How was the earth formed
? How does our body change throughout life
? How do the emperor penguins, the only inhabitants of the Arctic, breed
? How was the conspiracy to kill Abraham Lincoln planned?
Discover it in the best National Geographic animal documentaries, science, nature and history.
- You can also read: The 14 best documentaries in history that you must see.
ARTICLE CONTENT
1. National Geographic animal documentaries.
2. National Geographic nature documentaries.
3. National Geographic documentaries of the human body.
4. National Geographic science documentaries.
5. National Geographic history documentaries.
National Geographic documentaries on animals
Wildlife put before your eyes like never before: this is what the best works of National Geographic on animals offer, and that we present to you here, from the fight of a lioness to save her young to the denunciation of the hunting of whale sharks.
1. The last lions
This is undoubtedly one of the best National Geographic documentaries because it makes you empathize with the great protagonist, the lioness Ma Di Tau, turned into a heroine . The Last Lions is a wonderful story about the struggle of this lioness to save her cubs from predators in the harsh existence of the savannah.
The documentary explains how after the death of her partner, Ma Di Tau focuses all her efforts on protecting her life and that of her three offspring . Knowing that if the predators find her babies they will die, she decides to move them to Duba Island, although there she will have to face the feared crocodiles and water buffalo.
The love of a mother and the fight for survival in a documentary that will hook you.
2. Prehistoric Animals
One of the most curious and also one of the best documentaries from the famous production company presents a fearsome species: the bird of terror. It is a huge bird that used its strong claws and its huge beak to hunt , and that managed to become the great predator of South America. The documentary shows how they migrated to the north of the continent.
The contributions of scientists are essential to document this interesting return to the past that shocks us when we discover how these birds developed the most perfected hunting techniques to compete with the felines for the new terrain. Together with the opinion of the experts, the documentary offers impressive images made by computer .
3. In the valley of the wolves
For years, the gray wolves became the great kings of Yellowstone National Park. There they found a habitat to suit them, and thanks to their gregarious nature, they managed to take over the land and become strong . They were the largest pack of wolves ever seen anywhere on earth.
The exciting video by Bob Landis, winner of an Emmy award for the documentary In the Valley of Wolves, shows the progressive loss of power of that front pack and their exile in the face of the threat of conquering species . From the exile, the command will be reorganized to recover the place where they consolidated his reign.
Undoubtedly one of the best National Geographic animal documentaries: the battle for the best valley and the high price the wolves paid to get it back.
4. Whale sharks in India
This documentary of animals of animals served to raise awareness of the abuse that is committed in India on the whale shark. Shores of Silence: Whale Sharks in India is a documentary by Mike Pandey that depicts the cruelty of the killing of this species of shark in poor communities in India.
The documentary caused such a stir that the Indian government responded by including the whale shark in the species considered in danger of extinction and developing legislation for its protection. The document also receivedup to eleven awards from different international competitions, including the Wildsceen Panda, known as the ecologist Oscar.
5. Rare and exotic animals
The first time a white lion was seen was documented in 1938 in the South African region of Timbavati, and although some other cases have been located later, it is something really strange. The white lion is one of the rare and exotic animals that can be seen.
The documentary goes beyond presenting the rarity of this animal. The rare and exotic animals tells us how in the seventies, under the pretext that these animals could not survive in the wild, most of them were confined to zoos. In 2009, most of these specimens were reintroduced into the wild..
There are currently fewer than 300 white lions, which includes captive lions.
6. The Emperor’s Journey
This is a documentary directed by Luc Jacquet in 2005 that follows the emigration of penguins in Antarctica. The power of its images and narrative brilliance earned it the Oscar for Best Documentary, making it one of National Geographic’s best documentaries on animals. A true documentary gem.
Luc Jacquet’s cunning makes you identify with these creatures and admire how amazing nature and the animal kingdom are. A family of penguins crosses miles of icy waters to lay their eggs. While the mother goes to look for food, the father incubates the eggs for four months without feeding..
Pure life, pure emotion, pure survival, pure glacial beauty. Pure documentary.
