What to Watch: Kid-Friendly Independence Day Movies

In THE SANDLOT, a young boy becomes friends with eight boys who are devoted to playing sandlot baseball and has some exciting adventures with them as they try to recover a cherished baseball from a mysterious, dangerous building that adjoins their lot. Although THE SANDLOT lags in a few places, overall, it builds suspense and intrigue, and humorously depicts the trials of growing up. The film contains some mild obscenities and, regrettably, some exclamatory profanities. In all, THE SANDLOT is wholesome family entertainment which will cause its viewers to laugh and to rejoice.

AMERICA’S HEART AND SOUL is a beautifully photographed ode to the best in America, a celebration of the good and of faith. It is hard to sustain a documentary full of vignettes, but there are very few moments that lag in this movie; most of it tugs at the heartstrings, and should make everyone who sees it stand up and cheer for America.

SGT. STUBBY: AN AMERICAN HERO chronicles the adventures of the most decorated war dog in United States history during World War I. With a strong emotional heart, lots of historical background and patriotic stories of bravery, there’s much to love about this charming story, but the presentation is uneven, and the script and dialogue are a bit too on-the-nose. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger children due to war violence and scary images of gas masks in SGT. STUBBY.

MIRACLE is a splendid, inspirational re-telling of the U.S. hockey team’s hard-earned road to victory play at the 1980 Olympic games in Lake Placid, New York. Though it contains some light obscenities, it is a fine, entertaining, and positive movie which shows that the success of the 1980 hockey team was not just some fluke or happy coincidence, but was the result of hard work, persistence, and detailed preparation.

NATIONAL TREASURE is a rollicking, witty adventure mystery starring Nicolas Cage as a contemporary Indiana Jones hero hunting clues to a treasure hidden for hundreds of years. Although it shows a couple Masonic symbols that help locate the treasure, the movie is not occult or anti-Christian, but is a family-friendly entertainment that honors early American history, the Founding Fathers, the Declaration of Independence, and ideals such as liberty, traditional family values, bravery, honor, patriotism, loyalty, and justice.

CARS, Pixar and Disney's new computer-animated movie, tells the fantasy tale of Lightning McQueen, a selfish racecar who learns how to slow down, care for others and find himself when he becomes stranded in an isolated, small desert town off Route 66. CARS is a feast for the eyes and the heart. It celebrates the values that made small-town America great.

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN finds the hero of the first movie and his museum friends trying to stop an evil Egyptian king’s plot to rule the world. It is a charming, creative family adventure sprinkled with humor, romance, excitement, and history, including two brief positive references to God and an implied reference to Jesus Christ and His positive impact on history.