Jaws: The greatest 4th of July movie ever made
Love movies? Love films set or have scenes during the 4th of July? Good, cos your gonna need a bigger weekend to watch them all.
Jaws (1975)
Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is the daddy of 4th of July movies. Don’t Agree? Bite me. but for many Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is essential holiday viewing (not that we ever need an excuse).
The whole classic film revolves around keeping the beaches open for the fourth of July weekend and the Mayor of Amity Island, Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) saying that the town relies on summer dollars.
That’s despite a pesky killer great white shark showing up that clears the beaches, so they end up hiring salty sea dog Quint – who along with oceanographer Matt Hooper and police chief Martin Brody – set out on the Orca to kill the shark and save summer. A classic, hugely influential, iconic one of the greatest films ever made.
Stunning filmmaking, editing, music and dialogue make this a film that just keeps on giving almost 50 years after its original release.
Best enjoyed with a pack of Narragansett, some pretzels and coffee ice-cream to finish (toy cars optional)
Rollercoaster (1977)
The cycle of 1970s disaster movies was coming to an end by the close of the decade, which arguably could also have included Jaws in the sub-genre of natures vs man, and I’ve always had a soft spot for this film which sees a terrorist (another decade staple – also see Two Minute Warning, as well as both Black Sunday and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three with Robert Shaw) blowing up rollercoaster rides.
Like Jaws made people terrified of the water, this one only made me feel more anxious about the safety of theme park rides. Although it has several flaws – often feeling more like a TV movie - it still manages to ratchet up the tension and we get an impressive performance from the late George Segal.
Flight of the Navigator (1986)
In the cycle (or should that be flying cycle) of films that followed in the wake of E.T. – the extra terrestrial we get this live-action effort from Disney that sees a young boy vanish on the 4th of July weekend only for him to reappear years later…not having aged a bit. Turns out he’s been on a spaceship all this time, which comes and rescues him from the authorities. Lots of fun.
Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
Oliver Stone continued his Vietnam trilogy – which he started with Platoon (1986) and concluded with Heaven and Earth (1993) – with this true story of Ron Kovic portrayed by Tom Cruise on fine Oscar-nominated form and sees him more in the realms of serious the military drama of Taps rather then the high-octane heroics of say Top Gun.
It further demonstrated the stars acting chops and also helped highlight the treatment of soldiers who fought in Vietnam and had to continue a very different fight when they returned home.
Scoring duties were by John Williams, who would also work with Stone on both JFK (1991) and Nixon (1995).
Cape Fear (1991)
Solid remake territory here from Martin Scorsese with Nick Nolte and Robert DeNiro in the Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum roles. Interestingly this was a film that Steven Spielberg had originally got his eye on as making, in the end Scorsese and he switched the projects they were developing at the time, with Spielberg taking on Schindler’s List.
The cinema scene in cape Fear is of not as that is similar to how the original planned introduction to Quint in Jaws was going to be. Although it is hard to watch Cape Fear without thinking of Sideshow Bob and the fabulous The Simpson’s version of it.
Blown Away (1994)
Jeff Bridges (who was one of the people mentioned as a possible Matt Hooper for Jaws) is pitted against escaped Irish terrorist Tommy Lee Jones in this (quite literally) explosive action thriller that was shot on location in Massachusetts – the same state that Jaws was filmed in - and had an explosion so loud that it shattered 8,000 windows. The film was directed by Stephen Hopkins (who directed Predator 2 and would go onto make Jaws with lions – The Ghost and the Darkness) and has some really taut moments that keeps the audience guessing.
Independence Day (1996)
Playing like an updated War of the Worlds meets disaster movie, Roland Emmerich’s alien invasion epic certainly delivered on big screen entertainment and still holds up as a hugely fun ride, which featured the likes of Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Will Smith, Randy (brother of Jaws 3D star Dennis) Quaid and that still impressive exploding Whitehouse.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
In the wake of Scream (1996) there were a plethora of teen horror flicks, this one with a fisherman with a hook. Perhaps not film’s most memorable boogieman it does have some effective scenes. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr were the ones doing all the running and screaming. Avoid the Amazon Prime single season TV series at all costs.
The Patriot (2000)
Roland Emmerich is back behind the lens for this rousing piece of action drama that does for War of the Revolution what Braveheart did for Scotland. And both have Mel Gibson in the lead, although this one also bags Heath Ledger as his son, and we get a score by John Williams.
National Treasure (2004)
Nic Cage is Benjamin Franklin Gates, who tries to steal the Declaration of Independence to solve a hundreds year old riddle that is huge amount of fun. From producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Jon Turteltaub – the future director of shark thriller The Meg – this is far more fun than the dour faced The DaVinci Code and plays like a fun version of that with a mix of Raiders of the Lost Ark meets Uncharted.
What films do you watch during the 4th of July weekend?
Words by Dean Newman
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