Check out the best docs and films to watch on Earth Day
Check out the best docs and films to watch on Earth Day
Check out a selection of top-quality documentaries, as well as a list of movies to stream on this environmental holiday.
Happy Earth Day! As the planet warms and our environmental resources shrink, it’s more important than ever to give a thought to how we can have a positive impact on the Earth. Odd as it may sound, streaming a new TV show or movie just might help. There are a ton of great films, series, and documentaries that show the awesome power and wonder of nature, as well as the consequences that could come from not taking care of the Earth.
Check out our list of great titles to stream for Earth Day below. You’ll find everything from groundbreaking documentaries with unvarnished truth to popcorny action disaster flicks that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
What are the best TV shows and movies to stream for Earth Day?
Nature and environment documentaries
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Life on Earth
January 16, 1979The story of life, from the first primitive cells to the plants and animals that now live around us.
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Nature
October 10, 1982Consistently stunning documentaries transport viewers to far-flung locations ranging from the torrid African plains to the chilly splendours of icy Antarctica. The show’s primary focus is on animals and ecosystems around the world. A comic book based on the show, meant to be used an as educational tool for kids, was briefly distributed to museums and schools at no cost in the mid-2000s.
Next Episode:
Oct 14, 2026- DIRECTV Entertainment
- $59.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV Hulu + Live TV, Disney+, and ESPN Select
- $89.99 / month
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The Blue Planet
September 12, 2001Sir David Attenborough narrates this critically acclaimed series that dives deep into the marine environment of Planet Earth. Although two-thirds of the world’s surface is covered with water, scientists know less about the oceans than they do about the surface of the moon. This limited series travels from various coasts to the poles to examine watery denizens ranging from the gigantic blue whale to microscopic coral polyps.
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Planet Earth
March 5, 2006David Attenborough celebrates the amazing variety of the natural world in this epic documentary series, filmed over four years across 64 different countries.
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Blue Planet II
October 29, 2017There is nowhere more powerful and unforgiving yet more beautiful and compelling than the ocean. Join us and explore the greatest yet least known parts of our planet.
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Jane Goodall: The Hope
April 22, 2020The story of one remarkable woman who became a global icon in animal welfare and conservation who not only hoped for a better world, she achieved it! This sweeping documentary celebrates the vast legacy of Dr. Goodall’s four decades of advocacy work for chimpanzees and depicts the next chapter for generations to come.
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The Dinosaurs
March 6, 2026From the first dinosaurs to the last, this epic documentary series examines their 165 million years on Earth and the forces that shaped their evolution.
Critically acclaimed climate documentaries
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An Inconvenient Truth
May 24, 2006A documentary on Al Gore’s campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.
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Before the Flood
October 21, 2016A look at how climate change affects our environment and what society can do to prevent the demise of endangered species, ecosystems, and native communities across the planet.
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An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power
July 28, 2017A decade after An Inconvenient Truth brought climate change into the heart of popular culture comes the riveting and rousing follow-up that shows just how close we are to a real energy revolution. Vice President Al Gore continues his tireless fight, traveling around the world training an army of climate champions and influencing international climate policy. Cameras follow him behind the scenes—in moments private and public, funny and poignant—as he pursues the empowering notion that while the stakes have never been higher, the perils of climate change can be overcome with human ingenuity and passion.
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2040
May 23, 2019A three year self-described labour of love, 2040 takes the form of a visual letter from the filmmaker to his four-year-old daughter Velvet, showing her what the year 2040 could look like “if we simply embraced the best solutions that exist today.”
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David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet
September 28, 2020The story of life on our planet by the man who has seen more of the natural world than any other. In more than 90 years, Attenborough has visited every continent on the globe, exploring the wild places of our planet and documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder. Addressing the biggest challenges facing life on our planet, the film offers a powerful message of hope for future generations.
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Common Ground
September 29, 2023Sobering yet hopeful, Common Ground exposes the interconnectedness of American farming policy, politics, and illness. Follow the solution-driven plight of Regenerative Farmers as they make a case for soil health across the continent and beyond.
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Out of Plain Sight
November 16, 2024From the Los Angeles Times and Pulitzer Prize-finalist Rosanna Xia, OUT OF PLAIN SIGHT is a cinematic exposé of an environmental disaster lurking just off the coast of Southern California. Not far from Catalina Island, aboard one of the most-advanced research ships in the world, David Valentine discovered a corroded barrel on the seafloor that gave him chills. The full environmental horror sharpens into greater clarity once he calls Xia, who pieces together a shocking revelation: In the years after World War II, as many as half a million barrels of toxic waste had been quietly dumped into the ocean – and the consequences continue to haunt the world today.
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Message-based movies
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The China Syndrome
March 16, 1979While doing a series of reports on alternative energy sources, opportunistic reporter Kimberly Wells witnesses an accident at a nuclear power plant. Wells is determined to publicize the incident, but soon finds herself entangled in a sinister conspiracy to keep the full impact of the incident a secret.
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Princess Mononoke
July 12, 1997Ashitaka, a prince of the disappearing Emishi people, is cursed by a demonized boar god and must journey to the west to find a cure. Along the way, he encounters San, a young human woman fighting to protect the forest, and Lady Eboshi, who is trying to destroy it. Ashitaka must find a way to bring balance to this conflict.
