Life Documentaries
by deepspatial | created - 27 May 2014 | updated - 27 May 2014 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. 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: 220,001
2. The Life of Birds (1998)
TV-PG | 49 min | Documentary
David Attenborough's comprehensive and richly detailed study of birds, examining the variety of different species and their ways of life.
Star: David Attenborough
Votes: 3,035
3. Life (2009)
TV-G | 43 min | Documentary, Family
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: 42,704
4. The Life of Mammals (2002–2003)
50 min | Documentary
David Attenborough's comprehensive study of how a remarkable group of animals evolved - a group that includes ourselves.
Star: David Attenborough
Votes: 4,239
5. The Private Life of Plants (1995)
49 min | Documentary
David Attenborough's study of the world of plants, which demonstrates, with the aid of time-lapse photography, the rich and varied ways in which they flourish.
Star: David Attenborough
Votes: 2,859
6. Life in the Undergrowth (2005)
50 min | Documentary
David Attenborough's ground-breaking exploration of a group of organisms that are vast in number, yet often too small to be noticed: the invertebrates.
Star: David Attenborough
Votes: 3,844
7. Life in the Freezer (1993)
30 min | Documentary
Series exploring the natural history of Antarctica.
Star: David Attenborough
Votes: 1,544
8. 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: 42,668
9. The Living Planet (1984)
660 min | Documentary
David Attenborough discusses the biomass and life in a variety of eco-systems spanning many of the environments found on Earth (from tropical to polar).
Star: David Attenborough
Votes: 2,094
10. Life in Cold Blood (2008)
290 min | Documentary
A nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, that looks at the evolution and habits of amphibians and reptiles.
Star: David Attenborough
Votes: 2,953
11. Attenborough in Paradise (1996 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 55 min | Documentary
David Attenborough travels to the forests of Papua New Guinea, where 38 of the 42 kinds of bird of paradise are found.
Director: Paul Reddish | Star: David Attenborough
Votes: 942
12. Nature's Great Events (2009)
49 min | Documentary, Family
This exploration of the planet's most breathtaking natural events follows vast migrations, huge ocean convergences, powerful weather systems and mighty floods.
Stars: David Attenborough, Joe Stevens, Shane Moore, Owen Newman
Votes: 3,371
13. Oceans (2008– )
Documentary
Oceans is an eight-part documentary series on BBC Two, which seeks to provide a better understanding of the state of the Earth's oceans today, their role in the past, present, and future; ... See full summary »
Stars: Mark Halliley, Philippe Cousteau Jr., Lucy Blue, Paul Rose
Votes: 228
14. Wild Africa (2001– )
300 min | Documentary
Wild Africa is a nature documentary series exploring the natural history of the African continent. The series comprises six episodes. Each concentrates on a particular environment. The ... See full summary »
Star: Fergal Keane
Votes: 416
15. Wild China (2008)
60 min | Documentary
An in-depth look at some of China's most impressive natural sites such as the ancient Han kingdom, the Mongol steppes, the Silk Road and the Tibetan Plateau.
Star: Bernard Hill
Votes: 2,878
16. Wildes Russland (2008– )
TV-PG | 360 min | Documentary
An in-depth look at Russia's most natural wonders including Siberia, Kamchatka, the Artic, Caucasus, Primorye, and the Urals.
Stars: Christian Brückner, Paterson Joseph, Jason Hildebrandt, Hans Henrik Wöhler
Votes: 663
17. Great Migrations (2010– )
TV-PG | 45 min | Documentary
Great Migrations takes viewers on the epic journeys animals undertake to ensure the survival of their species.
Stars: Tarkan, Alec Baldwin, Stephen Fry, Thomas Fritsch
Votes: 890
18. Earth Story (1998– )
400 min | Documentary
A BBC documentary series on geology presented by Aubrey Manning.
Stars: Aubrey Manning, George Plafker, Vincent Courtillot, John Dewey
Votes: 225
19. 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: 27,779
20. The Human Body (1998)
50 min | Documentary
The BBC explores the human body from the inside out as never before.
Stars: Robert Winston, Andrew Blackall, Phillippa, Jeff
Votes: 731
21. A Science Odyssey (1998– )
History
A Science Odyssey takes you on a journey through the most spectacular 100 years in the history of science and technology.
Stars: Charles Osgood, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michio Kaku, Lawrence Krauss
Votes: 30
22. Journey of Man (2003 TV Movie)
120 min | Documentary
Traces the expansion of the human race from central Africa to Asia to the edge of South America.
