The worst documentary you have ever seen

AzrealMaximillion

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Jan 20, 2010
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Aelinsaar said:
AzrealMaximillion said:
Aelinsaar said:
AzrealMaximillion said:
KissingSunlight said:
I like to take a moment to defend "soapbox" documentaries. I don't mind if the director is approaching the subject matter from a certain point of view. It's up to you to decide whether if he/she let their bias obscure the facts. With Michael Moore, all I hear from people who disagree with him are nitpicks. They haven't done anything to disprove his movies except to stamp their feet really loud and whine that he is bias.

Actually there are quite a few proven lies Michael Moore has told through his films. For example, in Bowling For Columbine, he presents a bank that hands you a rifle for making an account there. Moore makes it seem that they give you a gun as soon as you sign up.

In a documentary on Michael Moore called "Michael Moore Hates America", by Michael Wilson, it shows how its not legally possible to do so. There's a waiting period of about a week. It shows the same bank employees giving a walkthrough of how Moore filmed the events in a manner that seemed odd and left hastily.

Its on YouTube, give it a watch.

Ther's also the issue of the editing of the Charles Heston interview he did. Full of forceful editing that shows a lot of staging.

Its not bias that has Michael Moore not like. Its his factual hack practices.
Of all the issues you could have with Moore, I think the gun at the bank is pretty much a non-issue. Most people would STILL be shocked that a bank is giving you a GUN for opening an account... the delay wouldn't be a factor.
I disagree. That bank has better background checks than most gun shops that very recent mass shooters got their weapons from. I also think lying in order to make a point takes away massively from it. Also, Moore's Bowling for Columbine completely ignore that the majority of mass shootings, like Columbine, are committed by people on psychiatric drugs.

Not I know that the correlation of mental illness doesn't mean causation of mass shootings. But I also realize that American media isn't interested in nuanced points. The misdiagnosis of mental illnesses, the over-prescription of psychiatric medicine, as well as the fact that people who have had reported prior mental episodes still being able to get guns and have no waiting period are all factors. Michael Moore just simplified the entire issue and manipulated facts for his point.

I don't disagree with Moore on his views, but I can't even take his films after Roger and Me seriously. Lying to show your point should always be called out.
I'm sorry, you're missing my point. The issue is not that the bank is failing in its duty to adequately check the recipient of the gun. The issue is it's bizarre that we have a culture in which you open an account, and get a deadly weapon. That issue about culture was after all, central to his film.
And I think you're missing my point. Any point made in a documentary with lies and manipulation should not be respected. Should banks be handing out guns? Probably not, but I really do not care if the bank gives out guns to people they've had properly checked.


I honestly don't have a problem with a small town bank handing out rifles to those who open up accounts. In the US, they have the second amendment. If a bank can handle giving out guns in a manner that follows a strict regulation, better than gun stores that knowingly allowed unstable people to make a same day shotgun purchase, go for it. Until banks start doing a worse job than gun stores at selling guns safely, I'm fine with it.


I'm not rigidly anti-gun. I'm pro-regulation. Here in Canada, pretty much all guns you can buy from a Wal-Mart in a Southern State, you can buy here. We have very strict regulation here though, nothing nuts like a Wal-Mart AR-15 purchase. We have registered gun shops, and owning a gun legally in Canada pretty much allows police to search you any time they want, to make sure your gun is safely locked up. Otherwise you get a fat fine. We don't have the violence that the US does.

The US needs to regulate, and the fact that some small town bank is doing a better job than the standard should have you pissed at the US State/Federal Gun regulation laws, not the bank.

And Michael Moore lying through films to make points should not be given any inch of respect.
 

Sigmund Av Volsung

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Dec 11, 2009
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Anything watched by my parents, so stuff that talks about the spuky ghosts being 2real4u, as well as pscyhic bullshit, "parapsychology" and anti-semitic conspiracy theories.

Thank christ I don't understand Russian else I'd need to be hooked up to an IV of rubbing alcohol.
 

Remus

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Nov 24, 2012
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History Channels The Real Battle of Thermopylae. It had all the production value of a gradeschool play. When the soldiers taunted each other, they literally stepped forward out of lineup, said their line, then stepped back. I was picturing geriatric parents clapping and snapping polaroids of their "kids" for getting the words correct. I couldn't watch any more after I saw that.

Sigmund Av Volsung said:
Anything watched by my parents, so stuff that talks about the spuky ghosts being 2real4u, as well as pscyhic bullshit, "parapsychology" and anti-semitic conspiracy theories.

