Texas Obsesses Over This Patriotic Movie

The Fourth of July holiday is known for exploding fireworks, splashing pools and smoking grills. There will be plenty of patriotism, too, as American flags fly high to celebrate America’s 243rd birthday.

And if a new report is any indication, many folks in Texas might enjoy one patriotic film in particular. Streaming Observer partnered with an analytics firm to delve into Google Trends data and find out which patriotic movie each state was most “obsessed” with compared to other states.

Texas apparently has a penchant for watching "Stripes." The 1981 film stars Bill Murray.

"Two friends who are dissatisfied with their jobs decide to join the army for a bit of fun," read the IMDB description for Stripes.

“Captain America: The First Avenger,” starring Chris Evans, was the most obsessed-over movie in multiple states, the report noted, along with the alien action-film “Independence Day,” the action-thriller “Lone Survivor,” and the 1940s classic, “Sands of Iwo Jima.”

There were some interesting trends too, with some states seemingly having a soft spot for films that had a personal connection. “Forrest Gump” was obsessed over most in South Carolina, where much of the film was shot, while “Gettysburg” was the film to watch in Pennsylvania. Georgia, meanwhile, obsesses over the 1930s classic, “Gone with the Wind,” which has a strong tie to a mansion currently for sale in Newton County.

Across the nation, Will Smith was the big winner, with “Independence Day” dubbed the most searched for patriotic movie in the nation, the authors wrote. The film was also obsessed over most in New Mexico and Illinois.

Other films on the list include “Patton,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “She Wore A Yellow Ribbon,” “Rocky IV,” “American Sniper,” and “Rambo: First Blood Part II.”

The films were selected based on data on the most popular patriotic movies of all time, as ranked by ranker.com.

By Dan Hampton, Patch National Staffer