Director: Clive Maltby | Stars: William H. Calvin, Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Nina Jablonski, Richard Klein
Votes: 240
23. 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
24. The Soviet Story (2008)
Not Rated | 86 min | Documentary, History, War
The Soviet Story offers an alternative history of an Allied power, which helped the Nazis to fight Jews and which slaughtered its own people on an industrial scale.
Director: Edvins Snore | Stars: Jon Strickland, Vladimir Bukovsky, Vladimir Lenin, Norman Davies
Votes: 3,446
25. The Ten Thousand Day War (1980– )
52 min | Documentary, History, War
A comprehensive history of the American stage of the Vietnam War.
Stars: Joseph B. Anderson, Peter Braestrup, Anthony Astuccio, George R. Christmas
Votes: 259
26. Russia, Land of the Tsars (2003– )
120 min | Documentary
The history of the Russian Tsars.
Stars: Edward Herrmann, Michelle Maryk, Ronnie Farer, Henry Strozier
Votes: 180
27. Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West (2005)
Not Rated | 77 min | Documentary
Obsession is a film about the threat of Radical Islam to Western civilization. Using unique footage from Arab television, it reveals an 'insider's view' of the hatred the Radicals are ... See full summary »
Director: Wayne Kopping | Stars: George W. Bush, Nonie Darwish, Alan Dershowitz, Steve Emerson
Votes: 914
28. Islam: What the West Needs to Know (2006)
Not Rated | 98 min | Documentary
An examination of Islam, violence, and the fate of the non-Muslim world.
Directors: Bryan Daly, Gregory M. Davis | Stars: Abdullah Al-Araby, Walid Shoebat, Robert Spencer, Serge Trifkovic
Votes: 590 | Gross: $0.02M
29. Religulous (2008)
R | 101 min | Documentary, Comedy, War
Bill Maher's take on the current state of world religion.
Director: Larry Charles | Stars: Bill Maher, Tal Bachman, Jonathan Boulden, Steven Burg
Votes: 60,237 | Gross: $13.00M
30. Wild Pacific (2009– )
TV-PG | 353 min | Documentary
A documentary series on life in and adapted to the conditions of the Southern part of the Pacific Ocean, a vast aquatic region with an unequaled number of islands. Both wildlife and human ... See full summary »
Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Mike Rowe, Richard Wollocombe, Mark Brownlow
Votes: 2,513
31. Madagascar (2011)
240 min | Documentary
Over 80% of Madagascar's animals and plants are found nowhere else on Earth. Discover what made Madagascar so different from the rest of the world, and how evolution ran wild there.
Stars: David Attenborough, Gavin Thurston, Tim Fogg, Emma Napper
Votes: 2,321
32. First Life (2010)
59 min | Documentary
David Attenborough goes back in time to investigate the origins of life.
Stars: David Attenborough, Justin Marshall, Jean-Bernard Caron, Mary Droser
Votes: 1,765
33. Wild Caribbean (2007– )
50 min | Documentary
Wild Caribbean is a four-part nature documentary series exploring the natural and cultural history of the Caribbean Islands and Sea.
Star: Steve Toussaint
Votes: 151
34. The Great Rift: Africa's Greatest Story (2010– )
176 min | Documentary
The Great Rift Valley in Africa was created when the African and Arabian tectonic plates separated about 35 million years ago. This series investigates the forces that created the rift and focuses on the landscape and wildlife.
Stars: Hugh Quarshie, Ingrid Kvale, Martin Dohrn, Tim Fogg
Votes: 661
35. The Story of Science (2010– )
Documentary
Michael Mosley takes an informative and ambitious journey exploring how the evolution of scientific understanding is intimately interwoven with society's historical path.
Stars: Michael Mosley, Simon Chaplin, Floor Lagerwey, Margaret Esiri
Votes: 652
36. Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth (1988– )
360 min | Documentary
Mythologist Joseph Campbell presents his ideas about comparative mythology and the ongoing role of myth in human society.
Stars: Joseph Campbell, Bill Moyers, George Lucas
Votes: 1,167
37. 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: 43,910
38. The Story of India (2007– )
TV-PG | 55 min | Documentary, History
Michael Wood visits places and interviews experts all over India to cover the great chapters of the subcontinent's history.
Stars: Michael Wood, Chris Baily
Votes: 1,097
39. Himalaya with Michael Palin (2004– )
360 min | Documentary
Michael Palin travels the Himalaya mountain region.
Stars: Michael Palin, The Dalai Lama
Votes: 1,214
40. Crusades (1995)
200 min | Documentary, History, War
Terry Jones presents the history of the medieval religious wars in the middle-east known as the Crusades.
