Ranking Every Ken Burns Film

In 2021, I watched all 31 documentaries directed by filmmaker and holder of America's worst haircut Ken Burns, hundreds of hours devoted to telling the American story. Here, from best to worst, is my ranking of those 31 films:

1. The Vietnam War

An absolute masterpiece from beginning to end. Featuring accounts from living veterans along with Burns’ traditional use of primary sources, this doc is as emotional as it is informative, and a must-watch for any student of American history. It’s no stretch to say this is Burns’ opus.

2. Baseball

The only surprise, I imagine, is that I didn’t rank this #1. It’s a loving tribute to America’s pastime, and if it’s overly sentimental in places, well, Brad Pitt said it best in Moneyball: “How can you not be romantic about baseball?” The addition of the “10^th Inning” episodes in 2010 was unnecessary but fine.

3. Country Music

A riveting series on a genre of music about which I’m shockingly ignorant. I loved this one so much that it inspired a New Year’s resolution to listen to more country music in 2022.

4. The Address

This one was a big departure from the Ken Burns formula, telling the story of a special needs school in New York in which students are challenged to learn the Gettysburg Address before graduation. Normally you go into a Ken Burns film knowing it may be a little dry; in this case, I was moved to tears.

5. The National Parks: America’s Best Idea

I have a soft spot for this one, which I’ve seen three times now. Objectively, this film’s probably too long and too loosely focused. But every time I hear that score, see those nature scenes, and hear actor Lee Stetson’s Scottish brogue as he recites John Muir quotes, I’m transported.

6. The Central Park Five

More aggressive in style and activist in tone than the typical Burns doc (this one was co-directed by Sarah Burns and David McMahon), it is also one of the most striking. Telling the story of the infamous  Central Park jogger rape and subsequent arrest, trial, and conviction of five teenagers of color, it ends with a mixture of tragedy and triumph as the convictions are vacated following a prison confession by the actual rapist. Consider this a companion piece to Ava DuVernay’s dramatic limited series When They See Us.

7. Unforgiveable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson

Films like these are why I love Ken Burns docs: I went in knowing a little about Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion of the world, and left with more knowledge and a wider perspective on not only Johnson, but sports, race, and America’s relationship with the two. A truly excellent documentary from beginning to end.

8. Muhammad Ali

The most recent of his documentaries, this one did an excellent job balancing Ali’s boxing prowess with his social impact. Anybody interested in the Greatest—and who isn’t—will appreciate this one.

9. The Roosevelts

An examination of three American icons: Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt. It does an admirable job balancing time between the three, though I would have loved more on Eleanor.

10. The Civil War

The 9-part classic that made Burns a household name, I have to regretfully say that this one hasn’t aged well—too much whataboutism and too little input from people of color give this film the unfortunate takeaway that the war was caused by a failure to compromise instead of, you know, slavery. Nevertheless, all the Ken Burns hallmarks that are now so familiar they are borderline caricature—narration through the reading of letters, slow panning over black and white photos, etc.—really get their start here, and if you watch the whole film you’ll learn a lot, not just about the war but about the nation.

11. The War

The film warns you up front that World War II is too sprawling a story to tell, so it does so through the lens of the war’s impact on five different American towns. It makes for an intentionally narrow but remarkably impactful way to chronicle the war. Parts of the war’s story get missed along the way, but it was a risk worth taking.

12. Jackie Robinson

While the section dealing with Robinson’s career is largely a retread of the sixth (and best) episode of Baseball, the part of this documentary dealing with Robinson’s life post-baseball is fascinating and largely untold.

13. Mark Twain

I was amazed by how much I enjoyed this one. I suppose it’s a testament to Twain’s enduring appeal that, more than 100 years after his death, Mark Twain can continue to entertain.

14. Prohibition

My biggest takeaway from this three-parter was that, while Prohibition is now rightfully seen as a terrible constitutional experiment, it was an understandable one. With surprising efficiency (Burns, much like Peter Jackson, is not known for his willingness to make cuts), Burns tells the story of alcohol become a scourge in American life, how activists managed to enact a constitutional amendment, and how within years it became a laughingstock. Worth a watch for anyone who, like me, didn’t know much about the subject matter going in.

