Full disclosure: I’m not an American. Therefore, I don’t celebrate 4th of July the way you do. I watch movies and television shows that exemplify what America is to me.
I have spent my entire life watching American movies and TV shows and most of my adult life working for American companies based in my country. I have also been to your country and visited your capital. Alas, when I was there, the US Capitol dome was under repair. I spent most of my time in Washington D.C. going to the museums and recreating — in my head — some of my favorite The West Wing moments. We’ll get to that later.
So the list of movies and a few TV shows below say, “This is America,” to me. Make of that what you will.
Just kidding. I do explain it in my choice of movies and shows. I’ve listed them in order of, let’s say relevance, when I think about your country and everything I love about it.
Independence Day (1996)
Where to watch: Disney+, Hulu
Tomatometer: 68%; Audience Score: 75% | Worldwide: $817.4 million; Domestic opening: $50.2 million
To me, there is nothing more quintessentially American than this movie. I know they made a sequel and I watched it as well. But no. This is the one.
Obviously, there’s that iconic speech by President Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman), which I memorized after the movie came out. This was in the mid-90s when the internet already existed, but wasn’t as widely used. At least not in my country. There were also no streaming services yet so there was no way I could go on TV — an actual television set and not a smart one; we didn’t have those yet — and watch it again. So what to do?
In the ’90s, we had this thing called video rental stores. As soon as the movie was available, I rented the VHS tape of the movie. I actually had to search online if DVDs were already in use in the ’90s. Fun fact: they were not. Anyway, I was fortunate enough to have my own television in my room. However, the VHS player was in the living room. I had to remove the cables and the AC power cord, lug it to my room and then connect it to my TV — a CRT one. Then I take out the tape from its box, push it into the player and then fast forward to the speech part and play it over and over.
I don’t remember if my family’s VHS player had a remote control, but if it did, it must have gotten lost because I had to sit close to both the TV and the player just so I can rewind the tape and then hit pause then play again over and over to write down the speech. We have it so easy now.
Oh, here’s that iconic speech:
Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. “Mankind.” That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can’t be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it’s fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom… Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution… but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: “We will not go quietly into the night!” We will not vanish without a fight! We’re going to live on! We’re going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!
From this speech, by default, the entire world’s independence day became July 4. Very convenient of the aliens to attack on the same day as the US independence day.
While the critics may not have a lot of love for the movie, the audience did. In 1996, Independence Day was the highest grossing movie of the year. Twister came in second with only half of the worldwide box office numbers.
D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994)
Where to watch: Disney+
Tomatometer: 20%; Audience Score: 59%
I was born and raised in a tropical country. We do not have four seasons; just two: sunny and rainy. However, I know how to ice skate. I honestly believe that I learned just from watching The Mighty Ducks because the first time I stepped on an ice skating rink, I just… glided.
To be perfectly honest, I already knew how to rollerblade; it’s a transferable skill for me. But I learned how to rollerblade because I watched The Mighty Ducks.
So why did I choose the second movie instead of the first? Well, in D2, they’re not just The Mighty Ducks, they become Team USA, representing their country in the Junior Goodwill Games. In true American sports movie fashion, they fumble it at the start but come together in the end — because Ducks fly together.
It’s also the movie where I learned Iceland is pronounced in Icelandic as is-lant. The more you know.
Air Force One (1997)
Where to watch: AMC+; Disney+ in other countries
Tomatometer: Certified Fresh 79%; Audience Score: 66 | Worldwide: $315.15 million; Domestic opening: $37.1 million
Air Force one was the fifth highest grossing film of the year. In the year Titanic, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Men in Black and the James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies came out, it’s not a bad showing at all.
In hindsight, Gary Oldman’s Russian accent is hilarious. However, he made a convincing villain for me. For a lot of people — especially outside the US — this was the first time we ever saw the interior of Air Force One.
And before you can say it’s not real and that there’s no way the plane in the movie bears any close resemblance to the actual Air Force One, that’s not true. When they made the movie, the production team was given access to the real-life Air Force One… after star Harrison Ford made a phone call to the White House.
