"a Department of Defense project officer will keep an eagle eye on the script and production phases. If they don't like the portrayal of the military in your film, they will yank the co-operation. This was a major reason for the failure of the TV series Supercarrier. Other movies DoD rejected include Forrest Gump (because the army protagonist was stupid), Mars Attacks! (because everyone was stupid), and Independence Day. By the way that last one should tell you Pentagon refusal isn't always about wanting to look good but for any number of reasons that may seem arcane to non-DOD personnel. Independence Day wasn't supported because it infringed on certain (then classified) facilities that the Pentagon cannot legally either confirm or deny regardless of its dissemination into pop-culture, certainly not in film."