Thank christ I don't understand Russian else I'd need to be hooked up to an IV of rubbing alcohol.
These are my Sunday afternoons. That and tons of gospel music. So glad I have a solid sound system and enough NIN to block out my family's noise pollution.
 

Starik20X6

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I find a lot of American made documentaries to be borderline painful to watch. They're always given some stupid action-movie-trailer voiceover for every little thing that happens, no matter how mundane. And they hardly ever give real information, it's always obfuscated through inane comparisons and hyperbolic interviews.

I saw one about meteors the other day, and the whole time the narrator is all "we need to understand the enemy so we can better prepare for their inevitable attack!". It's a space rock, not a Syrian terrorist group. And don't tell me "the rock hits with the speed of 1000 jets" because that's a useless statement. Firstly, 1 jet or 1000 jets, they're going to be travelling at the same top speed. Second, assuming you meant 1000x the speed of a jet, you haven't either specified what kind of jet, nor what that speed is, so all I'm left with is "big rock goes fast". Thanks genius, I'll log that way.

And while I'm talking about documentaries- what the fuck happened to the Discovery Channel and the History Channel? Last time I tried to learn something from the Discovery Channel I tuned in to find a "documentary" about a group of rednecks trying to hunt the Loch Ness Monster. It was just about the most aggressively unintellectual thing since the destruction of the Library of Alexandria. And at this point they may as well rename the History Channel to the Conspiracy Theory Network.
 

Hero in a half shell

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Ross Kemp did one where he came to Northern Ireland to watch the parades on the 12th July, hung around the flashpoint areas so they'd be guaranteed to see a few drunken idiots acting like hooligans and generally spoke like he was reporting from the Vietnam War.

It was so hilariously 1 sided and just generally bollocks. You'd have thought the whole city was in riot from the way they described it, when you knew two or three streets away there were a bunch of kids eating ice creams watching the bands with their families and not a care in the world.
 

Vivi22

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Aug 22, 2010
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Imperioratorex Caprae said:
uses one-sided editing techniques to make a false narrative much like the guy from Super-Size Me did except y'know eating McD's isn't necessarily healthy for you which he was correct on, it just doesn't destroy your health as fast as he made it seem.
Not to mention it's been pretty well established that he lied about his dietary intake from McDonald's, did not stick to the rules he set out for himself in the beginning in an attempt to get the results he wanted, and has refused to make his food logs (if they exist) available to anyone last I checked.

Sure, eating McDonald's can be unhealthy, and will especially seem so if you lie about what you're eating and in what quantities, but you could also eat a pretty reasonably healthy diet and even lose weight while eating nothing but McDonald's as long as the guidelines you set out for your meals aren't completely moronic and you actually stick to them. It still won't be ideal most likely, but significantly better than what most people do when eating there.
 

Queen Michael

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Vivi22 said:
Imperioratorex Caprae said:
uses one-sided editing techniques to make a false narrative much like the guy from Super-Size Me did except y'know eating McD's isn't necessarily healthy for you which he was correct on, it just doesn't destroy your health as fast as he made it seem.
Not to mention it's been pretty well established that he lied about his dietary intake from McDonald's, did not stick to the rules he set out for himself in the beginning in an attempt to get the results he wanted, and has refused to make his food logs (if they exist) available to anyone last I checked.

Sure, eating McDonald's can be unhealthy, and will especially seem so if you lie about what you're eating and in what quantities, but you could also eat a pretty reasonably healthy diet and even lose weight while eating nothing but McDonald's as long as the guidelines you set out for your meals aren't completely moronic and you actually stick to them. It still won't be ideal most likely, but significantly better than what most people do when eating there.
Preach, friendo.

The most idiotic thing about that "documentary" is the way that he acts as if eating at McDonald's means you have to eat unhealthy levels. If he chooses to compose a daily menu that contains twice as many calories as is healthy, that doesn't mean that McDonald's is unhealthy. All food is bad for you if you eat more than what's recommended for your lifestyle and body type.

McDonald's has nutrition information, pal. If you choose to exceed the healthy levels of fat, sugar and so on, that's because you wanted to.
 

