Filmsane

Happy 4th of July Americans. Happy Independence Day ya’ll. I truly hope you have a great holiday and enjoy this day.

I’m not an American, so let me tell you what this day means from a outsider’s perspective. What it means to me… a white Eastern-European woman that has never set foot in the USA. A non-American if you will.

It means watching a shit load of Independence Day themed movies. Yes they are watched „on the other side of the pond“ too, because… Hollywood.  You see, the Independence Day themed movies are the expression of you patriotism. And you made that abundantly clear in every single one of the movies how proud you are to be Americans. Really clear.

Furthermore, regardless if it’s a historical drama (The Patriot), sports drama celebrating an important victory (Miracle) or just plain alien SF movie (like 1996 Independence Day), the movies depicting this day has been filled with images of your patriotism, resilience and continuing global domination. Weather it’s the economy, military or just expressing the American dream as a ethos and concept of living, all of the movies generally have a hero and a happy ending.

And as a 90’s child coming from a war torn Balkan Peninsula, I find that fascinating. So in honor of USA’s birthday aka the Independence day, I want to share my pick for the best movies celebrating this day. Hope you like them.

Independence Day -1996

Director: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch…
Independence Day focuses on disparate groups of people who converge in the Nevada desert in the aftermath of a worldwide attack by an extraterrestrial race of unknown origin. Along with the rest of the world, they launch a last-ditch counterattack on July 4 – Independence Day in the United States.

National Treasure- 2004

Director: Jon Turteltaub
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Harvey Keitel, Jon Voight, Diane Kruger…
Nicholas Cage plays Benjamin Franklin Gates, a historian and amateur cryptologist searching for a lost treasure. A coded map on the back of the Declaration of Independence points to the location of the “national treasure”, but Gates is not alone in his quest. Whoever can steal the Declaration and decode it first will find the greatest treasure in history.

Miracle- 2004

Director: Gavin O’Connor
Starring: Kurt Russell, Patricia Clarkson, Noah Emmerich…
Inspiring sports docudrama about the United States men’s hockey team, led by head coach Herb Brooks, that won the gold medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics.

The Patriot- 2000

Director: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Jason Isaacs, Joely Richardson, Chris Cooper…
The Patriot depicts the story of an American swept into the American Revolutionary War when his family is threatened.

Captain America: The First Avenger- 2011

Director: Joe Johnston
Starring: Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan…
Set predominantly during World War II, Captain America: The First Avenger tells the story of Steve Rogers, a sickly man from Brooklyn who is transformed into super-soldier Captain America. He must stop the Red Skull, who intends to use an artifact called the “Tesseract” as an energy-source for world domination.