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Erin Brockovich
March 17, 2000A twice-divorced mother of three who sees an injustice, takes on the bad guy and wins — with a little help from her push-up bra. Erin goes to work for an attorney and comes across medical records describing illnesses clustered in one nearby town. She starts investigating and soon exposes a monumental cover-up.
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Dark Waters
November 22, 2019A tenacious attorney uncovers a dark secret that connects a growing number of unexplained deaths to one of the world’s largest corporations. In the process, he risks everything — his future, his family, and his own life — to expose the truth.
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Don't Look Up
December 8, 2021Two low-level astronomers (Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence) must go on a giant media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet that will destroy planet Earth.
This movie boasts an all-star cast including Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Timothée Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi, Cate Blanchett, and Meryl Streep.
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Earth Day hits for kids
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FernGully: The Last Rainforest
April 10, 1992When a sprite named Crysta shrinks a human boy, Zak, down to her size, he vows to help the magical fairy folk stop a greedy logging company from destroying their home: the pristine rainforest known as FernGully. Zak and his new friends fight to defend FernGully from lumberjacks — and the vengeful spirit they accidentally unleash after chopping down a magic tree.
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Happy Feet
November 16, 2006Into the world of the Emperor Penguins, who find their soul mates through song, a penguin is born who cannot sing. But he can tap dance something fierce!
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WALL·E
June 26, 2008After hundreds of years doing what he was built for, WALL•E— a robot designed to clean up the earth—discovers a new purpose in life when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL•E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet’s future, and races back to space to report to the humans. Meanwhile, WALL•E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets into motion one of the most imaginative adventures ever brought to the big screen.
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The Lorax
March 1, 2012A 12-year-old boy searches for the one thing that will enable him to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find it he must discover the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world.
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Moana
October 13, 2016In Ancient Polynesia, when a terrible curse incurred by Maui reaches an impetuous Chieftain’s daughter’s island, she answers the Ocean’s call to seek out the demigod to set things right.
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The Wild Robot
September 12, 2024After a shipwreck, an intelligent robot called Roz is stranded on an uninhabited island. To survive the harsh environment, Roz bonds with the island’s animals and cares for an orphaned baby goose.
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Set in a bleak future
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Waterworld
July 28, 1995In a futuristic world where the polar ice caps have melted and made Earth a liquid planet, a beautiful barmaid rescues a mutant seafarer from a floating island prison. They escape, along with her young charge, Enola, and sail off aboard his ship. But the trio soon becomes the target of a menacing pirate who covets the map to ‘Dryland’—which is tattooed on Enola’s back.
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The Road
November 25, 2009A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind and water. It is cold enough to crack stones and, when the snow falls, it is gray. Their destination is the warmer south, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there.
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Interstellar
November 5, 2014The adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.
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Mad Max: Fury Road
May 13, 2015An apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order.
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Snowpiercer
May 17, 2020More than seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland, the remnants of humanity inhabit a gigantic, perpetually-moving train that circles the globe as class warfare, social injustice and the politics of survival play out.
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Environmental disaster flicks
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Twister
May 10, 1996An unprecedented series of violent tornadoes is sweeping across Oklahoma. Tornado chasers, headed by Dr. Jo Harding, attempt to release a groundbreaking device that will allow them to track them and create a more advanced warning system. They are joined by Jo’s soon to be ex-husband Bill, a former tornado chaser himself, and his girlfriend Melissa.
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Volcano
April 25, 1997An earthquake shatters a peaceful Los Angeles morning and opens a fissure deep into the earth, causing lava to start bubbling up. As a volcano begins forming in the La Brea Tar Pits, the director of the city’s emergency management service, working with a geologist, must then use every resource in the city to try and stop the volcano from consuming LA.
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The Day After Tomorrow
May 26, 2004After paleoclimatologist Jack Hall is largely ignored by UN officials when presenting his environmental concerns about the beginning of a new Ice Age, his research proves true when a superstorm develops, setting off catastrophic natural disasters throughout the world. Trying to get to his son, Sam, who is trapped in New York City with his friend Laura and others, Jack and his crew must travel to get to Sam before it’s too late.
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2012
October 10, 2009Dr. Adrian Helmsley, part of a worldwide geophysical team investigating the effect on the earth of radiation from unprecedented solar storms, learns that the earth’s core is heating up. He warns U.S. President Thomas Wilson that the crust of the earth is becoming unstable and that without proper preparations for saving a fraction of the world’s population, the entire race is doomed. Meanwhile, writer Jackson Curtis stumbles on the same information. While the world’s leaders race to build “arks” to escape the impending cataclysm, Curtis struggles to find a way to save his family. Meanwhile, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes of unprecedented strength wreak havoc around the world.
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Geostorm
October 12, 2017After an unprecedented series of natural disasters threatened the planet, the world’s leaders came together to create an intricate network of satellites to control the global climate and keep everyone safe. But now, something has gone wrong: the system built to protect Earth is attacking it, and it becomes a race against the clock to uncover the real threat before a worldwide geostorm wipes out everything and everyone along with it.
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Twisters
July 10, 2024As storm season intensifies, the paths of former storm chaser Kate Carter and reckless social-media superstar Tyler Owens collide when terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed. The pair and their competing teams find themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the fight of their lives.
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