There has been a handful of Americal heroes in film. This article from Uproxx.com gives a detailed list of these great patriots.

There’s no shortage of American heroes throughout the history of film. Heroes are a global thing, but when your base of operations is in America and Americans were once your biggest audience, there’s going to be a little bias.

I didn’t take this lightly and this ranking is sure to ruffle a few feathers. The one problem you run into, especially with the films of the eighties, is the sheer wealth of options. I also didn’t want to say one is truly better than the other, so I would look at it as a group of ten instead of a top ten. Doesn’t matter where they land, they’re still gonna kick your ass for America.

The only sure thing here is that no one who starred in a movie with the words “patriot” in the title is included on this list. That means you Mel Gibson. Even if that scene where you hacked up those red coats alongside the road was pretty cool.

Be sure to share your favorites in the comments. There are plenty more to go around out there.

Superman (Christopher Reeve / Superman The Movie) – I know this is going to be a problem right off the bat, but there is a good reason for this choice. Captain America is probably an obvious choice and a strong one to boot. So why did I go Superman? Easy. Steve Rogers had no choice but to be Captain America. He’s a super-soldier built to be a propaganda machine. Superman had a choice and he chose America.

Kal-El might’ve crashed landed in Smallville and raised under an American roof, but he’s Superman. He could go anywhere and do anything. Yet he chooses to stick by the red, white, and blue. Not only that but he’s the definition of the American experience: an immigrant that came to this planet with nothing, managed to work his way up and then become the greatest superhero of all time.

Sure that commie Superman from the comics might’ve shunned the nation and took off walking across the country to win it back. The comics are a mess. Movie Superman is American through and through.

Chuck Norris (Invasion USA) – This is a choice where there were many options to go with, but I had to with Chuck Norris. Stallone as Rambo could’ve fit, especially with First Blood Part 2. But much like this nation turned its back on him, I am doing the same because he was a criminal. He held an entire town hostage.

Norris was always that American guy in movies and he always seemed to be the good guy through and through. There was no questionable nature behind his allegiances and he proved it with his fists, feet, and firearms. No better film shows this than Invasion USA, the film where Norris plays former CIA operative Matt Hunter and must repel a small invasion of communist terrorists from Southern Florida. It’s gold and you need to seek it out if you haven’t seen it.

Casey Ryback (Under Siege) – Casey Ryback might be rough around the edges in the Under Siegefilms, but he’s a loyal warrior at his core. He’s an easy choice. Not only is Ryback Steven Seagal’s big budget breakthrough, the pay off for his string of successful movies in the late 80s, but he’s also a disgraced Navy SEAL that took a lower job to stay in the military.

Ryback could’ve easily just opened a sub shop in Pismo Beach and worked on his guitar playing in an effort to get the poonani. But no, he took a lowly job as a cook and stayed aboard a battleship. Imagine how the movie plays out if Ryback isn’t there? Everyone drowns in the bowels of the ship and Hawaii is turned into a nuclear wasteland.

Throw in the respect for those who came before him, namely the World War II retirees visiting the ship during the hostage situation, and you have a golden patriot. Cue up the stereotypical Seagal bad ass resume.

Jim Garrison (JFK) – This is my wild card pick. Garrison from Oliver Stone’s exercise in insanity (only recently replaced by his Untold History of The United States series) is the perfect example of someone acting in the same manner that the Founding Fathers would.

It isn’t about him being correct or victorious in the end, but more about his heart and desire inside. He believes in America and loves the America that supposedly died with Kennedy. The optimism of the space race is replaced by controversy and conspiracy. He’s not only fighting to find out who kill Kennedy, he’s also fighting for the soul of a country. Where the other people on this list might be the types who lined up to shoot the president dead in the first place, under orders of course, Garrison is against the grain and a renegade.

Click here to read the full list.

Learn more about the history of film by following this Louis A. Habash Twitter account.