Must-See Documentaries

[Protocawl 2,971]

Most of the documentaries I'll be posting here are ones I feel basically every human being in the present day and age should see (especially the first one: HUMAN).

If you were to ever only watch a handful of documentaries, then (some of) these should probably be on that list (will be adding more in the near future). If you were to ever only watch one documentary (series), it should definitely be "HUMAN".

If you haven't seen any of these documentaries, then I highly recommend watching them.

Some of these documentary films will be entirely available to watch here, others will have to be found elsewhere.

Feel free to post any other documentaries that you think would fall into the "must-see" category as well!

 

 

HUMAN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUWrdnbOEOQ&list=PLEgA6bEeal3yh19xRhfVt5q5xBohcPYz7

[turn on the Closed Captions (CC) at the bottom right of the videos where possible to see where everything was filmed and who are talking]

+ more here: https://www.youtube.com/user/HUMANthemovie2015/videos

 

 

All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception and the Spirit of I.F.Stone

 

 

Third World Billionaires (Superrig i slummen)

https://www.drsales.dk/programmes/billionaires-third-world/

 

 

The Green Lie (Die grüne Lüge)

https://youtu.be/Kon48ssPfCU

 

 

8 Days: To the Moon and Back

https://www.pbs.org/video/8-days-to-the-moon-and-back-bnqvna/

 

 

Ozone Hole: How We Saved The Planet

https://www.pbs.org/video/ozone-hole-how-we-saved-the-planet-ttwe2l/

 

 

Active Measures

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHU4XuXLQpE

 

 

+ more coming soon...

 

 

 

 

 

(I'm not 100% sure if this thread is in the right place in the "Arts and Entertainment" sub-forum, so if anyone feels like it might not be, let me know.)

[LimeGreenLegend 4,295]

The greatest documentary ever made (in mine, and many other people’s opinion) is the 9 hour holocaust film Shoah by Claude Lanzmann.

If you want something a bit more light hearted and a lot shorter, then you can’t go wrong with Anvil: The Story of Anvil.

 

[Burgermauger 262]

Ever wondered what really happened to Kurt Cobain ??

[Con 5,719]

Black Tar Heroin: The Dark End of the Street (2000)

I found this Soul-wrenching and heartbreaking and tremendously obscene and hard-hitting as a documentary could be about the pitfalls of heroin use. The toughest part was listening to stuff like---- [“I tell them that I don’t do anything anal,” says Oreo, 19, who hustles men but goes home to an emotionally needy junkie girlfriend. “I have too much of conscience to rob innocent people,” says Jack, 21, who says “pulling a date” is the only thing he’s good at.] But worse was addicts that got hooked because they tried heroin because they were "BORED"!!! What the fuck!!!! 

-----------------------------

Awesome doc about the original ladies of wrestling. The show was around just as I was hitting puberty, thats all you need to know why I tuned in every weekend. You can read my original review above. 

-----------------

This is a new doc and if you 'love' water and love to get lost in its motion and power, you have to watch this. Its cathartic, relaxing, and also thrilling. I wrote a short review in the Rate The Last Film... thread as I loved every minute of this narration free doc. Watch it cause the film crew risked their lives to get us the footage. 

---------

I'm not the biggest music guy but did watch this and was amazed at how ridiculously obsolete you can be in one place and yet be a king in another. This is a tremendous documentary about a humble and mysterious artist that should have become an American Treasure. 

--------------

Didn't know what to expect when I watched this but must say I recommend it to people with open minds. No its not a recruiting tool from Satan or anything silly like that, its a doc that exemplifies the hypocrisy of religious based legislation and how beautiful it is to live in a country where all religions are expected to be respected and tolerated. If you are an atheists, this is a must watch, IMO, cause its just fun. 

 

......more to come later. I am a documentary fiend!!

Edited December 23, 2019 by Con

[Con 5,719]

The new GTA Arcades reminded me of this one. I saw it the year it was released and now it takes on a whole new meaning since we know Billy was a cheater the whole time. So if you were around during the arcades or are too young to remember them, watch this documentary to get a feel as to how huge the video game scene really was.

-----------

Don't think I need to add anything else here. This is probably my all-time favorite documentary. 

-------------

Another superb documentary that digs deep into the Alien origin. 

