Top Documentary Movies


The Top Documentary Movies List is calculated by overall movie ratings and members' "Top Documentary List". Lists are calculated daily.

61. Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

Year of Release: 1991
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper
Actors: Marlon Brando, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Sheen, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, George Lucas
Plot: The making of Apocalypse Now is nearly as big of drama as the film turned out to be. With a huge script and struggles all over, from budge to casting to nature itself - the film may now be iconic, but it ended up nearly destroyed Francis Ford Coppola.

62. Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer

Year of Release: 2004
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Nick Broomfield, Joan Churchill
Actors: Aileen Wuornos, Nick Broomfield, Steve Glazer, Jeb Bush

63. Burden of Dreams

Year of Release: 1982
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Les Blank
Actors: Werner Herzog, Mick Jagger, Klaus Kinski, Jason Robards, Claudia Cardinale, Thomas Mauch
Plot: Documentary on the making of Werner Herzog's epic Fitzcarraldo and the many troubles (casting, weather, war and much more) that would have caused a lesser man to give up the film.

64. Senna

Year of Release: 2011
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary/Biography
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Asif Kapadia
Actors: Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, Viviane Senna, Milton da Silva
Plot: A documentary/biography of Formula One legend Ayrton Senna, who became a global sensation, and a revered man in his native Brazil, before meeting a sudden, tragic end at only 34 years of age.

65. Ace in the Hole

Year of Release: 1951
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary/Mystery
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Billy Wilder
Actors: Kirk Douglas, Robert Arthur, Jan Sterling, Porter Hall, Richard Benedict, Frank Cady
Plot: A film about a big time reporter who uses a disaster as his ticket back to the top.

66. Fahrenheit 9/11

Year of Release: 2004
Overall Rating: 2.6 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Michael Moore
Actors: George W. Bush, Al Gore, Condoleezza Rice
Plot: A liberal look at the events of 9/11 and the role that the Bush administration played during and after the tragedy.

67. We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen

Year of Release: 2005
Overall Rating: 3.3 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary/Biography
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Tim Irwin
Actors: Mike Watt, George Hurley, D. Boon, Flea, Greg Ginn, Henry Rollins

68. One More Time with Feeling

Year of Release: 2016
Overall Rating: 3.3 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Andrew Dominik
Actors: Nick Cave, Warren Ellis
Plot: Explores the creative process of Nick Cave and his band as the singer struggles an
unspoken personal tragedy.

69. Paradise Lost 2: Revelations

Year of Release: 2001
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
Actors: Damien Echols, Jessie Miskelly, Jason Baldwin, John Mark Byers, Steven Branch, Christopher Byers

70. Gimme Shelter

Year of Release: 1970
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Albert Maysles, David Maysles
Actors: Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, Mick Taylor, Bill Wyman, Meredith Hunter
Plot: Follows the Rolling Stones on their 1969 tour, mainly focusing on their free concert at Altamont Speedway in California where the decision to use Hell's Angels as security leads to tragic consequences.

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