Patriotic Movies

2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ

07-07-10

I kind of enjoy the list that it gave. Interesting choices with Forrest Gump and National Treasure. And of course Independence Day is a must for any list such as this.

earlsmoviepicks

Sorry Harmonica.......I got to stay here.

07-07-10

The American President was a good patriotic movie.

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Brother Blue

pure ideology

07-07-10

Originally Posted by will.15

Born on the Fourth of July

I guess you could call it "patriotic", in a very Oliver Stone sort of way. As opposed to the flag waving normalcy that you might expect elsewhere.

Caitlyn

MoFo Patrol

07-07-10

I'm not overly impressed with that list... I've never seen Dave or Born Yesterday or if I did, I don't remember them... so can't comment. I like Forrest Gump, American President and Air Force One but really couldn't understand why the person who made the list included them until I read the comment section and discovered they were trying to compile a list of newer Patriotic films... which, apparently, are very limited.

Mel Gibson's attempt at Braveheart on American soil is kinda entertaining... but not one I would have added... and the Titanic twin, Pearl Harbor, pretty much belongs in the garbage... and I don't even know what to say about Independence Day and National Treasure making the list. Of them all, the only one I can totally agree with is Patton ...

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will.15

Semper Fooey

07-07-10

They showed on the tube on the Fourth of July The Devil's Disciple, which starred Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, and Laurence Olivier. Never saw it before. Based on a George Bernard Shaw play I never heard of set during the Revolutionary War. I'm not sure if it was a comedy or not, but it was pretty good. Does have some good action in the climax.

rufnek

Msg

Registered User

07-07-10

Originally Posted by will.15

Now THAT is my favorite film about the American Revolution! Yes, it is a comedy--there are several funny scenes in it. But it's also the truest representation of what really happened in the Revolution that I've ever seen.

Think about it--Douglas, like most Americans at that time, was simply living his own life, not much concerned about politics one way or another. In Douglas's case, he doesn't care much for social conventions and does what he has to do to get along, putting him close to the edge of the law at times--much like the colonists who moved to the frontier in Indian territories against British law

So Douglas isn't taking sides until the British for some dumb reason hang his father. That in itself might not have mattered much to Douglas as the black sheep of the family, but when the Brits order that no one cut down the body, that becomes both an offense and a challenge, a ruling that Douglas by nature has to defy. That automatically puts him outside the law and makes him a rebel by default.

Meanwhile, Lancaster as the preacher is very much part of society. He too has no great interest in politics and takes no stand with Tory or Rebel. He's quite willing to obey legitimate British authority, but he's also devoted to protecting his congregation. Therefore, he tries but fails to get the British to release the body. Later seeing Douglas's active defiance succeeds where his appeal failed and witnessing this and other offenses by the British, circumstances and logic combine to turn him into a rebel, too.

Then there's the head of the local colonial militia who is so busy trying to forment and sustain a revolution and a revolutionary army in the field that he hasn't the time or interest in recovering one colonist's body when he could be killing British soldiers. Sort of reminded me of the "professional" rebels of the day like Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and Paul Revere who worked so hard to forment revolution, even though it would mean the death and ruin of many.

And last but not least, there's Olivier as "Gentleman Johnny" who perfectly portrayed how officials from the "old country" had absolutely no understanding of the colonists on this frontier. The most telling scene, I think, is when they discover they've been trying Douglas for offenses blamed on Lancaster, at which point Olivier suggests to his second-in-command that he "find out who we have been trying all morning." And yet that officer refuses to release Douglas who did not commit the "crime" for which he has been convicted because his testimony has revealed him as a "traitor" to the king, whoever he may be.

It's historically true that Gentleman Johnny forces had a slow and hard time moving through the American forests because of the large baggage train that traveled with his army. And it's also historically true that his forces were isolated, outnumbered, and defeated--a whole British army taken out of the war--because other officers who were supposed to moved up their forces from the south to join him failed to do so.

The British ability to make enemies of Americans who otherwise might have at least remained neutral if not loyal, the British inability to understand the people they were fighting or even the countryside in which they fought, and their inability to effectively mount and successfully complete some key campaigns lost them the revolution and the lands that later became the USA. It's a great little sugar-coated history lesson of the American Revolution!

By the way, if memory serves, Douglas originally was cast as the preacher with Lancaster as the rogue, but the two actors decided it would work better the other way around and convinced the director to let them trade parts. Lancaster, Douglas and Olivier are great in their parts along with several steadfast character actors such as the guy playing second-in-command whole name I can't recall. I know his face from other films such as Moby Dick, The Hill, and several British and American movies. But I never can remember his name--Andrew something or something Andrew, I think. (You see, memory doesn't always serve!

)

rufnek

Msg

Registered User

07-07-10

Originally Posted by will.15

Since the 4th of July is coming up:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Ten-Patriotic-Movies

I would add 1776

Born on the Fourth of July

Yankee Doodle Dandy

OMG!!! I just read that list! What a bunch of losers! Think I'd rather defect than spend a day having to watch those 10 films.

Especially The Patriot, with Mel Gibson magically armed with a repeating muzzle-loading rifle and the Brits all buggering the drummer boys. As for that heroic "action" shot of Mel in battle, the thing that jumps out to me is that he's dragging a modern American flag through the dirt.

The closest they get on that list to a truly great film is Born Yesterday, but they pick the wrong one--the remake!--instead of the extremely good original with Wm. Holden, Judy Holiday, and Broderick Crawford. And I can think of many others that could better show how our government works--Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, for one.

Forrest Gump is a good film, but patriotic? Not my idea of a flag waver.

For the most part, movies aren't much good for teaching history--especially movies like Pearl Harbor that rewrite history. Instead there are so many really good and mostly accurate made-for-TV programs, like about anything on US history filmed by Ken Burns. Others include mini series on John Adams and Ben Franklin and a long series on America that was shown 20-30 years ago on public TV and hosted by Alistair McLean (approximate spelling, think that's the right name) doing what he did so well--looking at us from a Britisher's viewpoint (although he did become a US citizen himself). That program was as good as anything Burns has ever done.

rufnek