Special Report
The Most Popular Movies You May Not Know Were Backed by the Pentagon
Published:
For more than 100 years, the U.S. Department of Defense has collaborated with Hollywood in creative film production, coordinating assets for movie studios and providing story input for all matters military. The long-standing relationship between Hollywood and the Pentagon has given the U.S. military significant influence over some of the biggest blockbusters in film history.
To determine the most popular American movies supported by the Department of Defense, 24/7 Tempo reviewed Freedom of Information Act requests, academic case studies, and other sources documenting Pentagon support for various American films, as well as box office data from The Numbers, an online movie database owned by Nash Information Services. Movies that have received official DoD support via production assistance or script input were ranked based on worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted).
Many of the biggest blockbuster films in Hollywood history have military themes and require military equipment like helicopters, fighter jets, tanks, and aircraft carriers for major action sequences and set pieces. In exchange for funding, access to equipment or shooting locations, and technical expertise from the military, movie studios often grant DoD liaisons editorial control over certain elements of a film’s script. (These are considered to be the most accurate war movies ever made.)
While the DoD Entertainment Media Office’s official goal is to ensure accurate depiction of military stories and safeguard sensitive information, critics of the military-entertainment complex maintain that the Pentagon uses blockbuster movies as propaganda to bolster the U.S. military’s recruitment strategy, public relations efforts, and influence overseas.
Click here to see the most popular movies you may not know were backed by the Pentagon
One of the most successful collaborations between Hollywood and the Pentagon is the film series “Top Gun.” In exchange for the use of a naval air station, four aircraft carriers, and about two dozen fighter jets flown by actual military pilots, the producers of “Top Gun” allowed the DoD to make several changes to the script, including the removal of a midair collision scene and changing the protagonist’s love interest from a service member, as relationships between officers and enlisted personnel are forbidden. Adjusted for inflation, “Top Gun” and “Top Gun: Maverick” have together grossed over $2 billion worldwide.
Nearly a century before “Top Gun: Maverick,” the DoD assisted in the support of 1927’s “Wings,” an action drama about combat pilots in WWI that became the first movie to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Click here to see every Best Picture winner since 1927.
Methodology
To determine the most popular American movies supported by the Department of Defense, 24/7 Tempo reviewed Freedom of Information requests, academic case studies, and other sources documenting DoD support for various American films, as well as box office data from The Numbers. Movies that have received official DoD support via production assistance or script input were ranked based on worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted). Box office data was adjusted for inflation using historical ticket prices from the National Association of Theatre Owners. Documentation of DoD support for most movies on the list comes from a 2013 FOIA request by Dr. Stephen Underhill and the 2021 study “Superheroes, Movies, and the State: How the U.S. Government Shapes Cinematic Universes” by Tricia Jenkins and Tom Secker. Data on IMDb user rating and Rotten Tomatoes audience score are current as of February 2023.
25. American Sniper (2014)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 7.3/10 (492,587 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (299 votes)
> Starring: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Kyle Gallner
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24. Air Force One (1997)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 6.5/10 (187,679 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 66% (59 votes)
> Starring: Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close
23. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 6.5/10 (186,653 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 53% (88 votes)
> Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Jonathan Pryce, Michelle Yeoh
22. Deep Impact (1998)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 6.2/10 (170,608 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 43% (86 votes)
> Starring: Robert Duvall, Téa Leoni, Elijah Wood
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21. Apollo 13 (1995)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 7.7/10 (298,490 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (93 votes)
> Starring: Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon
20. Iron Man 2 (2010)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 7.0/10 (758,307 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 71% (304 votes)
> Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth Paltrow
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19. Iron Man (2008)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 7.9/10 (983,992 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (281 votes)
> Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard
18. GoldenEye (1995)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 7.2/10 (245,610 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 83% (79 votes)
> Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Izabella Scorupco
17. Man of Steel (2013)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 7.0/10 (729,969 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 75% (338 votes)
> Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon
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16. I Am Legend (2007)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 7.2/10 (712,870 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 68% (215 votes)
> Starring: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan
15. Suicide Squad (2016)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 5.9/10 (651,492 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 59% (387 votes)
> Starring: Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie
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14. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 7.7/10 (777,545 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92% (306 votes)
> Starring: Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson
13. True Lies (1994)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 7.2/10 (247,499 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 76% (52 votes)
> Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold
12. Top Gun (1986)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 6.9/10 (310,986 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 83% (59 votes)
> Starring: Tom Cruise, Tim Robbins, Kelly McGillis
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11. Transformers (2007)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 7.0/10 (612,922 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85% (228 votes)
> Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel
10. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 6.0/10 (394,187 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 57% (252 votes)
> Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel
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9. Twister (1996)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 6.4/10 (186,819 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 58% (66 votes)
> Starring: Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Cary Elwes
8. Armageddon (1998)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 6.7/10 (408,005 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 73% (123 votes)
> Starring: Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck
7. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 8.2/10 (717,370 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (73 votes)
> Starring: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Alison Doody
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6. Captain Marvel (2019)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 6.8/10 (492,018 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 45% (542 votes)
> Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn
5. Captain America: Civil War (2016)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (708,963 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 89% (424 votes)
> Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson
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4. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 6.2/10 (394,172 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 55% (263 votes)
> Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Tyrese Gibson
3. Iron Man 3 (2013)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 7.1/10 (791,235 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 78% (328 votes)
> Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow
2. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 8.3/10 (520,850 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 99% (465 votes)
> Starring: Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller
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1. The Avengers (2012)
> Worldwide ticket sales (inflation-adjusted): $4.3 billion
> IMDb user rating: 8.0/10 (1,308,244 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (363 votes)
> Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson
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