History YMMV / ThePentagonWars

** Furthermore, the film portrays the Bradley designers as having no idea what the vehicle is actually supposed to do, while also having [[ExecutiveMeddling changes mandated by superior officers]] with little logic behind them. In reality, the Bradley was always intended to be an IFV from the start. The film also suggests that Burton was the driving force behind the Bradley receiving protection upgrades when in reality the Army always intended to implement those upgrades once testing was completed.

** The incredulous congressional committee, for being involved in some of the movies best dialogue and being ReasonableAuthorityFigures

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: As numerous historians have pointed out, everything the film tries to portray as proof of a cover up is actually standard operating procedure for development and testing of equipment. Blowing up a combat loaded vehicle is difficult to analyze concretely due to [[LudicrousGibs having to sift through microscopic fragments of steel]]. Hitting vehicles loaded with water in the fuel tanks or sand in the shell casings tells you what the attacks will do in a way you can actually analyze. A 30mm bullet hole leaking water in a fuel tank is easier to analyze than a burned out hulk of steel half melted into the ground because your fuel tank full of flammable liquid ignited.

* MisaimedFandom: Online discussions will often see the film quoted by AirmchairMilitary types as "proof" the Bradley Fighting Vehicle is bad, even dismissing actual veterans' experiences. Not only does this miss the fact it's a comedy and not meant to be taken seriously (on top of its many errors and fictional events), this ignores the film's ending, where changes are made, turning the Bradley into an AwesomePersonnelCarrier.

* CatharsisFactor: Seeing General Partridge dragged across the coals and asked so many humiliating questions by the Congressional Committee.

** [[MysteriousInformant General]] [[BeleagueredBureaucrat Robert]] [[LovableCoward Smith]] who designed the Bradley and is trying to help Burton stop its premature production, but only to a point.

* HilariousInHindsight: As much BlackComedy as the development of the Bradley provides, it is not a patch on the fiasco that is the F35. Unlike the Bradley, it looks like there is no Colonel Burton in this case. Though, recent developments and demonstrations have frequently called into question whether the criticism levelled at the F-35 was exaggerated or not and Colonel Burton is regarded by some as a highly questionable individual.

* HarsherInHindsight / HilariousInHindsight: As much BlackComedy as the development of the Bradley provides, it is not a patch on the fiasco that is the F35. Unlike the Bradley, it looks like there is no Colonel Burton in this case. Though, recent developments and demonstrations have frequently called into question whether the criticism levelled at the F-35 was exaggerated or not and Colonel Burton is regarded by some as a highly questionable individual.

* CompleteMonster: Partridge does not even begin to show the slightest hesitation at approving a deeply flawed deathtrap if it'll get him his fourth star. As an Army general, he knows perfectly well the kind of infantry that would ride that vehicle into battle. It is made abundantly clear that he does not care.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: If the testing process had not exposed the Bradley's flaws to Congress, American soldiers would've ridden a deathtrap into battle in Desert Storm and been killed. {{Subverted}} in RealLife as the Bradley was ''already'' having measures introduced during its development that made it more survivable and the tests were not rigged or necessary as the movie makes them out to be.

* HarsherInHindsight/HilariousInHindsight: As much BlackComedy as the development of the Bradley provides, it is not a patch on the fiasco that is the F35. Unlike the Bradley, it looks like there is no Colonel Burton in this case. Though, recent developments and demonstrations have frequently called into question whether the criticism levelled at the F-35 was exaggerated or not and Colonel Burton is regarded by some as a highly questionable individual.

* HarsherInHindsight: As much BlackComedy as the development of the Bradley provides, it is not a patch on the fiasco that is the F35. Unlike the Bradley, it looks like there is no Colonel Burton in this case.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: If the testing process had not exposed the Bradley's flaws to Congress, American soldiers would've ridden a deathtrap into battle in Desert Storm and been killed.

* HarsherInHindsight: As much BlackComedy as the development of the Bradley provides, it is not a patch on the fiasco that is the F35. Unlike the Bradley, it looks like there is no Colonel Burton for the Pentagon's newest attempt at getting its own troops killed.

