Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

meddlecore "The Pentagon Wars" is a made-for-HBO movie, that was originally broadcast in 1998. It is based on the account of Colonel James Burton (also the main character, played by Cary Elwes), a former military man who found himself up against a wall of ambition, when tasked with vetting the field effectiveness of the Bradley Military Vehicle. A number of high ranking and highly influential military minds had already invested their careers, reputations and billions of taxpayer dollars into the Bradley project- with little-to-no results. What was originally supposed to be a personnel transport device, found itself constantly being redesigned, until it was a hybrid scout/personnel transport/tank that was rather ineffective at carrying out any of the tasks it was meant for. The whole thing ended up too slow to operate as a scouting vehicle, too bulky to carry a significant amount of troops, and too weak to go up against any sort of anti-tank defences. But too many people had invested too much in this project to admit defeat. So, despite the fact that such a vehicle was absolutely unfit for the field became irrelevant when weighed against the egos and ambitions of those behind the project.Hence, when Colonel Burton shows up to test the field effectiveness of the machine, he finds it to be lacking, and questions whether it should be put into production. His investigations reveal that a conspiracy has been undertaken to cover-up the vehicles shortcomings- including fraudulent tests used to determine it's safety and effectiveness in the field.Instead of just acting as a whistleblower though, he decides he needs to do everything by the book...convincing the soldiers that have been helping carry out the tests to change their ways, as opposed to just leaking the story to an outside media outlet. Burton does manage to convince congress to initiate an investigation into this $14 billion dollar con that was to see an overweight and overly explosive aluminum can be sent out into combat situations...with soldiers inside.Despite this, the actions of this unsung hero would force him to resign from the military, while he watched those behind this bloated failure of a project move up the ranks.This film is both entertaining and educational. While shot to be a comedy, this is a very revealing story, with very serious implications. It goes to show the kind of crap that the Military Industrial Complex is able to pull off, unbeknownst to the public, on a regular basis. And it has a great cast too: with the likes of Kelsey Grammar, John C. McGinley, among others, in supporting roles. This is a film that reveals the American Military's macho posturing for what it really is....posturing. Worth a watch if you are looking for an informative laugh. Would make a nice double-feature with "The Doomsday Gun", another made-for-HBO movie. 6 out 10.

papamac630 Anyone who has ever been connected to the military understands the great oxymoron that it is...and probably always will be...but this movie is a classic example of how the military can run amok if it isn't closely monitored...although the humor in this movie does help to make it easier to take...there are a few notable performances that elevate this past the "TV Movie Of The Week" stereotype...Richard Schiff as the put-upon colonel who gets the Bradley project dumped on him 1st, Cary Elwes as the Air Force lieutenant colonel who ends up with the task, Kelsey Grammar as a smug and pompous Army general...all spice up the film and make it better than it should have been...at the end, there is a scene involving the enlisted men on the testing team and Elwes that could be considered semi-sappy...unless you served in the military and understand the relationship between the men and Elwes and how it evolved...then that scene is strikingly important...you will love the part about the sheep...and I can assure you, having been in the Army, yes, this is how Army people talk and act...get this movie, watch this movie, enjoy this movie...it's a nice vacation from today's headlines...and you will roll your eyes at the end...

monos00 I find it interesting that this movie is classified as a comedy, granted some of the procedures that Col. Burton is forced to go through are comical. What i find disturbing is this is based on the real true to life development of the bradley fighting vehicle. Not only was it produced at great cost (over 13 billion taxpayer dollars) but after spending that much money it was an unsafe deathtrap for anyone riding in it, unfortunately it was a troop carrier. thankfully we did not have any conflicts requiring the use of the vehicle until most of the defects were fixed. also disturbing is the fact that every officer involved in the development of the bradley was promoted and went on to lucrative defense contracting positions while Col. Burton was forced to leave the Air Force.

silverauk This movie could have been good to watch on a big screen. The humor is good, the dialogues are fine and the actors never overact. General Partridge (Kelsey Grammer) forgets that the business of war begins with providing good material to the troops. Colonel James Burton (Cary Elwes) knows this and he delivers a speech to the test-company that must make a demonstration of the Bradley troop transporter. The senatorial commission cannot understand that the development costs of the vehicle lasted for 17 years and costed 14 billion dollars. The hearings and questions of that commission provides one of the most humoristic scenes of the movie and are unsurpassed by other political movies.