When President Bill Clinton saw the film, he pointed out that the real Air Force One didn’t have a parachute ramp or escape pods like the ones in the movie. Which I think is quite an oversight, and so did director Wolfgang Petersen.
According to online polls conducted almost every presidential election for the best fictional US president, Ford’s President James Marshall always makes the top three. The other two candidates come two others on this list: Pullman’s President Whitmore and my other pick, Martin Sheen’s President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet.
Hamilton (2015 on stage; 2020 on screen)
Where to watch: Disney+
Hamilton was definitely a cultural reset — not just in the US but around the world, as well. In fact, even though the musical deals with the life of a then-lesser-known American historical figure, Alexander Hamilton (you sang that in your head as you read it, didn’t you?), the stage play not only has North American and West End productions as is common, it has reached Australia, Germany (the only non-English language production) and even made its Asian premiere in the Philippines last year.
When Hamilton first had its off-Broadway engagement at The Public Theater, it was sold out. When it opened on Broadway, its advance ticket sales reached almost $30 million before it officially opened. In November 2016, the musical set a Broadway box office record for the highest gross in just one week in New York City at $3.3 million for an eight-performance week.
Hamilton also won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2017. In the same year, it received a record-breaking 16 nominations at the 70th Tony Awards and won 11, including Best Musical.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, who originated the titular role and wrote the musical book, first performed what would become the song Alexander Hamilton, at the White House Poetry Jam in 2009. When the main cast was invited to the White House to perform in 2016, President Barack Obama’s last year in office, he told the audience present that Miranda owed him and recounted the events perform the playwright’s performance seven years ago.
“… he announced that he and his musical collaborator, Alex Lacamoire, that they were going to perform a song from a hip-hop album they were working on — and I’m quoting him, ‘about the life of somebody who embodies hip-hop – Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton,” Obama said to the assembly.
“Having said that, not to take undue credit or anything, but this is definitely ‘the room where it happened,’ right here,” he added, using one of the most popular songs in the musical.
So yeah, I definitely recommend watching Hamilton this fourth of July weekend, to remind yourselves that just like your country, you’re still young, scrappy and hungry — in the best way possible.
The West Wing (1999-2006)
Where to watch: Apple TV+, Max, Prime Video
Everything I know about the US government worked, I learned from The West Wing. Everything I know about US elections — especially the electoral collage and how you count the votes — I learned from The West Wing. I’ve seen every single episode and I’ve rewatched several times.
You see, your way of government and politics have become the blueprint of many democracies around the world, including mine. However, when it comes to elections, that’s where your country and mine differ. For one, we don’t have a two-party system. Anyone can run for presidency, without the need of a party. For another, we don’t have an electoral college. Since The West Wing has gone off air in 2006, I’ve tried following your elections and understand the seemingly complicated math of tallying the popular votes vs. those of the electoral college.
All that, I learned from The West Wing. That, and knowing how to do the walk-and-talk as if you’re so very busy and so very important. It’s a little disappointing to read about how one of its stars, Rob Lowe who played deputy communications director Sam Seaborn, had a miserable time during his run on the show.
However, the show has been a big influence, including many of those who worked in the Obama administration. So much so that they even used one of the quirky plots in the West Wing that used to be obscure American history: the Big Block of Cheese Day. In 2014, in the spirit of Andrew Jackson (if you’re a West Wing fan, you heard John Spencer’s Leo McGarry say that) and the show, the Obama White House hosted a real version of it online. Like in the show, White House officials made themselves available to answer questions from regular Americans.
By the end of the show’s run in 2006, it had won 26 Emmys — the most in history for a drama series, tied with 1981’s Hill Street Blues — two Peabody Awards and three Golden Globes.
While most critics praise the show for its writing, particularly the snappy dialogue and witty banter, other thought the show was too unrealistically optimistic and sentimental. I agree, in the sense that I share most people’s cynicism when it comes to public officials. In this day and age (and even then), it’s hard to trust the government. However, I appreciate the idealism portrayed by The West Wing White House staffers.