National Geographic nature documentaries
One of National Geographic’s strengths are nature documentaries, which present current issues such as climate change and allow us to enter the most unimaginable phenomena and places.
7. The Lost Ice
Awareness of the effects of climate change has inspired a large number of documentaries, among which, without a doubt, this one directed by Jeff Orlowsky stands out. His work was awarded the Sundance Festival in 2012 for the strength of his images and his innovative perspective: the skepticism of the photographer James Balog.
This photographer, distrusting the real existence of a threat, decided to travel to the most isolated places in the world to photograph the phenomena of melting ice with the help of National Geographic engineers. This is the material that the director has to capture, in 72 minutes, a phenomenon that should make us reflect .
8. The Forces of Nature
The force of nature as you have never seen it before is the radical experience to which Forces of Nature subjects you, one of the best National Geographic documentaries. Through maps, animations and 3D photos you will be able to enter tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and other fearsome natural phenomena like never before.
In 2004, this novel way of understanding natural disasters was premiered by George Casey, whose documentary product allows, among other things, to observe what an erupting volcano is like. The visualization of it is not only a unique spectacle, but also a reflection on how small we are in front of mother nature .
9. The wildest dream
Under the shadow of the great milestone that Edmund Hillary signed in 1953 by becoming the first man to climb Everest, the sad story of the mountaineer Geogre Mallory remained anonymous for years, who in 1924 attempted a pioneering incursion to the top of the Himalayas . In 1999, on his ascent, Mallory’s frozen body was discovered by Conrad Anker.
Along with his intact belongings he kept a photo of his wife, and little by little Anker began to empathize with the frustrated dream of Mallory, who found his death in the snows of the mountain. The Wildest Dream is the reconstruction of Mallory’s attempt to rise to understand what happened to him and pay homage to his wildest dream of him.
10. Journey to the ends of the universe
Documentary produced by National Geographic in collaboration with the Discovery Channel that shows an exciting journey from Earth to the very ends of the universe. The documentary lasts an hour and a half, was released in 2008 and is directed by Yavar Abbas and narrated by Alec Baldwin in voiceover .
The documentary is a kind of virtual reality that allows us to go beyond what man has achieved so far: we can go to the illuminating Venus or be surprised by the volcanoes of Mars, bend before the stately red storm of Jupiter or slide down the rivers of liquid methane from Titan. An unforgettable experience.
11. The desert seas
Desert Seas is a National Geographic documentary that tells the amazing story of how 10,000 years ago what is now pure desert in Saudi Arabia was a great ocean, and how the water turned into sand. To do this, the viewing invites us to immerse ourselves in the waters of the Persian Gulf in search of its origin.
David Attenborough gives the voice to this National Geographic film with which you will learn some curiosities about the geological evolution of that area of the world, which contains the hottest and saltiest open sea in the world. You will also know the species that hide in their reefs .
12. A strange rock
The most exciting story of the Earth through the things that make it a unique phenomenon in the universe is the subject of one of the best National Geographic nature documentaries, One Strange Rock. Actually it is a series of ten chapters that you can not miss to know where we live .
In this documentary you will learn how species survive on Earth, in a total work that not only includes high-value scientific information, but is also designed to be a unique visual product . That is why the artistic stamp is put by one of the best current film directors, Darren Aronofsky, who recently triumphed with a film about nature.
- It may interest you: The 12 best Netflix documentaries.
National Geographic
documentaries of the human body Documentaries on the human body have also reached a high level of perfection that offers, in an attractive way, a product that is both entertaining and enriching.
13. The incredible human body
There are many documentaries about the human body and how it works, but many of them end up being boring anatomy classes. In contrast, The Incredible Human Body managed, in 2002, to attract the attention of the spectators thanks to the combination of high definition images with real cases.
Kate Burton is the narrator of a nearly hour-long documentary that begins with a woman undergoing in-vitro fertilization and a man undergoing open-heart surgery. The background of the documentary ishow powerful the human body is to generate life and preserve it, as well as the unsuspected limits of our organism.
14. Journey into the human body
In 2007 Martin Williams directed this feature film that has become a major National Geographic documentary on the human body. Journey into the human body, from the same creators of In the maternal womb is a review of the life of a human being from the moment he is born until he dies from inside his body.
