What better way to celebrate our country’s 247th year than with a cookout amongst friends, complete with a cold beverage and a nice hot dog or two?
Or you could blow some stuff up with fireworks. Or, preferably, you could watch someone pretend to blow stuff up in a movie.
If there’s one thing Americans know how to do well, it’s make big-budget blockbusters with pithy catchphrases, huge explosions and tremendous action that will explode off the screen. And there’s nothing quite like an alien invasion to exemplify everything great about that genre of movie.
Sure, it might not actually have much to do with America’s true birth story — we’ll get to that later, but if you can’t appreciate Will Smith punching aliens while Jeff Goldblum saves the world by doing Jeff Goldblum things, well, then you’re probably doing it wrong.
In honor of July 4, this week’s “Spoiler Alert” takes a look at some of the best flicks Hollywood has to offer when it comes to celebrating America’s birth. Let’s get to it.
Independence Day
Admit it, if Bill Pullman‘s speech comes on while you’re watching TV, you’re not changing the channel. If Bill Pullman asked you to do anything, you’d strongly consider. (In fact, to celebrate the holiday, some comedian went around and recited the speech in a bunch of different places around New York. Pretty funny stuff.)
There are just so many awesome things in this movie that kind of get you feeling nostalgic, because I think today’s audiences would tear it apart on Twitter for its absurdity. That’s kind of a shame, because this movie has a good heart. In any case, I’ll still enjoy every goofy catchphrase when I watch it again for the millionth time.
The Patriot
Not enough movies are made about the Revolutionary War, if you ask me. Maybe I’m biased because the minutemen marched past my old neighborhood every Patriots Day during re-enactments, but isn’t there a market out there for this kind of stuff? What’s the holdup — are replica muskets expensive? Are powdered wigs? Fake cannons?
Whatever the cost, I’m predicting a run on historical fiction in the next few years. It worked for Abraham Lincoln, after all.
Born on the Fourth of July
The title is a little misleading to the plot of this one, but it’s still a classic. Sure, it’s kind of odd to think of this 1989 version of Tom Cruise having any idea what to do with the modern day version’s problems, but Oliver Stone knew what he was doing. Not sure if the same can be said for Cruise, but hey, if that mustache was real, more power to him.
The Sandlot
One of the best baseball movies of all time, one of the most perfect scenes and some old-fashioned American fun.
Take it away, Ray Charles. Happy Fourth of July.
Thumbnail photo via Facebook/Independence Day
