Get ready for the red, white, and blue! While sipping on a cold one and waiting for the fireworks to go off, take some time to watch some great movies with the family. Here are the Five Perfect Fourth of July Watches!
Return of the Living Dead (1985)
Return of the Living Dead may seem like a weird choice for this list. However, diehard fans of the cult classic will know the movie starts on July third and moves into the Fourth. Few movies are able to perfectly blend horror with comedy as well as Return of the Living Dead. And, it’s one of the few truly punk-rock splatter films to ever crawl out of the neon-80’s ooze. Not to mention the movie has cemented itself in pop culture with zombies moaning for braiiiiiiinnns! Many attempts were made to re-create this with sequels with various degrees of charm, yet nobody has been able to capture this gritty, goopy, and just plain fun flick.
Independence Day (1996)
You couldn’t have a list of truly great Fourth watches without this late ‘90s action staple. For people of a certain age, the VHS with the lenticular cover will be forever etched into our brains. The movie is every bit a high-flying feel-good ass-kicking alien-action flick that has often been duplicated but never with the same sheen. Sadly, after the 9/11 attacks, movies, especially big-budget action fare, had to mature, and soon we would get things that seemed grimmer and grittier. This, in my opinion, puts Independence Day as a shrine to 90’s cheese that just happens to be well written and directed.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Based on a 1973 novel of the same name by author Lois Duncan and written by Scream (1996) scribe Kevin Williamson, I Know What You Did Last Summer is considered the best of the post-slasher era. The film offers an engaging mystery. And features a notable cast including Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillipe and Freddie Prinze, Jr. Looking back, the film is fairly tame on the kills, yet Williamson is more interested in the story’s moving parts and in crafting a tense whodunnit. Also, its Fourth of July setting alone makes it a must-watch.
Rolling Thunder (1977)
Rolling Thunder is the only film on this list not set on the Fourth of July but, in my humble opinion; should be a must-watch. After all, it centers around an ex-Vietnam soldier who attempts to re-adjust after coming back to America. What ensues is a revenge film that does a lot with its modest budget. Thankfully, the story doesn’t have to do a lot of heavy lifting and its simple premise gives the filmmakers plenty of room to explore its themes. Rolling Thunder is chocked full of great set-pieces, gritty atmosphere, and is notable for an early appearance from Tommy Lee Jones. In recent years the likes Eli Roth and Quentin Tarantino have hailed it as a classic.
Jaws (1975)
At this point, it’s basically film law that states you must include Jaws on your Fourth of July watch list. The movie is of course considered one of the truly iconic ‘70s films. This OG summer blockbuster would not only usher Stephen Spielberg into the A-list realm. The movie, which had a pretty notoriously difficult production (not unlike Star Wars) turned out to be a mega-success that spawned a ton of fun knock-off films. Jaws is the very definition of magic being captured with a fantastic cast, a whip-smart script, a nearly breakneck pace, and of course a score from John Williams that has gone on to become as iconic as the film itself.
What is your MUST-Watch Fourth of July movie? Happy Fourth!
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Big film nerd and TCM Obsessed. Author of The Ultimate Guide to Strange Cinema from Schiffer Publishing. Resume includes: AMC’s The Bite, Scream Magazine etc. Love all kinds of movies and television and have interviewed a wide range of actors, writers, producers and directors. I currently am a regular co-host on the podcast The Humanoids from the Deep Dive and have a second book in the works from Bear Manor.