GabeZhul

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Starik20X6 said:
And while I'm talking about documentaries- what the fuck happened to the Discovery Channel and the History Channel? Last time I tried to learn something from the Discovery Channel I tuned in to find a "documentary" about a group of rednecks trying to hunt the Loch Ness Monster. It was just about the most aggressively unintellectual thing since the destruction of the Library of Alexandria. And at this point they may as well rename the History Channel to the Conspiracy Theory Network.
They became what they are because that's what sells. They didn't consciously decide to become a parody of themselves, they just put some experimental bullshit shows on their lineup to see the audience reaction, and the average viewer lapped up their ancient aliens and ninjas VS pirates and cryptid/ghost/alien/whatever-hunters like there was no tomorrow. After that point it just came down to hard economics: stick to decent documentaries with high production values and low returns or jump onto the bandwagon of the crazy-train and rake in the ratings and advertisement money?

If you want to blame anyone for the fall of documentary channels, blame the unwashed masses and their taste for quackery and insanity dressed up as science.

Now if you excuse me, I have to put on my monocle and loudly harrumph at the world for a while. Be right back.
 

baddude1337

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Jun 9, 2010
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This isn't a bad documentary, but Restrepo, it's a documentary following a US army batallion's deployment in Afghanistan. It's a good documentry, but there is a horrific part that shows a soldier break down when he see's his friends dead body. It's pretty horrific stuff to watch.

I also concur with someone who said Ghost Stories, pretty much any ghost footage stuff is complete bullshit. I find it hilarious when you can tell how obviously scripted it is. There is also a British one that can be funny at times as they always try to scare the crap out one of the women who present it.
 

Dizchu

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baddude1337 said:
This isn't a bad documentary, but Restrepo, it's a documentary following a US army batallion's deployment in Afghanistan. It's a good documentry, but there is a horrific part that shows a soldier break down when he see's his friends dead body. It's pretty horrific stuff to watch.
In terms of documentaries that aren't "bad" but are extremely hard to watch, I found Earthlings to be pretty traumatising. It's basically an hour and a half of slaughterhouse footage which can either be seen as excessive or a necessary portrayal of how animals are treated in battery farms. I haven't talked to many people about that film, but it's something I'd imagine would be polarising.

I would not recommend watching it. Not because it's bad, as I said. But because ignorance is bliss.
 

Elidibus

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Apr 15, 2011
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So, I did a quick glance through this thread and I'm shocked that no one mentioned one of the worst documentaries I've ever had the misfortune of seeing for a few minutes.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you: Adolf Hitler: The Greatest Story Never Told. https://archive.org/details/AdolfHitlerTheGreatestStoryNeverToldFull6HoursDocumentary

Now, not only does this BS stand firm in the Holocaust denial backroom of the Internet, but it goes much further than that. It turns out, Hitler LOVED the Jews and felt sorry for them. Camps like Treblinka and Auschwitz were fully furnished and included amenities such as swimming pools, theater halls and brothels. (And no, these were intended for the Jewish prisoners to use. There's already evidence that Auschwitz had a brothel for German Officers) And this "documentary" is six freakin' hours long. Ain't no one got time for that!

Being the armchair historian of World War II that I am, I decided to watch a little of it. It started with Hitler's divine survival at the hands of Henry Tandy during the First World War and it just gets worse from there. And one of the worst parts was that for the closing credits, they had the nerve...and audacity...to play a cover of Behind Blue Eyes, by The Who.

How DARE they ruin such an awesome song like that! Granted, the cover is pretty lousy, but it still doesn't make up for it.

Wanna see how awesome a guy like Hitler was and how the modern media totally made up all the stuff about him killing 20 million Jews, despite the fact that former SS officials have stepped forward and CONFIRMED that's exactly what happened? Give it a watch and laugh in the face of things like "historical proof" "eye-witness accounts" and "survivor testimony."
 

TakerFoxx

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Jan 27, 2011
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Elidibus said:
So, I did a quick glance through this thread and I'm shocked that no one mentioned one of the worst documentaries I've ever had the misfortune of seeing for a few minutes.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you: Adolf Hitler: The Greatest Story Never Told. https://archive.org/details/AdolfHitlerTheGreatestStoryNeverToldFull6HoursDocumentary

Now, not only does this BS stand firm in the Holocaust denial backroom of the Internet, but it goes much further than that. It turns out, Hitler LOVED the Jews and felt sorry for them. Camps like Treblinka and Auschwitz were fully furnished and included amenities such as swimming pools, theater halls and brothels. (And no, these were intended for the Jewish prisoners to use. There's already evidence that Auschwitz had a brothel for German Officers) And this "documentary" is six freakin' hours long. Ain't no one got time for that!

Being the armchair historian of World War II that I am, I decided to watch a little of it. It started with Hitler's divine survival at the hands of Henry Tandy during the First World War and it just gets worse from there. And one of the worst parts was that for the closing credits, they had the nerve...and audacity...to play a cover of Behind Blue Eyes, by The Who.

