I think that was Fallout 3.
Fallout 2 was when it was revealed that:
The US government ran the Vault program as a series of psych experiments.
Mind you, as of Fallout 1 it is apparent from the intro that US isn’t the nice guys as they annex Canada forcefully in response to Chinese antics.
The Showtime series Homeland sort of fits, in a way - though it likes its ambiguity over who the good and bad guys are.
It was also the plot of Fallout 3, yes. The second game ends when…
…you assault the oil rig that serves as the seat of the US government, and kill President Richardson in his office.
They’re still around in the second one, except…
…“President Eden” is really a super computer that took over after Richardson died, and is trying to complete his plan from the previous game.
Also, iirc, the “Vaults as psych experiments” thing came from Fallout 3.
By the same token, Dr. Strangelove, or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Excessively-Long Title.
Though there, one could argue that the Russians were also the villains. Not really any heroes in that movie.
Canadian Bacon is a comedy, but even though Hacker is kind of the villain, nothing would have happened if the President hadn’t tried to cause trouble with Candada.
I’ve never actually seen it, and only know it from plot outlines… but would Birth of a Nation count?
They were revealed in Fallout 2: that Vault 13 was given faulty chips etc., other had other problems, etc. In Fallout 3 (and Fallout NV) you actually explore several of the Vaults that had those issues.
As long as we’re discussing lame comedies, ***Spies Like Us ***has a power-mad general played by Steve Forrest who wants to nuke the world.
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One movie in which American soldiers are clearly the bad guys in a foreign war: Brian de Palma’s Redacted.
I came in to say this.
*Dr. Strangelove *is what I wanted to cite, Chronos, though I would argue that Lionel Mandrake was fairly heroic.
Walker - about William Walker, played by all-American Ed Harris. Walker invaded Mexico essentially a a privateer for American interests. As played by Harris was a screaming nut-job of the first order.
Director Alex Cox did this straight after Repo Man and Sid and Nancy. He’s a Pom but the American writer is Rudy Wurlitzer [could only be more American if it was Rudy Kardashian-Wurlitzer III].
IIRC it was touched on in 2. But the concept way predates 3, and was mainly suggested in non-game canon, like the Fallout Bible.
I think I could, umm… suggest umm… the Turner Diaries? No, I have not read them. Given the author’s POV, the gov’t is bad, and objectively they seem so, but not compared to the “hero.” Pretty much any dystopian work where the government becomes despotic counts.
Also, Tenacious D - The Government Totally Sucks
The book - Graham Greene was English. The film’s director is Australian.
Can think of several almost examples.
The most apt of them is Gone With The Wind. The South, having seceded from the union, was technically foreign territory, and you have the United States Union side burning Atlanta and raiding plantations.
Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 911, if documentaries count.
Roots, with America very actively participating in the African slave trade.
Indirectly, the Resident Evil movies. An American saboteur releases a virus that by movie number 3 has spread worldwide.
There was a movie about the soldiers who deserted to the Mexican army because of their poor treatment in the American one. I can’t remember the name.
I suppose any American-made movie with an anti-Vietnam War message would count.
“Letters from Iwo Jima” is an American WWII movie told from the Japanese perspective. I don’t recall it particularly vilifying the US, though as it’s told from the Japanese viewpoint the US is obviously the villain.
Phillip Roth’s “The Plot Against America” is an alternate history of the US sliding into Fascism.
There was no war in Wag the Dog - it was faked. I suppose you could make the case that the U.S. was a pretend villain in a pretend war.
One Man’s Hero, starring Tom Berenger.
Another western, with the U.S. Army as the bad guys, and the Native Americans as good guys: Soldier Blue, starring Candice Bergen and Peter Strauss.