--------------

Simply amazing documentary about He-Man and the Masters of the Universe universe. Another must watch if you are still a fan or just remember the cartoon and toys because you will learn EVERYTHING from how the toys were created before they even had a character developed, how Conan the Barbarian inspired and influenced the creation and how She-Ra got her spin-off show and why it failed and how it became the beginning of the end. 

Edited October 6, 2020 by Con

[Con 5,719]

Tremendous documentary about the life of a soccer star who honestly became a Legend, Savoir, God, Villain, and Drug addict all in one lifetime. Now at the time of his peak stardom, I was not watching or following the sport at all, I do remember seeing Argentina and him winning world cups but I didn't know about his career with Napoli, the Italian League soccer team. That facet is amazing and just that alone is worth the watch. But there is so much more to see with the tons of never before seen footage utilized to craft this fantastic documentary. As someone who had no opinion of the man, I was enthralled by what he did for Naples through the sport. It's nothing short of amazing. What a life...a living legend despite his human failings.

[Con 5,719]

Although some of the effects are outdated, it is still one of my top 10 films of all time because of story and resolution. Watching this as a young boy really traumatized me and not so much cause of the zombies but the resolution, even at that young age, I understood how scary real life could be. The Return of the Living Dead...the first film to truly put the fear of zombies in my head and I appreciate it for that after all these years. 

Edited February 26, 2021 by Con

[Sinister 2,583]

I recommend watching Impact After the Crash. 

It is about the Carrollton Bus Crash that happened on May 14th 1988 near Carrolton, KY. It is still the worst DUI accident to ever happen in the USA. Of the 67 passengers, 27 died and 34 were wounded. Many DUI laws and school bus safety standards exist because of this night.

The movie/accident is rough for me  because the bus left my home county filled with children from my school system. Some of them still live in my hometown back in KY and my wife is friends with one of them as well. She forgives the man responsible but I think he should have been sent to prison for life.

The son of one of the adult victims later lost his life due to a drunk driver.

Edited October 6, 2020 by Con

[Con 5,719]

If you love Galaxy Quest, you are in for a treat. 

 

 

 

 

[omarcomin71 3,900]

Uppity: The Willy T. Ribbs Story. 
Great doc on Netflix about the first African American to attempt to race the Indy 500.  It’s all about his struggles to reach his Ultimate goal. Great f*cking watch!  Plays out like a movie and keeps you riveted. If you have any interest in racing it’s a must watch.  However I can all but guarantee it’ll be enjoyable even if you have zero interest in the sport. 
Plus it’ll get ya motivated to race the F1 cars in GTA. 🙂 

https://youtu.be/XKwfDjfO9Pw

Edited March 3, 2020 by omarcomin71

[Lann 10,846]

Short but worth watching

 

[pete_95973 4,386]

6 hours ago, Lann said:

Short but worth watching

 

Fantastic 

[Con 5,719]

My Octopus Teacher (2020) 

I think anyone with an interest in marine biology will appreciate this. Anyone that appreciates the Octopus species will love this and i'm not talking if you like octopus for lunch. If you want to watch videos of humans eating octopus, there are plenty of those already. This is a must watch documentary because it really wasn't set out to be originally and things just happened. This has some tense moments that truly rivaled some of my fave horror films.  All I can say is I found it extraordinary and riveting. If you are familiar with octopus behavior and cognition, not a lot will surprise you but if you know very little about Octopus, say just that they have eight arms and are intelligent, then prepare to be even more amazed by these animals. I cannot recommend this more. 

 

[Con 5,719]

Fantastic Fungi (2019) 

Amazing documentary about the world of Fungi and the mycellium that recycles everything that dies on the planet to create more life!!!! The images and time lapse moments are worth the viewing alone but you learn so much that you didnt realize you should care about...yourself being #1. 

 

[Con 5,719]

Totally Under Control (2020)...5/5...Blistering documentary that details exactly why America failed to contain the Covid-19 virus through interviews from people that were there not just since January 2020 but experience with past outbreaks. We had intelligent minds on the sidelines reaching out in vain, like having the star players on the bench but the players on the field sell more jerseys. Yes, this administration fumbled the response but I already knew that, what I got out of this was that I hope we LEARN from this because novel viruses are not going to stop existing.  Why should you watch it? As an American you agree with this quote...."We need to take Healthcare Security as serious as Military Security." Please, Teach Science not Reality Television to your children, my life may depend on it. Thanks.