15. Thomas Jefferson

One of Burns’ better biographical films, owing partly to the fascinating subject matter. This one is definitely a paint-by-numbers educational doc, but I didn’t mind so much thanks to all the interesting tidbits I picked up about this Founding Father. Bonus points to Burns for spending time talking about Jefferson’s relationship with Sally Hemmings, still a controversial topic in 1997.

16. Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this film, one of the ones I was least looking forward to when I began this project. Burns’ account of the Corps of Discovery’s quest to map out the uncharted land acquired in the Louisiana Purchase is revelatory and even thrilling at times.

17. Jazz

Look, I really wanted to like this. But jazz is one of those things that I admire more than I enjoy, and 19 hours is a lot of time to spend learning about something you don’t truly love. Also, this needed more talking heads…Wynton Marsalis was great, but the amount of screen time he was given made it seem like Burns just didn’t know that many jazz musicians.

18. Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony

Burns’ account of the women’s suffrage movement understandably focuses in on its two most famous leaders, but one can’t help but wonder what parts of the movement’s story were lost because of that decision. Nevertheless, is biography always more interesting than straight history, and I learned a lot about a subject we don’t discuss nearly enough.

19. Hemingway

A by-the-numbers biographical doc of arguably America’s most famous writer. I enjoyed it and learned a lot, but I can’t say Burns took any risks with this one.

20. Frank Lloyd Wright

Aided greatly by panning shot after panning shot of Wright’s most famous architectural feats, this is one of the docs from which I learned the most, owing both to my lack of knowledge going in and Burns’ storytelling. Definitely a film you need to watch, not just listen to while doing other things, it’s an interesting account of an interesting man.

21. The Shakers

Best known for their hand-crafted furniture, the Shakers get the Ken Burns treatment here in his second offering for PBS. Not the most compelling subject, and Burns’ style is still in its for-educational-purposes-only stage, but I enjoyed this one nevertheless.

22. Huey Long

A compelling if cursory account of an American political legend. The film’s highlight is definitely the filmed accounts of some veeeeery Cajun Louisianians telling about their encounters with Long.

23. The Congress

An ode to a broken branch of government, this documentary probably worked a lot better when it debuted in 1988 than it does today. Its focus on the history of Congress is good educational TV; its attempts to inspire fall on deaf ears in the 21^st century.

24. The Dust Bowl

The Dust Bowl is one of those national tragedies I’ve never been able to get interested in. This documentary, I’m sorry to say, did not change that. Someday a gifted storyteller will manage to rouse me with stories of poverty-stricken Okies…but Ken Burns, it turns out, was not that storyteller. Your move, John Steinbeck.

25. Thomas Hart Benton

I knew literally nothing about Benton, the iconoclastic painter of the American experience, before seeing this film. By the time it was over, I knew more but cared about the same amount. Not Burns’ most compelling work.

26. Horatio’s Drive: America’s First Road Trip

A departure from the normal Burns oeuvre of big subjects and historical personalities, this film tells the story of a cross-country automobile road trip, the first of its kind, undertaken in 1903. I wanted to like this more than I did, and I’m not sure there was ultimately enough “there” there to warrant a 2-hour documentary.

27. Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War

Burns’ answer to Schindler’s List, this tells the story of one couple’s efforts to help refugees escape Nazi-occupied Europe. Not really my cup of tea, it will likely have appeal to fans of the History Channel and its inexhaustible appetite for WWII material.

28. The Mayo Clinic: Faith, Hope, Science

A different format from the typical Burns doc, this feels more like a promotional movie than an educational or entertainment film. Nevertheless, it’s a professionally made, informative look at the history and impact of an American institution.

29. Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio

Burns does some interesting things stylistically here—there are lots of times he’ll just play staticky radio with hardly any images—but at the end of the day, this 1992 offering feels like a relic of the pre-Internet days when radio was still a relevant force in American life.

30. The Statue of Liberty

Better than The Brooklyn Bridge by a hair, but suffers from the exact same issues. Treacly when it lingers on the symbolic nature of the statue and dull when it focuses on the history of its construction, this doc is a snoozer.

31. Brooklyn Bridge

His first documentary for PBS, and it shows. He’s still working out the kinks in his style, it’s very dated, and, well, it’s about a bridge. A bridge. If you’re an engineer, maybe you’d be into this. I very much was not.