Patriotic Movies

From the News-Gazette:
"Frank's Faves:Star-spangled movies"

 

What do you do after the last firework fades this July 4th? Glad you asked ... Americans love celebrating our independence with plenty of rockets' red glare and bombs bursting in air — which, coincidentally, is also how we like our movies. So what better way to wind up all the red, white and blue festivities than with a patriotic movie (or five) on the living room TV?

 

"Independence Day" (1996) — There's nothing remotely serious about this sci-fi actioner about an alien invasion that turns several of the world's best-known landmarks into special-effects rubble, and thereby inspires U.S. President Bill Pullman to climb into a fighter cockpit and lead the attack to save the day. Perhaps even sillier than the speech he delivers first ("Today ... we celebrate our Independence Day!") is that the leader of the free world still has to depend on the likes of Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum and Randy Quaid to pull it off. With a sequel in the works for 2016, "ID" is still a lot of bang — and fun — for your buck.

 

"Patriot" (2000) — Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger prove that getting serious about American independence doesn't necessarily require historical accuracy. Still a well-acted, flag-waving blast.

 

"1776" (1972) — And speaking of taking liberties with the Sons of Liberty, this film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical comedy stars William Daniels as John Adams, Howard Da Silva as Ben Franklin, and Ken Howard as Thomas Jefferson. The tunes are fairly forgettable, but you can't beat a movie that depicts our Founding Fathers breaking into a song and dance. Or, if you prefer a musical you can sing — and strut — along with, try "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1942) with James Cagney as George M. Cohan.

 

"National Treasure" (2004) — Director Jon Turteltaub has fun with U.S. history conspiracy theories in this shameless yet irresistible Indiana Jones/"Da Vinci Code" rip-off starring Nicolas Cage as a historian who swipes the Declaration of Independence to keep mercenary Sean Bean from using it to find the Founders' hidden stash of gold. And, perhaps, to pay off the national debt?

 

"Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939) — Frank Capra's classic about a naive but patriotic man (James Stewart) who refuses to back down in the face of political corruption never gets old. Nor does his climactic speech: "Liberty's too precious a thing to be buried in books. ... Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say: 'I'm free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't, I can, and my children will.' "

 

 

^ I like watching patriotic movies and have seen all five of these ones (I didn't care for "National Treasure" though. All the rest were good. ^

 

http://www.news-gazette.com/arts-entertainment/local/2015-07-02/franks-favesstar-spangled-movies.html