The Top 10 Environmental Documentaries
by IMDBLists | created - 02 Jan 2013 | updated - 09 Jan 2013 | PublicThe most influential documentaries made relating to environmental issues with respect to causing changes in international policy for the better.
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1. The Polar Explorer (2011)
Not Rated | 52 min | Documentary
A report on the effects of climate change in the polar regions, including coverage of a historic scientific expedition crossing the Northwest Passage exploring previously inaccessible areas for the very first time.
Director: Mark Terry | Stars: Matthew Asplin, Lisa Earle, Joannie Ferland, Jonathan Gagnon
Votes: 34
2. The Antarctica Challenge (2009)
Not Rated | 45 min | Documentary
An up-to-date look at the climate change research currently being done by the scientists stationed in Antarctica.
Director: Mark Terry | Stars: Mark Terry, David Ainley, Robert Mulvaney, Alexandra Shackleton
Votes: 145
3. GasLand (2010)
Not Rated | 107 min | Documentary
An exploration of the fracking petroleum extraction industry and the serious environmental consequences involved.
Director: Josh Fox | Stars: Josh Fox, Dick Cheney, Pete Seeger, Richard Nixon
Votes: 11,105 | Gross: $0.03M
4. Crude (2009)
Unrated | 105 min | Documentary
The story of lawsuit by tens of thousands of Ecuadorans against Chevron over contamination of the Ecuadorean Amazon.
Director: Joe Berlinger | Stars: Dan Ashley, Pablo Fajardo, Kent Robertson, German Yanez
Votes: 868 | Gross: $0.17M
5. The Cove (2009)
PG-13 | 92 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
Using state-of-the-art equipment, a group of activists, led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose both a shocking instance of animal abuse and a serious threat to human health.
Director: Louie Psihoyos | Stars: Richard O'Barry, Louie Psihoyos, Hardy Jones, Michael Illiff
Votes: 51,452 | Gross: $0.87M
6. Sharkwater (2006)
PG | 89 min | Documentary
An investigation of sharks' importance to ecosystems and humankind's mass destruction of shark species worldwide.
Director: Rob Stewart | Stars: Rob Stewart, Paul Watson, Erich Ritter, Boris Worm
Votes: 5,037 | Gross: $0.85M
7. An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
PG | 96 min | Documentary
Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim follows Al Gore on the lecture circuit, as the former presidential candidate campaigns to raise public awareness of the dangers of global warming and calls for immediate action to curb its destructive effects on the environment.
Director: Davis Guggenheim | Stars: Al Gore, Billy West, George Bush, George W. Bush
Votes: 85,220 | Gross: $23.81M
8. Winged Migration (2001)
G | 89 min | Documentary
Documentary on the migratory patterns of birds, shot over the course of three years on all seven continents.
Directors: Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud, Michel Debats | Stars: Jacques Perrin, Philippe Labro
Votes: 12,369 | Gross: $10.76M
9. Encounters at the End of the World (2007)
G | 99 min | Documentary
Film-maker Werner Herzog travels to the McMurdo Station in Antarctica, looking to capture the continent's beauty and investigate the characters living there.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Werner Herzog, Scott Rowland, Stefan Pashov, Doug MacAyeal
Votes: 19,257 | Gross: $0.94M
10. Darwin's Nightmare (2004)
107 min | Documentary
A documentary on the effect of fishing the Nile perch in Tanzania's Lake Victoria. The predatory fish, which has wiped out the native species, is sold in European supermarkets, while starving Tanzanian families have to make do with the leftovers.
Director: Hubert Sauper | Stars: Elizabeth 'Eliza' Maganga Nsese, Raphael Tukiko Wagara, Dimond Remtulia, Marcus Nyoni
Votes: 5,662 | Gross: $0.20M
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