30 Absurdly Patriotic Movies to Watch Online This Independence Day
Raise a glass, America! Today is the Fourth of July—and not just any Fourth of July, but the 250th anniversary of Independence Day. Why not celebrate with a grand, ultra-violent action movie that showcases the explosive spirit of the country we all supposedly love?
Patriotism means a lot of things to a lot of people, and these films, bless them, at least try to embody those shining American ideals, albeit with varying success and some, er, different ideas about what it means to love your country. They all have at least one thing in common: explosions. Lots of explosions. Regardless of where these films fall on the American political spectrum, they all largely agree on the idea that rugged individualism should be backed by heavy-duty firepower. These are films that don’t just say, “America!” they say, “America? Hell yeah!”
Air Force One (1997)
In the pantheon of cool movie presidents, Harrison Ford’s James Marshall holds a special place. The premise is quite compelling: Marshall barely makes a public and unambiguous statement that the US government will not negotiate with terrorists when a group of terrorists hijacks Air Force One and threatens the hostages, including the First Family. The villains think the president has been thrown out of the plane, but he’s actually hiding in the cargo hold, leaving him with only one option: throw them off his plane! (Electing a president is certainly tough, but I’d probably vote for him.) Rent “Air Force One” on Prime Video .
The Green Berets (1968)
John Wayne, best known for his work as an actor and draft dodger during World War II, takes the director’s chair on this film, a picture he passionately conceived to make to counter the anti-war sentiment of cowardly scumbags increasingly disillusioned with America’s role in Vietnam. David Janssen plays a reporter troubled by the conflict, at least until he finds himself entangled with the fictional Colonel Beckworth, played by Wayne. At that point, we’re whisked away with them to the heart of the Vietnam War and discover that the conflict isn’t complicated at all. It’s more of a Starship Troopers- style battle between the good guys (the Americans) and the bad guys (the Vietnamese communists, led by a young, decidedly non-Vietnamese man, George Takei). The bad guys don’t deserve our mercy or a fair trial, so it’s better to just shoot a lot of them. The film performed well at the box office, but was almost universally panned by critics. Rent “The Green Berets” on Prime Video.
Independence Day (1996)
Silly aliens. Are you really going to blow up the White House just a couple of days before Independence Day and expect America to forgive you? The aliens certainly didn’t count on a cast of American rebels, including Marine pilot Will Smith, Gulf War veteran President Bill Pullman, techie Jeff Goldblum, alcoholic oddball Randy Quaid, and Mr. Data from Star Trek , to stand up for our freedom to crack stupid jokes. The film was such a huge success that it kicked off a major disaster movie renaissance in the mid-1990s, but none have ever surpassed it for sheer fun or spectacle. (That includes the sequel, released 20 years later, with the exception of Will Smith .) Watch Independence Day on Hulu.
Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
Director Antoine Fuqua, who occasionally delivers a fine performance, directs this somewhat cheap-looking take on Die Hard set in the White House. Gerard Butler plays a disgraced former Secret Service agent who becomes the only one who can save the president (and the country) from terrorists. A superb cast (Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, and Angela Bassett) elevates this brutal, mediocre, but thoroughly entertaining action film. Watch Olympus Has Fallen on Prime Video.
American Sniper (2014)
Anyone old enough to remember the Iraq War of the early 2000s knows one thing: it was a perfectly straightforward conflict in which a noble American administration put an end to the looming and very real threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). To tell this story, director Clint Eastwood naturally chose the memoir of U.S. Navy sniper Chris Kyle, a decorated soldier who, admittedly, wasn’t as decorated as he always claimed, and whose unprovable or easily disproven stories (including one about saving New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina by executing dozens of looters) got his publishers into legal trouble. The Iraq portion of the film opens with Kyle (Bradley Cooper) shooting a woman and her small child to stop them from throwing grenades at their comrades; He feels guilty, and this is perhaps the most subtle aspect of American Sniper’s portrayal of good and evil in war—even as the film convincingly depicts the devastating physical and psychological toll war takes on the soldiers involved. Rent American Sniper on Prime Video .
