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Shows Like An Ocean Apart

If you enjoyed An Ocean Apart, you will appreciate how these films questions the purpose and weight of our choices while ensuring targets the intellect with complex, multi-layered ideas. Carefully balances character depth with narrative flow makes this definitely worth a watch.

Mood Breakdown
Runtime Cluster

Standard feature-length experiences.

Viewer Fit

Best for fans of who appreciate concise storytelling.

Top Picks

The War
8.1

The War

2007

The story of the Second World War through the personal accounts of a handful of men and women from four American towns. The war touched the lives of every family on every street in every town in America and demonstrated that in extraordinary times, there are no ordinary lives.

WWII in HD
7.4

WWII in HD

2009

WWII in HD is a 10-part American documentary television miniseries that originally aired from November 15 to November 19, 2009 on the History Channel. The program focuses on the firsthand experiences of twelve American service members during World War II, including an Army nurse, a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, a second generation Japanese American and prisoner of war, and an Austrian Jewish immigrant. The twelve members recorded their time in both theaters and some had later interviews; found footage from the battlefield was paired with the stories of the twelve service members. The episodes premiered on five consecutive days, with two episodes per day. The series is narrated by Gary Sinise and was produced by Lou Reda Productions in Easton, Pennsylvania, United States.

American Experience
6.6

American Experience

1988

TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.

The World Wars
7.2

The World Wars

2014

The story of three decades of war told through the eyes of various men who were its key players: Roosevelt, Hitler, Patton, Mussolini, Churchill, Tojo, DeGaulle and MacArthur. The series examines the two wars as one contiguous timeline starting in 1914 and concluding in 1945 with these unique individuals coming of age in World War I before ultimately calling the shots in World War II.

The Real History of Science Fiction
7.0

The Real History of Science Fiction

2014

The series heads to the very frontiers of space and science to produce the definitive television history of science fiction, told through its impact on cinema, television and literature, with the help of filmmakers, writers, actors, and graphic artists. Each episode will explore one of the enduring themes of science fiction: time travel; the exploration of space; robots and artificial intelligence; and aliens.

The Men Who Built America
8.0

The Men Who Built America

2012

Influential builders, dreamers and believers whose feats transformed the United States, a nation decaying from the inside after the Civil War, into the greatest economic and technological superpower the world had ever seen. The Men Who Built America is the story of a nation at the crossroads and of the people who catapulted it to prosperity.

Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States
8.0

Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States

2012

Oliver Stone's re-examination of under-reported events in American history.

The Civil War
7.9

The Civil War

1990

A documentary on the American Civil War narrated by Ken Burns, covering the secession of the Confederacy to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

More Shows Like An Ocean Apart

Top Gear
7.9

Top Gear

1978

Motoring programme featuring reviews of and reports about cars of all types.

World War II: From the Frontlines
7.9

World War II: From the Frontlines

2023

Through vividly enhanced archival footage and voices from all sides of the conflict, this docuseries brings WWII to life like never before.

The First World War
7.2

The First World War

2003

This ten-part docuseries tells the comprehensive story of the First World War, featuring excerpts written by Winston Churchill, Karen Blixen, Georges Clémenceau, David Lloyd George, Siegfried Sassoon and Rudolf Hess.

Biography
6.5

Biography

1987

Biography is a documentary television series. It was originally a half-hour filmed series produced for CBS by David Wolper from 1961 to 1964 and hosted by Mike Wallace. The A&E Network later re-ran it and has produced new episodes since 1987. The older version featured historical figures such as Helen Keller and Mark Twain, or long-dead entertainment figures such as Will Rogers or John Barrymore. The A&E series has placed the emphasis on such people as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Plácido Domingo, Freddie Mercury, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Eric Clapton, Pope John Paul II, Gene Tierney, Selena, Diego Rivera, Mao Zedong and Queen Elizabeth II, and fictional characters like The Phantom, Superman, Hamlet, Betty Boop, and Santa Claus. The program ended up profiling enough figures that in 1999, A&E spun it off into an entire network, The Biography Channel.

Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War
7.8

Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War

2024

With firsthand accounts and access to prominent figures around the world, this comprehensive docuseries explores the Cold War and its aftermath.

VICE
7.0

VICE

2013

A documentary news series with a taboo-breaking team who deliver incredible news stories from around the world.

Frontline
6.9

Frontline

1983

Since it began in 1983, Frontline has been airing public-affairs documentaries that explore a wide scope of the complex human experience. Frontline's goal is to extend the impact of the documentary beyond its initial broadcast by serving as a catalyst for change.

Natural World
7.4

Natural World

1983

Natural World is a nature documentary television series broadcast annually on BBC Two and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history brand. It is currently the longest-running series in its genre on British television, with more than 400 episodes broadcast since its inception in 1983. Natural World is produced by the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, but individual programmes can be in-house productions, collaborative productions with other broadcasters or films made and distributed by independent production companies and purchased by the BBC. Natural World programmes are often broadcast as PBS Nature episodes in the USA. Since 2008, most Natural World programmes have been shot and broadcast in high definition.

The Story of Film: An Odyssey
7.7

The Story of Film: An Odyssey

2011

A worldwide guided tour of the greatest movies ever made and the story of international cinema through the history of cinematic innovation.

Whose Vote Counts, Explained
6.5

Whose Vote Counts, Explained

2020

The right to vote is at the foundation of America's democracy. But not every vote is created equal. How does the system work, and can it be fixed?

Doctor Who Confidential
8.2

Doctor Who Confidential

2005

Doctor Who Confidential is a documentary to complement the revival of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Each episode was broadcast on BBC Three on Saturdays, immediately after the broadcast of the weekly television episode on BBC One. The running time of the first two series was 30 minutes, being extended to 45 minutes in the third. BBC Three also broadcast a cut-down edition of the programme, lasting 15 minutes, shown after the repeats on Sundays and Fridays and after the weekday evening repeats of earlier seasons.

The F Word
6.2

The F Word

2005

The F Word is a British food magazine and cookery programme featuring chef Gordon Ramsay. The programme covers a wide range of topics, from recipes to food preparation and celebrity food fads. The programme is made by Optomen Television and aired weekly on Channel 4. The theme tune for the series is "The F-Word" from the Babybird album Bugged.

Why These Shows Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with An Ocean Apart (1988): Documentary themes, similar pacing, and comparable production quality. NoBadPicks uses TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface series most likely to resonate with fans of An Ocean Apart.

See full details for An Ocean Apart (1988)

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