In this case, then, there is an added dynamism that offers a different product to the classic documentaries of the human body. Here the changes of the organism are studiedin the passage from embryo to person, from baby to adolescent, from adolescent to adulthood, and the entrance to old age. A very illustrative documentary that you cannot miss.
15. The incredible human machine
The original virtual look at each of the movements and physiological processes of the human body throughout a day is the interesting proposal of this National Geographic documentary. Through high definition images you will be able to discover the secrets of the human body with a most dynamic proposal.
For example, to learn how the voice is produced, you will enter Steven Tyler’s vocal cords, and to be amazed at the perfection of the muscular system, you will accompany an Olympic weightlifter. Even more incredible: you will discover the link between blood and brain through the pilots of the American military aviation .
16. Stress: Portrait of a Killer
This documentary with such a suggestive title (Stress: Portrait of a Killer) follows the path of the one already produced by National Geographic The Science of Stress, where it addresses one of the great problems of societies industrial today. In this case, it is a cold analysis of how prolonged anxiety can destroy your body .
Through an interesting combination of detailed explanations from experts in the field and graphic demonstrations of how daily stress affects your body in various ways, the documentary makes us aware of the dangers of losing control over our bodies . In addition, it offers us some interesting therapeutic solutions.
17. My Musical Brain
In this novel experiment, neuroscientist Daniel Levitin subjects singer Sting to a series of tests to delve into the functioning of a musician’s brain and the devices that are activated when they perform his activity. My musical brain has been a documentary with great public success and very well received by the scientific community .
The documentary was released in 2010 and starts from the basis that music exerts great power over the human mind, but to what extent, and in what way?
These are the unknowns that the scientist tries to solve, especially from a Latest generation scanner that analyzes the effects of musical waves in the brain .
18. In the womb
In the Womb is one of the most impressive documentaries about the miraculous moment of pregnancy and childbirth of a mother. Through innovative photography, cutting-edge special effects, and stunning 4D scans, the viewer feels transported into the mother’s womb where the baby develops.
From fertilization to childbirth, the documentary facesVarious phases of the gestation process through the experience of three pregnant mothers. The scientific element is mixed in a very natural way with the human factor and we feel pushed to the magnificent discovery of the miracle of life.
National Geographic Science Documentaries
Another of National Geographic’s landmarks is trivia and the world of science.
19. Genius
The National Geographic documentary series that analyzes the turbulent life path of scientific genius Albert Einstein was received by critics and the public with open arms. It is without a doubt one of the works of National Geographic that goes beyond science, and approaches the life of the genius from various points of view .
One of the most interesting points of the ten-part biographical series is the insatiable spirit of this researcher, and how he changes his methods after the first failures to get the answers he was looking for. But during the series his most human passions are also addressed, his love relationships. The most successful portrait of genius.
20. Expedition to Mars
One of the great feats of the Space Age, the arrival of the Spirit and Opportunity probes to the planet Mars, inspire the creators of this documentary to reconstruct their arrival and exploration missions . The value of this documentary released in 2015 is the large amount of unpublished material that offers us a unique perspective of the red planet.
The images offered for the first time by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the virtual recreations of the robots on Martian soil and the narration of the personal experiences of the scientists who participated in that space mission round out a documentary that you cannot miss if you are interested in curiosities of the universe.
21. Year Million
National Geographic documentary on the world of science called One million years and accompanies us on a huge leap in the history of mankind to move us to a distant future and open the debate around the possibilities of artificial intelligence.
Phenomena such as virtual reality and telepathy will change our way of communicating, relating, and even working. But how?
This National Geographic documentary series resolves very interesting questions about what the artificial intelligence of the future will be like, what advantages it will have and what disadvantages it will have .
22. 3D Robots
Robots like you’ve never seen them, a unique experience to learn the technical details about robotics, reflect on the future of humanity and machines, and marvel at a stunning visual spectacle . Robots 3D is a movie for the big screen and IMAX and digital theaters.
