If history is any indication, the movie industry will be affected by the new “War on Terrorism” that our country is engaged in. The images that come onto the big screen are no accident. Movies that display patriotism will likely become abundant, and ones that don’t likely won’t even be made. The last few wars our country has engaged in paint an interesting picture as to where movies and war movies are headed.

War movies that paint a positive picture of the U.S military can do wonders to persuade public opinion. Just last summer Pearl Harbor was seen by millions of Americans, opening over Memorial Day weekend. The film hardly did justice to the real issues of World War II or the huge amounts of suffering and sacrifice that occurred in it. Instead, it glorified war.

If the “War On Terrorism” is indeed going to be a long term war similar to the Cold War, then looking at movies that were made during the Cold War about the Cold War will probably tell the story of where the war movie genre will be headed in the near future.

Movies that painted Americans as good and Soviets as bad were plentiful during the Cold War. Maybe it was because Reagan’s hand was on the trigger, but several films that were made during the 1980’s dealt with nuclear war. The Day After and The Testament both released in 1983 showed horrific depictions of nuclear holocaust. Is it just a coincidence that these movies were made during a time when the U.S was expanding its military budget to combat the Russians?

After the Cold War came an influx of movies that still used the Russia versus U.S theme. Films such as The Hunt For Red October (1990) and Crimson Tide (1995) went back to the Cold War for their storylines. Again, these films came at a convenient time. While Americans might have started feeling secure with the absence of the Soviet Union, they were hit with these images that show the U.S in danger at the hands of a foreign nation.

While images in film can serve to alter public opinion, the images that are not shown can also. Just prior to the start of our involvement in the Persian Gulf in 1991, Born On The Fourth of July was scheduled to be shown on network television. The movie was pulled from the schedule prior to its airing due to its decidedly anti-war theme. The movie, starring Tom Cruise, depicts a crippled Vietnam veteran during his traumatic post war years. A movie like this one, which depicts the suffering and horror of war, was not welcome. Perhaps it was too real simply because it didn’t have the usual rah rah, fight war, happy ending that many war movies do.

Films that rise above the usual war clich