Under Siege (1992)
The battleship Missouri (the third US Navy ship of that name) had a long and illustrious career before being towed to Pearl Harbor and converted into a memorial. It has also held a prominent (if eclectic) place in pop culture: among other appearances, it was prominently featured in the 2012 film Battleship (more on that in a moment) and was the setting for Cher’s slightly risqué music video for “If I Could Turn Back Time.” But perhaps its most prominent screen time was in this 1992 film starring Steven Seagal. Mirroring the ship’s true history, President George H.W. Bush decommissions it (true) just in time for terrorists led by Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey to hijack it for nefarious purposes (less true). Only Seagal, playing the plucky ship’s cook, can stop them (completely false). Watch Under Siege on Prime Video .
Gabriel Over the White House (1933)
Perhaps a little fascism as a bonus. Walter Huston plays the charming but utterly ineffective President Judd Hammond—more than content to quietly toil in his post, doing little for a country engulfed in the Great Depression. Everything changes when he gets into a car accident and perhaps converses with an actual angel on his deathbed. The angel’s message is clear: take the bull by the horns, buddy, and fix this country! He dismisses his cabinet, adjourns Congress, orders the execution of a gangster, and threatens to send the US Army to attack every country on the planet unless they… make peace, or something. The film makes it clear that we’re supposed to see Hammond as a good-natured but wise and sober father figure; he’ll do whatever it takes to drain this swamp, and he’ll do it with the full support of a grateful nation, Jesus, and various angels. Rent Gabriel Over the White House on Prime Video.
White House Down (2013)
Given that the footage of the modern White House depicts massive piles of rubble, the film’s title takes on added poignancy—but let’s return to a more innocent time, shall we? Director Roland Emmerich makes his second appearance on this list, and it won’t be his last. Following the president’s (Jamie Foxx) attempts to bring peace to the Middle East, a group of white supremacists led by James Woods launches an attack on Capitol Hill (can you imagine), trapping Washington. Luckily, Marine veteran, Capitol Police officer, and T-shirt star Channing Tatum is on the scene as Woods and his team attempt to kidnap the president and seize the White House to start a nuclear war with Iran for revenge or something similar. It’s a very solid action movie, but we didn’t come here for the plot: we came for the explosions and Channing Tatum’s ever-shrinking wardrobe. Watch White House Down on Hulu or rent it on Prime Video .
Street Fighter (1994)
Yes, Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Guile technically works for the Allied Nations, not the US Air Force (as in the video games), and yes, he speaks with a barely understandable Belgian accent throughout the film. However, by the time the camera zooms in on his bicep, complete with an American flag tattoo, during the climactic showdown with Raul Julia, it’s clear that Guile is 100% a true American hero. Rent Street Fighter on Prime Video.
Gymkata (1985)
American Olympic champion Kurt Thomas stars in this 1985 film directed by Robert Close, best known for Enter the Dragon . Thomas plays Jonathan Cabot, who is tasked by American intelligence to infiltrate the secluded nation of Parmistan. The country holds an annual “Game,” and the winner is granted a wish. The Americans hope Cabot will participate and win, which will grant him his wish: the establishment of an American satellite surveillance station in Parmistan. To help him, he is trained in the unparalleled art of gymnastics (“The thrill of gymnastics! The murder of karate!”), which he will need to defeat anti-American terrorists, win the heart of the country’s princess, and obtain the satellite surveillance station we’ve always dreamed of. Rent “Gymkata” on Prime Video.
Battleship (2012)
You might not have imagined that the relatively simple premise of a beloved Hasbro board game would be enough material for a movie. And you’d be absolutely right—they really did have to start practically from scratch to craft an alien-themed story from this non-alien-related strategy guessing game. While Taylor Kitsch serves on the USS John Paul Jones and Alexander Skarsgård commands the Sampson , alien spaceships from “Planet G” threaten the world—or more specifically, the waters around Oahu. There’s a nod to the game mechanics when the combined Japanese and American forces realize they can track the invading warships using tsunami warning buoys, but it’s mostly just an excuse for Transformers -style naval battles. Watch “Battleship” on Prime Video .