Stars: Terry Jones, Marcello Walton, Kammy Darweish, Antony Zaki
Votes: 534
41. 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: 28,866
42. The Incredible Human Journey (2009– )
60 min | Documentary
This series explains the evidence for the theory of early human migrations out of Africa and subsequently around the world, supporting the Out of Africa Theory.
Stars: Alice Roberts, Jeffrey Rose, Clive Finlayson, Xinzhi Wu
Votes: 907
43. The Universe (2007–2015)
TV-14 | 45 min | Documentary, History
This educational show explores many scientific questions and topics about the universe (Big Bang, the Sun, the planets, black holes, other galaxies, astrobiology etc.) through latest CGI, data and interviews with scientists.
Stars: Erik Thompson, Alex Filippenko, Laura Danly, Clifford V. Johnson
Votes: 5,928
45. The French Revolution (2005 TV Movie)
100 min | Documentary, History
Documentary about the bloody beginning, bloodier middle and unceremonious end of the French Revolution, an event that ended in blood the reign of kings in France and laid the foundation for a new - republican - system of government.
Director: Doug Shultz | Stars: Edward Herrmann, George Ivascu, Rodica Lazar, Tomi Cristin
Votes: 336
46. Civilisation (1969–1970)
TV-G | 698 min | Documentary, History, Music
Sir Kenneth Clarke walks through the ages exploring the glorious rise of civilization in Western man.
Stars: Kenneth Clark, Ian Richardson, Ronald Lacey, Patrick Stewart
Votes: 1,064
47. Wild Sex (2005– )
Documentary
An examination of mating rituals of different animals and their similarities to human behavior.
Star: Peter Venn
Votes: 42
48. Anatomy for Beginners (2005– )
200 min | Reality-TV
Controversial anatomist Gunther von Hagens performs dissections on real human bodies, laying bare the intricacy and beauty of the human design and lifting the lid on the mysteries of our own bodies in a series of lectures.
Stars: Gunther von Hagens, Dennis Lau, Juliet Percival, John Heyworth
Votes: 179
49. Empires: The Greeks - Crucible of Civilization (2000)
150 min | Documentary, History
A documentary, narrated by actor Liam Neeson, that chronicles the rise and fall of the civilization of ancient Greece.
Stars: Liam Neeson, Nigel Spivey, Victor Davis Hanson, Josiah Ober
Votes: 390
50. The Nazis: A Warning from History (1997)
292 min | Documentary, History, War
An examination of how a cultured people could have allowed Adolf Hitler's rise to power.
Stars: Samuel West, Adolf Buchner, Jutta Rüdiger, Günther Ruschin
Votes: 1,721
51. Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State (2005)
48 min | Documentary, History, War
The history of the Final Solution phase of the Nazi Holocaust, particularly with the most infamous of the death camps.
Stars: Samuel West, Linda Hunt, Gert Heidenreich, Horst Günter Marx
Votes: 4,653
52. Incredible Human Machine (2007 TV Movie)
120 min | Documentary
National Geographic: Incredible Human Machine takes viewers on a two-hour journey through an ordinary, and extraordinary, day-in-the-life of the human machine. With stunning high-definition... See full summary »
Directors: Arthur F. Binkowski, Chad Cohen | Stars: Craig Sechler, Steven Tyler, Diana Cherkas, Neal McNeil
Votes: 238
53. The Trials of Life (1990)
600 min | Documentary
Each of the twelve 50-minute episodes features a different aspect of the journey through life, from birth to adulthood and continuation of the species through reproduction.
Star: David Attenborough
Votes: 1,876
54. Earth: The Power of the Planet (2007)
Not Rated | 60 min | Documentary
In each episode, geologist Dr. Iain Stewart explains the effects and importance of a specific force of nature, such as wind or volcanism. He also examines the various ways in which it ... See full summary »
Stars: Iain Stewart, Leo Houlding, Victor Baker, Jerry Wiant
Votes: 2,089
55. Nature Tech (2003– )
Not Rated | 43 min | Documentary
Biomimetics uses nature as a starting point for ideas ranging from different ways of exploring Mars to how to design a city of the future.
Stars: Will Lyman, Harold Brooks, Howard Bluestein, David Andra
Votes: 50
56. Life on Earth (1979)
54 min | Documentary
David Attenborough's groundbreaking study of the evolution of life on our planet.
