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The Pentagon Wars

The Pentagon Wars

Comedy · Drama · War · 1998

From the director of “Made In America” and “The Money Pit” comes a hilarious look at one of the most expensive blunders in military history. Over 17 years and almost as many billion dollars have gone into devising the BFV (Bradley Fighting Vehicle). There's only one problem. . . it doesn't work. (Spoiler alert: 25 years later ... it does work.)

Movie details

The Pentagon Wars

“They aimed to build the ultimate fighting machine... they missed.”

1998 Comedy · Drama · War 1h 44m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

From the director of “Made In America” and “The Money Pit” comes a hilarious look at one of the most expensive blunders in military history. Over 17 years and almost as many billion dollars have gone into devising the BFV (Bradley Fighting Vehicle). There's only one problem. . . it doesn't work. (Spoiler alert: 25 years later ... it does work.)

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Pentagon Wars?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Richard Benjamin

Written by

Jamie Malanowski · Martyn Burke

Kelsey Grammer

Kelsey Grammer

General Partridge

Cary Elwes

Cary Elwes

Colonel James Burton

Viola Davis

Viola Davis

Sgt. Fanning

John C. McGinley

John C. McGinley

Colonel J.D. Bock

Tom Wright

Tom Wright

Major William Sayers

Clifton Powell

Clifton Powell

Sgt. Benjamn Dalton

Dewey Weber

Dewey Weber

Spec-4 Granger

Court is in session

Put The Pentagon Wars on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.