PHOTOSHappy 4th of July! 10 Movies to Watch This Holiday
Here are the top 10 flicks that are perfect for the long weekend. Happy Independence Day!
July 4 2025, Published 10:32 a.m. ET
Saving Private Ryan
This is Steven Spielberg's harrowing WWII film that became an instant classic. It kicks off with the D-Day assault on Normandy, rendered with almost unbearable realism. Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) promises a mother who has lost three sons in battle that he will bring back her last son, Private Ryan (Matt Damon), who is trapped behind enemy lines.
Yankee Doodle Dandy
The great James Cagney stars as patriotic songwriter George M. Cohan in this lighthearted musical about a Broadway star who travels to the White House to be honored by the president. Along the way, he reflects on his life, which is brought to toe-tapping fun with renditions of the tunes "You're a Grand Old Flag" and "Over There," as well as "Give My Regards to Broadway."
Glory
Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman and Matthew Broderick star in this heroic account of one of our country's more overlooked Civil War chapters — the story of the all-Black 54th Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The movie follows the story of Robert Shaw (Broderick), who faces opposition from his fellow officers for leading a battalion of Black soldiers.
Lincoln
Daniel Day-Lewis won his third Oscar for his portrayal of our 16th president.
Directed by Spielberg, this epic doesn't try to capture the full, cradle-to-grave sweep of Abraham Lincoln's remarkable life; rather, it zeroes in on his battle to pass the 13th Amendment, ending slavery. Many consider it an American masterpiece.
Patton
The film is an epic biographical war film about U.S. General George S. Patton during World War II. The movie, which won seven Academy Awards, is known for the rousing and patriotic speech by actor George C. Scott as Patton with an enormous American flag behind him.
It remains an iconic and often-quoted image. In 2003, it was selected for preservation in the United States Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."
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Independence Day
Don't mess with the stars and stripes — or blow up the White House! That's the message that turned this epic science-fiction disaster, which follows Will Smith in an alien invasion that's destroying major cities around the world with their advanced weaponry, into a megahit.
Tune it in to see Smith punch an alien in the face and stay for Bill Pullman's stirring Fourth of July speech as the American president.
Jaws
The must-see adventure flick pits three men (Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw as the Ahab-like Quint) against nature's deadliest killing machine — a great white shark.
There's lots of suspense and terror, and it reaches its climax over the Fourth of July weekend, when Amity Island's mayor argues against shutting down the beaches despite overwhelming evidence that tourists will be turned into b----- chum.
Pearl Harbor
The tearjerker presents a fictionalized version of the Pearl Harbor attack. It follows American friends Rafe McCawley (Ben Affleck) and Danny Walker (Josh Hartnett) as they enter World War II as pilots. It's stirring and emotional — bring the tissues.
National Treasure
This historical caper with Nicolas Cage is also a perfect escape movie.
Cage plays a modern-day Indiana Jones-style treasure hunter, armed with loony conspiracy theories. He follows many clues in order to find America's most sacred historical artifacts, including the Declaration of Independence, which, it turns out, contains info about more than just life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Born on the Fourth of July
Tom Cruise earned his first Oscar nomination for playing Ron Kovic, a real-life American soldier paralyzed in Vietnam who returns home to a country he feels has betrayed him. It's full of heartache, sorrow and righteous anger.
