Ten Pro-Liberty Films You Can Watch on Amazon Right Now
Keep up your freedom-loving spirits with this selection of ten films, chosen to inspire and entertain you. This list includes everything — comedy, romance, drama, action, and more. Enjoy!
The Castle
1997 | Comedy
When an airport attempts to “compulsorily acquire” a home in its vicinity through the use of eminent domain, the homeowner it intends to evict fights back. Starring: Michael Caton, Anne Tenney, Stephen Curry.
| Amazon Streaming
“A nice defense of private property, and very funny to boot.”
–Cato Institute
“This is truly a movie about liberty. A great, fun, Rothbardian film.”
–Mises Institute
“The Castle reminds us of the value of small gestures, assuming the best in people, picking your fights and being fiercely loyal to those you love. When offered a tidy packet to sell his home, Darryl responds with a line that distills the film’s emotional essence: ‘You can’t buy what I’ve got.'”
–The Guardian
Citizenfour
2014 | Documentary
Academy Award Winner: Best Documentary
The story of how Edward Snowden revealed for the first time bombshell proof that the U.S. government is routinely and secretly engaged in domestic spying.
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“If a documentary can also be a thriller, this is it.”
-MissLiberty.com
“Riveting, as well as the most indispensable documentary of the year.”
–BBC
“Citizenfour is a gripping record of how our rulers are addicted to gaining more and more power and control over us – if we let them.”
–The Guardian
“No amount of familiarity with whistleblower Edward Snowden and his shocking revelations of the U.S. government’s wholesale spying on its own citizens can prepare one for the impact of Laura Poitras’ extraordinary documentary Citizenfour.”
–Variety
Good Bye Lenin
2003 | Comedy, Foreign
A young man in newly liberated East Germany tries to hide the fall of communism from his enthusiastically socialist mother because doctors say the shock would kill her. Starring: Daniel Brühl, Katrin Sass, Chulpan Khamatova.
| Amazon Streaming
“This thoroughly enjoyable film is also a sweet and honest one, that works in every respect (it won a slew of European film awards). Throughout it we see the absurd character of socialist life, especially the poverty. But at the same time, in a final goodbye salute to that past, it acknowledges that for the older generation in particular — parents and grandparents, perhaps misguided in their socialist faith but beloved and caring nonetheless — the transition was not without sacrifice.”
-MissLiberty.com
“The cockamamie way foreign language films are chosen for Oscar consideration is evident in the fact that Good Bye, Lenin wasn’t even nominated. I don’t claim to have seen every entry from around the world, but it’s hard to imagine five better than this deliciously offbeat comedy, as wildly inventive as anything Billy Wilder ever conceived.”
–SFGate
The Man in the White Suit
1951 | Comedy
A research scientist invents a fabric both indestructible and stainproof, but manufacturing interests and unions try to prevent its production. Starring: Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Cecil Parker.
| Amazon Streaming
“The Man in the White Suit is not only a wonderful example of the creator-as-hero theme; it’s an artistic gem and a pleasure to watch.”
-Missliberty.com
“The Man in the White Suit is a paean to individualism, dreamers and pioneers.”
–Patrick Nabarro
Miss Virginia
2019 | Drama, Biography
A young mother (Virginia Walden Ford) fights a pitched, ultimately victorious, battle with educational authorities to create the District of Columbia voucher program. Based on a true story. Starring: Nadji Jeter, Matthew Modine, Aunjanue Ellis.
| Amazon Prime Streaming
“A heartfelt ode to an important historical figure.”
–Film Threat
“The movie does not preach — it lets Walden Ford’s real-life story sear in its moral: parents need choice, and children cannot wait.”
–Forbes
“Miss Virginia gives a voice to the voiceless children who would otherwise remain a part of the system…Five-star film.”
–Black Girl Nerds
Night Crossing
1982 | Family, Action-Adventure
A heroic and ingenious father organizes an escape for his family from East Germany to the West via a homemade hot air balloon. Based on a true story. Starring: John Hurt, Jane Alexander, Beau Bridges.
| Amazon Streaming
“Incredible as it may seem, four adults and four children actually did float across the heavily guarded East German border in a balloon stitched together from pieces of sheet and nylon in 1979. That might seem a desperate measure, but by this time escape by land had been made nearly impossible. Miles of barbed wire, watchtowers, mines, and self-firing weapons blocked every opening to the free world. Night Crossing portrays the details of this amazing flight as well as the unhappy and dangerous existence under socialism that made it necessary. This entertaining and upbeat Disney film — from the days when Disney was still Disney — has a lot going for it. The story is inspiring. Music and timing of events are used effectively to build suspense. And John Hurt is particularly good in the leading role.”
