r/Documentaries • u/English_Joe • 1d 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?
43
54
u/BrieBelle00 1d 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.
12
u/yuhyuhyaina 1d ago
this one particularly stuck with me. Horrible situation but well directed doc
3
u/BrieBelle00 1d 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.
7
u/matchy_blacks 1d ago
That movie sent me down a wildfire rabbit hole. It was so frightening and fascinating at the same time!
4
27
47
u/speech-geek 1d 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.
7
4
2
1
u/effortDee 21h ago
Id highly recommend Eating Our Way to Extinction as well https://youtu.be/LaPge01NQTQ?is=_DK8sjW6k796ufeQ
22
u/villings 1d 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)
10
u/PaintingWeak8165 1d ago
Great list. I'd like to add Come Hell and High Water. It's kind of an addition to When the Levees Broke.
3
u/villings 1d ago edited 1d 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
7
u/PaintingWeak8165 1d 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.
4
3
u/matchy_blacks 1d 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.
8
2
u/stevetapitouf 12h ago
Came here to say "When the levees broke". This is one of my favorite documentaries, it's absolutely amazingly directed, heartbreaking and infuriating.
13
u/kel_oertle 1d ago
Tsunami: Race Against Time (4 episodes). We just finished this today. Absolutely heartbreaking look at the 2004 tsunami.
4
u/ICNyght 1d ago
Seconding this, and also recommending it's sequel series, Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time 2025. 5 episodes and produced by Ryan Coogler.
2
u/kel_oertle 1d ago
Oh, I’ll have to check that one out. I was really impressed with how well done the Tsunami one was.
9
u/terra_cascadia 1d 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.
2
1
u/marymoth 9h 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.
7
8
u/Ill_Drop1135 1d 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.
3
6
u/MacaroniPoodle 1d 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.
5
u/RestlessAstronaut 1d 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.
5
u/fortydecibeldaydream 1d ago
The Twister: Caught in the Storm is a harrowing look at the Joplin tornado.
3
3
u/OutsideBones86 1d ago
It's pretty basic but I like Eye of the Storm on HBO. Mostly amateur footage with interviews.
3
u/KidCuervo 1d 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.
2
u/TampaPowers 1d 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.
2
u/hydroponicnachos 15h 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.
1
1
1
u/deliveRinTinTin 1d 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.
1
u/radknees 17h ago
Air Disasters aka Mayday has a gazillion episodes, if you want to get deep into plane crashes. They're well done, too.
1
u/alcohall183 6h 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.
0
u/Icy_Gap_9067 1d ago
Zero hour can be usually found on youtube and each episode covers a disaster or event such as a shooting or bombing.
1
u/Icy_Gap_9067 1d 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'.
•
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
This post is currently limited to [Recommendation request: Disaster documentaries.]. Any off-topic comments will be removed and treated as spam.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.