Rambo III (1988)
Rocky and Rambo , two beloved Sylvester Stallone franchises, had similar trajectories: each begins on a relatively delicate and thoughtful note, but by the mid-1980s, under the energetic Reagan administration, subtlety fades into the background. The first installment of the Rambo series, First Blood , explored the post-traumatic stress of the Vietnam War, while the second installment finds Rambo searching for forgotten prisoners of war. In the third, he travels to Afghanistan to rescue an old friend and, in doing so, takes sides in the protracted conflict between the Soviet Union and Afghan mujahideen rebels, blasting his way through Soviet troops with a machine gun and a grenade launcher and setting a record for body counts (literally! Guinness World Records named it the most violent film of all time in 1990). This wasn’t just fantasy—support for Afghan militant groups was a central element of US anti-Soviet plans for over a decade; in a way, this is Stallone bringing dry public policy to life for children, who role-play American imperialism through toys, comics, and video games based on the film. (And yes, okay, many of those Afghan militants later formed the core of what became the Taliban—so that element hasn’t held up very well over time. But the moment when Rambo blows up a helicopter with a bow is a classic, so it all balances out. Right?) Watch “Rambo III” on Peacock or rent it on Prime Video .
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
James Stewart plays Jefferson Smith, a newly appointed senator whose naiveté first proves a weakness and then becomes the foundation of the ideals that keep him from becoming just another corrupt politician. It might seem out of place to include this sweet, inspiring comedy-drama in the same breath as films like Rambo , but the central idea of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington —that one good, old-fashioned American can clean up an entire corrupt system by standing up for his beliefs—feels less like a charming ideal than a sad reminder of the near impossibility of achieving anything. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is available to rent on Prime Video.
Rocky IV (1985)
The first Rocky films were good on various levels, but by the third film, the formula had become stale, so the fourth took a risk, emphasizing over-the-top (not to be confused with “Over the Top “) patriotism, and it paid off handsomely, raking in the biggest box office receipts of the series. After boxer Ivan Drago (future He-Man Dolph Lundgren) literally kills Apollo Creed in front of the entire Soviet Union, Rocky’s rugged individualism spirals out of control, forcing Drago to agree to an unsanctioned fight in the USSR. It’s all depicted in a magnificent, unforgettable training montage: while Drago has a whole team, modern equipment, and the best steroids communism had to offer, Rocky does everything the old-fashioned way: chopping down trees and pretending to be a dog pulling Paulie on a sled. Like a real man. Without revealing all the details, I’ll say that in the finale, Rocky wins the hearts of the Soviet public and receives applause from Premier Mikhail Gorbachev himself. That’s the story of the fall of communism. Watch “Rocky IV” on Netflix or rent it on Prime Video .
Miracle (2004)
As several Rocky films demonstrated, the best way to defeat the Soviet Union and the insidious threat of communism was through sports. (If the choice was between sports and global thermonuclear war… yes, let’s choose sports.) Miracle on Ice tells the roughly true story of the victory that became known as the “Miracle on Ice,” when Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) and the U.S. men’s ice hockey team defeated the heavy-hitters—the Soviet Union—at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, thereby ending the Cold War forever and ushering in an era of peace with the USSR. The film doesn’t break new ground in terms of inspiring sports storytelling, but it is effective in evoking nostalgia and inspiring inspiration.Watch Miracle on Ice on Netflix or rent it on Prime Video .
Missing in Action (1984)
Produced concurrently with Rambo: First Blood Part II , Missing in Action was arguably the second most successful film of the 1980s to address the issue of potential POW/MIA cases in Southeast Asia (though they weren’t the only two). In the film, Chuck Norris travels to Vietnam to investigate reports of American soldiers remaining in captivity. He finds them, and then fights his way to freedom. Addressing the fate of missing servicemen was a major issue in the 1980s (and rightfully so), but it’s unclear whether these popular action films helped raise awareness or simply satiated a thirst for revenge. Missing in Action is available to stream on MGM+ or purchase on Prime Video .
