I'd love to hear from you on great documentaries that you have seen and would be good additions to this list. Please email or comment with your own lists.
1. Born Free
A touching and inspiring movie about a couple Joy and George Adamson, who adopt a lioness- Elsa and later help to 'make her wild' again. I cry every time i watch this movie, seen it a thousand times.
Its the most successful and popular part of a trilogy - Living Free and Forever Free are the other two. Joy Adamson has authored books by the same name too.
The Song 'Born Free' sung by John Barry won the Oscar award for best song, its perfect.
2. Beautiful People
A funny narrative on the lovely animals of the great African continent. My favorite part is of the Ostrich counting its eggs and of course, the Meerkats. Who doesn't love a meerkat!
3. From Africa with Love
4. The Flight of the Condor - Chronicling the majestic peaks of South America, the Andes. The accompanying music by the Chilean band is magical, making this documentary unforgettable. The 3 parts span the mountains, the forests, deserts and the outlying regions of South America.
Music: Inti Illimani (Guamary) - Floreo de llamas
5. Birds for all Seasons - Another 3 part series with some unforgettable footage of the avian world.
6. Planet Earth - Hugely popular with stunning HD footage.
7. The Great Migrations
8. Blue Planet
*9. The Cosmos - Carl Sagan
Not in the wildlife category. One of the best science documentary series ever made, I heard PBS is working with Sagan's widow to make an updated digital version. Stay tuned.
10. The Frozen Planet
11. Life - An 8 part series
12. Indonesia - Roberto (Bunaken)
13. Gorillas in the Mist
Diane Fossey's epic and brave struggle is beautifully portrayed by Sigourney Weaver
This is her last diary entry
| “ | When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future. | ” |
15. Wild Russia - Wild China - Wild Japan - Wild Balkans (this one is eye-opening, didn't know Europe had isolated and yet-to-be explored wilderness left)
16. The March of the Penguins - Narrated by Morgan Freeman, who can make even the mundane sound magical, this is the extraordinary life/journey of the Antarctic Emperor Penguins.
17. Yellowstone - Battle for Life
18. Animal Kingdom - A very old BBC series, one of the first I've seen of the animal world.
19. The Last Lioness - National Geographic's documentary on the tragedy that is poaching and the empty life of the one remaining lion, Lady Liuwa.
20. Echo - The story of an elephant
In the matriarchal elephant world, Echo is a true symbol. She lived to be 65+ years old and nurtured several generations of her kind with unmatched resilience and dignity.
21. Eye of the Leopard
22. Amazing Planet
23. Cherub of the west - India's most well known and prolific wildlife photographers, Naresh and Rajesh Bedi
24. Saving the Tiger, On a Tiger Trail
Perhaps the most popular of the Bedi brothers' films, this film shot them to international fame and several awards.
25. The Ganges Gharial
The much smaller Indian cousin of the alligator with a long tapering snout roams the holy Ganges river from O..
26. Return of the Clouded Leopards - Sandesh Kadur
Against all odds, a couple of the rare clouded leopard cubs rescued by Sandesh
27. Chernobyl Reclaimed
A fascinating account of how wildlife is thriving in the radioactive disaster zone. There's conflicting reports on the wolves, etc be
28. Secrets of the seas - Jacques Cousteau
The quintessential chronicle of the seas that cover 70% of the earth's surface and exploration of the true unknown.
29. Galapagos - Hell's Cradle
30. Murder of Crows - PBS
Cool experiments by university of Washington's faculty revealing the advanced thought processes of crows. Who knew!
31. Secrets of Wild India
32. 180 degrees South
A hippie style account of one man's adventure retracing the steps of his icons down to Patagonia. Will strike a chord with nature lovers and is backed by a good soundtrack.
33. Chimpanzee - Jane Goodall
A living icon and champion of the primates, this is a gem
34. 'Nature' and NOVA' on PBS
35. Wild Spaces USA
36. Madagascar on National Geographic
37. Ring of Fire
38. North America
First aired on the discovery channel & narrated by Tom Selleck.
39. Swimming Lions
Shows how lions have adapted to hunt and thrive in the water-logged Okavango delta.
I started writing this at least a couple of months back, the list keeps growing. I'm determined to publish it today and will continue adding on to it.
