Best pro-America Movies

July 2, 2004 | bobjam

[bobjam]

With all of the publicity and hype over Moore's Bush hating and America bashing "documentary", it might be good on this Fourth of July weekend to sit back a reflect upon those movies that make us pround to be Americans. My suggestions are:

1) Midway- the Navy at its finest. Nothing beats the way the movie incorporates actual footage of the battle.

2) Last of the Mohicans- this movie captures the difficulty faced by frontiersmen, the British attitude towards them, and the spectacular beauty of the American wilderness.

3) The Alamo- the John Wayne version. The courage it took for the vastly outnumbered Davey Crocket, Jim Bowie, et al to stand up to Santa Ana was legendary.

What are some of your suggestions?

[johnny7]

1.) Bataan! -Robert Taylor and Lloyd Nolan.

2.) Wake Island -William Bendix

3.) Attack! -Frank (Jack) Palance

[7thson]

The Viet Nam scenes were fantastic. When Forrest states that the best and brightest served in the jungles, my heart swelled. What a direct slam and insult to the Kennedy lovers! When the sh** hits the fan, Forrest allows human nature to take over and he runs. But he stops and thinks of his best friend and other buddies. He runs back and rescues them all except Bubba dies. Such a moment of heroism! When dressed in Army dress, he comes to the defense of his slut girlfriend not once but twice. I may see this again this weekend.

[Huck]

If John Wayne can't get yer patriotism up, nothing can. Try The Comancharos or El Dorado. How about Bronco Billy by Clint Eastwood? Or Smokey and the Bandit.

[7thson]

Any movie that highlights freedom and brave men fighting and dying for freedom is patriotic and American.

[VOA]

"Midway- the Navy at its finest. "

My guilty pleasure: the shocked look of the Japanese aviators as they pan across
the three burning Japanese aircraft carriers.

Talk about your "reversal of fortune" moment on film.

[johnny7]

For anthologies, try How The West Was Won (Too Many To Name)

Agreed. Saw it at the Drive-in when I was just a snot-nosed kid. Jimmy Stuart was great along with an out-of-character-role done by Walter Brennan.

[So Cal Rocket]

Opening today, 2 July 2004, in limited theatres:

http://www.americasheartandsoul.com

Take your family - it's about ordinary Americans doing extraordinary things.

[VOA]

"Moscow on the Hudson. A beautiful tribute to the greatness of America."

You nailed it.

[Hammerhead]

"We Were Soldiers"

[Ciexyz]

I love Red Dawn, esp. Patrick Sawyzee!

[SMARTY]

"Gone With the Wind"

[Ciexyz]

Not too many people will stick up for Ben Affleck's version of "Pearl Harbor", but I liked it. Saw it twice in the cineplex with two different groups of people and they all said it was great. The action scenes were great.

[VOA]

"Glory"
and
"They Were Expendable"

Good movies about Americans going into harm's way for ideal...and not flinching
when death is coming.

[cyclotic]

Apollo 13 (the real one) was probably the greatest technological achievement ever. Not because we got the ship into space, but that when everything went wrong, we got it and the crew back.

Jim Lovell, Mission Commander wrote an exceleltn book about it entitled "Lost Moon." The movie script was an adaptation of the book.

[VOA]

Here's a link for the black-listed writer, Carl Foreman, who did the screenplay:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0286025/bio

I haven't seen it, but there was a PBS show about the squabble between Foreman and
another crew-member about the writing credits for the film.

Even if the writer intended a McCarthy-writers allegory, I always saw it as being like
a Bugs Bunny cartoon: it works on a number of levels.
It's a decent Western, it's a bit of a love story, it says something about locale
control (the comment by one character about the folks in the state capitol not
understanding how things worked in their town), and even a Cold-War of the USA and a very
few friends staying the course against the tough Communists.

[buffyt]

TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH Action/Adventure Dashing Gregory Peck stars as General Frank Savage, commander of the 8th Air Force during World War II. Loosely based on the true story of Major General Frank A. Armstrong, TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH begins with Savage appearing to be a fearless fighter with almost no compassion for his men. Told in flashback from the perspective of Major Harvey Stovall (Dean Jagger), the story unfolds as Savage takes over Stovall’s Bomb Group in 1942. The company has suffered numerous losses, morale is at an all-time low, and the tired pilots and their crews are immediately antagonized by Savage’s obsession with discipline, leaving Savage and Stovall with the onerous task of rebuilding the pride of a fighting force that despises its leader. Jagger received an Oscar for his efforts, but the real star is Peck, exhibiting a vast repertoire to portray a complicated character. Using actual combat footage from both American and German cameras, director Henry King creates an environment in which bravery and heroism count but war itself is anything but romantic.

Description: A new commander is posted to a WW II American heavy bomber group conducting daylight bombing runs over Germany and occupied Europe. Fighter escorts have not yet arrived from the U.S. and casualties are high, morale is low and the unit is functioning poorly. Can the new commander make the bomber group into an effective fighting unit? The film is based on the novel by Beirne Lay, Jr. and Sy Bartlett. Benefits: This film is a study in the leadership of an organization under extreme stress. It displays one of the essential ingredients in the allied victory during World War II: effective operation of complex organizations. "Twelve O'Clock High" has been used to teach leadership skills to U.S. Air Force Academy Cadets and to business executives.

---

A friend of ours was in that squadron. My daughter interviewed him about his experiences before he died. He said he was thrilled to talk to her about it, said no one wanted to listen anymore, about it. RIP Bill Abbey and GOD BLESS YOU!

[buffyt]

And after I saw that movie, I was reading a book about the attack, and the actual photos of the attack scene looked just like the scenes in the movie. they did a good job on it. I just keep asking why liberals don't see the coorelation between Pearl Harbor and 9/11. We were attacked both times, we didn't ask to be brought in to the war.

[Warren_Piece]

War Movie - "Glory"
Non War, Action Movie - "Apollo 13"
'Quiet' Movie - "Searching for Bobby Fischer"
Comedy - "The Sandlot"
Sports - "Rocky", "Field of Dreams", "Miracle", "Remember the Titans"
Chick Flick - ??? Help me out here? Aren't women patriotic?

[TomServo]

Hands down, "Yankee Doodle Dandy"

Absolutely. No question about it. And I despise musicals. But this is the best Pro-America movie ever made.

[VOA]

Chick Flick - ??? Help me out here? Aren't women patriotic?

"From Here To Eternity"

"The Best Years of Our Live"...maybe not a real chick-flick...but a movie
about the "what now" following the winning of a war.
The story of the girlfriend standing by the returning sailor (minus his forearms)
definitely has a "chick flick" angle.

I also think there was a "homefront" movie titled something like "Since You Went Away"
about the domestic struggles in WWII.