Best documentary, animation, & crime shows streaming, ranked.
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- #2100

Avatar: The Last Airbender
2005–2008 · Series · 3 seasonsAnimation · Action
1 EmmyBest Animation SeriesIn a war-torn world of elemental powers, a young boy reawakens to undertake a dangerous mystic quest to fulfill his destiny as the Avatar, and bring peace to the world.
NetflixParamount+Prime Video - #1396
Man on Wire
2008 · Movie · 1h 34mDocumentary · Biography · Crime
1 OscarA look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit's daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, what some consider, "the artistic crime of the century".
Prime Video - #3193
Paatal Lok
2020– · Series · Hindi · 2 seasonsCrime · Drama · Thriller
A down-and-out cop lands the case of a lifetime when four suspects are nabbed in the assassination attempt of a journalist. The pursuit leads him to 'Paatal Lok' and to shocking discoveries in the four suspects' pasts.
Prime Video - #3493

Gleason
2016 · Movie · 1h 50mDocumentary · Biography
After he is diagnosed with ALS, former professional football player Steve Gleason begins making a video diary for his unborn son, as he, his wife, and their friends and family work to raise money for ALS patients as his disease pr...
Prime Video - #4192
20 Feet from Stardom
2013 · Movie · 1h 31mDocumentary · Biography · History
1 OscarBackup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we've had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead, until now.
Prime Video - #4292
Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession
2004 · Movie · 2h 2mDocumentary · Biography · History
The story of Z Channel, one of the first U.S. pay cable stations and its programming chief, Jerry Harvey. Debuting in 1974 in LA, their eclectic slate of movies became a prime example of the untapped power of cable television.
Prime Video - #4592
Little Dieter Needs to Fly
1997 · Movie · 1h 20mDocumentary · Biography · Drama
German-American Dieter Dengler discusses his service as a U.S. naval pilot in the Vietnam War. Dengler also revisits the sites of his capture and eventual escape from the hands of the Viet Cong, recreating many events for the camera.
Prime Video - #5292
Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau
2014 · Movie · 1h 37mDocumentary · Action
A behind the scenes chronicle of how clash of vision, bad creative decisions, lack of interest and really bad weather plagued the disastrous production of the infamous The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996).
Prime Video - #7191
Birds of Passage
2018 · Movie · Spanish · 2h 5mCrime · Drama
During the marijuana bonanza, a violent decade that saw the origins of drug trafficking in Colombia, Rapayet and his indigenous family get involved in a war to control the business that ends up destroying their lives and their cul...
Prime Video - #7591
Great Teacher Onizuka
1999–2000 · Series · Japanese · 1 seasonAnimation · Comedy · Drama
About Eikichi Onizuka, a 22-year-old ex-gangster member and a virgin. He has one ambition that no one ever expected from him. His sole life purpose is to become the greatest high school teacher ever.
NetflixPeacockPrime Video - #7691
The Legend of Vox Machina
2022– · Series · 3 seasonsAnimation · Action
After saving the realm from evil and destruction at the hands of the most terrifying power couple in Exandria, Vox Machina is faced with saving the world once again-this time, from a sinister group of dragons known as the Chroma C...
Prime Video - #7791
And Then There Were None
1945 · Movie · 1h 37mCrime · Drama · Mystery
Seven guests, a newly hired secretary and two staff are gathered at a manor house on an isolated island by an unknown absentee host and are killed off one-by-one. They work together to determine who the killer is before it's too l...
Prime Video - #8590
Dexter: Resurrection
2025– · Series · 1 seasonCrime · Drama · Thriller
Dexter Morgan awakens from a coma and sets out for New York City, determined to find Harrison and make things right. But when Miami Metro's Angel Batista arrives with questions, Dexter realizes his past is catching up to him fast.
Paramount+ - #8790
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street
2021 · Movie · 1h 47mDocumentary · Family · History
Take a stroll down Sesame Street and witness the birth of the most impactful children's series in TV history. From the iconic furry characters to the songs you know by heart, learn how a gang of visionary creators changed our world.
Prime Video - #9490

Invader ZIM
2001–2006 · Series · 2 seasonsAnimation · Action
1 EmmyAn alien named Zim from the planet Irk is sent on a secret mission to conquer Earth, not realising that his leaders were just trying to get rid of him and hoped that he would die. Once there, Zim manages to disguise himself as a h...
Paramount+ - #9590
To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story
2017 · Movie · 1h 48mDocumentary · Biography
To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story is the harrowing story of a stuntman overcoming a dehumanizing childhood filled with torment and bullying in Sparks, Nevada. After surviving a near-death burn accident, he worked his way up through Hollywood, leading to his ultimate rise as Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th series and making countless moviegoers forever terrified of hockey masks and summer camp. Featuring interviews with cinema legends, including Bruce Campbell (Ash vs. Evil Dead), Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger), and Cassandra Peterson (Elvira: Mistress of the Dark), To Hell and Back peels off the mask of Kane Hodder, cinema's most prolific killer, in a gut-wrenching, but inspiring, documentary. After decades of watching Kane Hodder on screen, get ready to meet the man behind the mask in To Hell and Back - an uniquely human story about one of cinema's most vicious monsters.
Prime Video - #11489

Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey
2017 · Movie · 1h 36mDocumentary · Action · Biography
Fred Beckey is the legendary American "Dirtbag" mountaineer whose name is spoken in hushed tones around campfires. This rebel climber's pioneering ascents and lifestyle form an iconic legacy that continues to inspire generations.
Prime Video - #11889

