Is there anything more American than watching things blow up?
Watch With Us doesn’t think so. That’s why were’s celebrating America’s 250th birthday by streaming three great action movies on Prime Video, Paramount+ and Disney+.
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Top Gun is turning 40 this year, and the film that made Tom Cruise a star is still as enthralling to watch in 2026 as it was in 1986.
Harrison Ford is best known to Gen X moviegoers as Han Solo and Indiana Jones, but his take-no-prisoners president in Air Force One is just as intimidating as those legendary characters.
And while Olympus Has Fallen is no classic, it’s a fun action flick that has Gerard Butler saving the White House – and America – from terrorists.
There are plenty of movies about presidents, but Air Force One is the only one with Harrison Ford as pissed-off prez with a mean left hook. President James Marshall (Ford) has every right to be angry – his presidential plane, Air Force One, has been hijacked by some Russian terrorists, and his family is in immediate danger. Marshall is used to fighting political foes in Congress, but it’s a whole different ball game when he’s all alone, 20,000 feet in the air and surrounded by people who want to kill him.
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Do you really need to be convinced to watch a movie with Harrison Ford fighting Gary Oldman on a plane that’s out of control and about to crash? Air Force One is silly, stupid fun, and probably the only movie that makes politics exciting. Ford at his ‘90s action-hero best, while Glenn Close brings her usual class to the role of an anxious vice president who has to be ready to become the world’s most powerful leader at a moment’s notice.
Watch With Us likes our presidents as action heroes, although the commander-in-chief in Olympus Has Fallen, President Ben Asher (Aaron Eckhart), needs some help. North Korean terrorists have taken over the White House, and they’ve already assassinated South Korea’s Prime Minister live on the air. The only cavalry that’s going to save him is Mike Banning (Gerard Butler), a Secret Service agent who Asher still blames for his wife’s death eighteen months ago. He’ll have to get over that grudge quickly if he has any hope of surviving a hostage situation that quickly turns hostile.
Air Force One looks like a political documentary next to Olympus Has Fallen. The 2013 action movie might as well be science fiction, as it takes place in a reality where bad guys can pretty much walk right into the White House and steal nuclear codes. But this reality also has Morgan Freeman as a calm and rational politician (what a concept!) and Gerard Butler as an ass-kicking, stab-loving federal cop who can take down a team of assassins without getting killed. Olympus Has Fallen is pure action fantasy, and I wouldn’t change a thing about it. Be sure to avoid its two inferior sequels, London Has Fallen and Angel Has Fallen.
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This story was originally published July 4, 2026 at 6:35 AM.