War Machine – Alan Ritchson Pushed to the Limit on Set

Among the exciting new releases available on Netflix is undoubtedly War Machine, a film that combines military action and science fiction and which, apparently, put protagonist Alan Ritchson to the test.

Known to the general public for the series Reacher, the actor plays an aspiring Ranger almost past the maximum age limit and identified by the number “81”, an engineer marked by a traumatic event involved in the final training mission that turns into a violent cataclysm: an alien robot hunts his team. The intensity of the story inevitably reflected behind the scenes.

The Hard Life of a War Machine

Ritchson recounted that filming for the movie directed by Patrick Hughes was the most demanding of his career. The main reason is the film's structure itself: the character is present in practically every scene, with long physical sequences often shot in difficult-to-reach natural environments.

Some locations required the transport of equipment and crew by helicopter, making the work even more complicated. The actor particularly recalled a sequence inspired by Army Ranger training, during which he had to repeat an extremely tough physical circuit multiple times.

Production was so intense that, during the filming of the subsequent project with the same Hughes, Ritchson had to request medical assistance because he ran out of breath during an action scene, requiring oxygen support. Moreover, the ending of War Machine is more than open, and would suggest hope for a continuation of the war against the alien invasion.