# Great documentaries ? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 23, 2000, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505 "2000-07-23T01:26:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505/1 "2000-07-23T01:26:49Z")
There are a lot of people on this board who I respect greatly . So give me some advice on the best documentaries around . My favorites are : " Manufacturing Consent " about Noam Chomsky ( I find it strange that his name doesn’t appear a lot in great debates , but that’s another thread ). The Civil War :- This just blew me away , it really brought the American Civil War to life for me and has definitly changed the way a lot of documentaries are made. ---
**Author:** ![Myrr21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Myrr21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrr21)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505/2 "2000-07-23T01:50:06Z")
The Civil War was great, and the music kicked ass. but (as I’m sure you’ve guessed from the other thread), I have to go with Michael Moore’s \* Roger & Me. \* The scene near the end cutting back and forth between the GM Christmas party (with Roger himself speaking about compassion, love, etc) and the famiy being evicted on Christmas day…damn. Such a simple and elegant piece of filmmaking has rarely been equaled. ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505/3 "2000-07-23T01:58:47Z")
One of my favorites is _Sherman’s March_. This guy plans on making a documentary, following along the path of the march. Just before, he breaks up with his girlfriend, so it becomes a combination of him documenting the march, and trying to meet new women. Some people describe it as Woody Allen directing _Gone With the Wind_. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505/4 "2000-07-23T02:02:08Z")
_Roger & Me._ was really good. As you are also aware from that thread I am a great fan. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505/5 "2000-07-23T02:37:39Z")
“The Thin Blue Line” “Fast, Cheap and Out of Control” and to a somewhat lesser extent, everything else Errol Morris has ever done. Recent good ones: “American Movie” “Hands on a Hot Body” At your local video store. Go and get them! “Triumph of the Will” ok it’s morally repellent. it’s still a great documentary. (and anyway, to resist evil, one must understand it’s appeal.) I would love to see “Manufactured Consent”. I’m thinking Blockbuster doesn’t have it. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505/6 "2000-07-23T02:54:50Z")
“Best Boy” It’ll really get to you. It shows how an 50ish mentally retarded man (the filmmaker’s cousin) learns to become independent. A truly loving, human story. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505/7 "2000-07-23T03:02:22Z")
:: taking notes :: Keep’em coming people 🙂 **betenoir** I’ve never seen _Triumph of the Will_ but I have seen a BBC documentary about the making of it with a interview with Leni Riefenstahl. It was fascinating and I agree with you that these things should be viewed so we can understand more about the nature of the beast. IMO _Manufacturing Consent_ should be shown to everyone in school. Even if you disagree with all that’s said in it , it is still one of the best example’s of how to use your time to be informed rather than just letting people tell you how to think. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505/8 "2000-07-23T04:28:09Z")
Bete: It’s “Hands on a HARD Body,” and it’s one of the best docs I’ve ever seen. Stuyguy sez, “two thumbs up!” ---
**Author:** ![Hunsecker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d78d45/32.png) [@Hunsecker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunsecker)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505/9 "2000-07-23T04:34:58Z")
_Project Grizzly_, about the guy trying to make a grizzly-bear proof suit of armor, was a riot. _Microcosmos_ is one of the best nature films I’ve seen (the very best, which I’ve forgotten the name of, was an episode of NOVA about what happens to animals living near a river when the river dries up) _The Atomic Cafe_ isn’t really a documentary, just clips of cold war civil defense films and footage of nuclear explosions. _Night and Fog_ was a documentary about the Holocaust by a french New Wave director. Disturbing and poetic. _Crumb_ and _Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermaschochist_ were both amazing looks into how fucked up artists can get. By the way, don’t watch Sick if you’re at all squeamish. I’ll also second _Roger & Me_, _Triumph of the Will_ and _Fast, Cheap, and out of Control_ as must see films. Quite a few NOVA episodes deserve mention. _This Old Pyramid_, building a small pyramid with traditional techniques, and the followup one on Stonhenge were great. And the one on solving Fermats Last Theorem was fascinating because it was exactly what a documentary shouldn’t do. Nothing pretty to show on screen, such abstract concepts that even the people who understand them can’t explain them in the few minutes they get, and only about a dozen people in the world really understand it. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505/10 "2000-07-23T05:07:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hunsecker \* > And the one on solving Fermats Last Theorem was fascinating because it was exactly what a documentary shouldn’t do. Nothing pretty to show on screen, such abstract concepts that even the people who understand them can’t explain them in the few minutes they get, and only about a dozen people in the world really understand it. There was a Horizon program ( sorry about not linking but I’m too drunk to do things like searching the [http://www.bbc.co.uk](http://www.bbc.co.uk) website) about this , it actually might be the same programme just reshown in the states because your description is exactly like the one I saw. It should not have worked but it did. ---