I never watched the show to help me guide my way or even how I vote. I didn’t even use it as a standard when it comes to measuring politicians in general. What The West Wing was, and what it always will be to me, is a balm and an escape: the seemingly impossible ideal of people in office who just want to help and do the right thing.
National Treasure (2004)
Where to watch: Disney+
Tomatometer: 46%; Audience Score: 76% | Worldwide: $347.5 million; Domestic opening: $35.1 million
You don’t watch this movie to learn something about US history. You watch it because it’s fun. Turn off your fact-checking brain and just enjoy. Stop thinking whether something is historically accurate or not. If that’s what you’re looking for, watch a documentary.
No one who has ever watched the film thought that it would be possible for a two-man team to steal the Declaration of Independence. The fun part is knowing how impossible it is to pull of in real life, but being able to watch it happen anyway.
When I went to D.C. several years after I’d seen the movie, I went to the National Archives Museum for the sole purpose of seeing the Declaration of Independence. Just to see it for myself. And maybe I whispered to myself as I was walking away, “I’m going to steal the Declaration of Independence.”
Because that’s the magic of films. It makes you imagine that you could do stuff that you otherwise normally would never even think about. Or is that just me?
Top Gun (1986)
Where to Watch: Paramount+; Netflix in other countries
Tomatometer: 57%, Audience score: 83% | Worldwide: $357.3 million, Domestic opening: $8.2 million
Top Gun was the highest-grossing film in the US in 1986.
This is the only film on the main list that I hadn’t seen in cinemas when it was released. This is one of the first movies I saw on VHS tape. In fact, Top Gun is credited to have started the home video industry. Before, VHS tapes were priced so high — about $100 at release — and were mostly sold to video stores. However, for this movie it was priced to own after the tapes were released. Since then, the price of VHS tapes were lowered so people could buy them as soon as they were available.
But let’s get one thing out of the way: Yes, I know that the US Navy had prior approval of the film. Yes, I also know that this movie was the best recruitment video the government could have ever hoped to make.
And it really was because the US Navy set up recruiting booths outside the major theaters so they could catch some of the guys who were so pumped up from watching the movies and have them enlist. The result: they had the highest applications rate for years due to the Top Gun high — a 500% increase in recruits who wanted to apply to the aviation program.
That doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the action. Because if you like action movies — especially ’80s action movies which can be cringefests no matter how good — you’d appreciate this, too. And maybe, after you watched Top Gun you started thinking that you could land a plane if you had to. And then you shook yourself back to reality and bought aviators because it’s the closest thing you’ll look like a fighter pilot.
Honorable Mentions
in alphabetical order
A League of Their Own (1992)
Where to watch: Rent on Prime Video and Apple TV+
Tomatometer: Certified Fresh 81%, Audience Score: 84% | Worldwide: $132.4 million, Domestic opening: $13.7 million
Most memorable line: “There’s no crying in baseball.”
Apollo 13 (1995)
Where to watch: Rent on Prime Video
Tomatometer: Certified Fresh 96%, Audience Score: 97% | Worldwide: $355.2 million, Domestic opening: $25.35 million
The movie was the third highest-grossing film worldwide, coming after Die Hard with a Vengeance and Toy Story. So in 1995, Tom Hanks starred in the numbers two and three top earning films of the year.
Most memorable line: “Houston, we have a problem.”
Armageddon (1998)
Where to watch: Hulu, AMC, Roku; Disney+ in other countries
Tomatometer: 43%, Audience Score: 73; Worldwide: $553.7 million, Domestic opening: $36.1 million
The film, though critically panned, was the highest grossing film of 1998.
Most memorable line: “The United States government just asked us to save the world.”
Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
Where to watch: Netflix
Tomatometer: Certified Fresh 84%, Audience Score: 76%
The film achieved quite a feat when it reached number 10 at the worldwide box office in 1989, the same year Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Batman and Back to the Future Part II came out. It also won two Academy Awards, including Best Director for Oliver Stone. The man whose story the film is based on, Ron Kovic, gave his Bronze star to the actor who played him in the movie, Tom Cruise.