Die Hard 4 (2007)
Like any decent action franchise, the Die Hard movies get bigger, louder, and more ridiculous as they go—and that’s certainly the case with Die Hard: Live Free or Die , which finds everyday ex-cop John McClane in superhero territory. But it’s actually a fair balance between the earlier, (slightly) more realistic films and the over-the-top (and rather horrific) fifth installment. In this film, America’s entire cyber infrastructure is under threat from a vengeful Timothy Olyphant, and since the villain controls the computers, McClane will have to stop him the old-fashioned way —guns and all. This movie gets a middling “Yay, America!” rating, but a million extra points for the very clever pun in the title. Watch Die Hard: Live Free or Die on Hulu.
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Despite being an incredibly blunt metaphor for American military might, Captain America is pretty badass. He’s not as badass in the movies as he is in the comics, where he started his career by punching Hitler square in the jaw, but there’s still enough Nazi action to lighten the mood. Considering the generally subdued tone of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that’s probably the best thing to say. Watch Captain America: The First Avenger on Disney+ and Hulu , or rent it on Prime Video .
How the West Was Won (1962)
This sprawling, slightly ridiculous epic is stunning in every way: five directors, a huge Hollywood cast (Spencer Tracy, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Debbie Reynolds, and others), and a three-lens Cinerama projected onto a massive curved screen. It’s also epic in its time span, beginning in 1839 and continuing through the next half-century. It’s a funny yet down-to-earth look at the American West, presenting it as a series of simple trials and tribulations for white settlers rather than a murky, complex, and brutal series of conquests of indigenous peoples. Watch How the West Was Won on Prime Video.
Red Dawn (1984)
Red Dawn , the pinnacle of the “the Communists are coming!” action subgenre, has become such a cult classic that it even received a post-Soviet remake set during the North Korean invasion . The original builds on the relatively simple premise of ” Rambo , but with teenagers”—it’s the perfect suburban fantasy, simultaneously timeless and very ’80s. A foreign army has invaded, the government has collapsed, and only you and your friends can stop them! It’s all done with incredible seriousness, which only helps sell the idea (and enhance the kitsch effect). Watch Red Dawn on AMC+ .
Invasion USA (1985)
This Chuck Norris movie begins with a deception: a boatload of Cuban refugees is met by friendly American Coast Guard… except it’s not the Coast Guard, but Latin American communists who kill them for smuggling cocaine. Once on the mainland, the guerrillas team up with Soviet agents to plan attacks across America (because: there are reasons). Naturally, when they blow up Chuck Norris’s house, they realize they’ve picked the wrong man. Norris intended this film to be a propaganda piece about a real and present threat, but I’m not sure that political and social messages are ever a reason to watch a Chuck Norris movie. Watch “Invasion U.S.A.” on Prime Video .
National Treasure (2004)
For generations, members of Benjamin Franklin Gates’ family have passed down a secret—apparently, there’s a vast treasure hidden away by the profligate businessmen who ran the country around 1776. This fact was revealed to an ancestor of (real-life) founder Charles Carroll. (We’re assured that this accumulated wealth was passed down through generations of ancient empires and had absolutely nothing to do with the approximately 1,000 enslaved people Carroll kept in his employ.) Historian Ben, played by true national treasure Nicolas Cage, realizes that printed on the back of the Declaration of Independence is a treasure map of sorts! Which he’ll have to steal! It’s a thrilling journey through something vaguely resembling American history. Watch National Treasure on Hulu or rent it on Prime Video .
300 (2007)
We love the Spartans. We do! There’s even a name for it: Laconophilia. So, even though Zack Snyder’s 300 (based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley) is set more than 2,000 years before the founding of the United States, it reads like a quintessentially American, Western-leaning fantasy about a righteous fight to the bitter end. Set in the midst of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s hard not to see the allegorical significance of the East-West confrontation. In real life (perhaps surprisingly), it was the Spartan constitution and mixed government that most influenced the framers of the US Constitution, not bulging pectorals: that ancient country typically had two kings, one balancing the power of the other; The tsars ruled primarily in military matters, while the National Assembly and two elected legislative bodies made all day-to-day decisions and could usually overrule one or both tsars. Today, however, what we love most is that they’re in great shape and won’t let anyone take their weapons. Rent “300” on Prime Video.
