The US Military Refused to Assist Mars Attacks! Because It Showed Generals As Inept
Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! not only featured an ensemble cast, but special effects that caused production costs to skyrocket. The Pentagon loathed the script and refused to help. A key objection was just how incompetent American generals were depicted in the movie, plus general unrealism. In real life, the Pentagon does have contingency plans for how to respond to space invaders, be they from Mars or elsewhere in the cosmos. The US military constantly prepares for scenarios that might require its services.
The Pentagon has plans for nearly all imaginable contingencies. Whether humanitarian missions, or all varieties of the military’s core function of delivering warheads to foreheads, there is a contingency plan. Officials constantly imagine potential scenarios that might require a military response, and conjure up plans to deal with them. From the Red Army storming through the Fulda Gap, to a mass terrorist attack, to rescuing American hostages in some far off land, there is document on what should be done stashed away somewhere.