Each State's Favorite Patriotic Movie - 2023
The Fourth of July movie is a summer tradition, as American as grilling and fireworks -- and everyone has a favorite. While blockbusters like Independence Day, Saving Private Ryan and Top Gun are loved everywhere, PerfectRec looked at the top classics of the genre, and parsed Google Search data to see where each of the top 35 patriotic movies according to IMDB was disproportionately popular.
The results shed some light on regional preferences and, in some cases, the events that shaped people's sense of American identity.
Hawaiians search for Pearl Harbor (2003) more than anywhere else. Virginia, with its proximity to DC and large population of government employees, disproportionally favors the 1939 classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. In Minnesota, with its strong ice hockey culture, the 2004 film Miracle about the ‘Miracle on Ice’ hockey victory over the Soviet Union is the relative favorite.
There are a few ties as well. New York and Florida both love United 93, which may reflect the large number of snow birds flying between the two states. West Virginians also love this film about drama on the Hudson River.
Both Alabama and South Carolina are passionate about Forrest Gump. Perhaps this is explained by the fact that while the 1994 film was set in the fictional town of Greenbow, Alabama it was largely filmed in real communities of Varnville and Beaufort, South Carolina.
What is your state's patriotic favorite? Check out the map and full list below.
Each State's Disproportionate Favorite Patriotic Film
State | Movie |
Alabama | Forrest Gump (1994) |
Alaska | Argo (2012) |
Arkansas | We Were Soldiers (2002) |
California | Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) |
Colorado | Team America: World Police (2004) |
Connecticut | Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) |
Delaware | The Right Stuff (1983) |
District of Columbia | Zero Dark Thirty (2012) |
Florida | United 93 (2006) |
Georgia | Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) |
Hawaii | Pearl Harbor (2001) |
Idaho | Independence Day (1996) |
Illinois | Argo (2012) |
Indiana | Air Force One (1997) |
Iowa | Born on the Fourth of July (1989) |
Kansas | Patton (1970) |
Kentucky | Gettysburg (1993) |
Louisiana | Armageddon (1998) |
Maine | Flags of Our Fathers (2006) |
Maryland | Glory (1989) |
Massachusetts | Argo (2012) |
Michigan | The Longest Day (1962) |
Minnesota | Miracle (2004) |
Mississippi | The Longest Day (1962) |
Missouri | Red Dawn (1984) |
Montana | Black Hawk Down (2001) |
Nebraska | American Sniper (2014) |
Nevada | Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) |
New Hampshire | Apollo 13 (1995) |
New Jersey | Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) |
New Mexico | Lone Survivor (2013) |
New York | United 93 (2006) |
North Carolina | Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) |
North Dakota | Saving Private Ryan (1998) |
Ohio | 1776 (1972) |
Oklahoma | The Patriot (2000) |
Oregon | Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) |
Pennsylvania | Rocky IV (1985) |
Rhode Island | Lincoln (2012) |
South Carolina | Forrest Gump (1994) |
South Dakota | Armageddon (1998) |
Tennessee | Sergeant York (1941) |
Texas | Forrest Gump (1994) |
Utah | Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) |
Vermont | Live Free Or Die Hard (2007) |
Virginia | Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939) |
Washington | Black Hawk Down (2001) |
West Virginia | Born on the Fourth of July (1989) |
Wisconsin | Air Force One (1997) |
Wyoming | Top Gun (1986) |
Methodology
The list of patriotic movies comes from IMDB's list of Hollywood's Most Patriotic Movies
We sorted the IMDB list in terms of number of reviews and looked at Google Trends data for each film in order from most to least reviewed. Each state was only allowed to be the top position for a single movie.
Google Trends data measures relative search interest over the given time period in the specified region. A value of 100 is the peak popularity for the term. A value of 50 means that the term is half as popular.
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