Leading up to the country’s birthday this summer, I’ve been thinking about all of the movies and TV shows I’ve seen that explore different eras of the United States of America, not just its founding. I’ve tried to compile a personal list that I would recommend to anyone for either first-time viewing or repeat watching, and since there are plenty that I know I’ve missed already, please let me know what your favorites are! I’m always looking for films and shows to watch that I haven’t seen yet!

Part 3: The 1970s and 1980s

Argo

A film made in 2012 based on a mix of a memoir from 1999 and an article from 2007, Argo takes place during the Iran hostage crisis, which happened from 1979 to 1981. Ben Affleck played U.S. CIA specialist Tony Mendez, who helped rescue six U.S. diplomats by posing as a producer for a phony movie, titled “Argo.” It’s an interesting film within a film as Mendez works with an actual movie producer and make-up artist, while he also negotiates with his superiors in the CIA and military personnel. Argo is a more political thriller and a tense look at how America navigates its relationships with other countries, both friend and foe.

Apollo 13

Since we’re not too far removed from the Artemis II mission, it feels more appropriate than ever to include Apollo 13 in a series like this. Based on a book written by Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 dramatizes the aborted 1970 lunar mission, with Tom Hanks cast as Lovell. It’s an amazing cast overall, and I’d say the movie was made in the prime of many of their careers (Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, and Ed Harris, dropping some of the most iconic lines in film). Apollo 13 is gripping, emphasizing the risks these men and women take to chase our country’s collective dream of returning to the moon.

Remember the Titans

Remember the Titans is just up there on my list of favorite films of all time, not even favorite sports movies. Favorite films period. Released in 2000, the movie takes us back to 1971 in Alexandria, Virginia, where many high schools in the area were still all-white. T.C. Williams High School was newly consolidated, and Remember the Titans chronicles the school’s mixed race football team as it faced strained relationships and rising racial tensions on its way to a perfect season and the state title. It’s a film that proved that, even back then, more things brought us together than really divided us, particularly sports. It’s a reminder that we still need today.

Miracle

I watched Miracle for the first time with some friends in the lead up to the hockey games that took place at the Milan-Cortina Olympics. Much like Apollo 13, it feels more fitting than ever to have Miracle here, and I’m so glad I watched it. The movie shares its name with the “Miracle on Ice,” when the U.S. men’s hockey team defeated the Soviet Union’s at the 1980 Winter Olympics. It was surreal to see where it all began with Miracle and then to witness our men’s, women’s, AND paralympic hockey teams go on to win gold. I’ll probably never forget when Mike Eruzione is finally the first player to say, “I play for the United States of America!”

Forrest Gump

Why look, it’s another Tom Hanks movie! Forrest Gump might seem like an odd film to be in this specific part of the series, but it covers a pretty long time in America’s history that I settled on having it in the middle in the 70s and 80s. It’s a movie about one Alabama man’s journey through some tumultuous times in our nation. People love to hate on this film, and it has its faults, yet I think life’s subtleties, ironies, and tragedies are not lost on Forrest, even though everyone else thinks so. He’s a simple, ordinary man who stumbles into extraordinary circumstances and, despite everything changing around him at once, he doesn’t. There’s still a lot to admire in that.