The U.S. military has collaborated with Hollywood for over 100 years, providing assets and story input for film productions. This longstanding relationship has allowed the Pentagon significant sway over the entertainment industry, resulting in major blockbuster hits but also some infamous flops.

To determine the least popular movies supported by the Pentagon, 24/7 Tempo ranked films that received official DoD support via production assistance or script input based on an index of user ratings on IMDb, an online movie and TV database owned by Amazon, and audience ratings and Tomatometer scores on Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator. Documentation of DoD support for most movies on the list comes from the results of 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.

While the military says its goal is accuracy, critics argue they use movies for propaganda and recruitment. Clashing agendas can also weaken storytelling.

Acclaimed war films like “Apocalypse Now,” “Platoon,” and “Forrest Gump,” avoided Pentagon approval over censorship concerns. But many supported films like “Top Gun: Maverick” succeeded critically and financially. (See this ranking of the most popular movies you may not have known were backed by the Pentagon.)

Click here to see a ranking of the most hated movies backed by the Pentagon