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.

The infamous — and controversial — World War II general gets the Hollywood treatment in the Oscar-winning film from director Franklin J. Schaffner and writer Francis Ford Coppola. Played perfectly by George C. Scott, Patton is an unapologetic love letter to George S. Patton, war and American dominance. The opening scene, in which Patton gives an inspiring speech to the Third Army, is one of the most iconic images in film history; the general declares, “That’s why Americans have never lost, and will never lose a war… because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans.”

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, which was released in May 2022.

Though the critical undertones may not be as patriotic or all-American as other films on this list, Oliver Stone’s Born on the Fourth of July is patriotic for confronting and redefining American pride. Based on Ron Kovic’s memoir of the same name, the film follows Kovic (Tom Cruise) from his naive teen years to his eye-opening stint in Vietnam, where he was paralyzed, to his anti-war activism in the mid-’70s.

In an effort to encompass all of the facts, events and gravity of the most important battle ever waged on American soil, this 1993 film runs for 271 minutes of cannon fire, careful strategizing and awesome hats. 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.

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 that 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.

Possibly the greatest war film of the last two decades, 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.

A dramatic tale of the Revolutionary War, The Patriot follows Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson), a composite of four separate revolutionary heroes, as he leads a militia against the Redcoats who have threatened his family. The Americans eventually win, of course, but not after an epically long three hours of bayonet violence and colonial quarreling. The Roland Emmerich film also featured Heath Ledger as the eldest son of Gibson’s character.

HBO’s Band of Brothers (pictured) and The Pacific, both executive produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, chronicle the true journeys of soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division in Europe and the 1st Marine Division in the Pacific, respectively, during World War II. Both consisting of 10 parts, the series were visually striking and emotionally devastating, garnering multiple Emmy awards and providing Americans an important reminder of how the war was won and at what cost.

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.

The Disney depiction of the “Miracle on Ice,” the rag-tag United States hockey team’s shocking victory over the dominant Soviets during the 1980 Olympics, is just as magical and unbelievable as the win itself. Starring Kurt Russell as coach Herb Brooks, the film captures the American patriotism of the time, a jingoistic spirit against anything red or Communist, and tells the greatest underdog story in American sports history.

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.

Paul Giamatti stars as the legendary Massachusetts lawyer and the second president of the United States in the seven-part HBO series. Celebrating one of America’s founders is certainly patriotic, even though his character and the series content is never typically prideful. The spectacular performances, including Laura Linney as Abigail Adams, and the authentic grandeur of the production propelled the series to a record 23 Emmy nominations and 13 wins.

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).

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.

American Sniper (2014)

Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum star in this comedy-drama focusing on NASA’s historic Apollo 11 moon landing. Johansson portrays a marketing expert, Kelly Jones, who is hired to fix NASA’s public image, which winds up wreaking havoc on the launch director Cole Davis’ (Tatum) task. When the White House begins to worry about the mission failing, Kelly is tasked with staging a fake moon landing as a backup. The movie hits theaters July 12.