BuzzFlash Reviews
"The Pentagon Wars" -- a True Satire of the Military-Industrial Complex Gone Amuck
Directed by Richard Benjamin
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It's based on a book of the same name by former Lt. Colonel Jim Burton, of the Air Force, who in the mid-80s was appointed by Congress to investigate the state of the Bradley infantry vehicle, which appeared to be a multi-billion dollar boondoggle. Burton found that the military industrial complex was out to produce weapons and transport vehicles even if they didn't work because the relationship between the top brass and the defense manufacturers was so incestuous that troop protection was secondary to profits, promotions and production.
The trailer for "The Pentagon Wars" is here.
In fact, the Bradley, until Burton was able to finally able to leapfrog Pentagon obstacles and actually test it, was a traveling coffin for troops. (It has since been modified and used in various conflicts.)
Did we mention that this film is actually quite humorous, in a light dark-comedy sort of way? It's bleak in its implications, but you'll laugh your way through it. Kelsey Grammer plays the smug general who doesn't care about the safety of soldiers, just about getting the Bradley in the production line and making it look like it's a mean machine. Richard Benjamin directs the film and also plays Caspar Weinberger, Secretary of Defense in the Reagan years, when the film takes place.
Olympia Dukakis plays the Chairwoman of a House of Representatives Committee investigating the delays in producing the Bradley vehicle.
Given the numerous malfunctions of Pentagon equipment in Iraq, causing unnecessary death and injury to our troops, "The Pentagon Wars" offers a laughable romp through the follies and dangers of the military-industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us against -- and it's based on a true story to boot.
From an online reviewer:
This film would be hilarious were it not so frightening.
This film is not portrayed as a documentary Still, it purports to reflect in a semi-accurate manner the convulsions that attended the development of the Bradley fighting vehicle. Based on news reports, it contains more than a bit of truth, even if there is some dramatic license being employed.
The conflict in this film is between a conscientious officer who wants to do real testing and a pentagon general who wants to make contractors and politicians happy. It is a sad state of affairs.
The development of the Bradley had a long history before it ever reached deployment. It was plagued by cost overruns, changing specifications and failed tests. It even went through a phase where it was supposed to be aquatic. In the end, a troop carrier for 11 troops became a scout vehicle that was too prominent to do scout work, had a turret like a tank so it would attract extra fire, had aluminum armor so it would not be too heavy (or stop shells) and would only carry 6 people. The reasons for all of these travesties can be found in pork barrel politics.
This is a comedy and it is funny in its irony. That does not stop it from also being a tragedy.
Here is Publisher's Weekly reviewing former Lt. Colonel Burton's book, on which the film is based:
Former Air Force colonel Burton spent 14 years as a Pentagon specialist in weapons acquisition and testing before his retirement in 1986. In this angry, controversial, convincing brief, he testifies that the process of selecting and purchasing weapons for our armed forces is "ethically and morally corrupt from top to bottom," with few checks and balances. The most scathing and damning portions of the expose illustrate how Pentagon procurement officers routinely give more consideration to satisfying defense contractors than to the safety of the troops who will use a given weapon on the field. Burton recalls the fuss he raised over the Bradley Fighting Vehicle's vulnerability to anti-armor weapons, and though (reluctantly made) design changes improved the safety of the vehicle, Burton suffered both personally and professionally for his boat-rocking, as he shows here. Ultimately, he is not optimistic: the flaws in weapons procurement are probably permanent, Burton concludes, since the reforms he and others forced were only temporary.
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