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My final pick: The Endless Summer (1966)
This, to me, is the single greatest documentary and sports film of all time; pure and simple. Every other "great" sports film follows the same story, underdog perseveres seemingly insurmountable odds against them and achieves greatness... <yawn> It is like every sports film is the same film! Except this one... this movie is about a couple surfers trying to find the perfect wave by traveling all around the globe; following the idea that if you continually travel around the world, you could truly experience an "endless summer" and you, the viewer, get to go along for the ride. They also take the opportunity to expose people to surfing that have never seen surfing before... of course, this being '66 they are on longboards, such a cool film.
As a documentary, the commentary is funny, the premise is captivating, and at no point do you feel like someone is distorting facts or evidence with "Hollywood Magic" to push a social or political agenda. This, to me, is the greatest single problems with modern documentaries, they are hopelessly slanted and people can see that. So instead of exposing all people to new things, places, and people, they serve to solidify the beliefs of those who already agree with the premise and, for those who do not agree with the premise, it serves to expose the filmmaker as a liar and distorter of truth making the people who believe the premise suspect of immorality.
If you have not seen The Endless Summer, you life is not complete.

This, to me, is the single greatest documentary and sports film of all time; pure and simple. Every other "great" sports film follows the same story, underdog perseveres seemingly insurmountable odds against them and achieves greatness... <yawn> It is like every sports film is the same film! Except this one... this movie is about a couple surfers trying to find the perfect wave by traveling all around the globe; following the idea that if you continually travel around the world, you could truly experience an "endless summer" and you, the viewer, get to go along for the ride. They also take the opportunity to expose people to surfing that have never seen surfing before... of course, this being '66 they are on longboards, such a cool film.
As a documentary, the commentary is funny, the premise is captivating, and at no point do you feel like someone is distorting facts or evidence with "Hollywood Magic" to push a social or political agenda. This, to me, is the greatest single problems with modern documentaries, they are hopelessly slanted and people can see that. So instead of exposing all people to new things, places, and people, they serve to solidify the beliefs of those who already agree with the premise and, for those who do not agree with the premise, it serves to expose the filmmaker as a liar and distorter of truth making the people who believe the premise suspect of immorality.
If you have not seen The Endless Summer, you life is not complete.