Courtesy: Instagram
The Fourth of July inspires plenty of movie scenes but few full movies. That turns out to work in your favor. Since almost any film about American life fits the occasion, the options run far wider than the usual holiday standbys. So skip the tenth rewatch of Independence Day, even as it turns 30 this year. Netflix currently streams a surprising range of films that explore what being American means. Here are eight of them, ordered by release year.
1. American Graffiti (1973)
George Lucas made this before Star Wars, and it remains one of his best. The film follows a group of teenagers cruising their town over one warm summer night in the early 1960s. Technically it leans closer to Labor Day than July 4. Still, few movies better capture the feeling of a summer evening spent driving around with friends.
2. Rocky (1976) and Creed (2015)
Every Rocky and Creed film currently streams on Netflix. Many viewers reach for Rocky IV and its Cold War showdown as their patriotic pick. The smarter move pairs the original Rocky with Creed instead. The first is an underdog story, a love story and a character study all at once. The second follows Apollo Creed’s overlooked son, played by an electric Michael B. Jordan, with Sylvester Stallone doing some of his finest work. Both unfold in Philadelphia, home of the Liberty Bell, which makes the double feature feel even more fitting.
3. The Big Lebowski (1998) and Burn After Reading (2008)
Joel and Ethan Coen released these two distinctly American comedies a decade apart. The first sends a laid back stoner, played by Jeff Bridges, stumbling through a Gulf War era mystery. The second tangles bumbling government agents, plus Brad Pitt and George Clooney playing fools, in a web of mishaps. One is warm and shaggy while the other is sharp and cynical. Watch whichever fits your mood, or run both for the full picture of the country at its best and silliest.
4. Da 5 Bloods (2020)
Spike Lee delivered one of his most ambitious films with this story of Black veterans returning to Vietnam. The group goes back to honor a fallen comrade and possibly recover buried gold. Delroy Lindo anchors the film with a towering performance many felt deserved an Oscar nomination. The result captures the Black experience of the war and the decades that followed.
5. Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood (2022)
Richard Linklater uses rotoscoped animation and Jack Black’s narration to revisit the 1969 moon landing. The story unfolds through the imagination of a 10 year old boy in the Texas suburbs. Light on plot but heavy on charm, it doubles as a family friendly entry point to Linklater’s work.
6. Nope (2022)
Jordan Peele followed Get Out with something stranger and more sprawling. Two siblings running a Hollywood animal business encounter something inexplicable in the California sky. Beneath the alien mystery sits a sly commentary on the American summer blockbuster itself. The mix of humor, dread and spectacle confirms Peele as one of the country’s great genre filmmakers.
The best part about every film here is simple. Each one plays just as well on July 5 as it does on the holiday itself.
Story credit: DECIDER
About the Author