* SugarWiki/CrowningMomentOfFunny: Colonel Burton ''steals the door off an ammo dump'' to show how defective the ammunition being used to test the Bradley is. That's funny in and of itself, but the stonewalling he gets from ThoseTwoGuys is utter hilarity. Burton's trying to prove their testing methods are inadequate, they're just just concerned about their "destroyed" (read, slightly dented and moderately scorched) door. Culminating in:
-->'''Burton''': ''(aggravated sigh)'' I'll ''buy'' the Army a new goddamned door.\\
You can't afford a door like that. [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Did you see what it just stood up to?]]

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: Colonel Burton ''steals the door off an ammo dump'' to show how defective the ammunition being used to test the Bradley is. That's funny in and of itself, but the stonewalling he gets from ThoseTwoGuys is utter hilarity. Burton's trying to prove their testing methods are inadequate, they're just just concerned about their "destroyed" (read, slightly dented and moderately scorched) door. Culminating in:

* HarsherInHindsight: As much BlackComedy as the development of the Bradley provides, it is not a patch on the fiasco that is the F35. Unlike the Bradley, it looks like there is no Colonel Burton for the Pentagon's newest attempt at getting its own troops killed.

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: No, Normal, Illinois is not 'just outside of Chicago'.
* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: Averted. Despite being an Air Force lieutenant colonel, Cary Elwes remembers to keep his finger off the trigger of the M-16 he holds during his speech, even though the rifle is unloaded. The corporal who hands it to him also visibly checks the chamber for a round before handing it over to him.
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The movie glosses over some of the central points of the book, particularly with regards to the broader context of the Pentagon at the time with the "Reformer Movement."
** The movie glosses over the development of what was actually several IFV prototypes such as the XM800T, implying there was one direct line of evolution rather than a gradual evolution of expected capabilities caused by the failure or cancellation of other projects.
** It also glosses over a lot of the conflict regarding the testing procedure, one-sidedly portraying it as an effort to cover up flaws rather than a sincere disagreement on the style of testing used. For instance, testing individual components such as armor plates under laboratory conditions was considered more yielding of scientifically-useful data, even if it was less visible in-context what that data really meant.
* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: The real Colonel Burton was a full colonel, not a lieutenant colonel. The director felt Cary Elwes was too young to be a convincing colonel, but it leads to an unusual case where a lieutenant colonel is telling off four-star generals.
* AuthorTract: The movie goes to ''length'' to portray the Pentagon's acquisitions process as corrupt, ineffective, and flawed. The original book was a nonfiction tell-all whistleblower piece about this exact subject. But...
** SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: If the testing process had not exposed the Bradley's flaws to Congress, American soldiers would've ridden a deathtrap into battle in Desert Storm and been killed.

* RefugeInAudacity: Burton ''steals the armored door off an ammo dump'' in order to test the Romanian anti-tank rocket. The ''only'' reason he gets away with destruction of government property is nobody in a position to court-martial him over it wants to call attention to the substandard munitions they had been using in testing. Basically, he dared them to do something about it knowing it would blow the lid off their cover-up as well.
* RewatchBonus: In the scene where Col. Burton gives a speech to the enlisted men maintaining the Bradley towards the end, he's attempting to persuade them to ignore their orders and prepare the Bradley to combat specification (including ammunition, fuel in the tanks, lacking fire retardant sealant, et cetera), ignorant of the fact they already did so. On rewatch, it's clear a few people try to interrupt him and the rest know what he's getting at long before he makes his point, but they just decide to roll with it when he keeps talking.

* RefugeInAudacity: Burton ''steals the armored door off an ammo dump'' in order to test the Romanian anti-tank rocket. The ''only'' reason he gets away with destruction of government property is nobody in a position to court-martial him over it wants to call attention to the substandard munitions they had been using in testing. Basically, he dared them to do something about it knowing it would blow the lid off their cover-up as well.

* HarsherInHindsight: As much BlackComedy as the development of the Bradley provides, it is not a patch on the fiasco that is the F35. Unlike the Bradley, it looks like there is no Colonel Burton for the Pentagon's newest attempt at getting its own troops killed.