 

Edited October 18, 2020 by Con

[Con 5,719]

On 12/27/2019 at 11:18 PM, Con said:

Tremendous documentary about the life of a soccer star who honestly became a Legend, Savoir, God, Villain, and Drug addict all in one lifetime. Now at the time of his peak stardom, I was not watching or following the sport at all, I do remember seeing Argentina and him winning world cups but I didn't know about his career with Napoli, the Italian League soccer team. That facet is amazing and just that alone is worth the watch. But there is so much more to see with the tons of never before seen footage utilized to craft this fantastic documentary. As someone who had no opinion of the man, I was enthralled by what he did for Naples through the sport. It's nothing short of amazing. What a life...a living legend despite his human failings.

R.I.P. Diego 

[Con 5,719]

Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer (2021) ...5/5...

Netflix Series

In 1997, I was looking for a way to stay out of trouble. During a job search, I walked into the library and borrowed the movie American Psycho, I watched it and became intrigued with the psychology of Patrick Bateman and the psychology of a society that would be oblivious to his crimes. The next time I hit the library I decided to search for the subject: Serial Killers. I can recall thinking, "Damn there are a lot of them, and some even have multiple books written about them." Guys like Bundy, Dahmer, and Gacy seemed very popular, so I began reading about those popular guys first. All the true crime non-fiction books were fascinating and horrific but there were a few that stood out. Some books were better than others and I could tell which author was only interested in creeping out the reader with shock value and which books were written by authors that made full efforts to balance the horrific with the reality by interviewing victims, law enforcement, and survivors. Authors that shared the same morbid curiosities as me and yet still wanted to respect the victims. The books that were written by authors that had access to the killers and investigators on those cases just stood out because they were so much darker and personal. The details would run shivers down my spine. I was instantly hooked. A bit ashamed of my new found hobby, I began looking forward to reading about these killers, they intrigued me, their crimes and tactics scared me, their investigators and captors inspired me. I would soon be leaving Gacy, Dahmer, and Gein behind and begin to discover names like Andrei Chikatilo, Edmund Kemper, Joachim Kroll, and Gary Ridgeway. I would then come across a book titled "The Hillside Stranglers" by Darcy O'Brien, a true crime book that chronicled the crimes and capture of two cousins that terrorized women and it was the first time a true crime book had my stomach in knots. The accounts of what those two cousins forced girls to do was just disgusting because they were just doing things to top the each other. It was the first time that I had read about s*x crimes so disturbing and detailed and that book was the first one in the genre to ever get me to take a few days break before going back to it. The details were just so graphic and what made it worse was that the killers would pose the nude bodies for the public to find. Sick motherf*ckers. The investigator in charge of solving the Hillside Strangler was a detective named Frank Salerno. His unrelenting desire to find the killer(s) made him legendary. He would solve the murders and become a celebrity in the law enforcement community and considered the best homicide detective in the country. Fast forward ahead five years and Det. Frank Salerno was once again about to be thrust into another high profile serial killer manhunt for the man that came to be known as The Night Stalker, but this time he had recruited a young motivated police officer to assist him and they both would take on the challenge of their lives. 

This Netflix docu-series is the closest thing to the book written by Philip Carlo that I have ever come across. There have been a few B-movies about The Night Stalker but I have never bothered to find and watch them, I guess I have never really needed the movie reenactments since the crime scenes are already vividly embedded in my head from when I spent time with the book and I appreciated that the documentary mentions that Philip Carlo was the only person Richard Ramirez granted an interview to after his conviction, confirming what I already knew, that the book was the closest thing I would find to being there with Richard hunting, revealing how he would choose his victim and with the detectives investigating and closing in on his identity. I tried watching the doc while blocking everything I already knew about the cases and while it had been a while since I had read the book, much of it has stayed with me and seeing the victim names flash on screen really brought me back to those pages, after twenty-four years those lives are still with me.  This true crime series stands out because it doesn't rush to introduce you to, or shove Richard Ramirez in your face, you are made to wait and that builds a suspense that unfortunately, I didn't fully get to experience the way people new to this crime spree and killer will, and that makes me jealous. While most serial killer documentaries start by focusing on the killer, here we focus on the detective's back stories, Frank Salerno and Gil Carrillo. In the book, we learn about them too, but Philip Carlo knew what people that would buy his book really wanted...to read about Richard and hear from his words how he was able to hurt and kill so many people, so the book only lightly touches on the detectives lives and focuses on Richard's backstory and childhood. But like the book, this documentary does not use his horrible childhood as an excuse for his actions. It is presented as just facts and nothing more. There is no reflecting over it, it is just, these are some of the things Richard saw as a child and things he experienced. No value either way is given, it was obligatory, as we all were once just innocent children and that is all it really points out.  

