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The American Experience in Films
By an Amazon.com customer
Apollo 13 (Full Screen 2-Disc Anniversary Edition)Apollo 13 (Full Screen 2-Disc Anniversary Edition)
Buy used from: $3.55
the Apollo program was America's greatest space achievement. Failure was not an option. Best moment - geeky guys earn label "steely eyed missile man" during marathon problem-solving session to bring the men home safely.
Big Trouble in Little China (Single Disc Edition)Big Trouble in Little China (Single Disc Edition)
Buy new: $9.49 / Used from: $1.98
Rugged individualism meets the immigrant experience. Kurt Russell is the beer drinking trucker who tries to do the right thing - help his friend, kiss the girl, fight some bad guys, and get his truck back. Best quote: "I must be so monumentally naive."
Black WidowBlack Widow
Buy new: $9.00 / Used from: $4.50
About the relationship that develops between a government agent and the femme fatale she pursues. Winger closes in while Russell marries and offs a New York publisher, a Dallas toy maker, a Seattle anthropologist and French hotelier who left his family's estate in Indochina and settled in Hawaii.
Charlie Wilson's War (Full Screen)Charlie Wilson's War (Full Screen)
Buy new: $13.49 / Used from: $1.10
Hanks and Roberts are great but the real star is the CIA guy. Amazing movie about how Charles Wilson and his associates armed the Afghans, defeated the Russians, and brought about the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
A Christmas Story (Full-Screen Edition)A Christmas Story (Full-Screen Edition)
Buy new: $10.49 / Used from: $11.19
Fantastic movie about a more innocent time, back when it was okay for little boys to want BB guns and kids learned to deal with the rough and tumble of bullies, toadies, and victims, getting their mouths washed out with soap, and responding to the ultimate "I triple dog dare you."
The DishThe Dish
Buy new: $5.79 / Used from: $2.50
Australian movie - but intrinsically about the American space program and what amazing things a bunch of geeky white guys can accomplish when they put their minds to it. Best moment: The Australian high school band mistakenly plays Herb Alpert's Taste of Honey as the American national anthem.
Ghostbusters (Widescreen Edition)Ghostbusters (Widescreen Edition)
Buy new: $11.99 / Used from: $1.98
Great 80s movie - the geeky Ghosbusters save New York from the giant marshmallow man and get the girl. Favorite moment - the ghostbuster telling the receptionist that he collects "spores, molds, and fungi" for his hobby.
The Godfather DVD Collection (The Godfather/ The Godfather - Part II/ The Godfather - Part III)The Godfather DVD Collection (The Godfather/ The Godfather - Part II/ The Godfather - Part III)
Buy new: $37.49 / Used from: $19.60
These are great movies. Definitely part of the American experience.
Independence Day (Full-Screen Edition)Independence Day (Full-Screen Edition)
Buy new: $17.99 / Used from: $4.87
The Joy Luck ClubThe Joy Luck Club
Buy new: $11.49 / Used from: $6.99
LAST OF THE MOHICANS (DVD/1992/WS/SENSORMATIC)LAST OF THE MOHICANS (DVD/1992/WS/SENSORMATIC)
Buy used from: $4.18
Daniel Day Lewis and Madeleine Stowe do not live their lives "by another's leave" in this stunning tribute to early America. While not about the American Revolution, it really contains all you need to know about why we fought a long and bloody war to be free of our European masters.
Legally Blonde / Legally Blonde 2 - Red, White and BlondeLegally Blonde / Legally Blonde 2 - Red, White and Blonde
Buy new: $18.49 / Used from: $2.78
Manhattan Murder MysteryManhattan Murder Mystery
Buy new: $16.99 / Used from: $10.20
I love this homage to New York, the ultimate American city. I especially enjoy the scenes of the principles sitting around talking at restaurants, wine tastings, etc.
Mystic PizzaMystic Pizza
Buy new: $11.49 / Used from: $1.98
Get the pizza ready & enjoy. Julia Roberts is the star but I prefer the scenes with the other girls. I saw it in high school before we went off to college - Harvard, Carleton, etc. We identified with the movie on many levels. Years later, some of us gathered in Mystic & had our pics taken under the Mystic Pizza sign. We also bought t-shirts. The movie & the pizza really are "a slice of heaven."
