A week before the release, Bayer abruptly pulled the gear from U.S. markets.

The documentary was essentially retold in the 2008 biopicMilk.

No movie has ever seemed quite as energized by the possibilities of the medium.

THE BLEEDING EDGECredit: Netflix

Netflix

The fast-food chain subsequently canceled the Super Size option and added nutritional info to its packaging.

Along the way, it grossed a record $222 million worldwide.

Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth

An Inconvenient Truth: Eric Lee

Seven Up | Influential for its epic scope, The Up Series has followed the same group of British children every seven years since 1964. The novel idea has

Detailing how Scripture is interpreted to justify discrimination against homosexuals, Daniel Karslake’s film has become a godsend for gay youths coming out to their religious

Errol Morris' groundbreaking film about Randall Dale Adams, a man who was sentenced to life in prison for allegedly murdering a Dallas police officer, ultimately

Harvey Milk | Rob Epstein’s Oscar-winning film chronicled the late San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk’s ascent into politics and his trailblazing impact as a gay rights activist. The

Everett Collection

Man With the Movie Camera | This Soviet Union silent film is on this list not for any kind of political influence, but rather for its exuberant exploration of cinematic techniques.

Everett Collection

Triumph of the Will | Leni Riefenstahl’s ‘‘documentary’’ — cinema’s most notorious (and influential) propaganda film — presented the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg so slickly and skillfully that

Everett Collection

Harlan County, USA | Barbara Kopple’s Oscar-winning documentary depicted a group of coal miners' prolonged and frequently dangerous strike against the Brookside Mine in Harlan County, Ky. In addition

Everett Collection

The Cove | With the aid of hidden cameras, Louie Psihoyos' riveting doc (an Oscar winner this year) uncovered the annual slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan.

The United States' Office of War Information commissioned this series of seven propaganda films from Hollywood filmmaker Frank Capra, who frequently used and recontextualized clips

Everett Collection

The Invisible War (2012)

PBS

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The Weinstein Company/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock

Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock | Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ate only McDonald’s for a month and gained 25 lbs. The fast-food chain has since canceled the Super Size option and added

Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore

Blackfish

Manny O Prods./Kobal/REX/Shutterstock

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Hbo/Wow/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock

13THCredit: Netflix

Netflix