Ask HN: Mind blowing documentaries? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Mind blowing documentaries?

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Jiro Dreams of Sushi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiro_Dreams_of_Sushi

Man on Wire: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_on_Wire

Everything by David Attenborough, starting with his "Life" series.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Attenborough#Return_to_b...

Anything by Werner Herzog [1]. These are my three favorites:

- Encounters at the End of the World (2007)

- Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)

- Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (2010)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Herzog#Documentary_feat...

My faves are:

Into the Abyss

Grizzly Man

How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck?

just saw Death Row

kinda changed my perspective on death penalty.

+1 for Happy People

'The Act of Killing' is arguably the most forward-thinking documentary of the last 20 years. Heavy going, but unflinching.

That both Erol Morris and Werner Herzog executive produced after Oppenheimer made it should tell you how formally important it is.

Great question!

Patricio Guzman: La batalla de chile, Nostalgia de la luz, El boton de nacar (i.e. everything I've seen so far)

Bob Connolly & Robin Anderson - First Contact, Joe Leahy's Neighbours, Black Harvest (Trilogy about a half-white, half-native New Guinean farmer)

Werner Herzog - (apart from those already mentioned) Lessons of Darkness, Les Blank's Burden of Dreams

Everything by Scott Noble - watch on metanoia-films.org/

Bus 174, Harlan Country USA, How To Start A Revolution, Silenced (2014), War on Whistleblowers, The Century of the Self

Man with a Movie Camera, Man on Wire, Dark Days, Kumaré, Dear Zachary, Children Full of Life (2003)

*Harlan County

(Well, I didn't expect to get downvoted for that list! I have no idea why. Sorry I bothered.)

no idea why somebody downvoted you. hn can be a strange place

Adam Curtis's Bitter Lake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRbq63r7rys

Monty Don's Italian Gardens series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY413RwBzB0

The original Cosmos (Carl Sagan). https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKSi40WEKtMxykDBP8_vr...

half way through bitter lake....shit is gold. this is why i created this thread. thanks.

Glad you like it. He has about 4 more "Power of Nightmares", "Hypernormalization", "The Mayfair Set" . He has been criticized for lacking precision and rigor, but I am willing to forgive that for the experience and the overall argument: that old models of describing the world have lost their power.

immediately started watching mayfair set. i love documentaries like this.

Ballon sur bitume (2016) -- French documentary about street football culture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhW2CwKXsfE

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/dec/14/balllon-sur...

These aren’t necessarily the best I’ve seen, but, as requested, they’re the most mind blowing:

Restrepo

Citizenfour

Grizzly Man

The Farmer’s Wife

McConkey Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiFo-osFHwQ Brilliant documentary about the life of Shane McConkey and his progression from skiing, BASE jumping and ski wingsuiting.

Anything by Gary Hustwit, really.

I have seen "Objectified", "Helvetica", and "Urbanized"; it blew my mind and changed my perspective on so many things I was taking for granted for years, especially around design.

He has a new documentary out soon all about Dieter Rams, called "Rams". https://www.hustwit.com/rams/

Oh my God, I want to see it right now; I just love Dieter!

When I first saw him in Objectified I went nuts by what has he done with his design, how he has impacted the world we live in today.

Thanks for letting me know mate, I will check it as soon as possible.

Cheers +1!

Trinity and Beyond narrated by William Shatner: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_and_Beyond

I've seen two documentaries that really have stuck with me. One is Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (watched in multiple long parts from memory); the other is Icarus.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen (1965): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv4J7sID3Pk

Solar Mamas: Who is Rafea? - Why Poverty? - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YeqM2OnVu0

"the century of the self". It's a 4 part documentary by Adam Curtis about the development of Public Relations and persuasion in advertising.

If you are into history

Jeremy Clarkson’s War Stories

For example this one

https://youtu.be/QjfErR81sQA

http://graceofgodmovie.com

Chasing Ice

The timelapse imagery towards the end is existentially distressing.

- The Cove