One week from today, Americans celebrate Independence Day. Though the Founders couldn’t all agree on what day we would celebrate our independence, they certainly dreamed of this nation forging a path well into the future. We’re creeping our way towards our 250th anniversary as a nation and there are still few movies that capture that feeling of shucking a tyrannical yoke and declaring independence more than this classic:

MOVIE: “Independence Day” (1996, PG-13, 145 min, watch it: DVD, Starz)

Originally released on July 3, 1996, I keenly remember the huge and impactful nature of this movie. That was what most people did on the fourth, if you were lucky enough to get tickets, or made it part of your weekend if not. The movie was a conversation point all summer and what kids were still discussing as school started up when the summer wound down. If you had any chance of being popular, you definitely had to see “Independence Day.”

What really makes this movie shine is how perfectly it captures the action movies of the 90s. They ended up with a great cast and, crucially, played to the strengths of those cast members. Will Smith balances being the ripped action hero with being the “I’m going to shout things to make them funnier” comedy guy. Jeff Goldblum compliments Smith with his own quirky comedy antics and balances that with the never easy technobabble persona who will save the day while not quite telling you how. Go through the entire cast and each one plays there part extremely well, all adding something to the movie (though, to be fair, I’m not entirely sure Randy Quaid knew he was in a movie).

Another great part of this movie is the relative timelessness of it. Even though the background parts (clothing, automobiles, lack of cell phones) give away the time period, the central storyline is actually something that works still today. I mean, having a character hack into alien wifi would be just as laughable now as it was then. However, by not going too deep into the technical side of things, you keep the movie more relatable to a wider audience and have a storyline that, while preposterous, will actually have a longer shelf life.

Now, what makes me suggest this movie for this holiday in particular? The fact it shares a title with the holiday is the first selling point, the timeline in the movie matches up with the holiday, and the movie keeps a very American-centric perspective. Despite being a worldwide panic, everyone seems to be waiting on America to come up with the solution. Even more appropriate to the title and timely recommendation, the movie manages to take this purely American holiday and turn it into one that the entire world will be celebrating.

So, is this movie What2Watch for you? If you enjoy celebrating the Fourth of July and you’re up for an action movie where the plot revolves around the existence of malevolent alien life, then yes! The Fourth of July is a holiday that has always meant fun to me, and there are few things as fun as a good movie. And this movie is pure and simple fun.

Kent Kraft is someone who checked the box of seeing “Independence Day” that summer, but it didn’t seem to help his popularity prospects. He is looking forward to the Fourth’s festivities and hopes they can bring people closer together, even without an alien invasion.