I’ll endorse all of the above, and above all Casablanca’s “Marseillaise” scene - after a long period of occupation, the people still remember their pride in being French and their willingness to fight a battle if they could win it. But I’d pick different scenes from a couple of these:
Apollo 13: Not the splashdown scene, but the scene with Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell telling Haise and Swigert that it’s been a privilege flying with them, trying to avoid saying “goodbye”. Best patriotic moment from the aspect of a citizen of the world was the scenes of the prayers being told around the world.
Glory: The unit’s prayer session the night before the assault on Fort Wagner, where the soldiers tell each other about what their Union Army membership has meant to them all personally and what it will mean to their people after the deaths they’d rather not talk about.
And then, speaking of Stallone movies, which I’d usually rather not, there’s Victory, and the scene where the POW soccer players from all Allied nations (including Pele as the token Brazilian) gradually get the occupied-French fans to cheer for them instead of the German team. Add in the part where the team decides they’d rather keep playing and win the game, striking a blow for their pride and keeping the Eastern European prisoners from being executed, rather than follow through on their escape plan with the Resistance.
Notice in that scene that Gary Sinise, although a mile away from the launch site, gets knocked back by the blast? I’ve always heard that the liftoff of a Saturn V was the most astounding, unbelievable thing to witness. Pity we may never see it again.
There is a scene in “Gettysburg” where Joshua Chamberlain, the college-professor-turned-union-officer played by Jeff Daniels, gives a pep talk to a bunch of volunteers who want to stop fighting. They’re going to be taken prisoner as deserters, except if they’ll agree to take up arms again for the union Chamberlain will let them do so (and he does need the manpower). When his talk starts, the music swells in the most cliched way, and I always start muttering about how manipulative and cheesy it is. Then I sit riveted to the screen and get sorta choked up. After his talk, of course all but about three of them agree to fight. sniffle
There are a lot of moments in that movie. Mostly sad, though, instead of proud.
when i first read the topic my first thought was “Apollo 13!” Pity that was in the OP! Of course, the scene I was thinking of was when they exit the elevator and walk across the platform to go into the rocket. Wow. Major surge.
Ok- I hafta say- I am a bit disappointed by how many posts refer to “made-up” movies- like Armageddon and Independence Day and Rockys. Ug.
Anybody been watching Band of Brothers!!!
Really it does involve America. To me, Rick is not just American but America. He is desperatly trying to be neutral in this conflict. He is tired of fighting and wants to sit back and lick his wounds and let everybody else sort things out for a while.
When the Germans come into his bar and start acting like jerks the Laslo guy tells the band to play Marseillaise but they look to Rick. These next few seconds is the entire reason to make the film. The film is about how Rick changes from isolationist to involved. If he lets them play it he knows there will be consequences. He knows it will become his fight. So he slouches there smoking a cig in his tux and nods his head to the band leader. Rick joins the fight with that nod of his head and you know he fight till the fight is done.
Which leads me to The Untouchables. When they put Capone away at the end gets me on an emotional level. Just like in 12 Angry Men as 12 different men decide the fate of the accused. That makes me proud to be American.
I don’t have HBO so I haven’t been watching Band of Brothers.
October Sky has some good “land of opportunity” themes which strike a chord with me. I guess the best single moment would be when small-town boy Homer Hickam wins the top prize at the national science fair, and strides up to the podium to accept it.
Another “little guy stands up” patriotic moment comes for me in Matewan, when the local Sheriff steps in to stop the coal company thugs from carrying out an eviction. It took some courage and an appreciation of the concept that the law applies equally to all. To me, that’s an American moment.
Oh yeah, speaking of Matewan, it has another lump-in-your-throat, quintessentially American moment.
The movie is about the unionization of West Virginia coal miners in the early part of the last century. When the local mountaineer-miners go out on strike, the company brings in Italian immigrants and poor Southern blacks as scabs. Naturally, there is a lot of resentment. Eventually, however, the Italian miners and the black miners join the strike.
There is a scene wherein an Italian miner, sitting by a campfire, begins strumming a tune on mandolin. A couple of mountaineers nearby overhear the melody, and join in on guitar and fiddle, giving the tune a lttle “mountain music” spin. Finally, a black miner overhears the song and plays along on harmonica, adding a few blues flourishes. Three disparate styles come together in one song.
The story of America writ in musical metaphor. Beautiful.
Hey, you guys? What about The Patriot, with Mel Gibson? There were two scenes in the movie which I liked:
The first was when Mel Gibson is in the swamp nervous that his past in the French and Indian War is coming back to haunt him. I can’t remember the exact line but it showed me that war is hell, even if it is for the right reason. You have to pay a price for everything you get.
When Mel is stabbing the british soldier again and again and again, even after the man is obviously dead. The loss of control in front of his sons is quite chilling, setting in place the fact that this devoted family man will do what it takes to protect his family.
I was wondering, am I a bad person for thinking Jason Isaacs was hot? At the same time I was booing and hissing, inadvertent thoughts of steaminess were knocking around my head and other regions . . .
For me, it’s the speech by the Earth Alliance President to the soldiers about to fight the Battle of the Line, as the Minbari fleet closes in on Earth, from the TV movie, In the Beginning from Babylon 5. The desperation in that speech, as she asks everyone available to fight, knowing they’ll die, so that as many as possible can escape, brings a tear to my eye.
Another B5 speech I love is the one at the end of the Shadow War. Sheridin goes on about how we were all puppets in their little war, and ends it by saying,
“Now get the Hell out of our galaxy!”
It doesn’t so much put a lump in my throat, and isn’t ‘patriotic’, per se, but it does make me say Damn Straight!
