Speaking of fantastic documentaries, I meant to post about Carrier back when I was watching it last fall. The 10-episode series from PBS follows the crew of an aircraft carrier on a six-month deployment from San Diego to the Persian Gulf and back. From hulu.com:
In the middle of the ocean, a thousand miles from nowhere, a floating city rises above the sea. Twenty-four stories high, three football fields long, carrying 5,000 sailors and marines and 85 military aircraft - this is the USS Nimitz. From May to November 2005, a team of documentary filmmakers embedded aboard the USS Nimitz as it deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The result is a raw and honest look at the United States Navy and its role at a critical turning point in the controversial war. With startling intimacy, CARRIER follows a core group of subjects as they navigate personal conflicts around their jobs, family, faith, patriotism, and the rites of passage - all against the extraordinary backdrop of the war in Iraq.
When I was midway through the series, a coworker who’d finished it warned that gets “intense”. And...whoa...yes it does. It’s rare that I get teary at television, but this caught me a few times.
The entire series is available for free on PBS and Hulu (though, I think video from both those sites is blocked outside the US). The DVD is available on Amazon and Netflix.
The opening of the first episode gives a great overview of the show (watch until about seven minutes in):
