Science & Nature Documentaries on Netflix
Last updated April 19, 2024
Chasing Ice
2012 | NR | 4.2 out of 5 StarsEnvironmental photographer James Balog deploys time-lapse cameras to capture a record of the world's changing glaciers, compressing years into seconds to illustrate how these ice mountains are disappearing at a breathtaking rate.
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David Attenborough: Wildlife Specials
2008 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsWorld-renowned naturalist David Attenborough -- considered the father of the modern nature documentary -- headlines this collection of programs that explore the planet's most fascinating animals and most breathtaking landscapes. Attenborough travels around the world to get up-close footage of polar bears, leopards and other amazing creatures, and visits stunning locations such as the ice caves of Europe and South America's Angel Falls.
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Ken Burns: The National Parks: America's Best Idea
2009 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsNarrated by actor Peter Coyote, this Emmy-winning miniseries chronicles the history of America's national parks system, recounting how visionary conservationists such as John Muir fought to preserve nature for all people.
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David Attenborough: Wildlife Specials
2008 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsNaturalist David Attenborough travels around the world to get up-close footage of polar bears, leopards and other amazing creatures, visiting stunning locations like the ice caves of Europe and South America's Angel Falls.
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Ken Burns: The National Parks: America's Best Idea
2009 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsThe award-winning documentarian turns his insight and cameras to the history and breathtaking splendor of America's national parks. The words of early naturalists and modern advocates accompany panoramas of Yosemite, Glacier, Redwood and other parks.
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Happy People: A Year in the Taiga
2010 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsVenerated documentarian Werner Herzog teams with director Dmitry Vasyukov for this observant look at life along the River Yenisei in northern Russia, where the industrious inhabitants of a rural village truly live off the land.
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Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us?
2010 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsThis film documents the surprising importance of the lowly honeybee, describing how bees' pollinating activities play a crucial role in the food chain and how recent catastrophic "colony collapses" could interrupt global food production.
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All.I.Can.
2012 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsBreathtaking cinematography and astonishing feats of skiing come together in this visual essay on climate change and the fragility of the Earth. The film captures the world's great skiiers amongst the natural majesty of Morocco, Greenland and more.
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The Big Fix
2011 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsWhile turning their cameras on the devastating 2010 oil spill that pumped 779,037,744 liters of crude oil and other contaminants into the Gulf of Mexico, filmmakers Joshua Tickell and Rebecca Harrell unearth a stunning stream of corruption.
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GasLand
2010 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsIn this Oscar-nominated documentary, director Josh Fox journeys across America to examine the negative effects of natural-gas drilling, from poisoned water sources to kitchen sinks that burst into flames to unhealthy animals and people.
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The Hole Story
2011 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsFilmmakers dig deep into a discussion about corporate greed, public health and environmental disaster in this exposé of the Canadian mining industry. With a long history of injustice to workers, the business continues to be dangerous and corrupt.
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Turtle: The Incredible Journey
2011 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsAttempting a perilous odyssey its ancestors have undertaken for millions of years, one loggerhead turtle swims from a beach in Florida across the Atlantic Ocean, encountering stunning sea creatures as well as serious hazards created by modern man.
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The Meerkats
2008 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsActor Paul Newman narrates this captivating documentary that chronicles the antics of young Kolo and his family, a clan of meerkats that makes its home in Africa's Kalahari Desert, where their daily fight for survival is anything but easy.
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The End of the Line
2009 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsFilmmaker Rupert Murray traverses the world exposing the devastating effects that overfishing with modern technology is having on fish stocks and exploring the real solutions to solve the crisis.
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Echo of the Elephants: The Next Generation
1996 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsIn this continuation of the Echo of the Elephants saga, elephant behavioral expert Cynthia Moss takes viewers back into Kenya's Amboseli National Park for a look at Echo's ever-growing brood. Mirroring the realm of human drama, the animals' natural habitat contains stories of love, loss and plenty of laughter, with an emphasis on the new faces that have joined the herd since the first installment in the series.
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Last Call at the Oasis
2011 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsThis compelling documentary explores the global water crisis, examining deficiencies in the supply system and communities affected by water shortages. Scientists, activists and social entrepreneurs shed light on this shocking and pervasive problem.
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The English Surgeon
2007 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsBritish Brain Surgeon Henry Marsh works in a Russian KGB Hospital where patients are dying from simple brain tumors left untreated. This drama follows Marsh as he confronts the dilemmas of the doctor patient relationship on his latest mission.
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Blue Gold: World Water Wars
2009 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsNarrated by Malcolm McDowell, this award-winning documentary from director Sam Bozzo posits that we're moving closer to a world in which water -- a seemingly plentiful natural resource -- could actually incite war. As water becomes an increasingly precious commodity, corrupt governments, corporations and even private investors are scrambling to control it which leaves everyday citizens fighting for a substance they need to survive.
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Walking with Monsters: Life Before Dinosaurs
2005 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsThis Emmy-winning program takes you back to a time when gargantuan fish, reptiles and sea scorpions ruled the earth. The journey that began more than 500 million years ago charts the evolution of some of the planet's most extraordinary creatures.
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Transcendent Man
2009 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsInventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil is the subject of this documentary that follows him on a world speaking tour in which he expounds on his ideas about the merging of man and machine, which he predicts will occur in the not-so-distant future. The visionary who invented the first text-to-speech synthesizer and much more raises eyebrows here with his wildly optimistic views of a technology-enhanced future.
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DMT: The Spirit Molecule
2010 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsThis documentary examines the powerful psychedelic compound DMT (dimethyltryptamine), which is naturally produced in humans and scores of other species. Does it play a role in sustaining life or even provide clues to human spirituality?
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Seven Wonders of the Industrial World
2003 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsThis documentary series reveals the stories behind seven of the most ambitious man-made achievements of the industrial age -- including the Brooklyn Bridge, the Panama Canal and the Hoover Dam -- and the pioneers who helped construct them.
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Walking with Monsters: Life Before Dinosaurs
2005 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsThis Emmy-winning program takes you 500 million years back in time, when gargantuan fish, reptiles and sea scorpions ruled the earth. This incredible journey charts the evolution of some of the planet's most extraordinary creatures.
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The Island President
2012 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsThis documentary chronicles the extraordinary efforts of Mohamed Nasheed, during his term as president of the Maldive Islands, to fight global warming and prevent rising ocean levels from deluging his low-lying archipelago nation right off the map.
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Freedom
2012 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsFilmmaker Josh Tickell and his wife, Rebecca, set out on a journey to take a fresh look at Ethanol and try to separate the myth from the hyperbole. Along the way, they examine alternative technologies that could solve our dependence on oil.
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