Capturing the Friedmans and Spellbound...best doc of last year

Tokyo Olympiad is a great documentary. the footage is incredible. The way certain sports were shot inspired many other films (such as the boxing footage inspiring Raging bull). This is not just for sport fans. This Dvd also boasts one of my favorite commentaries and has the most complete insert of any of Criterion's single disks. I cannot recommend it enough.

Another documentary I enjoy is Johnstown Flood (not the one that won the academy award). It is Narrated by Richard Dreyfuss. it is a low budget film, but it is pretty interesting. It uses a different approach from most historical documentaries in that it sensationalizes past events. This dvd has one of my favorite non-criterion covers.

American Movie
Scratch
Trekkies
Dark Days

I always enjoy these threads.

Hated. Following punk rocker GG Allin.

Beyond The Mat. A must for pro wrestling fans.

Smashing Machine. An HBO documentary on Mixed Martial Arts fighter Mark Kerr. Lots of extras and a fun commentary.

Wrestling With Shadows. Great documentary on former pro wrestler Bret Hart. This unfortunately isn't available on DVD yet.

For those who mentioned Waco: The Rules of Engagement:

You must see Waco: A New Revelation. Made a few years later, it has much additional material which wasn't known about when the first one was made. It continues the tale and truly is a revelation.

Both are great documentaries.

4 words:

Smashing Machine , Pumping Iron

best docs I have even seen.

Blue Planet
Life Of Birds

I agree 100% David Attenborough is fantastic and my favorite work of his (thus far) is Life of Mammals. It's just an amazing piece of work and I can't recommend it enough to anyone looking for a really great "nature" documentary.

Great film, but a medicore dvd...worn print, non-anamorphic transfer, no extras...and still worth every cent of the $25 I paid for it!
Not reviewed at DVD Talk, so here's a link to one at Digitally Obsessed:

http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/sho...w.php3?ID=1148

Yes...i enjoyed this also along with The West and Jazz.
Another historical series i enjoyed was Simon Schemas A History Of Britain

Another vote for Scratch. Awesome documentary.

"Pumping Iron
"Gimmie Shelter"

A great double bill for movie night

42 Up
American Movie
Biggie and Tupac
Bowling for Columbine
Brothers Keeper
Buena Vista Social Club
Crumb
Dark Days
Dogtown
Gigantic
Gimme Shelter
Grey Gardens
Hell House
Kurt and Courtney
Mr. Death
Roger and Me
Salesman
Startup.com
Stevie
Winged Migration

I'd toss in

Carl Sagan's Cosmos
The Battle over Citizen Kane
Bob Dylan: Dont Look Back (if you like him it's a hoot, if you hate him this gives you more reason)
I also enjoy popping in Ken Burns' Mark Twain periodically

"Standing in the Shadow of Motown"

Can't believe it hasn't been mentioned yet:

CANE TOADS

I really liked these...

For me nothing beats the Ken Burns Civil War series.....

After that would be Bowling for Colmbine and When We Were Kings

Really enjoyed Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures.

That's pretty funny. I love the scene with the guy in the VW Bus.

One other I have to mention:
Triumph of the Nerds which is, bar none, the greatest documentary about the beginnings of the PC industry. It's entertaining, funny and actually inspiring. The three episode DVD is ridiculously expensive but worth it if you're a computer nerd like myself. It was originally a mini series on PBS. How Bob Cringely got interviews with ALL of the titans of the PC industry (including Bill Gates, Steve Balmer, Steve Jobs, Paul Allen, Larry Ellison, the guys from Compaq and IBM etc...) is beyond me.

Here's a good one, although heartbreaking:

Children Underground



Homeless children (many by their own choice, or their parents choice) living in the subway stations of Romania. Includes self- mutilation, paint-huffing, child-on-child violence, adult-on-child violence, lice, prostitution, etc. This film really makes you think twice about the tiny things we complain about here in the U.S. Very, very sad.

The DVD features a "where are they now" bonus which helps clear up any lingering thoughts.

I love Pumping Iron, however, as Arnold said on the DVD, some of it was made up.

Biggie and Tupac

The Rutles; All You Need Is Cash

Have to say, thanks to this thread it's thrown a few suggestions at me to check out in the future

I'm quite suprised that the Walking With Dinosaurs/Prehistoric Beasts/Cavemen etc haven't had a mention yet.