What Documentary Movies to watch on Tubi
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Dog Day Afternoon
Based upon a real-life incident that occurred in August 1972 in which a Chase Manhattan Bank branch in Gravesend, Brooklyn, New York, was held siege by Sonny, a Vietnam veteran turned bank robber determined to steal enough money ($2500) for his wife (Leon, a transvestite; the two were, according to an onscreen TV news report, married in a church by a priest who was defrocked shortly afterwards, although Leon tells the police that Sal is "married and has children") to undergo a sex change operation. The real-life character upon whom Leon is based did, in fact, get the operation. On a hot summer afternoon, Sonny and two cohorts, Stevie and Sal, go to rob the (fictional) First Savings Bank of Brooklyn. Stevie soon gets nervous and flees. Although the bank manager and female tellers agree not to interfere with the robbery, Sonny finds there is not much to steal, as most of the cash has been picked up for the day. Sonny then gets an unexpected phone call from Captain Moretti of the NYPD, who tells him the place is surrounded by the city's entire police force. Having few options under the circumstances, Sonny nervously bargains with Moretti, demanding safe escort to the airport and a plane out of the country in return for the bank employee hostages.

- Metascore86
- 1975

- Metascore66
- 2010
X-Rated
- 2009
Kingdom of Heaven
Ridley Scott's extended cut of the epic adventure of a common man who finds himself thrust into a decades-long war. Balian of Ibelin travels to Jerusalem during the crusades of the 12th century, and there he finds himself as the defender of the city and its people.

- Metascore63
- 2005
Philomena
When former journalist Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) is dismissed from the Labour Party in disgrace, he is at a loss as to what do. That changes when a young Irish woman approaches him about a story of her mother, Philomena Lee (Dame Judi Dench), who had her son taken away when she was a teenage inmate of a Catholic convent. Martin arranges a magazine assignment about her search for him that eventually leads to America. Along the way, Martin and Philomena discover as much about each other as about her son's fate. Furthermore, both find their basic beliefs challenged.

- Metascore77
- 2013
The Aviator
Biopic of billionaire Howard Hughes, starting with his early filmmaking years as owner of R.K.O. Pictures, but mostly focusing on his role in designing and promoting new aircraft. Hughes was a risk-taker spending several fortunes on designing experimental aircraft and eventually founding TWA as a rival to Pan Am airlines owned by his great rival Juan Trippe. When Trippe's politico Senator Ralph Owen Brewster accuses Hughes of being a war profiteer, it's Hughes who gains the upper hand. Hughes also had many women in his life including a long relationship with Katharine Hepburn. From an early age, however, Hughes was also germophobic and would have severe bouts of mental illness.

- Metascore77
- 2004
Midway
MIDWAY centers on the Battle of Midway, a clash between the American fleet and the Imperial Japanese Navy which marked a pivotal turning point in the Pacific Theater during WWII. The film, based on the real-life events of this heroic feat, tells the story of the leaders and soldiers who used their instincts, fortitude and bravery to overcome the odds.

- Metascore47
- 2019
Walk the Line
A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.

- Metascore72
- 2005
Best Kept Secret
In “Best Kept Secret,” a Newark, NJ teacher struggles to prepare her students with autism to survive in the brutal world that awaits them once they graduate.

- Metascore100
- 2013
1944
In "1944" Director Elmo Nüganen portrays the real events on the Eastern Front in Estonia in 1944, from the Battle Of Tannenburg Line, the July fighting on the Sinimäed Hills, until November, when the Sõrve peninsula was already conquered by the Soviet Army. The war is shown through the eyes of participants in the events on both warring sides - the Estonians who fought on the side of the German Army in the 20th Estonian division Waffen-SS, and as part of the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps of the Soviet Army, both sides forcibly conscripted. For residents of Estonia it was a war in which everyone makes their own choices. It is with such hard choices facing the main characters of the film - the soldiers of the opposing sides Karl Tammik and Jüri Jõgi - as well as their comrades, relatives, friends and even strangers.

- 2015
Black Hawk Down
Based on the true story of a war waged in Mogadishu by the high tech Black Hawk helicopters and the US Army Rangers and Deltas.

- Metascore74
- 2001
Breakthrough
When he was 14, Smith drowned in Lake Saint Louis and was dead for nearly an hour. According to reports at the time, CPR was performed 27 minutes to no avail. Then the youth's mother, Joyce Smith, entered the room, praying loudly. Suddenly, there was a pulse.

