The 15 Best Fourth of July Movies of All Time

From bunker-busting war epics to feel-good backyard classics, this lineup spans every decade of American cinema's love affair with the Fourth. Which one earns your vote?

1

Independence Day

1996 sci-fi blockbuster where Earth's nations unite to repel an alien invasion on July 4th.

1000pts

2

The Patriot

2000 Revolutionary War epic starring Mel Gibson as a reluctant militia leader fighting the British.

762pts

3

Captain America: The First Avenger

2011 Marvel origin story of a scrawny WWII recruit turned super-soldier icon.

746pts

4

Saving Private Ryan

Steven Spielberg's harrowing 1998 WWII drama following soldiers sent to retrieve one man after D-Day.

746pts

5

Yankee Doodle Dandy

1942 musical biopic of showman George M. Cohan, celebrated for its patriotic songs and spirit.

746pts

6

Born on the Fourth of July

Oliver Stone's 1989 biopic of Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic's journey from soldier to anti-war activist.

746pts

7

Hidden Figures

2016 drama celebrating the Black female mathematicians who powered NASA's early space missions.

594pts

8

Forrest Gump

1994 Best Picture winner tracing a kind-hearted Alabama man's path through decades of American history.

594pts

9

1776

1972 musical dramatizing the Continental Congress debates leading to the Declaration of Independence.

594pts

10

Apollo 13

1995 drama recreating NASA's tense real-life effort to bring home a crippled moon mission crew.

522pts

11

The Sandlot

1993 coming-of-age comedy about a summer of baseball, friendship, and small-town Americana.

522pts

12

Top Gun

1986 action classic following elite Navy fighter pilots training at the Top Gun academy.

435pts

13

Glory

1989 Civil War drama depicting the Union Army's first all-Black volunteer infantry regiment.

435pts

14

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Frank Capra's 1939 classic about an idealistic young senator battling political corruption.

435pts

15

National Treasure

2004 adventure film following a historian's hunt for treasure hidden using clues on the Declaration of Independence.

435pts