20 Movie Facts Celebrating the Fourth of July (Because FREEDOM!)

20 Movie Facts Celebrating the Fourth of July (Because FREEDOM!)

So the Fourth of July is fast approaching, and you know what that means: clumsy displays of patriotism caught between the damn good idea America is, and its actual decay into a fundamentalist, dystopian-capitalist police state. Oh, and the date also means tons of jokes about us kicking extraterrestrial ass, so let’s just get this out of the way: of course we’re talking about Independence Day. Yes, yes, attack scene intermission, our doctor says we have to see it every two weeks lest we forget specific shots. Anyway, this takes us straight to the point of today’s Pictofact, in which we discuss a bunch of 4th of July-related movies for you to binge on while not celebrating the season like a true American does: drinking beer, wearing flag-patterned Hammer pants, and, erm, reading books? Exactly. This is America, dude: learn the rules.

So with love of freedom in our hearts, we’re using the Fourth of July as an umbrella term for two main types of movies. The first is the type that takes place during the holiday itself (except for I Know What You Did Last Summer, because I Know What You Did Last Summer sucks and has always sucked and will never not suck). The second is the sort of movie that captures the American spirit. So no, not whatever the pampered elite gaslights us into believing like the good little cucks of the billionaire class they are, but, you know, an actual (and badass) commitment to human flourishing. Hell yeah, guns, boobs, and Enlightenment values! Following these two categories, then, let us see some awesomely patriotic facts about awesome 4th of July movies (that, and we cannot stress this enough, are not I Know What You Did Last Summer).

Presidential Speech

Fourth of July Movies Independence Day The president's speech was written in five minutes. The speech was supposed to be a placeholder, but they forgot about it until Bill Pullman was already practicing it. Then Pullman kicked it out of the park by delivering it in front of actually tired extras. Those friggin' aliens didn't stand a chance. CRACKED.COM

Source: Complex

Alien Virus

Fourth of July Movies Independence Day A deleted scene makes the virus make a bit more sense. The scene suggests that current Earth tech was reverse-engineered from the Roswell crash, which means that a human-created virus can be uploaded to an alien computers. It's science! YEUR transfry I 3 UPLOADING VIRUS Stop CRACKED.COM

Source: People

Hidden Figures

Fourth of July Movies The real Katherine Johnson didn't need Kevin Costner's help to fight segregation. The cringeworthy white-savior scene with the NASA boss destroying the colored bathroom sign never happened -Johnson just used the white bathroom in defiance of Jim Crow laws, like a true badass. Hidden Figures CRACKED.COM

Source: Essence

George Lucas' Head

Fourth of July Movies Jaws George Lucas got his head stuck in the shark's mouth. While visiting the set, Lucas just had to get his head inside the mechanical shark's mouth. As a prank, Spielberg shut it close - and then the shark malfunctioned. Luckily, they could get Lucas out. CRACKED.COM

Source: Cinemablend

Daniel Day-Lewis

Fourth of July Movies Lincoln Daniel Day-Lewis didn't think he could play Abraham Lincoln. When offered the role, he found the idea preposterous. Almost a decade later, however, it became as natural as human freedom CRACKED.COM

Source: Wikipedia

Liam Neeson

Fourth of July Movies Lincoln Liam Neeson was Spielberg's choice to play Lincoln. Due to personal tragedies and character disconnect, however, he just couldn't do it. Steven, this is not for me, he said. I can't explain it. It's gone. CRACKED.COM

Source: GQ

Michael Fassbender

Fourth of July Movies 12 Years a Slave Michael Fassbender had alcohol on his mustache. Fassbender asked his makeup artist to paint his mustache in alcohol, to get a proper reaction to his alcoholic character. It worked: The other performers were disgusted by the smell. CRACKED.COM

Source: IMDb

Jimmy Stewart

Fourth of July Movies Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Jimmy Stewart became a very cautious driver. Stewart was so determined to complete the film (which he called the role of a lifetime) that he would drive slowly to the studio, to make sure nothing happened to him. CRACKED.COM

Source: Mental Floss

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