When I was doing my preliminary research for this little listicle, I googled as many synonymic combinations of “independence day” and “movies” as I could. There aren’t many movies with Fourth of July scenes in them, let alone crime movies. I could only think of six off the top of my head, and I didn’t actually find any more that fit my criteria.
You see, most of the movies suggested to me by the algorithm were more thematic “Fourth of July movies” than literal ones—movies either about the military industrial complex, or Colonial times. Or both. And that’s not what I’m talking about, here. If you want to watch Born on the Fourth of July or Top Gun or The Patriot, that’s all well and good. If you want to watch movies made in 1976, the year of the Bicentennial, because they seem to offer implicit (or explicit) criticisms of American culture—I’m thinking movies like Taxi Driver or All the President’s Men—then that’s awesome.
But me, personally? I want crime movies that feature the 4th of July as a backdrop. I want to watch Max Cady poking his head out of a crowd of parade spectators, a bunch of teenagers committing a murder on the long Independence Day weekend. I want to analyze what it means for crimes to be taking place on a day that overtly commemorates “America.”
So here’s my little list of six crimey movies that are actually set during the Fourth of July. Cheers!
Zodiac (2007)
David Fincher’s Zodiac begins on the Fourth of July, 1969, with a car cruising through suburban streets of Vallejo, California. The pavement is littered with small-time fireworks, glowing in the darkness. The movie does leave “Fourth of July weekend” behind shortly after, but it nicely sets the tone that this is a movie about “America.”
Jaws (1975)
Is Jaws a crime movie? Technically no, but we’ve long claimed it as the purview of this site anyway.
Blow Out (1981)
Brian De Palma’s Philadelphia-set movie Blow Out sets its gripping climax during the nighttime fireworks spectacle oft the fictional “Liberty Day,” but it’s basically the Fourth of July. A more interesting question is why, in a movie about political cover-ups, “Independence Day” has its name changed.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
My colleague Dan has the best description of this movie I’ve ever read: “Sexily untroubled teens Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Ryan Phillippe become significantly more troubled when they cover up a hit and run and are subsequently stalked by a hook-wielding killer.” And yes, events take place during the Fourth of July.
Cape Fear (1991)
Martin Scorsese’s Cape Fear has probably the two best 4th of July SCENES in all these crime movies: Max Cady watching the Bowden family at their town’s Fourth of July parade, and then him sitting atop the brick wall on their property, as the fireworks burst in the sky behind him. Terrifying.
Nashville (1975)
Is Nashville a crime movie? Watch ALL THREE HOURS of it and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Have a good weekend!