**Pentagon Clashes with Netflix Over Nuclear Disaster Film and New Series “Boots”**
*Published: October 29, 2025, 2:25 p.m. ET*
The Pentagon is once again making headlines—but this time, not for military maneuvers or global crises. Instead, the spotlight falls on Hollywood, as RadarOnline.com reveals an ongoing dispute between the U.S. Department of Defense and Netflix over the accuracy of a new disaster film, *A House of Dynamite*. The film, which has captured widespread attention since its release, depicts a harrowing nuclear disaster scenario that the Pentagon finds problematic.
### Why Is the Pentagon Raging Over the Film?
In an October 16 memo, Pentagon officials expressed concern about what they called “false assumptions” presented in *A House of Dynamite*. The memo acknowledged that portraying the military as failing to stop a missile launched toward the U.S. can serve as a “compelling part of the drama intended for entertainment,” but stressed that real-world capabilities “tell a vastly different story.”
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the film centers on the failure of U.S. missile defenses to intercept a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile headed for Chicago. The Pentagon, however, appeared frustrated by what it saw as a failure to recognize that the production is a work of fiction.
One specific point the memo highlighted was a line delivered by Jared Harris’s character, the defense secretary, claiming current missile defenses have only a 50 percent chance of success despite a hefty $50 billion price tag. Pentagon officials pushed back strongly against this, stating that both earlier prototypes and present-day interceptors “have displayed a 100 percent accuracy rate in testing for more than a decade.”
### Director Kathryn Bigelow Responds
Kathryn Bigelow weighed in with a measured response to The Hollywood Reporter: “It’s interesting. In a perfect world, culture has the potential to drive policy – and if there’s dialogue around the proliferation of nuclear weapons, that is music to my ears, certainly.”
Film writer Noah Oppenheim added, “There’s no way for us to get in the minds of the folks who wrote that memo, but as Kathryn said, both of us are thrilled to see a conversation happening between policymakers and experts about how to make the world a safer place.”
He continued, “So if the film was a catalyst in some way for that larger conversation and dialogue, that’s one of the reasons why we made it – to trigger that kind of conversation.”
### The Question of Consultation
The Pentagon lamented that it was not consulted during the making of *A House of Dynamite*. However, Bigelow confirmed she had experts on set during filming.
She told The Hollywood Reporter, “It’s the best course of action to consult with all of the experts that we did. We had extraordinary tech advisors on this film, and then they were our North Star.”
Oppenheim emphasized the importance of their advisors, many of whom recently served in the Pentagon, intelligence agencies, and the White House. “We feel pretty confident in the accuracy of the picture that they gave us,” he said.
### Pentagon Also Takes Aim at Netflix Series “Boots”
The Pentagon’s frustrations with Netflix do not stop at *A House of Dynamite*. Their feathers were also ruffled by the streamer’s new popular series, *Boots*, which follows a closeted gay Marine recruit, played by Miles Heizer.
Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson fired off a fiery statement saying, “Under President Trump and Secretary [Pete] Hegseth, the US military is getting back to restoring the warrior ethos. Our standards across the board are elite, uniform, and sex-neutral because the weight of a rucksack or a human being doesn’t care if you’re a man, a woman, gay, or straight.”
Wilson was critical of Netflix’s content, adding: “We will not compromise our standards to satisfy an ideological agenda, unlike Netflix, whose leadership consistently produces and feeds woke garbage to their audience and children.”
### Recent Pentagon Controversy
This latest outburst comes on the heels of a heated speech last month, when Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared to suffer a meltdown during a briefing to top generals—ranting about his vision for the future of the military, including his desire to see no “fat” troops moving forward.
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As the debate between the Pentagon and Netflix unfolds, it raises fascinating questions about the intersection of entertainment, military accuracy, and cultural values in shaping public perception. Whether these clashes will spur constructive dialogue or deepen divides remains to be seen.
https://radaronline.com/p/pentagon-netflix-house-of-dynamite-missile-kathryn-bigelow/