Red vs. Blue
2003–2024 · Series · 19 seasonsAnimation · Action
After the Halo event of 2552, there is a brief but violent period of civil war among the humans. Two armies on opposite sides of a canyon, the Reds and Blues, fight in the most worthless piece of real estate in the galaxy.
PeacockPrime Video - #12289
Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms
2018 · Movie · Japanese · 1h 55mAnimation · Action · Drama
Maquia, a teenager, belongs to the Iorph community whose members can live for hundreds of years. But her life changes when the Iorph settlement is invaded and she comes across an orphan.
Prime Video - #12689
Ballard
2025– · Series · 1 seasonCrime · Drama
Detective Renée Ballard plunges into a web of murder and corruption as she hunts a ruthless serial killer and uncovers a sinister police conspiracy that threatens everything she stands for. With her own demons nipping at her heels, Ballard must outwit both criminals and colleagues to bring long-overdue justice to the victims and their families.
Prime Video - #13688
The Universe
2007–2015 · Series · 9 seasonsDocumentary · History
This educational show explores many scientific questions and topics about the universe (Big Bang, the Sun, the planets, black holes, other galaxies, astrobiology etc.) through latest CGI, data and interviews with scientists.
Prime Video - #14088
The Sparring Partner
2022 · Movie · Cantonese · 2h 18mCrime · Drama
Based on a shocking case in real life, a young man partners with his friend to murder and dismember his parents. Pleading not guilty to the crime, defense attorneys face each other as nine jurors grapple with the truth.
Prime Video - #14388
A Simple Plan
1998 · Movie · 2h 1mCrime · Drama · Thriller
Two brothers and a friend, all blue-collar workers, come across millions of dollars in lost cash and make a plan to keep their find from the authorities, but it isn't long before complications and mistrust weave their way into the...
Prime Video - #14588
Lucy and Desi
2022 · Movie · 1h 43mDocumentary · Biography · Comedy
2 EmmysThis film explores the rise of comedy icon Lucille Ball, her relationship with Desi Arnaz, and how their groundbreaking sitcom "I Love Lucy" forever changed Hollywood, cementing her legacy long after her death in 1989.
Prime Video - #14688
Dororo
2019– · Series · Japanese · 1 seasonAnimation · Action
Sightless Hyakkimaru wields fearsome prosthetics in place of the limbs his father traded to 12 demons. When he encounters the young thief Dororo, the pair sets out to reclaim Hyakkimaru's body parts and survive the demon-infested ...
HuluPrime Video - #14788
Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles
2019 · Movie · 1h 37mDocumentary
The origin story behind one of Broadway's most beloved musicals, Fiddler on The Roof, and its creative roots in early 1960s New York, when "tradition" was on the wane as gender roles, sexuality, race relations and religion were ev...
Prime Video - #16188
Silicon Cowboys
2016 · Movie · 1h 17mDocumentary · History
Three friends dream up the Compaq portable computer at a Texas diner in 1981, and soon find themselves battling mighty IBM for PC supremacy. Their improbable journey altered the future of computing and shaped the world we now know.
Prime Video - #16688
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
2007 · Movie · 1h 57mCrime · Drama · Thriller
When two brothers organize the robbery of their parents' jewelry store, the job goes horribly wrong triggering a series of events that send them, their father and the wife of one brother barreling toward a shattering climax.
HuluPrime Video - #17387

George Carlin: It's Bad for Ya!
2008 · Movie · 1h 10mDocumentary · Comedy
It's Bad For Ya, Carlin's Emmy-nominated 14th and final HBO special from March of 2008 features Carlin's noted irreverent and unapologetic observations on topics ranging from death, religion, bureaucracy, patriotism, overprotected...
Prime Video - #17887
Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted
2025 · Movie · 1h 35mDocumentary · Comedy
Cult musician Swamp Dogg and housemates Moogstar and Guitar Shorty have turned their suburban LA home into an artistic haven. They journey through the turbulent music business, forming a special friendship transcending eras.
Prime Video - #18087
Fragments of Paradise
2022 · Movie · 1h 38mDocumentary
Jonas Mekas chronicled life via diary films over 70+ years, from his 1949 NYC arrival until 2019. The Lithuanian exile shaped avant-garde cinema while building indie film institutions. "Fragments of Paradise" delves into his archives
Prime Video - #18787
This Is Not a Movie: Robert Fisk and the Politics of Truth
2019 · Movie · 1h 46mDocumentary · Action · Biography
The groundbreaking and often game-changing reporting of legendary foreign correspondent and author Robert Fisk is profiled in the latest from acclaimed documentarian Yung Chang (Up the Yangtze).
Prime Video - #19587
The Men Who Built America
2012– · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary · Biography · History
2 EmmysRockefeller, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Astor, Ford and Morgan. Their names are part of history and synonymous with the American dream. These men transformed every industry they touched: oil, rail, steel, shipping, automobiles, and fin...
HuluPrime Video - #19687
Mike Judge's Beavis and Butt-Head
2022– · Series · 3 seasonsAnimation · Comedy
The iconic animated duo are back and dumber than ever. The '90s pop-culture phenomenons return, voiced by creator Mike Judge, to confound common sense, torment each other, and showcase some of the dumbest comedy imaginable.
Paramount+ - #19887
American: An Odyssey to 1947
2022 · Movie · 1h 42mDocumentary
In the early 1930s, Orson Welles ascends to unprecedented stardom while President Franklin Delano Roosevelt navigates a nation in crisis. As WWII begins, an American boy visits abroad, and an American soldier enlists in the army.
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