These Best Movies For July 4th, New And Old, Will Leave You In A Patriotic Spirit!

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I usually don’t like documentaries but this was an absolute exception!

The humorous retelling of stories from our country’s past through great visual as well as verbal storytelling was fantastic and I felt truly emanated Mike Rowe’s personality. 

Mike says that he based his stories on some of his favorites from his podcast and now book, The Way I Heard It. 

In this docudrama, Mike tells each story accompanied by actors preforming the scene.

But this isn't just an interesting historical piece, it also has a bit of mystery involved as the names of the characters are not revealed until the end of each story and sometimes they are also shown in times completely different from how we are used to seeing them. 

This fact makes the film a great watch for the whole family as each viewer tries to piece together which American hero the story is about as they watch and listen. But the entire film is not completely storytelling as there are small breaks where Mike goes to interview the heroes of our times as well as visit the great memorials in The National Mall. 

The intent I felt was to raise awareness about our country's heroes. The men discussed in the film were certainly less than perfect, but we can all still acknowledge the heroic things they did for our country.

And this is a fact that Mike Rowe even mentioned in the movie. He ensures that his audience understands that he knows these men were fallen creatures like the rest of us, but that he also knows that it is important for our children to acknowledge the great feats these men accomplished.

Overall, the film reminded me of the Johnny Cash song, Ragged Old Flag. It was a great and concise testimony of our nation's heroes with a powerful telling of their stories. My mom made all of my younger brothers and sisters watch it and they were absolutely spellbound listening to the stories!

My honest thoughts as a filmmaker: It was indeed a daring storytelling venture to tell the stories in the wrong time periods and using lip-syncing, but I think it worked very well.

Plus, Mike used stories that were not obvious. Instead he chose stories that are largely untold like the one about the time that a giant of a man was challenged to a duel over something he wrote in a paper by a man much less physically impressive than himself. 

Allow me one more word: Mike Rowe is a redneck (as the best people are!) That being said, there are a few rather strong redneck ideas and words used in the film. Like there is a story that completely revolves around castrating the bulls after which the characters enjoy a few "shiskaballs". Some may find this crude.

So watch it this year with your family in theaters because this film holds its own in the best movies for July 4th!

See trailer, theater availability and times on their site!

The war will be here, among our homes. Our children will learn of it with their own eyes.

After fighting in the French and Indian War, Ben Martin (Mel Gibson) wants nothing more to do with war. He committed a crime that he is too ashamed to tell anyone even his own children. 

So he avoids anything that reminds him of it, especially combat.

When the first rumblings of the American War for Independence are heard, he tries his best to stay away, thinking it his duty as a widower to be with his children instead of fighting. His oldest son Gabriel, on the other hand, is of a very different opinion.

Ben has lost his wife, now all he can do is keep as good of a hold as possible on his children. When both his older boys want to fight with the Americans against the British, Ben is completely opposed. 

Just as he predicts, the war comes right into his backyard, until he can no longer stay out of it. When Colonel Tavington of the British Army kills one of his boys, Ben snaps and joins the American forces with a vengeance. 

Ben learns that the tactics that helped win the war against the French are viewed with disgust by some of the other soldiers, especially his son Gabriel, which is why he didn’t want to join the war to begin with. He struggles with his temper and keeping his fighting tactics moral, but gives his all to resist both for the sake of his son.

This film is the touching story of a man who gives all he has for his family and country, an inspiring film for mature audiences.