Historical Documentaries on Netflix
Last updated December 10, 2024
Day of the Kamikaze
2008 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsExamine the history behind kamikazes, the Japanese suicide pilots of World War II. Through archival footage, historic reenactments and interviews with veterans, this program explores how and why thousands of men sacrificed their lives in combat.
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In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great
1998 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsIn this BBC production, documentary filmmaker and historian Michael Woods retraces the footsteps of the legendary Alexander the Great (also known as Alexander of Macedonia) as he traveled from Greece to India on a quest for glory. He found it in spades as went on to become king of Macedonia, pharaoh of Egypt and conqueror of the Persian Empire. In the end, though, he was as vulnerable as any human, falling victim to deadly poisoning.
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Colosseum: A Gladiator's Story
2003 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsRussell Crowe fails to make an appearance in this searing documentary, but it's arresting moviemaking nonetheless as viewers journey through Roman history to a time when gladiators battled each other at the emperor's whim. The story centers around Verus, a gladiator who rose to stardom but still lived his life enslaved, and for whom freedom was the ultimate triumph.
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Sunset Strip
2012 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsThis valentine to one of Los Angeles' most celebrated thoroughfares reveals its nearly 100-year history and its significance in culture worldwide. Photos and interviews capture the Strip and famed habitués from mobsters to Hugh Hefner to Johnny Depp.
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Mission for Mussolini
2006 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsThis riveting documentary centers on Italian journalist Luigi Romersa and the task given to him in 1944 by Benito Mussolini: to investigate and report back on Adolf Hitler's claims of Nazi superweapons, including a bomb that would "shock the world."
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Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story
2012 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsIn 1976, Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu led a daring rescue of hostages at Uganda's Entebbe Airport, in which he was the lone Israeli casualty. Through letters, photos, family, friends and fellow soldiers, this moving documentary tells a hero's story.
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Resistance: Untold Stories of Jewish Partisans
2002 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsSeth Kramer directs this documentary that recounts the heroic and inspiring feats of the Jewish partisans, the resilient guerilla fighters who made up the ranks of the Jewish resistance movement against the Nazis during World War II. Drawing on archival footage, photographs and insight from several living members of the resistance, Kramer's film chronicles a chapter of the Holocaust often overlooked in the annals of history.
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Sir! No Sir!
2005 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsFilmmaker and activist David Zeiger's documentary chronicles the largely forgotten antiwar activities of American GIs and other members of the military during the Vietnam era -- actions that put them in greater peril than civilian protesters. Powerful and surprising, the film weaves together the stories of veterans who participated in the opposition movement, an effort that, by the early 1970s, found widespread support from civilians and troops alike.
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The End: British Gangsters
2008 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsTake a close, hard look at the seedy underbelly of London's East End in the post-World War II era in this unflinching documentary, which profiles a violent group of local gangsters who openly discuss their shocking exploits and unique code of honor. With surprising candor, this intriguing look at criminal life explores how the neighborhood's aggressive and confrontational culture spawned so many lawbreakers.
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Hunting the Lost Symbol
2009 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsA companion piece to Dan Brown's best-selling novel The Lost Symbol, this documentary explores American history and many of the book's Washington, D.C., locales to find the facts behind the legends of the nation's Masonic past.
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Pompeii: The Last Day
2003 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsTake a step back in time via this engrossing program and visit the fabled "vanished city" on its last day, when Vesuvius erupted in a 24-hour reign of terror that covered the ancient town with tons of lava and mummified many of its inhabitants.
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Radio Bikini
1988 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsThis Oscar-nominated documentary chronicles the eye-opening story of Bikini Atoll, which in 1946 was the site of U.S. atomic bomb tests that left the island uninhabitable for 40 years and exposed thousands of sailors to heavy doses of radiation.
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Grass
2000 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsNarrated by actor and pot activist Woody Harrelson, this slick and snappy documentary chronicles the history of marijuana use and prohibition from the early 1900s through modern day. Biased toward legalization in tone, the clever if subjective film reveals the absurdity of government anti-grass tactics. Comic Tommy Chong also lends his voice to this informative and amusing illustration of how one substance among many has created such a clamor.
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The Flat
2011 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsWhen Arnon Goldfinger's grandmother died at 98, he was charged with cleaning out her Tel Aviv apartment, where he made a shocking discovery. The filmmaker plays detective as he sorts through decades of the Holocaust survivor's letters and photos.
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Forgotten Warriors
1997 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsAboriginal veterans poignantly share their unforgettable war memories and their healing process.
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Dinotasia
2012 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsBased on cutting-edge paleontology and the latest fossil records, this documentary presents a series of vignettes about dinosaurs, including some creatures that were discovered only recently.
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Our Nixon
2013 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsNixon himself wasn't the only one obsessively recording his presidency; three of his top aides were filming it, too, with Super 8 cameras. These home movies -- from H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman and Dwight Chapin -- form the basis of this portrait.
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Women on the March
1959 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsA film record of women at the turn of the century and of the suffragette movement's struggle for equal rights.
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Defiant Requiem
2012 | NR | 3.0 out of 5 StarsThis World War II documentary relates the inspiring and tragic story of Raphael Schächter, a young composer held in the Terezin concentration camp. In an act of artistic defiance, Schächter teaches a prison chorus to perform Verdi's Requiem.
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Goering's Last Secret
2011 | NR | 3.0 out of 5 StarsThis intriguing film reveals the amazing and relatively untold story of Albert Goering, the brother of Nazi Herman Goering. Despite his connections to the highest echelons of the Nazi Party, Albert was determinedly anti-Nazi. He saved 34 people from Nazi atrocities by audaciously using his brother's forged signature and exalted position. Australian backpacker William Hastings Burke - who recently stumbled on new evidence to support the story - has travelled thousands of miles, interviewed relatives and talked to survivors, including some who owe their lives to Albert's interventions. His film shows just how Albert's true legacy was overshadowed by his brother's savage crimes.
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The First World War From Above
2010 | NR | 2.9 out of 5 StarsAerial footage from 1919 captures the battlefields of World War I, revealing the destruction inflicted across Europe. Experts from London's Imperial War Museum bring insight to these images, telling incredible stories of battles lost and won.
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