- Metascore46
- 2019
Anthropoid
Based on the extraordinary true story of Operation Anthropoid, the WWII mission to assassinate SS General Reinhard Heydrich, the main architect behind the Final Solution and the Reich's third in command after Hitler and Himmler.

- Metascore59
- 2016
Rob Roy
Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange battle evil landowners among the breathtaking landscapes of the majestic Scottish Highlands in this riveting adventure of courage, love and uncompromising honor.

- Metascore55
- 1995
Escape from Sobibor
An all-star cast with Alan Arkin, Rutger Hauer and Joanna Pacula in a feature-length movie about one of the few stories of triumph to have emerged from the holocaust of World War II.

- 1987
Seabiscuit
It's the Depression, and everyone needs to hold onto a dream to get them through the bad times. Car maker Charles Howard is no different, he who is trying to rebuild his life after the tragic death of his only child and the resulting end of his first marriage. With second wife Marcela at his side, Charles wants to get into horse racing and ends up with a team of underdogs who are also chasing their own dream. The first is trainer Tom Smith, who has a natural instinct to spot the capabilities of horses. The second is the horse Tom chooses for Charles, Seabiscuit, an unconventional choice as despite his pedigreed lineage, Seabiscuit is small at fifteen and a half hands tall with a slight limp. But Tom can see something in Seabiscuit's nature to make him a winner, if only Seabiscuit can be retrained from his inbred losing ways. And third is the jockey they decide to hire, Johnny "Red" Pollard, so nicknamed because of his hair color. Like Tom, Red has always shown a natural way with horses, but a difficult upbringing due solely to the Depression has made Red an angry young man, which has gotten him into trouble both on and off the track. And he is large for a jockey, and thus he always feels the need to battle the weight issue. Another common trait between Tom, Seabiscuit and Red is that they have been called crazy by those in traditional horse racing circles. Against the odds, Seabiscuit, with his human team behind him, does show his winning abilities and captures the imagination of all those others wanting to believe in a dream. But Seabiscuit's victories are at smaller races. As such, Charles aims high and wants Seabiscuit to race Triple Crown winner War Admiral, who by all accounts is a winner and should be a winner. If given the chance to race against War Admiral (whose owner doesn't want to race as he feels he has nothing to prove), will Seabiscuit and his team continue to keep the dreams of the common Americans alive? Through the good and the bad, especially as Red and Seabiscuit face mirroring problems, they all have to decide what is in their collective best interest.

- Metascore72
- 2003
Selma
The unforgettable true story chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965 when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. Director Ava DuVernay's "Selma" tells the story of how the revered leader and visionary Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and his brothers and sisters in the movement prompted change that forever altered history.

- Metascore79
- 2014
The Fifteen Streets
In northern England around 1900, the worker John O'Brien lives near poverty in a small house in the worker's district. He falls in love with Mary, the teacher of his highly intelligent younger sister Kathy and daughter of a rich family. Their love is doomed by the social difference, but the vigorous Mary refuses to allow outer circumstances destroying their love.

- 1989
The Burning Bed
A battered wife sets her husband on fire one night after living with his beatings and humiliations for years.

- 1984
Julie & Julia
Julia Child and Julie Powell - both of whom wrote memoirs - find their lives intertwined. Though separated by time and space, both women are at loose ends... until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible.

- Metascore66
- 2009
The Founder
The story of Ray Kroc, a salesman who turned two brothers' innovative fast food eatery, McDonald's, into the biggest restaurant business in the world, with a combination of ambition, persistence, and ruthlessness.

- Metascore66
- 2016
The Heroes of Telemark
It is 1942 and Norway is under the thumb of the Nazis. In a Norwegian factory, Nazis are producing "heavy water," an essential element in the production of atomic weapons. The leader of the Norwegianunderground is enlisted by British intelligence to aid in destroying the factory.

- 1965
The Woman King
The Woman King is the remarkable story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen. Inspired by true events, The Woman King follows the emotionally epic journey of General Nanisca (Oscar®-winner Viola Davis) as she trains the next generation of recruits and readies them for battle against an enemy determined to destroy their way of life. Some things are worth fighting for.

- Metascore76
- 2022
The Alamo
John Wayne and Richard Widmark star in this historical film spectacular about the attack by Mexican troops on the Alamo.

- 1960