Overview
- Netflix viewership data reported the film drew about 22.1 million accounts in its first three days, making it the most-watched movie for that week.
- An internal Pentagon/Missile Defense Agency memo disputes the movie’s portrayal of interceptor effectiveness, with officials asserting testing shows a very different record.
- Director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Noah Oppenheim say they relied on defense experts and stand by the film’s realism, casting the dispute as a broader discussion within the expert community.
- Commentary from national security analysts, including former U.S. officials, questions the plausibility of the film’s crisis timeline and decision-making assumptions.
- Critical reception has been generally positive while audience responses are more divided, with reports citing a strong critics score on review aggregators.