1. The Patriot– A South Carolina farmer and French-Indian war vet haunted by his past wants no part of the Revolutionary War, at least until one of his sons is taken by the a British colonel. Based very loosely on history and tightly on American ideals of simple people fighting for their family, Roland Emmerich directs one film that actually works to build American landmarks instead of destroying them. Patriotic spirit, Mel Gibson, history, farming, a father’s love and a very sharp Heath Ledger make this actioner about as American as it gets.
2. National Treasure– In order to uncover a not-so-historically accurate hidden treasure by a secret society during our country’s foundation, Nicholas Cage must steal the Declaration of Independence, humiliate politicians, blow things up, drive fast cars and deface endless amounts of national landmarks in order to obtain a great chunk of wealth before his evil financial backer is able to. There is history (mostly fake), landmarks, explosions and family fun for everyone, making it a great substitute for fireworks and family cookouts.
3. 300– It might not be the most entertaining thing to watch on the holiday, but if you are looking for an essential patriotic movie (even more so than The Patriot) then 300 is an essential film. One King, avoiding going against the wishes of the Gods and the moral conduct of his country, takes 300 close body guards to out to defend their nation against thousands of Asian invaders. Bring in heroism, liberty, fighting against corruption and introduction to the senate and democracy and things start to sound really pro-Bush. It doesn’t get any more American than that.
4. Gran Torino-Clint Eastwood director, Clint Eastwood actor, Clint Eastwood American Hero. The fully embodies old America, the racist, ignorant, working class, veteran, white, car and gun loving, blue collar man is put through a cross cultural experience that brings him to the recent age where he must embrace open-mindedness, new cultures, love, peace and new friendships to survive in the 21st century America. Add cool cars, Clint Eastwood being a hardass and a lot of racist humor.
5. Independence Day-Does it really get any more Independence Day-y with Will Smith saving the world? Scratch that, a working class U.S. soldier who saves the whole world from alien invasion. Politicians look stupid, America prevails, other worlds lose, shit gets blown up and the movie is even called Independence Day.
CyniCritics 
Nice selection of 4th of July movies. I was going to post a 10 movies for the 4th of July post but I just gave up on it. Some that were on my list:
– Glory and Saving Private Ryan: To recognize the sacrifice of our military
– The Pursuit of Happyness: A solid representation of the American dream that allows us to strive for a better life each day
– The Sandlot: A celebration of the “traditional” American childhood
Thanks. Those are some pretty good selections as well. You kind of had the same approach with the film selection. Saving Private Ryan and Flags of Our Fathers and some other war ones would have made the list, but I didn’t want to get it too gory and depressing for the more “festive” nature of the holiday.
He..he.. can’t have 4th of July without ID-4. I haven’t seen The Patriot and Gran Torino, but hard to argue with your write-up. ‘300’ not entertaining on a holiday? Says who?? 🙂 But yeah, it’s patriotic to the extreme, and anyway you look at it, Xerxes IS the ‘axis of evil’ that has to be defeated. Points for putting that regal-looking pic of Leonidas, instead of the ubiquitous photo of him screaming 🙂
I actually think Grand Torino is one of the best films Clint has ever done. It’s so relevant, brilliantly paced, and has the best ending of any film made during the last decade. National Treasure is definitely entertaining – it’s a lot better than The Da Vinci Code – but I thought the sequel was terrible.
Yeah, it was pretty bad. The first one was entertaining enough to let pass. Hopefully we won’t get a third, but you never know with Disney.
I was actually just thinking of Gran Torino only yesterday. The acting is spot on, it really is. It’s one of those ones that should have received even more recognition by the public.
300 is definitely worth choosing just for the way it looks.
Yeah, getting virtually snubbed at the Oscars was crap. At least a few technical awards were in order.