How DARE they ruin such an awesome song like that! Granted, the cover is pretty lousy, but it still doesn't make up for it.

Wanna see how awesome a guy like Hitler was and how the modern media totally made up all the stuff about him killing 20 million Jews, despite the fact that former SS officials have stepped forward and CONFIRMED that's exactly what happened? Give it a watch and laugh in the face of things like "historical proof" "eye-witness accounts" and "survivor testimony."
Man, just reading the comments was painful. Why oh why are there people who still think like that?
 

RaikuFA

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Jun 12, 2009
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Indie Game the Movie was pretty bad. 2/3 of it was just a bunch of hipsters whining and crying and 1/3 was Team Meat getting screwed over (which everyone knew by the time it was released).

There was one I saw as a kid where they were looking for a giant squid. Never found it.
 

flying_whimsy

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KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime said:
Everything and anything produced by Michael Moore is the worst documentary I've ever seen.
I've seen quite a few contenders in this thread, but I think Kyuubi has probably the best answer right here.

There aren't many people I would punch in the face upon meeting, but Michael Moore is definitely one of them. Granted, there are a lot of terrible documentaries out there that do nothing but spread misinformation and ignorance: I'm not a fan of the whole genre for that reason. I'm especially not a fan of stuff that's pretty blatant propaganda or exploitation (holocaust-denials and any TLC shows as respective examples).
 

Grumpy Ginger

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That's a tricky choice, my litmus test is the "how much I want to punch out the tv screen/ monitor" which was won by both zeitgeist and ancient aliens. I would give special mention to the first bad documentary I saw which I can't remember its name. It was a fox special when they were going to open a chamber in Giza live. While they were waiting they went on all kinds of bullshit the face of mars, martian pyramids, radioactive mummies and Orion belts vs the Giza pyramids bs.

Also any old documentary with a sword fight where the actors look like two little kids playing with sticks
 

Hero in a half shell

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Dec 30, 2009
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LeathermanKick25 said:
Hero in a half shell said:
Ross Kemp did one where he came to Northern Ireland to watch the parades on the 12th July, hung around the flashpoint areas so they'd be guaranteed to see a few drunken idiots acting like hooligans and generally spoke like he was reporting from the Vietnam War.

It was so hilariously 1 sided and just generally bollocks. You'd have thought the whole city was in riot from the way they described it, when you knew two or three streets away there were a bunch of kids eating ice creams watching the bands with their families and not a care in the world.
In Ross Kemps defence, the guy is pretty fuckin hardcore when it comes to getting into the shit for documentaries. More than once he's been in a position where he could of easily been killed. From Malayasian pirates to coked up murderers in drug dens in Detroit. Even the frontlines in Afghan. The man isn't afraid of getting in the down in dirty.
You're right, he has done some really good documentaries, - The one on Detroit gangs was really eye-opening, which kind of made it worse when I watched the Northern Ireland episode and he totally threw the country under a bus.

A similar thing happened when I was watching River Monsters. Normally it is really really sound stuff. Completely scientific and factual, with minimal beating around the bush, but they did a special on the Loch Ness Monster and...
-Well, to be fair the episode was probably the most down to earth documentary I've ever seen on the Loch Ness Monster, and they did stick to strictly scientific and historical stuff, but there was a constant drive to up the tension to unnatural levels that the other episodes didn't have, which attempted to keep the adrenaline flowing at all times, which really encroached on the genuine scientific bits.

There was a part where he went out on a small fishing boat into the Loch, threw his line over and said "I have no idea what I'll catch" Like he might snag the Little Mermaid or the Flying Dutchman or Aquaman or something. A freshwater lake in the British Isles with a river outlet to the sea has half a dozen common species that are pretty much certain to be in there, and another half a dozen slightly rarer. He's a veteran fisherman and he knew fine rightly exactly what was going to nibble on the end of that hook, but played it like the first eel he reeled in was the second coming of the messiah.

There was another bit where they act like a rare and strange species of shark (The Greenland Shark) was some sort of mystical phantom that no one knew anything about. It does have a few unusual traits, but zoologists are well aware of them, yet again they sort of played it as a crazy scientific mystery animal of myth.

The episode was still really good, it just would have been better if they'd spent less time creating useless tension.
 

dragoongfa

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Apr 21, 2009
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So, no one here pointed out the obvious one...

How about 'The Secret'?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0846789/

Just wish for something hard enough and the universe will bend over itself and make it happen; that's the law of attraction.