Five Patriotic Movies Proud Americans Can Watch Again and Again

Hollywood doesn’t pump out a lot of patriotic movies these days, but there are plenty of movies from the past that will get your American pride pulsing!

Here are our favorite five that are worth watching again and again:

Miracle

It’s easy to forget the importance the America’s 1980 Olympic hockey team had on our country at that time. They rose to fame at the height of the Cold War, which was immeasurably intensified by the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Soviets dominated in hockey because the brutal regime supported and demanded it at all costs. They were expected to win it all at Lake Placid, but the fierce determination of the American players made this a match for the history books.

This movie takes you right back to that time when the American underdogs beat the machine of the Soviet Union. Even people who didn’t know much about hockey tuned in because they knew something amazing was going to happen. Many Americans truly felt we won the Cold War when we won the Gold Medal.

Saving Private Ryan

The members of the Greatest Generation changed the course of history for our country and put their lives on the line to fight the Nazis. Many lost their lives to protect our freedoms, and we’re still thriving off their sacrifices today.

Saving Private Ryan provides an in-depth look at what our soldiers in WWII experienced in the European theatre. It gives us a harrowing perspective into the lives of these heroes in action on D-Day and throughout the course of the war as they banded together to survive and prevail.

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Yankee Doodle Dandy

This country film brings us some of the best patriotic songs performed by the best actors of the ages. “You’re a Grand Flag” and “Over There” became American classics in this epic film led by the great James Cagney. This 1942 musical brings us the biography of George Cohen, who was known as “The Man Who Owned Broadway.”

The movie has many patriotic storylines that are both thrilling and nostalgic to follow. As like others of his generation, Cohen was a proud American and this movie is packed full of the patriotism we’re so dearly missing in today’s entertainment.

Rocky IV

This is another movie from the Cold War that stirs up a lot of patriotic pride. Rocky Balboa defeated Soviet boxer Ivan Drago, who used drugs and was trained in a machine-like fashion by the Communist regime. Rocky, on the other hand, trains in the wilderness, with only the materials he has around him.

In the film, Drago had previously killed Rocky’s best friend, Apollo Creed. While watching it for the first time, many moviegoers felt a sense of dread that Rocky would also be killed by the Russian. But when the country rallied around him, Rocky ended up being the ultimate victor.

If you haven’t seen this movie in a while, it’s time to revisit it.

Apollo 13

Tom Hanks leads an ensemble cast in this movie that shows us how NASA derived a strategy to return Apollo 13 to earth after it sustained massive damage after an oxygen tank exploded and there was an electrical failure. The lives of three astronauts hung in the balance when this happened in 1970.

The United States’ third mission to the moon had to be aborted as NASA had to shift its entire focus on getting the astronauts home. This movie shows us how NASA overcame this seemingly insurmountable obstacle in order to save our heroes. Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, and Kevin Bacon join Hanks to recreate the legendary team of the doomed Apollo mission.