Star: David Attenborough
Votes: 3,248
57. The Missiles of October (1974 TV Movie)
150 min | Drama, History, Thriller
In October 1962, the Kennedy administration struggles to contain the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Director: Anthony Page | Stars: William Devane, Ralph Bellamy, Howard Da Silva, James Hong
Votes: 1,124
58. Through the Wormhole (2010–2017)
TV-PG | 60 min | Documentary
Hosted by Morgan Freeman, Through the Wormhole will explore the deepest mysteries of existence - the questions that have puzzled mankind for eternity. What are we made of? What was there ... See full summary »
Stars: Morgan Freeman, Sean Carroll, Michio Kaku, Kip Thorne
Votes: 18,426
59. The Cove (2009)
PG-13 | 92 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
Using state-of-the-art equipment, a group of activists, led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose both a shocking instance of animal abuse and a serious threat to human health.
Director: Louie Psihoyos | Stars: Richard O'Barry, Louie Psihoyos, Hardy Jones, Michael Illiff
Votes: 51,431 | Gross: $0.87M
60. Baraka (1992)
Not Rated | 96 min | Documentary
A collection of expertly photographed scenes of human life and religion.
Director: Ron Fricke | Star: Patrick Disanto
Votes: 40,967 | Gross: $1.33M
62. The Elegant Universe (2003)
Not Rated | 60 min | Documentary
A documentary examining string theory.
Stars: Brian Greene, Leonard Susskind, Amanda Peet, Steven Weinberg
Votes: 2,277
63. The World History of Organized Crime (2001– )
44 min | Documentary
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, Rakesh Roshan, Shobha De, Dawood Ibrahim
Votes: 45
64. Tiger: Spy in the Jungle (2008)
60 min | Documentary
David Attenborough narrates the lives of four growing tiger cubs using footage collected by hidden-camera-carrying elephants. Over two years, the elephants help capture the most intimate portrayal of tigers ever filmed.
Star: David Attenborough
Votes: 651
As David Attenborough, narrator of this revealing documentary says: "This is the most intimate portrait of tigers ever seen."
From the day their eyes open and they tumble out of the den, Tiger - Spy in the Jungle captures the day-to-day
lives of four tiny tiger cubs as they grow up alongside their devoted mother in the very heart of India.
The tiger is not only the world's favourite wild animal but also one of the rarest.
To enter the world of this tiger family, John Downer and his wizard team, cameraman Michael Richards
and techno-boffin Geoff Bell, deploy the ultimate all-terrain camera vehicles - elephants - kitted out with the latest high-definition
`secret weapons' of wildlife filmmaking - trunk-cam, tusk-cam and log-cams. The four elephants here in India's Pench national park have
also been taught new filming skills by their mahouts - how to keep a steady trunk and a delicate touch.
As eco-friendly 4X4s, the elephants carry the hefty trunk-cam and smaller tusk-cam wherever the tiger family goes across its
10-square mile territory. The tigers seem oblivious to the elephants and allow them to place trunk-cam right under their whiskers to film.
The elephants also use the devices to film the tigers on the move. The human film crew film from another elephant and control the ele-cams remotely.
65. Richard Hammond's Invisible Worlds (2010)
94 min | Documentary
This documentary features state-of-the-art camera technology used to focus on what humans cannot see with the naked eye.
Stars: Richard Hammond, Edgar D. Mitchell, Jürg Schweizer, Dany Kistler
Votes: 736
66. War and Civilization (1998– )
Documentary, War
This eight part series takes an in-depth look at history of warfare. Shot on location around the world, each episode examines various developments in evolution of armed conflict from ... See full summary »
Star: Walter Cronkite
Votes: 48
67. 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: 23,046
68.
Dispatches (1987– )
Episode:
Undercover in Tibet
(2008)
48 min | Documentary, News
Reveals the regime of terror which dominates daily life and makes freedom of expression an impossibility.
Directors: Jezza Neumann, Tash Despa | Stars: Tash Despa, Hugh Bonneville, Lobsang Choeden, Jamyang Samten
Votes: 21
69. Bharat Ek Khoj (1988– )
History
The 5000-year history of India from its beginnings to independence in 1947.
Stars: Roshan Seth, Om Puri, Ravi Jhankal, Anang Desai
Votes: 867
70. Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992)
Not Rated | 167 min | Documentary, Biography, War
A film about the noted American linguist/political dissident and his warning about corporate media's role in modern propaganda.
Directors: Mark Achbar, Peter Wintonick | Stars: Noam Chomsky, Mark Achbar, Karin Aguilar-San Juan, Paul Andrews
Votes: 4,935
71. Letting Go of God (2008)
130 min | Documentary
Letting Go of God is a humorous monologue by Julia Sweeney chronicling her search for God. She begins in the Catholic church, the religion her family raised her in, and takes a Bible study ... See full summary »
Director: Julia Sweeney
Votes: 688
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