Looking for documentaries like Battlefield Britian

September 5, 2004 3:32 PM

While in London I caught the most recent episode of Battlefield Britain and loved it. Are there other similar quality documentaries (on any topics) that mefites can recommend?
posted by srboisvert to Media & Arts (6 answers total)

Two men in a trench
posted by the cuban at 3:36 PM on September 5, 2004

Attack! The Battle Of New Britain
posted by Smart Dalek at 3:42 PM on September 5, 2004

Best answer: I haven't seen the documentary you mentioned, but since you said "any topic", the best documentaries I've ever seen are

Time Indefinite
Thin Blue Line
Vernon, FL
The Prize
Lets Get Lost
Times of Harvey Milk
Aileen Wournos: The Selling of a Serial Killer
General Idi Amin Dada
Blood of the Beasts
Spellbound
Sick
Cinemania
Chickenhawk
One Nation Under God
Broken Noses
Louie Blouie
Crumb
Touching the Void
Don't Look Back
The Kid Stays in the Picture
Grey Gardens
Salesman
Paradise Lost
Project Grizzly
Brother's Keeper
Sherman's March
Charlene
Stevie
Dogtown and Z-Boys
Ken Burns': Baseball, The Civil War, The Shakers
Visions of Light
Godfrey Reggio's Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi
Chris Marker's San Soliel (though not sure it counts as a docu)
The War Game (peter watkins)
Culloden
Frederick Wiseman's Titicut Follies, and Highschool
posted by dobbs at 4:41 PM on September 5, 2004 [1 favorite]

I've been watching a lot of documentaries for some reason since getting Netflix. The best ones I've seen recently are Dark Days, Sound and Fury, and Winged Migration. Just saw Touching the Void a couple of weeks ago, and second Dobbs' recommendation.
posted by Hildago at 5:10 PM on September 5, 2004

Response by poster: In case any are interested Battlefield Britain episodes are available on most torrent sites. They make some interesting use of CGI.
posted by srboisvert at 5:32 PM on September 5, 2004

Best answer: Mostly Netflix links:

Religion: Devil's Playground, about the period when Amish teenagers are "free", of sorts.
Americana: Hands on a Hard Body, low budget, but quite interesting.
The Dot-Coms: E-dreams and Startup.com (better of the two).
Sports: Soul in the Hole, Dogtown and Z-boys, Hoop Dreams, When We Were Kings
Fanatics: American Movie, Cinemania, Trekkies, and I have yet to see Trekkies 2
War: Be Good, Smile Pretty (Side note: short but interesting interview with John Kerry about Vietnam, before he was a candidate for President).
Music: I Am Trying to Break Your Heart: A Film About Wilco
Teaching: The First Year
Excellent film: Capturing the Friedmands
Haven't seen, but good reviews: Our Town

And yes, I'm a documentary addict. I don't know why. Dobbs, your list is going to keep me busy, thanks.
posted by shinynewnick at 11:30 PM on September 5, 2004