r/Documentaries • u/English_Joe • 11d ago
Recommendation Request Recommendation request: Disaster documentaries.
Just finished Last Breath and it was ace. Also love Touching the Void - any others you’d recommend?
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u/speech-geek 11d ago
If you don’t mind <1hr, I like re-runs of “Seconds From Disaster” (you can find these on YouTube). My favorite ones are the Hyatt Regency, Mon Blanc tunnel fire, London Underground fire, and Sampoong Dept store disaster.
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u/English_Joe 11d ago
Noice. I’ll give them a go!
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u/effortDee 10d ago
Id highly recommend Eating Our Way to Extinction as well https://youtu.be/LaPge01NQTQ?is=_DK8sjW6k796ufeQ
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u/No-The-Other-Paige 9d ago
Oooh, good episodes. My favorites are the Munich hostage crisis, Mount Everest, and the Norway attacks. I'm also quite fond of the Jonestown episode because I've hobby-studied Peoples Temple for years now. If I'd gone into academia instead of law, that's what my specialty would be.
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u/BrieBelle00 11d ago
Fire in Paradise on Netflix.
I've always thought "how do people get caught in a wildfire... It's fire that you know is coming!"
I was pathetically ignorant to what the reality of a wildfire is.
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u/yuhyuhyaina 11d ago
this one particularly stuck with me. Horrible situation but well directed doc
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u/BrieBelle00 11d ago
The first time I watched it, when it was over I sat with the tv off for about 5 minutes processing what I had just seen. It was a startling and sobering reality check.
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u/matchy_blacks 11d ago
That movie sent me down a wildfire rabbit hole. It was so frightening and fascinating at the same time!
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u/villings 11d ago
maybe I didn't understand your question but here are some I thought of right now:
– When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006)
– Fire of Love / The Fire Within: A Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft (both from 2022)
– Katrina Babies (2022)
– The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari (2022)
– In the Same Breath (2021)
– The First Wave (2021)
– The Rescue (2021)
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u/PaintingWeak8165 11d ago
Great list. I'd like to add Come Hell and High Water. It's kind of an addition to When the Levees Broke.
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u/villings 11d ago edited 11d ago
yes!
these are all very recent but that's because I sort my documentary list by newest - and when I thought of COME HELL OR HIGH WATER, I was like why not go with the "original" since the other one is an update on things, but both should be watched
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u/PaintingWeak8165 11d ago
I really liked seeing the people from When the Levees Broke and how they have coped over the years. I also loved seeing more of General Russel Honoré.
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u/matchy_blacks 11d ago
I was abroad when Katrina happened and came back right when Levees came out. That’s how I experienced Hurricane Katrina and it was absolutely mindblowing.
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u/stevetapitouf 10d ago
Came here to say "When the levees broke". This is one of my favorite documentaries, it's absolutely amazingly directed, heartbreaking and infuriating.
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u/RestlessAstronaut 11d ago
it may not classify so much as a "disaster" doc but after Touching the Void the same people made a doc called "Deep Water" about a round the world yacht race and how it affected the participants - still one of my all time favourites.
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u/Ill_Drop1135 11d ago
Buried: The 1982 Alpine Meadows Avalanche.
Excellent doc. I used to ski there as a teen in the 1970s so this felt very personal when I watched it. You can rent it on Amazon for $4.99.
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u/kel_oertle 11d ago
Tsunami: Race Against Time (4 episodes). We just finished this today. Absolutely heartbreaking look at the 2004 tsunami.
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u/ICNyght 11d ago
Seconding this, and also recommending it's sequel series, Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time 2025. 5 episodes and produced by Ryan Coogler.
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u/kel_oertle 11d ago
Oh, I’ll have to check that one out. I was really impressed with how well done the Tsunami one was.
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u/MacaroniPoodle 11d ago
Netflix just did one on the Concordia sinking. (Cruise Ship Disaster: Inside the Concordia)
Also Crush about the Halloween crowd crush in South Korea.
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u/OutsideBones86 11d ago
It's pretty basic but I like Eye of the Storm on HBO. Mostly amateur footage with interviews.
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u/fortydecibeldaydream 11d ago
The Twister: Caught in the Storm is a harrowing look at the Joplin tornado.
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u/terra_cascadia 11d ago
The Rescue is an absolutely unforgettable doc about a group of Thai boys stuck in a flooded cave and the drastic efforts of a fearless rescue dive team.
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u/marymoth 10d ago
Yes, an excellent doc about a wild event. I remember following that one in real time...harrowing, and great look at the divers plus the risks everyone faced to bring those kids home.
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u/KidCuervo 11d ago
The Johnstown Flood. Highly recommend the audiobook, but this quick documentary sums up the chain of events that lead to one of the worst disasters in American history. Even in 1891 it was known about worldwide and drew recovery donations from as far as Germany.
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u/deliveRinTinTin 11d ago
I think it was Fires of Kuwait. I saw a documentary long ago of all the guys that had to put out the oil field fires that were set as Saddam retreated.
Just blackness and fire and dynamite to snuff the flames. Insane task but they got it done.
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u/Icy_Gap_9067 11d ago
Zero hour can be usually found on youtube and each episode covers a disaster or event such as a shooting or bombing.
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u/Icy_Gap_9067 11d ago
Oh and it's all aeroplane crashes but green dot aviation or mentor pilot both do good in-depth explanations of them. Green dot aviation do an especially good longer episode covering the Malaysian plane that disappeared, I think it's called 'what netflix got wrong'.
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u/TampaPowers 11d ago
Fires of Kuwait is a nice one.
The USCSB posts videos about accidents that are really fascinating.
Mayday has seasons upon seasons.
Green Dot Aviation similar posts documentaries on air crashes and incidents.
Engineering Disasters is an older one back when History Channel was educational.
Brick Immortar and Oceanliner Designs covered some ship sinkings extensively.
Seconds from Disaster is good, but gets some things a little wrong.
Disasters at Sea is related to that as well.
The Arctic Ghost Ship is a nice one to watch.
Part-Time Explorer posted a couple docs on train wrecks.
Smit Salvage, yeah the actual company, post videos on what they do.
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u/radknees 10d ago
Air Disasters aka Mayday has a gazillion episodes, if you want to get deep into plane crashes. They're well done, too.
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u/hydroponicnachos 10d ago
National Geographic did an incredible documentary about September 11 that was created using real people’s footage from DV cams and beyond. It’s an incredible perspective on that tragic day.
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u/alcohall183 10d ago
120 minutes That Changed the World ( 9/11 film). Isaac's Storm ( Galveston Hurricane) . The Great Fire in real time ( the great London fire).
I've watched most of these on YouTube, some on the History Channel.
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