Hello, it’s me again with docuseries recommendations except this time, it’s not about murder and crime. Actually, let me rephrase that because all of these recommendations all involve death somehow and two of the topics discussed can be considered crimes. This set of documentary recommendations aren’t about murderers like The Night Stalker or Ted Bundy. Instead, two of the recommendations are about incidents of corruption in the space and air travel industries that resulted in mass casualties. Also unlike last time, only one of these documentary recommendations is a series. The other two are movie styled documentaries that are about an hour and a half long.
If you want to check out my list of 10 crime series, mostly all docuseries, feel free to check them out here!
Otherwise, grab yourself a cup of tea or something hot and get ready to add some shows and movies to your “To Watch” list.
DOWNFALL THE CASE AGAINST BOEING
Where to watch: Netflix
Episode count: 1h 29m documovie
This was such an eye opening and frustrating documentary. If you’re already scared or anxious of planes and air travel, I’d probably skip this one. This documentary is centered around the Boeing 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019 and the exploration of the business, engineering, and political faults that resulted in these fatal crashes. As a person of color living in America, this was so frustrating to watch as the the blame got pushed to the pilots because they weren’t trained in America. America turns its nose up when it compares itself to other countries and they didn’t hesitate to do it in this situation when the people who are truly responsible are people in America. There was one scene where this American politician, news reporter, or business man, don’t remember his position, stated that if the pilots who manned the 2018 flight that crashed received American pilot training, then the crash wouldn’t have occurred. The wife of one of the pilots went ahead to say that her husband did in fact complete his pilot training in America. That was the most satisfying part of the entire show.
THE CHALLENGER THE FINAL FLIGHT
Where to watch: Netflix
Episode count: 4
This is for sure one of my favorite docuseries. Growing up, I always have had a love for space. If you asked me as a kid what I wanted to be when I grow up, I would have said an astronaut. That remained my answer until I watched E.T and got terrified of aliens with glowing pointer fingers.
This docuseries follows the crew, family, and colleagues of the 1986 Challenge Space Shuttle crash. We learn about the creation of the Space Shuttle and how the candidates for the Space Shuttle flights were chosen. There’s so much raw, real time footage of the cast and crew from the day they joined the mission to their last. The way the docuseries was put together, with the real footage being used to build this chronological story, it’s as if we’re going on the journey with the crew themselves.
The docuseries has this amazing balance between the knowledge of the Challenger’s outcome and the excitement of the crew as they embark on this journey that’s mission is to extend humanity’s reach on the unknown. This push and pull feeling of excitement and dread or horror is backed with so much real footage of the crew, whether it be interviews of the cast, engineers, business men and women, politicians, and companies who were involved in this horrific crash or candid shots of the crew themselves. On one hand, we’re doing things we never though was possible. A major space agency is taking into account diversity and is selecting crew member and shuttle candidates who aren’t just white men. It was an era of hope and scientific discovery. But on the other hand, we have a mess that’s getting worse and worse.
There’s just a lot of emotion packed into this show, from both the victim’s families as well as from colleague members and employees who were trying to speak out against the atrocities being committed during the construction of the Challenger.
Just like the Boeing docuseries, this series clearly focused on corruption that would have and should have been prevented. There were interviews conducted with select few board members or other equivalent higher ups who spoke so callously that it was frustrating to say the least.
SECRETS OF THE SAQQARA TOMB
Where to watch: Netflix
Episode count: 1h 54m documovie
As a history lover, this was food to my soul. This docuseries follows a crew of Egyptian archeologists who uncovered a major dig site rich with tombs and artifacts dating back to ancient Egypt. When we think of archeological expeditions or missions, we unfortunately are taught about or marketed ones led by Westerners. This specific expedition is completely manned by an Egyptian crew who grew up in households where seasonal digging and exploration is a way of life. Seeing their passion and excitement as they uncover more and more clues regarding the big tomb they find is inspiring but also chilling. The concept of ancient Egypt is historic and so unbelievably distant from the year we live in now yet our knowledge of the happenings of ancient Egyptian life is tangible through modern science and archaeology. The idea that we’ve come so far from ancient Egypt in terms of centuries yet are so easily able to slip back into that way of thinking through tools that we’ve made and studied is mind blowing to me. If you’re a love of history and the significance and power of history, I highly recommend this one.