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10) Lost in La Mancha
A "making of" documentary for a film that was never actually made? That's so crazy that it just might work! Having previously collaborated with Terry Gilliam on their acclaimed The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys doc, Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe were enlisted by the former Python to shoot behind the scenes footage on The Man Who Killed Don Quixote in late 2000. In typical Gilliam fashion, things did not go well. Almost immediately the shoot was marred by budget and production woes, the most serious of which involved star Jean Rochefort suffering a herniated disc. The film was shut down entirely shortly thereafter. Ever the mensch, the director allowed Fulton and Pepe to fashion the footage of his on-set suffering into a feature of their own. The resulting Lost in La Mancha is an enthralling exploration of how Gilliam's overly ambitious nature -- i.e. his genius/Achilles' heel -- coupled with genuine old-fashioned bad luck has plagued him throughout his career. (A trend that was continued when Heath Ledger died during the production of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus). Pre-production on a new version of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote with Gilliam once again at the helm and starring a revamped cast that includes Ewan McGregor and Robert Duvall is currently underway. So expect one of them to be eaten by a dragon or something equally nasty to happen soon.
9) Space Battleship Yamato: The Making of an Anime Legend
Perhaps the most esoteric entry on this list, Voyager Entertainment's 2005 doc is an absorbing look into the first 25 years of the Space Battleship Yamato/Star Blazers phenomenon. The film chronicles the history of the franchise, from its genesis as a project called Asteroid Ship Icarus through to the release of the Final Yamato feature -- with breakdowns of the series' various incarnations along the way. For otaku, this release is packed with nerdy tidbits, including rare test footage, a merchandising overview and an absolutely mind-blowing look at a Yamato-themed fan cruise event from the early 1980s that I will dream of being on tonight. The impressive amount of care that went into this production even included the hiring of narrator Ken Meseroll, best known as the voice of Derek Wildstar. Last year's release of the live-action Space Battleship Yamato film in Japan has a new generation dreaming of leaving Mother Earth to save the human race. Here's where they (and you) should go to see how it all started.
8) Jaws: The Inside Story
Until the day that The Shark Is Still Working finally swims it way to an official release, the best analysis of the production of Jaws remains this in-depth documentary that was created for the Biography Channel. By now even the most novice Jaws fan knows about how the mechanical shark refused to work and other challenges (including Robert Shaw's larger-than-life personality and studio pressures). These familiar stories are once again dusted off, but this time complimented by new insights and interviews about the flick's notorious production difficulties. The fact that everything came together so perfectly is still amazing all these years later. This sense of wonder is palpable throughout this documentary. We all know that Jaws went from being a best-seller to a culture phenomenon, yet learning about the underdog story that allowed this transformation to occur may be even more exhilarating.
7) The Thing: Terror Takes Shape
Created for The Thing's 1998 DVD release, Michael Matessino's documentary leaves viewers with two impressions. The first is that every film should be a collaboration between John Carpenter and Kurt Russell as the pair understands not only each other, but the exact type of cinema they each want to be involved in. The second thing that you'll take away from Terror Takes Shape is how incredibly brilliant/absolutely bugfuck crazy Rob Bottin's creations for the film are (there's been footage of the superfluous The Thing prequel recently released online, and it's evident that the filmmakers are wisely taking a page from Bottin's playbook in terms of their own creature design). If nothing else, check out this doc for behind-the-scenes footage of the monsters that helps demystify them -- thereby ending years of your nightmares.
6) Impressions of Dune
My personal impressions of Dune? It is a beautiful, strange and at times incomprehensible mess of a movie that I absolutely cherish. Taken from a UK DVD release, the Impressions of Dune documentary is a warts and all look at the film and its production. While David Lynch is (understandably) nowhere to be found here, insiders like Kyle McLachlan and producer Raffaella De Laurentiis are on hand to offer up their experiences and comment on the film's dubious legacy. For fans of the film -- yes, we exist -- the information being presented here is invaluable. As for the rest of the population, well, it probably won't be awakening any sleepers.
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