Visually the series is shot beautifully, highlights being the disorienting shots that would dissolve into eerie bird's-eye views of reenacted scenes of the Night Stalker driving around looking for his next target. The book does have bone-chilling descriptions of the crime scenes and a few black and white photos of rooms that were ransacked but nothing graphic or bloody. But in this docu-series, we get plenty of them and they are as terrible as I imagined them from the book. They are chilling and is why people not interested in true crime have no business diving into this material as you can read reviews where people are angry about the nature of the graphic photos being shown. "They are unnecessary and did not need to be shown.", but I disagree. Had Mr. and Mrs. Kneiding seen photos of previous serial killer crime scenes or recent Night Stalker crime scene photos, perhaps they would have listened and locked their doors and windows after they were warned that a killer was  in their area, instead they told their daughter they refused to "live in fear" or "have their freedom taken away" ...a few days later, they would end up being killed and mutilated by the Night Stalker, leaving the daughter wishing she had insisted they take the threat more seriously. It was too late.  

One thing I don't remember in the book is the child abductions. I was surprised to hear of them to be honest. I went back to the book to see where I missed any mention of it. I knew about some of the horrible things he did during some of the break-ins but those weren't abductions. You know, I always felt that the Richard's female groupies were sick in the f'n head but after learning of these child abductions by Richard, I can confirm that those women are some of the lowest form of human life on the planet. I think once a person harms children, their appeal should plummet, I don't care if that person is your f'n soulmate. I was shocked when one of the child victims, now 41-years old, shares her abduction experience as she even recalls the day she picked Richard out of the suspect lineup.  So to all you monsters that sent Richard love letters, I hope you are all rotting on Earth. Anyhow, the reason the child abductions did not make it into the book was because the child abduction cases were dropped since pursuing them would mean putting the murder trials on pause and going through the child abductions which would take twice as long as the murder charges since all manner of child experts would be needed to be contacted to testify, prolonging the process and then once that was over, the murder trials would begin. The prosecution hated having to drop the child assault and kidnapping charges but it was really the best thing to do since they were positive that Richard Ramirez would never walk outside as a free man ever again with all the evidence they had proving that he was the Night Stalker. 

      Now what the book included that the documentary does a real poor job at conveying was Richard's insatiable appetite for COCAINE. Yeah I said it loud cause in the book his father tried to blame it on his cannabis use but Richard himself admits that his addiction to cocaine is what led him to a life of burglary and burglary is where all this really started. His cocaine withdraws were so intense that he didn't care whose house he was breaking in to, he just needed to grab something of value to sell at the pawn shop or to the local fence. In the book, a combination of booze and cocaine fueled Satan worshipping is what led to the creation of the Night Stalker. When Richard began breaking into homes to steal valuables, he would do it sober. He wanted all his senses in case there was a dog or a husband with a bat on the other side of the windows or doors. But once his cocaine habit became uncontrollable, Richard was now using cocaine as his steroid and Satan as his guide. The bigger his cocaine habit grew, the more gruesome his crimes became and I was very displeased that the documentary failed to highlight that very important point regarding his drug abuse. 

If you've gotten this far in this review and find yourself saying..."Oh great, make a doc about a serial killer so he can sit in prison and love the attention, languish in his sudden re-popularity. Who are we???!!" Do not worry, your Karen-self.....Richard Ramirez rotted and died in prison in 2013, I always felt he should have been murdered by other inmates but cancer took him out at 53 years-old. 

