Best Documentary Movies of 1977

A scientific film essay, narrated by Phil Morrison. A set of pictures of two picnickers in a park, with the area of each frame one-tenth the size of the one before. Starting from a view of the entire known universe, the camera gradually zooms in until we are viewing the subatomic particles on a man's hand.

Werner Herzog takes a film crew to the island of Guadeloupe when he hears that the volcano on the island is going to erupt. Everyone has left, except for one old man who refuses to leave.

Documentary about London's notorious fetish/punk store SEX.

A radio DJ in pursuit of an exclusive interview follows ABBA during their mega-successful tour of Australia.

Released in 1977 and directed by Jerry Garcia, is a film that captures performances from the Grateful Dead's October 1974 five-night stand at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. This end-of-tour run marked the beginning of an extended hiatus for the band, with no shows planned for 1975. The movie also faithfully portrays the burgeoning Deadhead scene. The film features the "Wall of Sound" concert sound system that the Dead used for all of 1974.

Elvis In Concert is a posthumous 1977 TV special starring Elvis Presley. It was Elvis' third and final TV special, following Elvis (aka The '68 Comeback Special) and Aloha From Hawaii. It was filmed during Presley's final tour in the cities of Omaha, Nebraska, on June 19, 1977, and Rapid City, South Dakota, on June 21, 1977. It was shown on CBS on October 3, 1977, two months after Presley died. It is one of the few videos of Elvis which remain unlikely to ever be released for home viewing and is only available in bootleg form.

George Carlin's first ever comedy special, filmed live at the University of Southern California. Here, he talks about monopoly, flying on planes, random thoughts, walking, and other things.

Caudillo is a documentary film by Spanish film director Basilio Martín Patino. It follows the military and political career of Francisco Franco and the most important moments of the Spanish Civil War. It uses footage from both sides of the war, music from the period and voice-over testimonies of various people.

Ever wonder how they ever managed to make a movie like Star Wars? Well, bickering droid duo C-3PO and R2-D2 host this tour of the mind of creator George Lucas and what inspired him to make the movie. Even interviewed are the cast and crew, even features scenes of when C-3PO, R2-D2, and Darth Vader planted their footprints (or in R2's case, tread-prints) into cement. Also discussed is Star Wars mania, how fans loved the movie, collected the merchandise and danced the disco music. Also shown are behind-the-scenes looks at the movie, as well as how difficult each effect was in doing since they didn't have the convenience of computer animation back then.