October Sky (Special Edition)October Sky (Special Edition)
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $4.48
This is one of those movies I never heard about - like The Dish - that is so good. Why wasn't it a major smash hit? If you like science or space or the American experience, you must see this movie. High school boys from a mining town build rockets and escape life as a coal miner.
The Player (Special Edition) (New Line Platinum Series)The Player (Special Edition) (New Line Platinum Series)
Buy new: $16.99 / Used from: $2.49
I love this movie. Hollywood is so very American - all raw power, corruption, sex, capitalism, movie making, and the happily ever after with the pregnant Icelandic gal in the flower-filled California bungalow yard at the end.
The Pursuit of Happyness (Full Screen Edition)The Pursuit of Happyness (Full Screen Edition)
Buy used from: $1.23
I'm a Will Smith fan. No bailout, no handouts for this real-life character, who sacrificed much while raising his son and eventually becoming a multi-millionaire.
Real GeniusReal Genius
Buy new: $8.49 / Used from: $4.98
Put on your bunny slippers and grab the popcorn. Watch as boy wonders help each other succeed in life and learning while building some cool lasers and thwarting the bad guys. I was in love with Lazlo for years after this movie. Now I just need a little survival place in Nevada and we can live happily ever after.
Risky Business (25th Anniversary Edition)Risky Business (25th Anniversary Edition)
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $2.49
Sex sells. Capitalism at its most basic level. I'm not a Tom Cruise fan but he was great in this movie. Best line.."I've got a trig midterm tomorrow and I'm being chased by Guido, the killer pimp!"
ShaneShane
Buy new: $8.99 / Used from: $4.05
"teach me to shoot, Shane" Awesome movie about the clash between ranchers and homesteaders in the wild west - filmed on location with the Grand Tetons as the backdrop. The lone gunman with the mysterious past is an archetype of American cinema.
Silver BulletSilver Bullet
Buy new: $9.98 / Used from: $2.74
This werewolf movie manages to be a warm and cozy portrayal of family values and small-town America in the 1970s.
Stand and DeliverStand and Deliver
Buy new: $5.49 / Used from: $2.23
Edward James Olmos is fantastic in this movie, decades before he became Admiral Adama on Battlestar Galactica. The true story of "underprivileged" hispanic youths in 80s Los Angeles who follow their inspiring math teacher to success by taking and passing the very difficult Advanced Placement Calculus test.
TremorsTremors
Buy new: $11.49 / Used from: $3.48
Rugged individualism & small-town America vs. giant worms. Perhaps the only movie to feature a geologist as the love interest. Best moment: giant worm invades basement of survivalists/gun enthusiasts Reba McEntyre & Michael Gross - who shouts "broke into the wrong go*-da** rec room while firing round after round, ultimately killing the monster.
TombstoneTombstone
Buy new: $12.49 / Used from: $4.15
Entreprenuership and rugged individualism on display in the wild west. Val Kilmer gives a career defining performance as Doc Holliday, dying from TB with style and humor, and taking not a few bad guys with him. "I'm your huckleberry..." anytime...
Trading PlacesTrading Places
Buy used from: $1.99
The great 80s homage to the free market and unbridled capitalism. I love this movie, especially the climb back to the top and the happily ever after lives they achieve - even the butler puts his savings on the line and ends up with a girl on the tropical island at the end. The glimpses of the pre-9/11 World Trade Center are painful yet nostalgic.
Troop Beverly HillsTroop Beverly Hills
Buy new: $8.49 / Used from: $5.00
Spoiled, rich housewife gets it together and become a better wife, mom, and troop leader through hard work, a keen fashion sense, and lots of cookie sales.
Wayne's WorldWayne's World
Buy new: $8.99 / Used from: $1.89
Surprisingly cozy and nostalgic movie about two guys with a cable access show. "game on" street hockey reminds me of my neighborhood when I was growing up.
WolfWolf
Buy new: $8.99 / Used from: $2.96
Nicholson and Pfeiffer tear up the screen in this supernaturally tinged tale of powerplays in the world of book publishing.
Working GirlWorking Girl
Buy new: $9.98 / Used from: $2.54
The ultimate 80s anthem to capitalism. The working class heroine remakes her image and her speaking voice, uses her guts and her mind to get the guy and the white collar job she wants.