Top Gun (1986)
In real life and on film, the Navy’s TOPGUN pilot program is for the best of the best and, presumably, for those with a need for speed. While the film is heavily fictional, it pays homage to naval aviators in its story of “Maverick” (Tom Cruise) training and hanging out with flight instructor Kelly McGillis ( and his sweaty fellow pilots ). It’s not only a fun Independence Day movie, but also a nice introduction to the long-awaited , unfortunately less gay, but Best Picture-nominated sequel (!). Watch “Top Gun” on Paramount+ or rent it on Prime Video .
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Quentin Tarantino wryly crafts a brutal alternate history fantasy about competing plots to assassinate Hitler. Tarantino’s films possess a level of prestige (and star power) that the films he homages can’t match, yet they still echo classic exploitation films, which depicted righteous victories under more complex real-life circumstances. Here, a Jewish group of American soldiers pursues the Führer, leading to a surprising climax. Watch Inglourious Basterds on Peacock .
Commando (1985)
One of the iconic figures of the 1980s American action film was, oddly enough, an Austrian bodybuilder. Yes, before proving his American credentials by becoming governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger often played American soldier superheroes. And also Conan. Here, he plays a retired Special Forces colonel whose daughter is kidnapped by a Latin American dictator, played, oddly enough, by Dan Hedaya. It’s no big spoiler to say that Hedaya’s President Arius will come to regret it. Watch “Commando” on Prime Video.
Uncle Sam (1996)
Horror’s most hard-working (and lovingly so) screenwriter, the (sometimes) great Larry Cohen, penned this Independence Day slasher, attempting to fill a niche in the horror genre by creating a memorable villain based on a holiday largely ignored in the genre. For ten to twenty minutes, this story of an American soldier in Kuwait, killed by friendly fire, who returns for revenge, seems poised to lean heavily on anti-war and anti-militarist themes. But all of that quickly fades when our bloodthirsty staff sergeant begins murdering everyone, regardless of their beliefs or political views. Watch “Uncle Sam” on Prime Video , Tubi, and Shudder.
Patriot (2000)
Roland Emmerich’s career typically oscillates between spectacular action films ( Independence Day ) and more thoughtful Shakespearean dramas ( Anonymous ). The Patriot falls somewhere in the middle, taking an emotional action movie approach to the Revolutionary War—Mel Gibson’s fictional Benjamin Martin becomes embroiled in the fight against the British, forming a guerrilla force to try to reclaim his captured son. The film happily skirts around ugly historical realities, including portraying slave owners as egalitarians, but no more than a typical American history textbook. The key moment here, perhaps, is the scene in which Benjamin uses a flag as an actual weapon, ultimately impaling a horse on a flagpole (it’s a British horse, so that’s okay). Rent The Patriot on Prime Video .
Invasion of the USA (1952)
No, we haven’t done that yet: this is a classic 1952 Red Scare film, completely unrelated to the Chuck Norris movie, though they share the same leitmotif of communist invasion. It features a group of weaklings in a bar discussing the reasons why they wouldn’t sign up to fight against the communists: a manufacturer believes tractors are more profitable than tanks; a cattle baron complains about high taxes; a model laments how wartime work has ruined her hands. Well, I’ll tell you, comrade, they’re in for a big surprise when they hear on TV that Alaska has just been nuked by the Russians. Rent “Invasion, U.S.A.” on Prime Video .
G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987)
Joe isn’t as successful or as well-remembered as the animated Transformers film, which came out around the same time. It pits the team against Cobra’s predecessor, an ancient race of snake-men known as Cobra-la, and their new leader, Golobulus. Instead of watching all that, you could probably just watch the opening sequence (which might have turned me gay): a celebration of American warriors (and one woman!), combining bazookas, glitter, aerial acrobatics, and extended shots of private parts in a musical spectacle that, in my opinion, is unrivaled in the history of patriotic cinema. Watch G.I. Joe: The Movie on Prime Video .