 Please don't watch this if you do not like true crime. These documentaries are made for people like myself. People that can dive into the darkest subject matter and come back up shiny and sometimes even a better human being. These are serious crimes and brutal executions they discuss, so do not confuse this with documentaries like "American Murder: The Family Next Door" and while that is also a horrendous story and haunting murder, what Chris Watts did was nothing compared to what Richard Ramirez did time and time again to people. The Night Stalker investigation fascinated me because of how unprecedented the criminal profile these detectives were dealing with had morphed into, as the killer did not stick to a particular pattern of killing or specific choice of victims and that made him tough to catch and thankfully, The Night Stalker began to get sloppy and that spelled the end of his terror. When you come across these serial killer tales, you have two choices, you either go back into the world scared and paranoid or you can do what I do, which is feel empowered, feel smarter about being aware of my surroundings and never taking anything or anyone I love for granted when it comes to their safety. The Night Stalker book shook me to the core all those years ago and I hope if you are brave enough to watch this docu-series, that it shakes you to the core and makes you more conscientious of locking your doors and windows or having some type of security available. 

Edited January 26, 2021 by Con

[Schumi6581 839]

10 hours ago, Con said:

Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer (2021) ...5/5...

Netflix Series

In 1997, I was looking for a way to stay out of trouble. During a job search, I walked into the library and borrowed the movie American Psycho, I watched it and became intrigued with the psychology of Patrick Bateman and the psychology of a society that would be oblivious to his crimes. The next time I hit the library I decided to search for the subject: Serial Killers. I can recall thinking, "Damn there are a lot of them, and some even have multiple books by written about them." Guys like Bundy, Dahmer, and Gacy seemed very popular, so I began reading about those popular guys first. All the true crime non-fiction books were fascinating and horrific but there were a few that stood out. Some books were better than others and I could tell which author was only interested in creeping out the reader with shock value and which books were written by authors that made full efforts to balance the horrific with the reality by interviewing victims, law enforcement, and survivors. Authors that shared the same morbid curiosities as me and yet still wanted to respect the victims. The books that were written by authors that had access to the killers and investigators on those cases just stood out because they were so much darker and personal. The details would run shivers down my spine. I was instantly hooked. A bit ashamed of my new found hobby, I began looking forward to reading about these killers, they intrigued me, their crimes and tactics scared me, their investigators and captors inspired me. I would soon be leaving Gacy, Dahmer, and Gein behind and begin to discover names like Andrei Chikatilo, Edmund Kemper, Joachim Kroll, and Gary Ridgeway. I would then come across a book titled "The Hillside Stranglers" by Darcy O'Brien, a true crime book that chronicled the crimes and capture of two cousins that terrorized women and it was the first time a true crime book had my stomach in knots. The accounts of what those two cousins forced girls to do was just disgusting because they were just doing things to top the each other. It was the first time that I had read about s*x crimes so disturbing and detailed and that book was the first one in the genre to ever get me to take a few days break before going back to it. The details were just so graphic and what made it worse was that the killers would pose the nude bodies for the public to find. Sick motherf*ckers. The investigator in charge of solving the Hillside Strangler was a detective named Frank Salerno. His unrelenting desire to find the killer(s) made him legendary. He would solve the murders and become a celebrity in the law enforcement community and considered the best homicide detective in the country. Fast forward ahead five years and Det. Frank Salerno was once again about to be thrust into another high profile serial killer manhunt for the man that came to be known as The Night Stalker, but this time he had recruited a young motivated police officer to assist him and they both would take on the challenge of their lives. 

This Netflix docu-series is the closest thing to the book written by Philip Carlo that I have ever come across. There have been a few B-movies about The Night Stalker but I have never bothered to find and watch them, I guess I have never really needed the movie reenactments since the crime scenes are already vividly embedded in my head from when I spent time with the book and I appreciated that the documentary mentions that Philip Carlo was the only person Richard Ramirez granted an interview to after his conviction, confirming what I already knew, that the book was the closest thing I would find to being there with Richard hunting, revealing how he would choose his victim and with the detectives investigating and closing in on his identity. I tried watching the doc while blocking everything I already knew about the cases and while it had been a while since I had read the book, much of it has stayed with me and seeing the victim names flash on screen really brought me back to those pages, after twenty-four years those lives are still with me.  This true crime series stands out because it doesn't rush to introduce you to, or shove Richard Ramirez in your face, you are made to wait and that builds a suspense that unfortunately, I didn't fully get to experience the way people new to this crime spree and killer will, and that makes me jealous. While most serial killer documentaries start by focusing on the killer, here we focus on the detective's back stories, Frank Salerno and Gil Carrillo. In the book, we learn about them too, but Philip Carlo knew what people that would buy his book really wanted...to read about Richard and hear from his words how he was able to hurt and kill so many people, so the book only lightly touches on the detectives lives and focuses more on Richard's childhood. But like the book, this documentary does not use his horrible childhood as an excuse for his actions. It is presented as just facts and nothing more. There is no reflecting over it, it is just, these are some of the things Richard saw as a child and things he experienced. No value either way is given, it was obligatory, as we all were once just innocent children and that is all it really points out.  

