TV-MA | 45 min | Documentary, Drama, History
Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II wages an epic campaign to take the Byzantine capital of Constantinople and shapes the course of history for centuries.
Stars: Cem Yigit Uzümoglu, Tuba Büyüküstün, Alp Ilkman, Ushan Çakir
Votes: 32,913
42. FIFA Uncovered (2022)
TV-14 | 55 min | Documentary, Crime, Sport
From power struggles to global politics, an exploration of FIFA reveals the organization's checkered history and what it takes to host a World Cup.
Stars: Jérôme Valcke, David Conn, Ken Bensinger, Amanda Davies
Votes: 6,520
43. Greatest Events of WWII in Colour (2019)
50 min | Documentary, History, War
A series of colorized archive footage of important events during World War II.
Stars: Derek Jacobi, Geoffrey Wawro, James Holland, Saul David
Votes: 10,734
44. Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War (2024)
60 min | Documentary
The series chronicles the creation of the atomic bomb and the spread of nuclear arms over the following decades. It continues past the dissolution of the Soviet Union to Vladimir Putin's ascent and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Stars: Mary Sarotte, Garrett Graff, Robert Gates, Tom Nichols
Votes: 2,506
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