Jaws, Amazon (To rent or buy)
Nothing says ‘Murica’ quite like insisting the beaches stay open – killer shark or no – because it’s the 4th July weekend. It’s why – during his brief libertarian phase – Boris Johnson once declared that Larry Vaughn, the Mayor of Amity, was the movie’s true hero. Apart from the now rather obvious clunkiness of ‘Bruce’ the mechanical great white, the film still stands the test of time – the jump scare when they investigate the sunken fishing boat; the memorable scene where Quint describes his experiences after the USS Indianopolis was torpedoed; the literally explosive climax. duunnn dunnn… duuuunnnn duun…
Independence Day, iTunes (To rent or buy)
Roland Emmerich’s aliens don’t take prisoners. Their mothership is one fourth the mass of the Moon; their assault fortress saucers have a fifteen mile radius; they completely destroy millions of people and dozens of cities – including the US capital.
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