Visually the series is shot beautifully, highlights being the disorienting shots that would dissolve into eerie bird's-eye views of reenacted scenes of the Night Stalker driving around looking for his next target. The book does have bone-chilling descriptions of the crime scenes and a few black and white photos of rooms that were ransacked but nothing graphic or bloody. But in this docu-series, we get plenty of them and they are as terrible as I imagined them from the book. They are chilling and is why people not interested in true crime have no business diving into this material as you can read reviews where people are angry about the nature of the graphic photos being shown. "They are unnecessary and did not need to be shown.", but I disagree. Had Mr. and Mrs. Kneiding seen photos of previous serial killer crime scenes or recent Night Stalker crime scene photos, perhaps they would have listened and locked their doors and windows after they were warned that a killer was  in their area, instead they told their daughter they refused to "live in fear" or "have their freedom taken away" ...a few days later, they would end up being killed and mutilated by the Night Stalker, leaving the daughter wishing she had insisted they take the threat more seriously. It was too late.  

One thing I don't remember in the book is the child abductions. I was surprised to hear of them to be honest. I went back to the book to see where I missed any mention of it. I knew about some of the horrible things he did during some of the break-ins but those weren't abductions. You know, I always felt that the Richard's female groupies were sick in the f'n head but after learning of these child abductions by Richard, I can confirm that those women are some of the lowest form of human life on the planet. I think once a person harms children, their appeal should plummet, I don't care if that person is your f'n soulmate. I was shocked when one of the child victims, now 41-years old, shares her abduction experience as she even recalls the day she picked Richard out of the suspect lineup.  So to all you monsters that sent Richard love letters, I hope you are all rotting on Earth. Anyhow, the reason the child abductions did not make it into the book was because the child abduction cases were dropped since pursuing them would mean putting the murder trials on pause and going through the child abductions which would take twice as long as the murder charges since all manner of child experts would be needed to be contacted to testify, prolonging the process and then once that was over, the murder trials would begin. The prosecution hated having to drop the child assault and kidnapping charges but it was really the best thing to do since they were positive that Richard Ramirez would never walk outside as a free man ever again with all the evidence they had proving that he was the Night Stalker. 

      Now what the book included that the documentary does a real poor job at conveying was Richard's insatiable appetite for COCAINE. Yeah I said it loud cause in the book his father tried to blame it on his cannabis use but Richard himself admits that his addiction to cocaine is what led him to a life of burglary and burglary is where all this really started. His cocaine withdraws were so intense that he didn't care whose house he was breaking in to, he just needed to grab something of value to sell at the pawn shop or to the local fence. In the book, a combination of booze and cocaine fueled Satan worshipping is what led to the creation of the Night Stalker. When Richard began breaking into homes to steal valuables, he would do it sober. He wanted all his senses in case there was a dog or a husband with a bat on the other side of the windows or doors. But once his cocaine habit became uncontrollable, Richard was now using cocaine as his steroid and Satan as his guide. The bigger his cocaine habit grew, the more gruesome his crimes became and I was very displeased that the documentary failed to highlight that very important point regarding his drug abuse. 

 Please don't watch this if you do not like true crime. These documentaries are made for people like myself. People that can dive into the darkest subject matter and come back up shiny and sometimes even a better human being. These are serious crimes and brutal executions they discuss, so do not confuse this with documentaries like "American Murder: The Family Next Door" and while that is also a horrendous story and haunting murder, what Chris Watts did was nothing compared to what Richard Ramirez did time and time again to people. The Night Stalker investigation fascinated me because of how unprecedented the criminal profile these detectives were dealing with had morphed into, as the killer did not stick to a particular pattern of killing or specific choice of victims and that made him tough to catch and thankfully, The Night Stalker began to get sloppy and that spelled the end of his terror. When you come across these serial killer tales, you have two choices, you either go back into the world scared and paranoid or you can do what I do, which is feel empowered, feel smarter about being aware of my surroundings and never taking anything or anyone I love for granted when it comes to their safety. The Night Stalker book shook me to the core all those years ago and I hope if you are brave enough to watch this docu-series, that it shakes you to the core and makes you more conscientious of locking your doors and windows or having some type of security available. 

watched the last one yesterday. really liked it. Nice review!

