National Lampoon
10 scathing political satires to stream this Fourth of July.
When a reality show host is the leader of the free world and Kim Kardashian is influencing presidential pardons, it feels as if the most appropriate way to celebrate America this Independence Day is by mainlining some of Hollywood’s best political satire. Stream on, patriots.
EVERETT COLLECTION01Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Stanley Kubrick’s black-and-white Cold War comedy hasn’t lost any of its bite in the more than half-century since its release. For all its absurdity, there’s a certain amount of plausibility that makes it equally terrifying when you stop to think about what could happen when an idiot has the nuclear codes.\ \ **Where to Stream It:** Hulu
EVERETT COLLECTION02Being There (1979)
Fifteen years after *Dr. Strangelove*, Peter Sellers earned yet another Best Actor nomination for playing a sweet but simple-minded man who finds himself a frontrunner in the upcoming presidential election. While the film is an indictment of America's political players and society itself, it's the endearing performance by Sellers that gives it a sweetness other films on this list are lacking.\ \ **Where to Stream It:** FilmStruck
EVERETT COLLECTION03In the Loop (2009)
Seven years before he skewered the inner workings of the White House with *Veep*, Armando Iannucci did the same for the hallowed halls of the British government with the foul-mouthed series *The Thick of It*. This, a feature-length spinoff of that original series, spins out the global ramifications of a poorly worded sound bite—perfectly, and profanely.\ \ **Where to Stream It:** Hulu
EVERETT COLLECTION04South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
The hard-R cinematic version of the long-running Comedy Central show—in which Trey Parker and Matt Stone literally wage war with our kindly neighbors to the north—is well worth your time. We’ll just say that Satan and Saddam Hussein make an appearance, and leave it at that; the less you know, the better.\ \ **Where to Stream It:** Amazon
EVERETT COLLECTION05Bulworth (1998)
Disillusioned with life and politics, California senator Jay Bulworth (Warren Beatty) has decided he’s had enough and hires a hitman to take him out—but the knowledge of his impending death during a reelection bid inspires him get honest with voters. Despite its cringier moments (see: Beatty rapping), it leaves one yearning for the day when a politician might be emboldened to tell the truth in real life. **Where to Stream It:** Amazon
EVERETT COLLECTION06The Interview (2014)
This Seth Rogen/James Franco joint—in which a talk-show host and a producer travel to North Korea to interview Kim Jong-Un—may well have led to North Korea’s hack of Sony Pictures’ private emails and data, which were eventually posted online for all the world to see. Was it worth it? You’ll have to decide for yourself.\ \ **Where to Stream It:** Amazon Prime
EVERETT COLLECTION07Election (1999)
For proof that all politics is local, one need look no further than Alexander Payne's adaptation of Tom Perrotta's acerbic 1998 novel of the same name. Though a farcical student council election may be a far cry from a presidential one, power and corruption can go hand-in-hand at any level.\ \ **Where to Stream It:** Amazon Prime
EVERETT COLLECTION08Uncle Sam (1996)
Who says schlocky horror movies can’t come with a message? Director William Lustig takes aim at the Gulf War in this tale of a dead soldier whose body is returned to the US—then steals an Uncle Sam costume and wreaks havoc on the town, killing draft-dodgers, tax cheats, flag-burners, lying politicians, and anyone else he deems unpatriotic. You’ve been warned.\ \ **Where to Stream It:** Shudder
EVERETT COLLECTION09Duck Soup (1933)
The Marx Brothers were always ahead of their time—but perhaps never more so than with this 1933 political classic, in which an unpredictable dictator becomes president of a tiny country and then gets embroiled in a love triangle with geopolitical consequences. It's not hard to read between the lines of what can happen when self-interest and politics collide.\ \ **Where to Stream It:** IndieFlix
EVERETT COLLECTION10They Live (1988)
Though it may be best known for delivering "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass ... and I'm all out of bubblegum" into the popular lexicon, John Carpenter's alien invasion movie is also a clever takedown of the consumer-obsessed Reagan era. It may not be Carpenter's best, but it's one of his most bitingly allegorical.\ \ **Where to Stream It:** Amazon
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Back to topJennifer M. Wood writes about movies, television, and pop culture. She is the editor of The Curious Viewer: A Miscellany of Bingeable Streaming TV Shows from the Past Twenty Years and the author of The Curious Movie Buff: A Miscellany of Fantastic Films from the Past 50 Years. ... Read More
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