The 100+ Best G-Rated Documentary Movies

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Updated August 30, 2023 506 votes 58 voters
Over 50 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The 100+ Best G-Rated Documentary Movies
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List of G-Rated documentaries, ranked from best to worst with movie trailers when available. This list takes the best G-Rated documentaries and pits them against each other to see once and for all what the greatest G-Rated Documentary movie of all time is. This list of popular G-Rated documentaries includes information like who directed the film, when it was released and which actors starred in the movie. If you think the top G-Rated Documentary movie isn't as high as it should be then be sure to vote it up so it can take its rightful place among the other great G-Rated Documentary films on this list. If you're trying to find a specific G-Rated Documentary film you can search this list and filter to find what you're looking for.

List ranges from March of the Penguins to Cave of Forgotten Dreams and more.

If you're trying to find out "What are the best G-Rated documentaries?" and "What are the most famous G-Rated documentaries?" then this list is the perfect resource for you.

Use this list if you're looking for some new documentaries that are rated G. Between Netflix, Hulu and other services there are thousands of great documentaries rated G, so get out there and start watching.

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Orson Welles and James Cameron have both directed a Documentary G film, as have other really creative and talented directors.

Ranked by
  • Buena Vista Social Club
    1

    Buena Vista Social Club

    Eliades Ochoa, Ry Cooder, Joachim Cooder
    12 votes
    • Released: 1999
    • Directed by: Wim Wenders
    This documentary by lauded German filmmaker Wim Wenders follows renowned guitarist Ry Cooder and his son, Joachim, as they travel to Cuba and assemble a group of the country's finest musicians to record an album. Among the artists included in the project are singer Ibrahim Ferrer and pianist Rubén González, who are both interviewed and featured in studio footage. Eventually the ensemble travels to the United States to perform in front of rapt audiences.

    Available On:

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  • March of the Penguins
    2

    March of the Penguins

    Romane Bohringer, Charles Berling, Jules Sitruk
    19 votes
    • Released: 2005
    • Directed by: Luc Jacquet
    March of the Penguins is a 2005 French nature documentary film directed and co-written by Luc Jacquet, and co-produced by Bonne Pioche and the National Geographic Society. The documentary depicts the yearly journey of the emperor penguins of Antarctica. In autumn, all the penguins of breeding age leave the ocean, their normal habitat, to walk inland to their ancestral breeding grounds. There, the penguins participate in a courtship that, if successful, results in the hatching of a chick. For the chick to survive, both parents must make multiple arduous journeys between the ocean and the breeding grounds over the ensuing months. It took one year for the two isolated cinematographers Laurent Chalet and Jérôme Maison to shoot the documentary, which was shot around the French scientific base of Dumont d'Urville in Adélie Land. The documentary won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

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  • Cave of Forgotten Dreams
    3

    Cave of Forgotten Dreams

    Charles Fathy
    12 votes
    • Released: 2010
    • Directed by: Werner Herzog
    In this documentary, filmmaker Werner Herzog and a small crew are given a rare chance to film inside France's Chauvet Cave, where the walls are covered with the world's oldest surviving paintings. To preserve the art, people are allowed to enter the site for only two weeks a year. Examining the 30,000-year-old drawings, Herzog discusses how the artwork represents humanity's earliest dreams with scientists and art scholars conducting research at Chauvet.

    Available On:

    free

  • White Wilderness
    4

    White Wilderness

    Winston Hibler
    9 votes
    • Released: 1958
    • Directed by: James Algar
    White Wilderness is an American nature documentary produced by Walt Disney Productions in 1958 noted for its propagation of the misconception of lemming suicide. The film was directed by James Algar and narrated by Winston Hibler. It was filmed on location in Canada over the course of three years. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

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  • A Brief History of Time
    5
    In part an adaptation of cosmologist Stephen Hawking's popular book about his theories of the universe, this documentary also shows Hawking's daily life as he deals with the ALS that renders him virtually immobile and unable to speak without the use of computer. Hawking's friends, family, former classmates and peers are interviewed about not only his theories but the man himself. Director Errol Morris uses creative graphics to visually illustrate Hawking's complex ideas.

    Available On:

    subscription

  • Let It Be
    6

    Let It Be

    The Beatles
    8 votes
    • Released: 1970
    • Directed by: Michael Lindsay-Hogg
    Initially slated to be a television documentary about the Beatles in the studio, this film, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, instead captures the writing and recording of their penultimate album, "Let It Be." After the dense complexity of "The White Album," Paul McCartney wants to return to basics with the next offering. However, tensions within the band are high and quickly become frayed in the studio. The film ends with a rooftop concert in London, the last live show from the group.