[Con 5,719]

3 hours ago, Schumi6581 said:

watched the last one yesterday. really liked it. Nice review!

Thank you, kind Sir. 

Never thought I would have ever be writing a review on a Night Stalker documentary so that was so surreal to do. I think of just how much has changed since I borrowed my first true crime book from the library. Crime scene photos from all the serial killer cases were the closest thing to the murders you got to see. But today, you can see people get murdered as even the poorest nations now produce murder clips for the world to see. Reading things The Night Stalker did to people was horrible but he did not record himself. Even third-world countries produces cell phone videos of murders. Just watched one recently where guys were drinking outside and some type of verbal confrontation occurs and a guy pulls out a knife and slices the guys throat mid-argument!! Or the plethora of cartel murder and torture videos out there.  Regular people acting like serial killers because they have weapons and cell phones. It's unreal. Thankfully I have Chopin and Korngold to listen to after I go down one of those gore worm holes to regain my sanity.

The next documentary I will be reviewing had me crying almost the entire time. It's about a little boy and what he had to endure. 

Edited January 26, 2021 by Con

[Schumi6581 839]

On 26-1-2021 at 3:52 PM, Con said:

Thank you, kind Sir. 

Never thought I would have ever be writing a review on a Night Stalker documentary so that was so surreal to do. I think of just how much has changed since I borrowed my first true crime book from the library. Crime scene photos from all the serial killer cases were the closest thing to the murders you got to see. But today, you can see people get murdered as even the poorest nations now produce murder clips for the world to see. Reading things The Night Stalker did to people was horrible but he did not record himself. Even third-world countries produces cell phone videos of murders. Just watched one recently where guys were drinking outside and some type of verbal confrontation occurs and a guy pulls out a knife and slices the guys throat mid-argument!! Or the plethora of cartel murder and torture videos out there.  Regular people acting like serial killers because they have weapons and cell phones. It's unreal. Thankfully I have Chopin and Korngold to listen to after I go down one of those gore worm holes to regain my sanity.

The next documentary I will be reviewing had me crying almost the entire time. It's about a little boy and what he had to endure. 

Btw... If you liked The Nightstalker documentary, check out The Ripper on Netflix too. About the Yorkshire Ripper who terrorised the North of England in the late 70's.

Edited January 30, 2021 by Schumi6581

[Con 5,719]

Today we learn from the U.S. Intelligence what most of us already suspected and probably confirmed after watching this documentary. What happens now? My guess is nothing. MBS controls the planet's oil supply and prices. He will get a stern talking to by the world's politicians and not much else. Just wanted to share this update with you. 

Feb. 26, 2021 Update:   https://www.npr.org/2021/02/25/971215788/biden-administration-poised-to-release-report-on-killing-of-jamal-khashoggi

[The following review is from January 20th, 2021]

The Dissident (2020)...5/5...I remember hearing the story but not looking into it. It wasn't until I came across those images of what seemed like hundreds of reporters camping outside the Saudi Arabian embassy in Istanbul, holding up signs and photos of Jamal Khashsoggi demanding he be released. I was confused, what was going on? Were terrorists holding the embassy hostage and one of their fellow journalists was caught in the middle? I took my attention off the story only to came across it again when parts of the audio were released and I could not believe that they had killed a man inside an embassy. The last thing I remember about it was hearing that a fight was the reason the man had been killed. I had no idea just how complex this entire story was and how tragic it is on so, so, so many levels. On October 2nd, 2018, The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi Arabian embassy in Turkey where he was retrieving a legal marriage document. He was nervous about having to go to there that day and had his fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, go with him to calm his nerves a bit. They arrived and Jamal goes inside while Hatice waits outside. Jamal never walks back out and is never seen again. 