Most memorable line: “Innocence is what we had before we went to Vietnam, and what we lost there.”
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Where to watch: Disney+
Tomatometer: Certified Fresh 80%, Audience Score: 75% | Worldwide: $370.6 million, Domestic opening: $65 million
It’s all in the title, obviously I had to include this. While it did not earn the almost expected at the time eye-watering amounts at the box office, the movie did give us a good foundation for the leader of the Avengers, Captain Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), who would go on to be in the better rated and higher grossing subsequent films 2014’s The Winter Soldier (Certified Fresh 90%, worldwide box office gross of $714.4 million) and 2016’s Civil War (Certified Fresh at 90% and $1.16 billion at the global box office).
Most memorable line: “I could do this all day.”
Coming to America (1988)
Where to watch: Prime Video
Tomatometer: 73%, Audience Score: 85% | Worldwide: $288.75 million, Domestic opening: $15.5 million
Coming to America was the third highest grossing film in the US, tied with Crocodile Dundee II. The sequel Coming 2 America released 33 years later on Prime Video scored lower than the original.
Most memorable line: “No journey is too great when one finds what he seeks.”
Forrest Gump (1994)
Where to watch: Paramount+; Rent on Prime Video, Apple TV+; Netflix in other countries
Tomatometer: Certified Fresh 76%, Audience Score: 95 | Worldwide: $678.2 million, Domestic opening: $24.45 million
Forrest Gump was the second highest-grossing film of 1994, coming after Disney’s The Lion King.
Most memorable line: “Life is like a box of chocolates.”
Glory (1989)
Where to watch: Rent on Prime Video, Apple TV+
Tomatometer: Certified Fresh 95%, Audience Score: 93%
Glory is the first major motion picture to portray Black people having their own unit in the American Civil War. In previous films, it’s only mentioned in passing. The movie gave its star Denzel Washington his first Academy Award for best supporting actor.
Most memorable line: “There’s more to fighting than rest, sir. There’s character.”
Hidden Figures (2016)
Where to watch: Disney+, Hulu
Tomatometer: Certified Fresh 93%, Audience Score: 93% | Worldwide: $236 million, Domestic opening: $515,499
Katherine Johnson (played by Taraji P. Henson) was the only survivor of the trio to see the film. The year before the movie was released, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2016, the year the movie was released, the new $30 million NASA building was named the Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility.
Most memorable line: “I changed what I could, and what I couldn’t, I endured.”
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Where to watch: Paramount+, Peacock, Prime Video
Tomatometer: Certified Fresh 94%, Audience Score: 95% | Worldwide: $482.35 million, Domestic opening: $30.6 million
Saving Private Ryan was the second highest grossing film in 1998, coming after another movie on this list, Armageddon. The film won five Academy Awards including Best Picture.
Most memorable line: “I hope that, at least in your eyes, I’ve earned what all of you have done for me.”
The American President (1995)
Where to watch: Rent on Prime Video, Apple TV+
Tomatometer: Certified Fresh 91%, Audience Score: 77% | Worldwide: $107.9 million, Domestic opening: $10 million
Many of the cast in The American President eventually starred in The West Wing, which was created and written by the same writer Aaron Sorkin. Martin Sheen (The West Wing’s President Jed Bartlet) played the chief of staff here to Michael Douglas’ President Andrew Shepherd.
Most memorable line: “You fight the fights that need fighting!”
Veep (2012-2019)
Where to watch: HBO/Max
Tomatometer: Certified Fresh 93%, Audience Score: 90%
The HBO show won 17 Primetime Emmys in its entire run. These include six outstanding lead actress awards for star Julia Louis-Dreyfuss who played the titular character named Selina Meyer, two outstanding support actor awards for Tony Hale who played Selina’s assistant Gary and three outstanding comedy series awards. It was based on the BBC series The Thick of It, which shared the creator and writer Armando Iannucci.
Most memorable line: All of staffer Jonah Ryan’s (Timothy Simons) nicknames
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