Hollywood’s Best When It Comes to the Fourth of July

Happy Birthday America! Hollywood has done a legendary job creating movies for the silver screen that make us burs tight pride and inspiration. Here are a few of our favorite movies about the 4th of July or America’s greatness…

Although only a few years old, the Daniel Day-Lewis Academy award winning ‘Lincoln’ is one of the strongest and insightful movies ever made. Steven Spielberg pulls back the curtain on our of the country’s most critical times, where a president does whatever it takes to stop the enslavement of fellow human beings.

‘Born on the 4th of July’ starring Tom Cruise is not a feel good movie perse, in that it demonstrates how betrayal and sacrifice intersect in a tragic moment of shrapnel and sorrow.

‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’ with Jimmy Cagney from 1942 is the benchmark of Hollywood and love of country. In this biographical musical about Broadway writer and producer George M. Cohan, Jimmy Cagney sings and dances his way to multiple awards. This is a ‘must watch’ today.

‘American Graffiti’ which was written and directed by relatively unknown at the time George Lucas, breaking a few rules and introducing America to a new batch of stars. The 1973 film about one night in Modesto CA circa 1962, introduced the world to Harrison Ford, Suzanne Sommers, Richard Dreyfuss, Ronny Howard, Mackenzie Phillips, and Cindy Williams. Stop and think about that – each of these six unknown actors used this movie to launch their own careers. Thank you Mr. Lucas!

The 1996 film ‘Independence Day,’ starring Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, and more, hit home with ‘one for all’ emotion, as the world battles aliens set on sucking earths resources for itselves. The next in the installment of this theme just opened in theaters a few weeks ago.

Honorable mentions include ‘National Treasure’ with Nicholas Cage, the filmed musical ‘1776,’ early Denzel Washington and Mathew Broderick’s ‘Glory,’ Patrick Swayze’s ‘Red Dawn,’ Mel Gibson’s ‘The ‘Patriot,’ Sylvester Stallone’s original ‘Rocky,’ ‘Sargent York’ with icon Gary Cooper, and Saving Private Ryan’ the Tom Hanks classic.

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