You may have a clashing opinion about celebrating Columbus Day, but you can still enjoy watching movies based on the holiday. In America, every successful event or day merges with pop culture, the reflection of which can be visible through the movie industry. The following list is a good platter of options to get along with the family and reflect on the past with this choice of movies.

Columbus Day is one such day of patriotism, named after the European explorer, Columbus, for finding the American territory. Although not everyone in the modern world may agree with the idea of celebrating the festival, it is still one of the major public holidays. So if you spent it binge-watching movies, did you watch these 5 movies?

Director: John Ford

Screenplay: Frank Nugent, Laurence Stallings

Cast: John Wayne, Ben Johnson, Joanne Dru, and John Agar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d68z6fOY2nI

One of the most expensive movies of the time, the movie’s plot revolves around Captain Nathan Brittles on his struggles with improving relations with the Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians. The movie tells the heroic tale of the Captain as he attempts to have peaceful interactions with the Native Americans and avoid a war.

Director: D.W. Griffith

Screenplay: D.W. Griffith

Cast: Lillian Gish, Henry B. Walthall, John Ford, and Miriam Cooper

It is considered to be one of the greatest and most landmark movies of all time. Although the movie is part fiction, it depicts the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and is considered to be one of the most racist movies of all time. This may not be a film as the best example for Columbus Day, mostly due to its negative depiction of African Americans and positive portrayal of the KKK. It may be worth watching, probably as a reminder of how movies have evolved through time.

Director: Howard Hawks

Screenplay: Borden Chase, Charles Schnee

Cast: John Wayne, Montogomery Clift, Joanne Dru, and Walter Brennan

The plot revolves around Thomas Dunson who starts a cattle ranch with Matt Garth, and his lover Fen, who is killed by the Indians. Dunson has adopted an orphaned child, who eventually grew up to become his own person. It is all sweet and dandy until the two begin having disagreements.

Director: Bruce Beresford

Screenplay: Brian Moore

Cast: Aden Young, Sandrine Holt, August Schellenberg, and Lothaire Bluteau

Adopted from the Brian Moore book of the same name, the film is set in 1634, wherein Father Paul LaForgue goes on a mission to convert tribes of a distant Huron village to Christianity. But the mission to baptize them is not going to be an easy one. The film was appreciated for its highly accurate depiction of Indigenous tribes. In fact, the film won several awards, including Best Motion Picture, making it a good choice to binge on.

Director: Michael Mann

Screenplay: Michael Mann

Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, and Jodhi May

The movie is based on the novel of the same name by James Fenimore. The film is based in the 19th Century during the war between the French and Indians. Wherein a tribe adopts a Caucasian man who is tasked with protecting and bringing the daughters of a colonel to safety. We witness the struggles of these missions as the Huron warrior Magua ambushes them in order to get revenge on the colonel.

Have you watched any of these movies before? Leave a comment below.