**Author:** ![archmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@archmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/archmichael)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505/11 "2000-07-23T05:20:44Z")
When We Were Kings - A great documentary about the Rumble in the Jungle, with an interesting view of George Foreman before he turned into the talking Stay Puff Marshmellow man that he is today ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505/12 "2000-07-23T05:43:15Z")
_Trinity And Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie_. The only documentary I own on DVD. I doubt most nuclear opponents and proponents have really seen what bombs can do. Truly frightening, and fascinating at the same time. Great original music score, too. _Trinity And Beyond_ has film footage of a whole slew of bomb tests (including Trinity, the first atomic explosion) from the US, the USSR, and even China. Also includes footage of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs. A must-see, oh me brothers. ---
**Author:** ![silent\_rob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@silent\_rob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silent_rob)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505/13 "2000-07-23T05:58:45Z")
_Roger & Me_ is definitely one of the best around. I would definitely also say _American Movie_. It’s a great movie, and the new DVD version also has the movie that’s being made in the documentary. I’m not sure of the title, but A&E did a great documentary on what is considered the toughest prison in America. Very good, though I don’t know if I would consider it one of the best. Oh, I almost forgot. There was a series of documentaries made by one director that focused on institutions. He did a movie on a school, a movie on a mental institution, etc… They are superb, but I can’t remember the director or the movies. They’re from a ways back. Anybody remember these. He tried to be impartial as well, but as I remember he sometimes used the editing to bring out his views. ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505/14 "2000-07-23T06:19:46Z")
Well, I love Barbara Koppel so I have to go with _Harlan County, USA_. I also really liked _The Thin Blue Line_ and _Roger and Me_ (even if Michael Moore did alter chronology a little) Has anyone seen _Pets or Meat_? Is it good? Another one of my favorites is _Titicut Follies_ (Frederick Wiseman) ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505/15 "2000-07-23T06:20:53Z")
OK, so I typed too fast! That should say, “Kopple” ---
**Author:** ![hightechburrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f6c823/32.png) [@hightechburrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hightechburrito)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505/16 "2000-07-23T07:43:57Z")
_The Endless Summer_ and _On Any Suday_ are two of the best documentaries that I have seen! ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505/17 "2000-07-23T08:22:39Z")
My favorites: _Salesman_, by the Maysles brothers (who also did _Gimme Shelter_) about door-to-door Bible salesmen. An examination of religion, class, and the standards of “success” in this country, it is one of the Great American Films period. _The Memphis Belle_, my favorite of the WWII combat documentaries, about the 25th-and-last bombing run of this famous plane and its crew. Remarkable footage. _The Man with a Movie Camera_, silent Russian film about a day in the life of a city, and about the filmmaking process in general. _Burden of Dreams_, Les Blank’s awesome document about the making of Werner Herzog’s _Fitzcarraldo_ in the jungles of South America. _The Sorrow and the Pity_, about the legacy of collaboration and resistance in France during WWII. Essential. _Louisiana Story_, by Robert Flaherty, the father of American documentary filmmaking, about a young boy and his observations of oil drillers in the bayous. _South_, remarkable 1919 film documenting Ernest Shackleton’s failed attempt to reach the South Pole _Christmas Under Fire_, my favorite of the many great British documentaries of the late 30s and early 40s, this is a short about London celebrating Christmas during the Blitz. \*The Civil War, The Thin Blue Line, \*and _When We Were Kings_ are also personal favorites. Although I wouldn’t consider them documentaries, _Stop Making Sense_ and _Jazz on a Summer’s Day_ are both great non-fiction concert films. Also, honorable mention to three terrific faux documentaries: \*This Is Spinal Tap, Zelig, \*and _Forgotten Silver_ ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505/18 "2000-07-23T08:26:42Z")
> [@](#): > > _Night and Fog_ was a documentary about the Holocaust by a french New Wave director. Disturbing and poetic. _N&F_ was made by Alain Resnais, who also made such seminal New Wave films as _Hiroshima, Mon Amour_ and _Last Year at Marienbad_, and still remains the best film about the Holocaust ever made IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Mustapha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mustapha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mustapha)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505/19 "2000-07-23T09:22:11Z")
Seconding (or in some cases, thirding and fourthing) some already mentioned: _The Civil War_, _Roger & Me_, and BBC Horizon’s _Fermat’s Last Theorem_ My own additions, also from the BBC: _The Nazis: A Warning from History_ - Great stuff about the origins of the Nazi party, its rise to power, and its inner workings. _Watergate_ - Absolutely brilliant. Takes the “in their own words” idea from _Civil War_ to a whole new level. First-hand accounts from all the key players, Nixon, Dean, Haig, Waterman, all the lawyers, judges, etc, arranged into a living, breathing transcript. No party political bullshit, just what was said and what was done. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505/20 "2000-07-23T10:02:23Z")
The best domumentary I’ve ever seen is ‘Baseball’ by Ken Burns, who I believe also made ‘The Civil War’. It can be rented from most video stores.(9 tapes in all) It covers baseball from it’s invention up to the early 1990’s and should be required veiwing for all fans. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries/26505.md?page=2)