Documentaries

[TigerHunter]

I don't see any threads about this, so... I'm looking for some documentaries to watch while I work out. Improve my mind while improving my body and all that. Ideally each episode would be about 30 minutes (without commercials, of course), but anything is good. So far I've watched Walking With Dinosaurs and Walking With Beasts, which I loved. They're basically wildlife documentaries set in prehistoric times, using very good CGI footage.

Anyone else have documentary series they found enjoyable?

[Tavar]

Ken Burn's Civil War series is very, very interesting. I highly recommend it.

[The Glyphstone]

March of the Penguins? It's narrated in English by the soothing voice of Morgan Freeman.:smallwink:

[Jimorian]

ANY (and by "any" I mean "ALL") of the Michael Palin travelogues. Around the World in 80 Days, Pole to Pole, Full Circle (around the Pacific Rim), plus any one-offs he may have done, like his episode of Great Train Journeys.

James Burke's Connections, Connections 2, Connections 3, The Day the Universe Changed.

If you watch the output from just these two gentleman, I think you'll have a much greater understanding of the world we live in. And they're damn fun to watch! :smallsmile:

[dehro]

meerkat manor

EDIT: for some weird reason, americans apparently don't understand english when spoken by an englishman, because they felt it necessasy to dub the shows over... with an american accent.
the voiceover is done by SEAN ASTIN, of all people:smallamused:

[_Zoot_]

Every thing by David Attenborough! Its all really good, I particularly liked his Life of Birds.

[Serpentine]

Definitely David Attenborough. I have trouble watching any other nature documentaries, now, because the vast majority just can't get anywhere near him... I believe many of his series are broken up into half-hour segments. Here's some of his more well-known series/shows:
Life in Cold Blood (5 episodes), about reptiles.
Planet Earth (5 episodes), about different environments.
Life in the Undergrowth (5 episodes), about bugs.
The Life of Mammals (10 episodes), self-evident.
The Blue Planet (8 episodes), about the ocean.
The Life of Birds (10 episodes), self-evident.
The Private Life of Plants (6 episodes), self-evident.

You might also like Tony Robinson's stuff - things like Time Team, and The Worst Jobs In History.

[truemane]

You specified 30 minutes. I can't help you with that. But if you want to watch some really good feature-length docs over the course of a few workouts each, I can hook a brother up. Here's some:

1. Murderball. Full-contact wheelchair rugby. Nuff said.

2. Grizzly Man. A man who lived with bears. Also, he was crazy. Also, he was crazier than you'd think just by knowing he lived with bears. Also, the director of the doc, the Austrian film-maker Werner Herzog, might even crazier (and he’s still walking the streets).

3. Riding Giants. The history and philosophy of big wave surfing. Made by the same documentarian who made Dogtown and Z Boys (which I also recommend, just not as highly as this one). Awesome.

4. Koko the Talking Gorilla. A gorilla who was taught sign language. Hilarity ensued. Of debatable veracity, but fascinating.

5. The Bridge. Focuses on several suicides from the Golden Gate bridge filmed over the course of a year. Calm meditation on the transience of the human experience? Or borderline snuff-voyeurism? You'll have to decide.

6. Man on Wire. Recreates the Artistic Crime of the Century, in which a French high-wire walker between the Twin Towers on a wire. Stunning and beautiful and amazing. I get goosebumps thinking about it.

7. Hoop Dreams. The quintessential American Documentary. And maybe the best ever.

8. Harlan County, USA. The very definition of the 'show up and film what happens' doc. Follows a miner's strike from initial stages to tragic, tragic end. Like a car wreck, it's horrible, but you can't look away.

9. Born into Brothels. An English couple gives the children of the brothels of Calcutta cameras. And they go out into their world and the results are amazing and wondrous and life-affirming.

10. Gates of Heaven. One of the many films that I never would have seen if not for Roger Ebert, something for which I am forever grateful. Errol Morris' film about the closing of a pet cemetery is funny and wistful and sad and profound. Is he making fun of these people? Revering them? We never know. Great stuff.

There you go. At three to four workouts each, you're good for over a month there, easy.

[thubby]

you wrote:

March of the Penguins? It's narrated in English by the soothing voice of Morgan Freeman.:smallwink:

i read:

March of the Penguins? It's narrated in English by the soothing voice of Gordon Freeman.:smallwink:

curse you half life! >,<

ANYWAY, what was that thing on recently that discovery kept plugging? can't think of the name, but well worth watching.

[Yulian]

Serpentine hit the major ones I'd recommend. So for something longer try The Hellstrom Chronicle.

1971 entomology documentary with a framing narrative. It won as Oscar, Technical Grand Prize at Cannes, and a BAFTA award the year it was released.

- Yulian

[Dr.Epic]

They're over 30 minutes but if you're into comics:

Comic Book Confidential
Superheroes Unmasked

[Brewdude]

There are a ton of HBO documentaries.
(http://www.hbo.com/#/documentaries/catalog) Most of which are nothing short of excellent.

Gasland (http://gaslandthemovie.com/trailer/), in particular, is extremely disturbing. Welcome to the dark side of American green energy self sufficiency.

[Bhu]

Since you liked walking with Dinosaurs there's also these by the same people

Walking with Dinosaurs: The Ballad of Big Al
Chased by Dinosaurs
Swimming with Sea Monsters
Walking with Cavemen
Walking with Monsters

Insectia is pretty good

[NeoRetribution]

All that I can think of at the moment is the Joy of Painting from Bob Ross and Wild America from Marty Stouffer.

Also: Morgan Freeman tends to make most everything better...like hot chocolate for your mind.

[Avilan the Grey]

Since you liked walking with Dinosaurs there's also these by the same people

Walking with Dinosaurs: The Ballad of Big Al
Chased by Dinosaurs
Swimming with Sea Monsters
Walking with Cavemen
Walking with Monsters

Insectia is pretty good

The cavemen one: GET THE BRITISH EDITION. Someone (again) frakked up and "americanized" the one released in the US.

[TheThan]

Fighting black kings.

Martial arts documentary, its old (1970s). But its got amazing martial arts footage.

[Bhu]

The cavemen one: GET THE BRITISH EDITION. Someone (again) frakked up and "americanized" the one released in the US.

what are the differences between the two?