Simon Pegg is the voiceover of a humanoid robot that introduces the different points of view of the robots of the main technological centers around the world, and how they are trying to adopt the main traits of human behavior (walking, grasping, throwing, placing… ). A renewed perspective of the world of robots.
23. Megastructures: The science of concrete
Megastructures: Science of concrete is a documentary series produced by National Geographic that appeared in 2004 simultaneously in several countries. By tracking the construction of colossal buildings, the documentary contains the basics of engineering with truly astounding revelations.
Each of the episodes focuses on the process of creation, construction and execution of structures and buildings out of the ordinary , and does so in a very educational way with interviews with designers, architects and managers of large projects that reveal the secrets of these great constructions and innovation with new methodologies and materials.
24. Science Fair
The optimism of science portrayed with admirable naturalness and empathy inspires the feature film directed by Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster Science Fair conceived as a documentary film . The film was released in 2018 and was applauded by critics as one of the best on science.
The directors accompany nine teenagers from different institutes around the world in their fight to win the international science fair. With this pretext, the cameras record their concerns, their rivalry, their setbacks and their adolescent problems, and capture how the future of science and engineering grows in real time .
National Geographic history documentaries
From the National Geographic History Channel dozens of high-quality documentaries have been broadcast, although the ones we present below are the best National Geographic history documentaries.
25. The secrets of the Titanic
One hundred years after the sinking of the transatlantic Titanic, the director who recovered this famous historical fact and turned it into a film, James Cameron, dives where the remains of the ship are found and recalls the details of that fateful story. The secrets of the Titanic is a series of reports that were very successful.
James Cameron documented himself long before filming the award-winning film, so going back to the Titanic with him means knowing many of the details that have been buried, and much new information that has been discovered as a result of the following dives. A complete forensic examination of one of the most interesting underwater corpses.
26. Kill Lincoln
Ridley Scott’s production company released Kill Lincoln in 2013, a dizzying approach to the great conspiracy that ended with the assassination of the president of the United States. The highly successful documentary was made with great cinematographic inspiration.
In fact, it was released shortly after Steven Spielberg’s movie, but this one goes much deeper into the death of the president, telling unpublished things. Actor Tom Hanks serves as the narrator , while Billy Campbell plays Abraham Lincoln and Jesse Johnson plays the assassin of the president.
27. Hitler’s Last Year
The Last Year of Hitler is a two-hour documentary that traces the personal trajectory of Adolf Hitler during the last year of his life as a common thread to explain something much bigger, the last months of the Second World War and its outcome. It was issued in 2015 for the 70th anniversary of the end of the war.
The documentary begins with the landing in Normandy and ends with the surrender of Germany, and offers remastered and colored archive images that help the viewer to get closer to some crucial events in our history.
28. Origins: The Journey of Humanity
Jaison Silva directs this exciting journey to the origins of our species. Origins: the Journey of Humankind is a documentary broadcast in 2017 thatincludes dramatizations and musical mixes at the level of a great blockbuster.
In this journey through time that aims to follow the history of civilization, the eight chapters of the series focus on the most important advances that have allowed the human species to reach its current level of development. The documentary combines recreations with explanations from the most learned scientists in the field.
29. The Black Pharaohs: The Empire of Gold
Egypt continues to be an inexhaustible mine for directors and writers, although sometimes its products become recurrent. That is why this 2018 National Geographic issued a very interesting documentary series because it addresses the phenomenon of Egypt froma surprising point of view and forgotten by history .
For several centuries, the kingdom of Egypt was dominated by a dynasty of emperors called the “black pharaohs”, originally from the current territory of Sudan. The directors of the documentary accompany the archaeologists who use the latest gadgets to search for all kinds of clues about this lost civilization in the ancient kingdom of Kush.
30. The bad guys in history
In this series you will find the most controversial characters in history. Under the epigraph The bad guys in history, the chapters focus on each of these characters , which include everything from Julius Caesar, Nero and Cleopatra, to Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan.
In this case, not so much importance is given to the recreations and the visual image, although this is not bad at all, but rather to the interventions of historians and the new data that historiography offers about the lives of these characters. One of the goals of the documentary is to question the judgment of history , and discover if the bad guys were that bad… or not.
- More videos and documentaries here.
