Alan Ritchson Says His New Netflix Thriller Is Inspired by 'Reacher' and '80s Movies
We're still waiting for word as to whenReacher Season 4 will be released, but in the meantime, there's an incredible, propulsive new action flick starring Reacher himself, Alan Ritchson, which just hit Netflix. The film isWar Machine, and no, it's not about a real war. Instead, the title has a double meaning; Ritchson plays an Army Ranger recruit known only as "81," who, himself, is a one-man war machine.
But, along with a squad of other soldiers, he's quickly fighting for survival against an alien robot, hell-bent on destruction. If this movie sounds a bit like an '80s sci-fi survival movie like the classic Predator, you're not wrong. In fact, according to Ritchson, that's exactly what director Patrick Hughes was going for. "It has the tension of a horror movie...like some of the classics from the 80s and 90s," Ritchson says of Hughes' vision. "I felt like it was in the right hands of the right director. It had all the emotional beats that I wanted, plus big scope action."
In terms of casting Ritchson in the project, Hughes reveals that it was "discovering Reacher" that made him want Ritchson for the part of the haunted, but good-hearted character of 81.
"I think the thing that this role required is a star that's capable of the big action, but also an incredible sort of vulnerability," Hughes explains. "There's a lot of heart and soul in this movie, and it requires that duality. I think that's what makes Alan so unique as an actor and why I love working with him."
Interestingly, if you hadn't seen the trailer for War Machine, you may not know that this movie is headed into the realm of sci-fi action. Instead, the film begins with a deeply grounded story: 81 is mourning the sudden loss of his brother (Jai Courtney), and despite being a bit older than many other Army Ranger recruits, he goes through the training in an attempt to honor his brother's memory. It's only about 30 minutes into the movie that you get a hint that an asteroid is near Earth, and that maybe, our heroes are going to have to deal with it. While saying a movie called War Machine is a subtle film and an artful blend of many genres may sound strange, the truth is, this movie has way more heart than a simple action flick. For fans of Reacher, the combination of emotional complexity, intellect, and incredible action is also what makes War Machine so compelling.
"From the very first page of the script that I was given, it was dripping with heart, and I was emotionally grabbed," Ritchson says. "And it makes the rest of the movie work because you're just so connected to this character and the struggles that he faces internally and externally."
Despite having a special effects-laden villain central to the conflict, Hughes and Ritchson emphasize that nothing in the movie was faked. This is an action movie shot on location in Australia, with nearly all the stunts, explosions, and death-defying rescues happening for real. It's not a documentary, of course, but the realist feeling of War Machine is genuine.
"I think ultimately it's the fact that because we shot the film in camera, in real-world locations with real-world stunts, it has that realism," Hughes explains. "I feel like that's something that's kind of been lacking from cinema and that's something we really pushed hard for."
In some senses, War Machine is very much a 2026 version of Predator, but instead of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch, Ritchson's 81 feels more like a guy you might actually know in real life. The movie is about kicking ass and surviving, but it's also about masculinity under pressure.
"I wanted to explore that universal suffering, and it's very sort of masculine suffering too," Hughes says. "We're not really that good at talking about our problems or issues. We internalize a lot. When I wrote this, it came from a very personal place. And that's why it connected with Alan."