Libertarian themes
by cluskillz | created - 20 Apr 2023 | updated - 21 Apr 2023 | PublicA list of movies and TV shows with libertarian themes and messages, whether explicitly or metaphorically, as well as documentaries with libertarian ideas.
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1. Mr. Jones (2019)
119 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller
A Welsh journalist breaks the news in the western media of the famine in Ukraine in the early 1930s.
Director: Agnieszka Holland | Stars: James Norton, Vanessa Kirby, Peter Sarsgaard, Joseph Mawle
Votes: 16,258
A look back at the atrocities the USSR committed against Ukraine in the Holodomor and the New York Times coverup.
2. V for Vendetta (2005)
R | 132 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In a future British dystopian society, a shadowy freedom fighter, known only by the alias of "V", plots to overthrow the tyrannical government - with the help of a young woman.
Director: James McTeigue | Stars: Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman, Rupert Graves, Stephen Rea
Votes: 1,179,750 | Gross: $70.51M
3. The Bourne Identity (2002)
PG-13 | 119 min | Action, Mystery, Thriller
A man is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and suffering from amnesia, before racing to elude assassins and attempting to regain his memory.
Director: Doug Liman | Stars: Franka Potente, Matt Damon, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen
Votes: 576,525 | Gross: $121.66M
A US black ops asset rejects the assassination program he was brainwashed into and fights the system. A libertarian James Bond.
4. The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
PG-13 | 108 min | Action, Mystery, Thriller
When Jason Bourne is framed for a CIA operation gone awry, he is forced to resume his former life as a trained assassin to survive.
Director: Paul Greengrass | Stars: Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Joan Allen, Brian Cox
Votes: 487,060 | Gross: $176.24M
A US black ops asset rejects the assassination program he was brainwashed into and fights the system. A libertarian James Bond.
5. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
PG-13 | 115 min | Action, Mystery, Thriller
Jason Bourne dodges a ruthless C.I.A. official and his Agents from a new assassination program while searching for the origins of his life as a trained killer.
Director: Paul Greengrass | Stars: Matt Damon, Edgar Ramírez, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles
Votes: 658,424 | Gross: $227.47M
A US black ops asset rejects the assassination program he was brainwashed into and fights the system. A libertarian James Bond.
6. The Siege (1998)
R | 116 min | Action, Thriller
The secret U.S. abduction of a suspected terrorist leads to a wave of terrorist attacks in New York City, which leads to the declaration of martial-law.
Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Denzel Washington, Bruce Willis, Annette Bening, Tony Shalhoub
Votes: 78,130 | Gross: $40.98M
Oddly prescient for its time, warns of the dangers the US government can commit against its citizens by overreacting to fear of terrorism.
7. Snowden (2016)
R | 134 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The NSA's illegal surveillance techniques are leaked to the public by one of the agency's employees, Edward Snowden, in the form of thousands of classified documents distributed to the press.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto
Votes: 163,021 | Gross: $21.59M
A dramatic look at Edward Snowden's life and heroic actions to bring to light the NSA's illegal spying apparatus.
8. Citizenfour (2014)
R | 114 min | Documentary, Biography
A documentarian and a reporter travel to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden.
Director: Laura Poitras | Stars: Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, William Binney, Jacob Appelbaum
Votes: 57,991 | Gross: $2.80M
The documentary that outlined Snowden's heroic actions and the valiant efforts three journalists made to bring this to light.
9. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (2012)
R | 91 min | Documentary
A documentary that chronicles artist and activist Ai Weiwei as he prepares for a series of exhibitions and gets into an increasing number of clashes with the Chinese government.
Director: Alison Klayman | Stars: Ai Weiwei, Dan Ai, Lao Ai, Lee Ambrozy
Votes: 4,527 | Gross: $0.53M
10. Can We Take a Joke? (2015)
74 min | Documentary
An examination of Western society's apparent contemporary intolerance of edgy humor by comedians.
Director: Ted Balaker | Stars: George Carlin, Adam Carolla, Ron Collins, Bob Corn-Revere
Votes: 772
11. Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game (2022)
95 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
The story of Roger Sharpe, the young midwesterner who overturned New York City's 35 year-old ban on pinball machines.
Directors: Austin Bragg, Meredith Bragg | Stars: Mike Faist, Crystal Reed, Dennis Boutsikaris, Christopher Convery
Votes: 3,922
12. Little Pink House (2017)
98 min | Drama
A woman fights a group trying to evict her whole neighborhood and give it to a corporation. In a close decision, the Supreme Court favors the evictions. The corporation never builds anything on the site of her demolished home.
Director: Courtney Balaker | Stars: Callum Keith Rennie, Catherine Keener, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Giacomo Baessato
Votes: 1,094 | Gross: $0.22M
A look back at the Suzette Kelo and the Institute for Justice's fight against eminent domain abuse in the Kelo v New London case.
13. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
R | 81 min | Animation, Comedy, Fantasy
When Stan Marsh and his friends go see an R-rated movie, they start cursing and their parents think that Canada is to blame.
Director: Trey Parker | Stars: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Mary Kay Bergman, Isaac Hayes
Votes: 215,036 | Gross: $52.04M
Tackling free speech issues, the uncensored movie satirizes the lengths people will go to in order to censor foul language, nearly two decades before cancel culture started taking off.
14. South Park (1997– )
TV-MA | 22 min | Animation, Comedy
Follows the misadventures of four irreverent grade-schoolers in the quiet, dysfunctional town of South Park, Colorado.
