Alvin York (Gary Cooper), a recent Christian convert, struggles to balance his non-violent beliefs and his want to serve his country in World War I. After talking with Major Buxton (Stanley Ridges), York decides to go to war, but once he’s there his struggle with killing or not killing holds him back.

Back in 1944, The U.S. Army and allies had plans for a huge invasion landing in Normandy, France. Disregarding the horrible weather, General Eisenhower gives the command and the troops land while General Norma Cota (Robert Mitchum) travels with his men to Omaha Beach. After a lot of hard work and men dying, the troops travel deep into French Territory and try to overrule Adolf Hitler and the German military.

Hotshot pilot Maverick (Tom Cruise) is sent to Top Gun Naval Fighter Weapons School, where his entitled behavior earns him some enemies, including Iceman (Val Kilmer). After graduating, Maverick and Iceman are tasked with rescuing a communications ship that has drifted into hostile waters after being struck. In he end, Maverick wins the affections of Charlie (Kelly McGillis) and returns to Top Gun as in instructor. Cruise and Kilmer reprised their roles for the sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, released in May 2022.

Led by Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick), the infantry (including Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman) fights off prejudice from Union soldiers and attacks from Confederates.

The film received 5 Oscar nominations and three wins, including best supporting actor for Washington.

Based on The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, the film stars Martin Sheen as Confederate General Robert E. Lee and Tom Berenger as Lt. General James Longstreet.

It shows both men leading their troops in the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. Fun fact: The battle ended in a Union victory on the Fourth of July.

Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) never lived a restricted life. Although he was slow-witted, Gump dominated in every aspect of life whether it was becoming a football star, fighting in Vietnam, revealing the people behind Watergate or becoming a captain on a shrimp boat. While inspiring the lives of many, Gump’s childhood love Jenny (Robin Wright) was too troubled to be saved.

When astronauts Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) and Fred Haise (Ken Wantanabe) go on the Apollo 13 lunar mission, everything seems to be going as planned. However, when an oxygen tank explodes, the landing on the moon is stopped, and they head back to work. With tensions rising and more technical problems occurring, the group doesn’t know if they will make it back down to Earth alive.

Independence Day (1996)

The title says it all. When the world is overtaken by an alien invasion, leave it to America, led by a fighter pilot (Will Smith), a scientist (Jeff Goldblum) and the President of the United States (Bill Pullman), to kick the extraterrestrials out of Earth, not-so-coincidentally on the Fourth of July. The Roland Emmerich-directed blockbuster embodied American confidence in the 1990s and rode massive explosions and dramatic speeches to a massive box-office gross of over $800 million worldwide. A sequel was released in 2016.

After making a speech in Moscow stating he will never negotiate with terrorists, President James Marshall (Harrison Ford) and his family (Wendy Crewson and Liesel Matthews) board Air Force One. Once in the air, a group of terrorists led by Ivan Korshunov (Gary Oldman) hijacks the plane, leaving the president, who is an ex-soldier, to figure out an escape for his family and everyone else on board.

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

The greatest war film of the past crntury, Saving Private Ryan was directed by Steven Spielberg and starred Tom Hanks as U.S. Army Captain John H. Miller, who leads his squad on a mission to find James Ryan (Matt Damon), the last-surviving brother of four, to return him home to his mother. The film begins with an intense, well-shot 30-minute depiction of D-Day and never lets up. A critical and box office success, Saving Private Ryan was nominated for 11 Oscars and won five.

Taking place in 1993, U.S. special forces were sent in Black Hawk helicopters to Somalia to overthrow their government and bring food and aid to the starving population

However, an unexpected attack brought down two of the helicopters. Once on the ground, U.S. soldiers must stay alive while getting shot at.

Based on real historical events, the 2001 film follows two friends — Rafe McCawley (Ben Affleck) and Danny Walker (Josh Hartnett) — as they embark on their journey as pilots in World War II. Excited to start, Rafe decides to fight alongside England’s Royal Air Force in Europe but reunites with his girlfriend Evelyn (Kate Beckinsale) and Danny right before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Based on the best-selling book We Were Soldiers Once … and Young by Lt. General Harold G. Moore and journalist Joseph L. Galloway, the movie shows the first major battle between the United Stated and North Vietnamese forces. This movie, starring Mel Gibson, portrays the heroism and sacrifice from men and women both at home and at war.

After fighting and winning one of the most crucial battles of the war on the island of Iwo Jima, a photo of veterans raising the U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi becomes one of the most iconic symbols for victory. Clint Eastwood’s 2006 film stars Paul Walker, Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, Barry Pepper and Jamie Bell.

When letters of dead Japanese soldiers reveal stories of what happened during World War II, Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) realizes his men have very little chance to survive, and he has to use as much of his military skills as he can in order to hold off American troops. Clint Eastwood conceived the film as a companion piece to Flags of Our Fathers, telling two sides of the same story.

When terrorists hijack United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, horror runs through the passengers as their helpless family and friends are watching from their TVs, this movie shows the courageous acts by those trapped in the plane as they overcame the terrorists to crash the aircraft so that it did not hit its intended destination, believed to be the Capitol building.

While the rest of the country is getting ready to celebrate Fourth of July, Veteran cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) is working on a routine task: questioning a computer hacker (Justin Long). Since McClane is busy, tech-smart villain Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) sets off an attack on America’s computer infrastructure.

In 1941, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) wanted to join America’s armed forces because of the outrageous amount of wars but was turned down because of his size. After getting accepted into an experimental program Rogers is turned into a supersoldier, Captain America. In order to take down the Nazi’s who are backed by HYDRA organization, Captain America joins forces with Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell).

When militants invade the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran, taking 66 American hostages, six of those Americans slip through the crack and find protection with the Canadian ambassador. While believing it’s just a matter of time before they get caught and killed, the U.S. government commands extractor Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) to save them. In order to get back to Tehran, Mendez’s plan is to act as a Hollywood producer scouting locations and train the refugees to act has his film crew.

After another year with a high death count in the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln (Daniel-Day Lewis) uses his passion and skill to create his defining legacy: ending the war and abolishing slavery through the 13th Amendment. Even with all of the backlash, Lincoln continues his fight in order to create a better country and better world for all mankind.

After the attacks of 9/11, Osama Bin Laden became the most-wanted man on Earth. While the worldwide hunt for Bin Laden takes up the attention and resources of two U.S presidential administrations, it is the work of one female operative (Jessica Chastain) that holds the key to finding the terrorist. After learning his whereabouts, on May 11, 2011, Navy SEALs plan a nighttime strike and kill Bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan.