The Top 15 Patriotic Movies and TV Shows

Every year around the 4th of July we stream some of our favorite patriotic movies and TV shows. There are many options to choose from, and our list is always changing.

Here are a few of our favorites. Which of your favorites are missing? Let us know on our socials.

Band of Brothers (HBO, Amazon Prime) Band of Brothers is a WW2 series that follows the members of “Easy Company,” or E Company 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, aka the “Screaming Eagles.” It is widely accepted as the best and most accurate biographical war production ever made.

The Patriot: (Tubi TV) A really heart wrenching historical fiction about the American Revolution. Mel Gibson stars, with Heath Ledger, Jason Isaacs (who is one of the most hated villains ever in a film,) and the great Tom Wilkinson.

The Pacific: HBO built on their success with Band of Brothers and followed the storylines of three marines in their fight against Imperial Japan in WW2. Yes, that really is Rami Malek in his pre-Freddie Mercury days playing a crazy cajun.

Red Dawn: “Avenge me!” Thanks to this film, every kid in the 1980’s was ready to stop an imminent Soviet invasion at their school. Legendary cold war flick starring Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Charlie Sheen, Harry Dean Standton, Powers Boothe, Lea Thompson, and Jennifer Grey.

Miracle: (Disney+) Kurt Russell as hockey legend coach Herb Brooks, who led a group of amateurs to knock out the Russian Olympic team before defeating Finland for the gold medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics. “Do you believe in Miracles!?”

Patton: George C Scott won the Oscar for his portrayal of George S Patton, who is quite possibly the greatest military leader in recorded history (Sorry, Julius Caesar.)

Gettysburg: A 4 hour 14 minute epic account of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War, starring Tom Beregner, Martin Sheen, and Martin Lang.

We Were Soldiers: (Paramount+) Based on the real life memoirs of Lt. General Harold G. Moore from his experiences in the Vietnam war.

Rocky IV: Sylvester Stallone, American flag shorts, KGB operatives, and even a live performance by James Brown. If you can’t enjoy this 1980’s peak Cold War era piece of Americana, I can’t help you.

Turn: Washington’s Spies. AMC’s series about George Washington’s use of spies to defeat the British Empire in the American Revolution. It is a really well done series featuring many real life characters and stories from the American Revolution.

Saving Private Ryan: (Paramount+) It is insane how many big time actors were in this movie: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Vin Diesel, Ed Burns, Ted Danson, Giovanni Ribisi, Paul Giamatti, Dennis Farina, Adam Goldberg, Jeremy Davies… It has been called the most accurate depiction of D-Day on the big screen by WW2 vets that were there.

The Longest Day: Such a classic from 1962. Every famous actor and performer of that era was in this movie, including Sean Connery, John Wayne, Paul Anka, Henry Fonda, Red Buttons, Fabian, Peter Lawford, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Richard Dawson, Robert Wagner, and even the guy who played Goldfinger! This was a huge blockbuster when it was released and everyone should see it at some point.

The Hurt Locker: (Philo) Jeremy Renner’s Iraq War movie beat James Cameron’s “Avatar” at the Oscars that year, including best actor, best picture, and best director.

Midway: I’ve never seen a movie with bigger opinion gap between critics, who hated it, and moviegoers, who loved it. Don’t believe me? Check out Rotten Tomatoes, where critics gave it a 42% but has an audience score of 92%. It is an exciting movie about the Battle of Midway in WW2. The Dive Bomber scenes are really intense. And we learned that Nick Jonas can act!

Top Gun: We’ll never forget you, Goose.

Those are some of our favorites. What are yours? Let us know on our socials.