Stars: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Isaac Hayes, Mona Marshall
Votes: 406,143
Nobody is safe. South Park will poke fun and satirize anyone, often simply taking reality and expanding it to exponential absurdity. Anti-establishment lessons are sprinkled throughout the shows in hilarious manner.
15. Parks and Recreation (2009–2015)
TV-14 | 22 min | Comedy
The absurd antics of an Indiana town's public officials as they pursue sundry projects to make their city a better place.
Stars: Amy Poehler, Jim O'Heir, Nick Offerman, Chris Pratt
Votes: 288,190
Ron Swanson is hilariously a staunch libertarian working in the government to thwart the government. Although the show gets many of libertarian aspects correct, Swanson is still a caricature and gets some things wrong (what's with him extolling the virtues of the USD??). Nevertheless, he is a libertarian TV character that was written as an important role model for the other characters in the show, a rarity for Hollywood.
16. The Wire (2002–2008)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
The Baltimore drug scene, as seen through the eyes of drug dealers and law enforcement.
Stars: Dominic West, Lance Reddick, Sonja Sohn, Wendell Pierce
Votes: 377,849
A look at the problems of drug prohibition and plays on ideas like a zone for what amounts to a sanctuary zone for drug deals.
17. Chernobyl (2019)
TV-MA | 41 min | Drama, History, Thriller
In April 1986, the city of Chernobyl in the Soviet Union suffers one of the worst nuclear disasters in the history of mankind. Consequently, many heroes put their lives on the line in the following days, weeks and months.
Stars: Jessie Buckley, Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård, Adam Nagaitis
Votes: 866,329
18. Making a Murderer (2015–2018)
TV-14 | 60 min | Documentary, Crime
Filmed over a 10-year period, Steven Avery, a DNA exoneree who, while in the midst of exposing corruption in local law enforcement, finds himself the prime suspect in a grisly new crime.
Stars: Steven Avery, Dolores Avery, Laura Nirider, Allan Avery
Votes: 102,890
19. Ghostbusters (1984)
PG | 105 min | Action, Comedy, Fantasy
Three parapsychologists forced out of their university funding set up shop as a unique ghost removal service in New York City, attracting frightened yet skeptical customers.
Director: Ivan Reitman | Stars: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis
Votes: 450,546 | Gross: $238.63M
A group of enterprising academics create a business to solve a weird problem in the neighborhood. The EPA steps in to stop them, to disastrous results.
20. I, Robot (2004)
PG-13 | 115 min | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
In 2035, a technophobic cop investigates a crime that may have been perpetrated by a robot, which leads to a larger threat to humanity.
Director: Alex Proyas | Stars: Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, Alan Tudyk
Votes: 575,706 | Gross: $144.80M
A new generation of robots go rogue as Asimov's Three Rules for Robotics leads to the conclusion that humans must be imprisoned for their own safety, showing that the rules must be expanded to guarantee freedom instead of solely guarding safety. A great lesson for those that would trade freedom for safety.
21. Richard Jewell (2019)
R | 131 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Security guard Richard Jewell is an instant hero after foiling a bomb attack at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, but his life becomes a nightmare when the FBI leaks to the media that he is a suspect in the case.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Brandon Stanley, Ryan Boz
Votes: 97,793
22. The Lego Movie (2014)
PG | 100 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
An ordinary LEGO construction worker, thought to be the prophesied as "special", is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil tyrant from gluing the LEGO universe into eternal stasis.
Directors: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller | Stars: Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett
Votes: 388,509 | Gross: $257.76M
23. Enemy of the State (1998)
R | 132 min | Action, Thriller
A lawyer becomes targeted by a corrupt politician and his N.S.A. goons when he accidentally receives key evidence to a politically motivated crime.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, Lisa Bonet
Votes: 259,023 | Gross: $111.55M
24. Schindler's List (1993)
R | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall
Votes: 1,451,636 | Gross: $96.90M
25. Revolution of Our Times (2021)
152 min | Documentary, History
Due to political restrictions in Hong Kong, this documentary following protestors since 2019, is broken into pieces, each containing interviews and historical context of the conflict.
Director: Kiwi Chow | Stars: Gwyneth Ho, Benny Tai
Votes: 1,389
26. Free to Choose (1980– )
Documentary
This was originally a book, made into a ten part television series broadcast on PBS by economists Milton and Rose Friedman that advocates free market principles. The thrust of the series is... See full summary »
Stars: Milton Friedman, Robert McKenzie, Thomas Sowell, Peter Jay
Votes: 331
27. How to Become a Tyrant (2021)
TV-14 | 23 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Ruling with an iron fist requires an aspiring dictator to know the playbook for absolute power, as history's despots prove in this sardonic docuseries.
Stars: Peter Dinklage, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Waller Newell, Ruth Ben-Ghiat
Votes: 11,383
28. Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower (2017)
TV-14 | 79 min | Documentary
When the Chinese Communist Party backtracks on its promise of autonomy to Hong Kong, teenager Joshua Wong decides to save his city. Rallying thousands of kids to skip school and occupy the ... See full summary »
Director: Joe Piscatella | Stars: Agnes Chow, Joshua 'Chi-Fung' Wong
Votes: 1,678
29. Clarkson's Farm (2021– )
TV-PG | 45 min | Documentary, Comedy, Reality-TV
Follow Jeremy Clarkson as he attempts to run a farm in the countryside.
Stars: Jeremy Clarkson, Kaleb Cooper, Charlie Ireland, Lisa Hogan
Votes: 56,081
30. Friends (1994–2004)
TV-14 | 22 min | Comedy, Romance
Follows the personal and professional lives of six twenty to thirty year-old friends living in the Manhattan borough of New York City.
Stars: Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc
Votes: 1,088,829
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