Reviews Categorized by Subject

By Jennifer Merin, About.com Guide to Documentaries

In addition to keeping up with newly released documentaries, it's exciting to delve deeply into an area of investigation and/or compare past and present notions about of a subject by watching several films about the same or thematically related topics. Here, you'll find documentary reviews categorized by subjects and themes.

1. Animals and Wildlife
2. Music and Musicians
3. Religion
4. Health and Social Welfare

5. The Middle East and Terrorism
6. Environmental Issues
7. Sports Documentaries

Animals and Wildlife

Documentaries about domestic and wild animals, and about human interaction with them.

• Arctic Tale (2007)
• The First Saturday in May (2007)
• PBS' Nature Series Encore Broadcasts (2008)
• Winged Migration (2001)

Music and Musicians

Documentaries cover a wide range of musical genres from classical to punk rock, and profile composers and performing artists. They also set trends within their historical, social and cultural contexts.

• Air Guitar Nation (2006)
• The Dixie Chicks: Shut Up And Sing (2006)
• Girls Rock! (2007)
• Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (2007)

• Meat Loaf: In Search of Paradise (2007)
• Planet B-Boy (2007)
• Runnin' Down A Dream: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (2007)
• Young@Heart (2007)

Religion

Documentaries revealing religious doctrine and practice. investigating and exposing exploitation and abuse by religious leaders of their devoted followers and discussing the historical, political and cultural context of religious movements.

• Bloodline (2008)
• Deliver Us From Evil (2006)
• For The Bible Tells Me So (2007)
• Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (2006)

• Jesus Camp (2006)
• Nanking (2007)
• What Would Jesus Buy? (2007)

Health and Social Welfare

Dcumentaries about specific diseases and how individuals or groups deal with them, and covering the broader issues of health policy and insurance, birthing and aging, nutrition, health and the environment, health care in third world countries and trends in health care.

• Autism: The Musical (2007)
• Bigger, Stronger, Faster (2008)
• Body of War (2007)
• The Business of Being Born (2007)
• The 11th Hour (2007)

• King Corn (2007)
• Manda Bala (2007)
• Sicko (2007)
• A Walk To Beautiful (2008)

The Middle East and Terrorism

Documentaries covering the Iraq War, U.S. policy in the Middle East. the American government's anti-terrorist tactics and practices and the public debate.

• Body of War (2007)
• The Dixie Chicks: Shut Up And Sing (2006)
• Jimmy Carter Man From Plains (2007)

• Standard Operating Procedure (2008)
• Taxi To The Dark Side (2008)
• Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden (2008)

Environmental Issues

Documentaries that cover environmental issues such as global warming, misuse of natural resources and mishandling of waste materials--and their material and social consequences--create greater awareness of impending dangers and stimulate debate about what we can and must do to prevent ecological disaster.

• An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
• Arctic Tale (2007)
• The Axe In The Attic (2007)

• Desert Bayou (2007)
• The 11th Hour (2007)
• Encounters At The End Of The World (2008)

Sports Documentaries

Documentaries about sports teams and individual athletes pursuing their goals.

• Air Guitar Nation (2006)
• Bigger, Stronger, Faster (2008)
• The First Saturday in May (2007)
• Quantum Hoops (2007)
• Steep (2007)