Sunday will be one hell of a day for America, that is for sure.
The country is right in the middle of hosting a fantastic World Cup tournament — one that has captured the hearts of foreign visitors from all over the world — and is still soaking in their team’s big win over Paraguay on Friday.
To add to the excitement, the White House is celebrating America’s 250th birthday in style with a UFC event for the ages right on the lawn.
And, to top it off, not only is it President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday, but it’s also Flag Day.
Could it get any more patriotic than that?
To celebrate such a momentous day of pride in your country, I’ve picked out four movies you HAVE to put on in order to celebrate your Flag Day in style.
These freedom flicks will get the Red, White and Blue blood coursing through your veins and make you proud to be an American.
“The Patriot” (2000)
Actor Mel Gibson attends the premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Mad Max: Fury Road” at TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Calif., on May 7, 2015. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Let’s start things off with a movie that is so patriotic, it literally has the word in its name.
Mel Gibson’s turn as Benjamin Martin during the Revolutionary War will have you standing at attention for the entire runtime of the film.
It’s a fictional retelling and a little pulpy, but “The Patriot” delivers everything a red-blooded American man wants in a wartime movie about the birth of his nation.
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Gibson’s acting is great, but special mention needs to be made for Heath Ledger as Martin’s son, Gabriel, and Jason Isaacs as the villainous Colonel William Tavington, who is a delightfully hatable Redcoat.
I can’t think of a better way to kick off your Flag Day festivities than with this ode to Colonial America.
Well done, Roland Emmerich.
“Apollo 13” (1995)
Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton appear in a scene from the film “Apollo 13” directed by Ron Howard. (Eric Robert/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)
From the Revolution to the Space Race, this ’90s classic celebrates American exceptionalism and determinism in a gripping two-hour and twenty-minute runtime.
Tom Hanks in particular is fantastic, as usual, and his role as Captain Jim Lovell on the cursed spacecraft won himself and the movie several awards.
“Apollo 13” is a great reminder of how when America wants to accomplish something, there’s nothing that can stand in its way.
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It’s more historically accurate than “The Patriot” without sacrificing any of the parts of the story that make our country look amazing.
This was during a time before Hollywood villainized American men and belittled their accomplishments, so it’s always a fun film to revisit from a simpler era.
Take that, commies!
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“Top Gun: Maverick” (2022)
Glen Powell and Tom Cruise pose together on the red carpet for the 2022 film “Top Gun: Maverick.” (Han Myung-Gu/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)
The original “Top Gun” is one of my favorite movies of all time, but its sequel from nearly four decades later might be even more patriotic, and I didn’t think that was possible.
The pro-America iconography and themes are dense and plentiful in “Maverick,” with the bad guys and conflict updated for a modern audience.
Maybe it’s because the film came out at a time when it was “en vogue” to hate America, but “Top Gun: Maverick” stands out in a sea of woke schlock from the early 2020s.
“Top Gun” was a patriotic film in its own right, but plenty of other blockbusters from the Reagan Era were equally pro-America.
This bad boy stands alone in that regard among its contemporaries, so throw it on and show it some love on this patriotic holiday.
“Miracle” (2004)
The United States and Russian hockey teams compete in the men’s ice hockey tournament at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y., during the Miracle on Ice game. (Steve Fenn/Disney General Entertainment Content)
What’s more patriotic than a bunch of underdog Americans taking down the evil empire of Russia at their own game on U.S. soil?
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Nothing, which is why “Miracle” might be the perfect film to get your Flag Day juices flowing.
Very few scenes will top Coach Herb Brooks’ locker room speech, where he declares his American boys “the greatest hockey team in the world.”
Kurt Russell does a phenomenal job channeling Brooks, and the supporting cast is aces as well.
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Put on “Miracle” and annoy all your friends and family by asking them “who do you play for.” It’s what Coach Brooks would have wanted.
Happy Flag Day, fellow patriots!
