For a generation of moviegoers, there was little more related with the 4th of July — that most American of holidays — than President Thomas J. Whitmore’s (Bill Pullman) epic and thoroughly rousing climactic speech from “Independence Day” (which benefits from some copious paraphrasing of Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”). But by now, it’s safe to say that director Roland Emmerich has successfully tarnished the legacy of his 1996 classic with his insipid, confusing, and rather boring follow-up “Independence Day: Resurgence” (not to mention the handful of Brexit politicians crassly parroting the sentiment, ignorant of the irony of their doing so).
READ MORE: 11 Of The Best Movies To Watch On The Fourth Of July
Which is all to say that the 4th of July is a pretty confusing holiday: Sure, it’s a celebration of America’s escape from tyranny and oppression, but we can’t forget that it would be another century before slavery was ended and another 140 years until women could vote. And, while some movies have certainly taken a stab at exploring this complex dynamic, more than anything else the 4th of July has become an earmark for swelter, swimming, and summer, a way to telegraph the dog days of the year: slow-motion sparklers, swelling music, fireworks lighting up the faces of love interests.
And so, with the day nearly upon us, a new video essay from Nelson Carvajal at Fandor Keyframe has arrived. The four-minute video, “Films On The 4th Of July,” runs through the many sentiments of the holiday, packing in clips from anti-war flicks (“Born On The Fourth Of July”), Revolutionary War dramas (“The Patriot”), coming-of-age movies (“The Sandlot,” “Adventureland”), and, of course, alien-invasion films. Overall, it’s a fun look at the myriad forms one holiday can take — the many different hats it wears in fulfilling the sundry expectations and needs of our beautifully diverse nation.