-MissLiberty.com
Richard Jewell
2019 | Drama
Security guard Richard Jewell saves hundreds of lives from an exploding pipe bomb at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, only to be railroaded as the prime suspect by an incompetent FBI and cynical press. Based on a true story. Starring: Paul Walter Hauser, Kathy Bates, Sam Rockwell.
| Amazon Prime Streaming
“Richard Jewell is an engaging, at times heart-wrenching film, and an act of justice — one might even say vengeance.”
-MissLiberty.com
“Richard Jewell is a study, not a diatribe, about runaway media and FBI agents victimizing an innocent man. Paul Walter Hauser commands the screen as the security guard falsely accused of the 1996 Olympics bombing in Atlanta.”
–Chicago Sun-Times
“Yes, this is a great movie, and a magnificent centerpiece performance by an unknown actor named Paul Walter Hauser in the title role is a major reason it is so unforgettable.”
–Observer
Sons of Liberty
2015 | TV Series, History, Drama, Action-Adventure
A group of young men–Sam Adams, John Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock and Dr. Joseph Warren–secretly join together to oppose British domination, and end up sparking the American Revolution. Starring: Ben Barnes, Marton Csokas, Ryan Eggold.
| Amazon Streaming
“Sons of Liberty transforms the image of the Founders from dry intellectual men of the past, about whom young people reluctantly read because someone tells them to, into the cool crowd of their time, which oddly enough they were.”
-MissLiberty.com
“A well-made dramatization that brings history to life.”
–New York Times
“A fast-paced, fact-packed trot through the early days of the American Revolution.”
–YahooTV
“Sons of Liberty rips the powdered wigs off America’s founding fathers. In a good way.”
–New York Daily News
Still Mine
2012 | Drama, Romance
When a rural farmer builds a new home as a kindness to his ailing wife, a government bureaucrat threatens to tear it down for building code violations. Based on a true story. Starring: James Cromwell, Ronan Rees, Geneviève Bujold.
| Amazon Prime Streaming
“It would be hard to imagine a more dead-on libertarian film. Morrison is just a straight-up good guy, strong and independent, loyal to the end, trying to do right by his ailing wife despite his own advanced age. He is a moral hero, besieged by the unfeeling State.”
-MissLiberty.com
“Still Mine is one of the best libertarian-themed movies I’ve ever seen…It’s a gripping tale of one fiercely independent man facing a soulless bureaucracy. It is more than a political story. It’s about families, about aging, about love, about responsibility…”
–Sharon Harris, Advocates for Self-Government
Strictly Ballroom
1992 | Musical-Dance, Comedy, Romance
When a talented renegade defies the authority of the Australian Dance Federation by dancing to his own steps, there’s only one thing it can do—stop him! Starring: Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice, Bill Hunter.
| Amazon Streaming
“As director Baz Luhrmann revealed in an interview: ‘We toured the play version in Czechoslovakia at the time communism was still very much around, and the Czechs would climb on stage going ‘Bravo!’ For them, the all-powerful Federation had nothing to do with ballroom dancing. To me, the film is not about ballroom dancing. It’s about overcoming oppression, whatever nature that oppression takes.’”
-MissLiberty.com
“Strictly Ballroom is close to irresistible. Shamelessly derivative but told with unflagging energy and style, it is so awash in good spirits that audiences hungry for pure entertainment will be nibbling on it for some time to come.”
–Los Angeles Times
Pro-Liberty Film Review Websites
If you want to get more familiar with films promoting liberty, there are a few sites I’d recommend.
HollywoodinToto.com follows current film releases, offering reviews and commentary from a conservative/libertarian perspective.
MissLiberty.com has hundreds of film reviews, categorized by liberty-related theme and genre, including many classics.
National Review has a Film & TV review section, offering reviews and commentary on current films and television.
Reason Magazine journalists sometimes review films.
The Moving Picture Institute keeps a library of films that it has supported.
