Why Aren’t There More Revolutionary War Movies?

There’s an interesting question I think of every year when Independence Day arrives in America: why aren’t there more films made about how the United States began? Movies with George Washington leading the troops across the Delaware or a pseudo-horror film about surviving the winter at Valley Forge?

And it’s not just Washington, it’s also what was happening with the siege of New York and the actual signing of the Declaration of Independence, or hell, what about the writing of the Declaration of Independence? Or tell the story of Paul Revere, the battles of Lexington and Concord that started the war, or the Siege of Yorktown, all famous events or leaders that are taught in school but have no theatrically released features to enjoy. Sure, we have films like 1776 or The Patriot, but if you Google other American Revolutionary War films, the options are limited. Why not take a chance and a few million dollars and put together a solid effort to make a film about the beginnings of the United States? This is kind of a double-edged sword, so here are a few positives and negatives to doing a film about the American Revolution today.

The trouble with making these kind of films is that they’re tough to do justice. We have yet to see a straight-on biopic about some of the early American historical figures, chief among them George Washington. Who would want the nearly impossible task of playing the future first president? It’s a daunting casting call that in a couple of seconds flat could ruin your career. Still, as we’ve seen recently, if you’re Daniel Day-Lewis and have a strong script, you could earn an Oscar. Then again, not every Hollywood director can be Steven Spielberg. Add in the fact that today Washington is almost viewed as a mythical hero, a man who first led the first American armies to victory in revolution, then began the democratic rule of a young nation in some of its most tumultuous early days. To cast someone to play all of that is like trying to recast Vito Corleone in a new version of The Godfather. Washington’s boots, among other men of the past, are just too big to fill.

Also take into account the state of the country at the time. Remember that back in the 1770s and 80s, slavery was still in effect, and while there were a number of black men and women who fought for the rebels, the dominant image of the black race on American soil at the time was either as a servant or a field hand. Even in a historical context today, there would be some moviegoers who would get upset at this. After movements like Black Lives Matter and the recent #oscarssowhite dilemma, and a whole new wave of diversifying film casts, audiences may have trouble accepting a cast that would be almost 100% white in the main roles.

However, there are some positives that could arise from future Revolutionary War movies. Some American war periods have definitive films, like WWI with All Quiet on the Western Front, but where’s the definitive film for the American Revolutionary War? If it’s The Patriot, that’s a shame. Nothing against the film, but when a Roland Emmerich film is the first and only thing you think of when you think of Revolutionary War films, there needs to be more examples. Still, there may not be a singular film like All Quiet that personifies the war experience for the time frame it covers. This is the case for the WWII and Vietnam era films, where you can name ten or more films that really work, but we won’t know if that’s the case for the American Revolutionary War until we’ve had a few more cracks at it.

You may disagree with this, but it’s possible that it could start a new sub-genre, like some may consider WWII films a sub-genre of the war film. Sure, a full-blown Revolutionary War epic won’t come cheap, but as long as you have a few familiar, talented faces in it, a great marketing campaign, and capitalize on the fact that it’s a Revolutionary War movie and it’s something new and different, audiences will take an interest in it. There’s no crowd of people standing around demanding films about the start of the U.S., but audiences don’t know what they want until they’ve had their first taste of it. Did audiences want cinematic universes where multiple franchises crossed over before Marvel did it? Hell no. Did audiences scream and shout about not being able to see time travel movies before Doc Brown built the Delorean? Probably not. Did audiences demand Hollywood’s filmmakers to explore outer space and fantasize about alien worlds before George Lucas took us to that galaxy far, far away? Nope.

There are certain movies that audiences want and express a desire for, but then there’s waves of films or new genres that are created when one film opens the door to their imaginations, or in this case, opens the door to the past. I’m not saying that if one studio puts up $225,000,000 and makes a biopic about Benedict Arnold that it’ll be the next Iron Man, but we will never know unless we try.

The bottom line is that it would be nice in the future if those TV movie channels like TCM or AMC started having all-day marathons featuring films of the Revolutionary War on and before Independence Day each year. If you tried it today you’d have no less than five showings of The Patriot and a couple of runs through the John Adams miniseries and the AMC series Turn to take up all that time, but still it would be kind of nice to have a few options. I’ve always wanted to see a new take on the American Revolutionary War in a big feature film, and am disappointed we haven’t gotten one yet. I do believe this is an opportunistic time period to stage a grand epic and tell stories that are hidden in the past.