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?

[VOA]

Jagger received an Oscar for his efforts, but the real star is Peck, exhibiting a
vast repertoire to portray a complicated character.

It's been too long since I've seen the film.
But IIRC, the scene where Gable confronts Jagger about being drunk...and the
dam breaks on the stress both men have about sending others to their death...
that's a classic dialogue about the challenges of leadership.

[ActionNewsBill]

Wolverines! Bump

[Warren_Piece]

On a side note, two movie characters that depict Europeans as tyhe snivelling sophists they have become are concerning the war -
The "bad" guy in Baron Munchausen (the German dude). "We surrendered last month. This month, it's your turn".
The two clan leaders in "Braveheart" - "Don't leave! We must first NEGOTIATE!"

[mandingo republican]

I AM GOING TO BE RADICAL HERE:

1. CHARLIE HESTON IN EL CID.

WHILE NOT AMERICAN - IT HAS AMERICAN VALUES OF LOVING YOUR NATION AND PEOPLE -FIGHTING FOR INDEPENDENCE. UNITING AGAINST A COMMON ISLAMIC ENEMY, AND CELEBRATING A REAL MAN WHO WITH GUTS AND COJONES DOES IT HIS WAY WHILE ROMANCING AND SWORD FIGHTING AT THE SAME TIME.

2. THE GREEN BERETS:
IT'S WHAT THE VIETNAM WAR SHOULD OF BEEN - I WATCH IT AND IT FEELS LIKE I AM IN AN ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE! THE USA WINS.

SOME ANTI AMERICAN MOVIES:
1. CATCH 22
2. MASH
3. REDS
4. ANYTHING BY JANE FONDA
5. ANYTHING BY ROBERT REDFORD
6. ANYTHING BY MICHAEL MOORE

[Warren_Piece]

OK, I've thought of two Chick-Flicks that could be construed as pro-American. At the very least you'd have to call them a slice of Americana.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding - Melting pot comedy.

While you were sleeping. - A beautiful hallmark card. All the characters were decent, and the movie was unashamed in its positive portrayal of "family"

[sboyd]

Sands of Iwo Jima, Red Dawn, The Longest Day, Sgt York, Lonesome Dove, Gettysburg (fighting spirit of Americans and confederates), Patriot Games, Spy Game (portrays the CIA well), Under Siege, Air Force One, Hamburger Hill, Hoosiers (small town basketball team can win state against all odds), U-571, all of the Indiana Jones Movies, 13 Days (I know, JFK movie).

[SAMS]

"Pearl Harbor"??? You've got to be kidding me! 'bout the only thing portrayed correctly in that movie was: 1) yes, the Japanese did bomb Pearl Harbor & 2)Doris Miller was awarded the Navy Cross. Other than that it is all pure Hollywood fiction....

[Warren_Piece]

Hoosiers! Of course! Americans love an underdog, and we romanticize small town America. Good choice!

[sboyd]

I forgot Dirty Harry!

[VOA]

5. ANYTHING BY ROBERT REDFORD

Maybe one exception: "Jeremiah Johnson"
Maybe not a Frank Capra-style American movie, but interesting in following
an American find his way in territory that isn't quite Ameicanized yet.

[bobjam]

My guilty pleasure:
The subtitles showing the names of the Jap carriers as they're being destroyed.

[Warren_Piece]

OK, hopefully this won't get me zotted, but are there any movies with a liberal slant that are also "pro-American"? Like it or not, the liberal view has been a part of the national fabric for at least a century. Were there any liberal-slanted movies that still reflected America in a good light?

I personally love "Sianara (sp)" with Marlon Brando. I don't know if America was the "good guy" in that movie, but an American was.

[VOA]

The subtitles showing the names of the Jap carriers as they're being destroyed.

Sweet! (as the kids say in California)

[oyez]

The Bridges of Toko Ri. "Where do we get such men?"
The Battle of the Bulge
Battleground
The Right Stuff

[Temple Owl]

a ping for Red Dawn

[sauron]

I'll pitch an odd candidate to show American spirit.

Something very different, but illustrative of how AMERICANS are different in attitude than our European (read: SOCIALIST) counterparts: Night of the Living Dead.

(I am referring to the bw version, not the new one you twentysomethings will think I'm referring to. But for this post, you can use the old one, OR the remake--both show American attitude.)

Reason: Compare the "can do" attitude in dealing with the imminent danger in that movie to the recently released movie 28 Days.

In Night of the Living Dead (either version), we Americans gathered weapons and tools, and each small group of survivors actively took charge of their own little corner of the world, down to the family/individual level, whereas the Brits (in the movie 28 Days hunkered down waiting for the government to come rescue them.

...and when it didn't, when their water was running low, only then did they decide to "do" something, to take some immediate action to help themselves...

...and even then, what they "did" was to timidly go out and seek the protection of the Army (which had collapsed into rogue elements) in Birmingham.

Reading between the lines in that movie, one sees the debilitating and corrosive effects of European Socialism on the human spirit; how all initiative and drive to improve one's position is disallowed.

Anyone else agree/notice that, or was it only me?

[Warren_Piece]

I just thought of one - F.I.S.T. with Sylvester Stallone. You can't get more liberal that organized labor, but I would argue that this movie is indeed pro-American.

[RasterMaster]

The Great Escape, Dirty Dozen, Bullit or any other Steve McQueen or Charles Bronson flic.

[Warren_Piece]

Has anybody mentioned Seabiscuit yet?

[sauron]

7 Days in May