Jamal began his career as a journalist in Saudi Arabia which led him to be very close with the King at the time but over time he had become disillusioned with the Kingdom taking advantage of religious laws to oppress the people while the same leaders enjoyed hypocritical and lavish lifestyles. He would be more emboldened in each report and became more critical of the Crown once he joined Twitter. He was growing a massive Twitter following which threatened the King and the Princes popularity. Jamal was risking arrest for his opinions and decided it was time to leave his homeland or never really experience freedom, so Jamal defected to America.  The Saudi government tried desperately to have Jamal return home over the years as they secretly felt he was a liability since he was once an insider in the Kingdom and once Jamal landed the job at The Washington Post would now lend his voice widespread exposure and credibility to his uncensored criticism of the Saudi government, a very dangerous threat to their establishment.

If you were like me and only knew the surface details regarding the murder of Jamal, do yourself a favor and watch this documentary to help celebrate Jamal's life by learning more about him and what his murder really means and how it is a violation of the human soul and spirit. I remember celebrating on Twitter with Saudi Arabia when the King lifted its ban on women drivers, dance clubs, and movie theaters. It was a day of celebration for the human spirit...if you don't take freedom for granted...It truly felt like the Saudis were finally turning the corner on religious suffocation. Then I watched this documentary and see how those sudden freedoms are but a smoke screen to keep the people distracted. While the Saudis are driving to the movies and dance clubs, their government is behind closed doors eliminating rivals and crushing social movements not approved by government or  even worse, taking credit for them. Take the example of allowing women to drive, the Prince granted the permission but then jails the women who actually started the movement in the streets. Almost as if they are afraid that these women that forced change might have more ideas that challenge the power structure. Would you want women suddenly after 500 years or whatever, telling you that you cannot have twenty-one wives at once while claiming God's approval of it? 

The story is horrible on so many levels because we know Jamal had two desires: 

1) To return home to Saudi Arabia and live in freedom [he knew this wasn't a reality since he had been invited back home but always felt it was a trap] and 2) Not to feel so lonely and find love.

    While the film focuses on what happened to Jamal, it also gives us an insight to the cyber-war in Saudi Arabia between the government and the people. The documentary and story is told to us by the popular Saudi vlogger exiled in Canada, Omar Abdulaziz.  We learn through him how the Saudi leadership hires an army of social media recruits to flush out any info that is harmful to the image of the Saudi leaders by hijacking posts and hashtags. The flies vs the bees...who will win? But you may be asking, who is this Omar and why is he in Jamal Khashsoggi's documentary and more importantly why does he feel responsible for Jamal's death? Well you see my friends, Jamal and Omar became friends and Jamal began funding "the bees" and Omar believes that is how the Saudis were able to learn how they could finally capture Jamal outside of Saudi Arabia. It really is devastating stuff but I have to believe that only one thing could have led to the downfall of an otherwise intelligent man, only one thing could have led Jamal to let down his guard after all those years of looking over his shoulder and that thing is Love. Love is what made all this possible.     Technically, we could designate religion as the root since it was Jamal's scathing columns in Saudi newspapers rebuking religious hypocrisy he had witnessed that threatened him to be jailed and is why he fled his country. But it was Love that ensured he would be in Istanbul, Turkey in October of 2018. Yes, the coordination by the Saudis to force Jamal to retrieve that very important legal marriage document from the Saudi embassy in Turkey was a stroke of genius, but I have to believe that if the wedding had not been set there (it was chosen because Hertice was born in Turkey) the Saudi's would not have been able to carry out the same crime in an embassy on American soil.

This is truly an absolutely shocking and tragic story. A crime planned and set in motion behind closed doors that just happened to get exposed to the world because of the mistrust of those involved, what I mean by that is, you won't be surprised to learn that Turkey never trusted the Saudis and had been secretly recording their meetings at the embassy and is why we have the hellish audio of the premeditated murder and disposal of Jamal Khashsoggi. How do you know you have endless wealth?? When you can plan and carry out a murder, have it fully expose those involved and consequently get clues as to who had to give the orders for all the resources to be allocated towards this murder and instead the Saudis find other scapegoats to jail for the crime.

Two years have passed, but by no means is this over as Hertice continues to seek justice for her Jamal and recently has asked the American President Joe Biden to declassify the CIA report into Jamal's murder. This could end up making the Crown Prince MBS directly responsible for the murder. But then what? I don't know, but I will keep you updated as I plan on following Hertice's effort for justice as she has said that many people are murdered and disappear at the hands of their leaders and the world never hears about them. So that is why she is going to shout about Jamal until the world forces justice. 

Edited February 26, 2021 by Con