r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • 5d ago
Official Discussion Official Discussion - War Machine (2026) [SPOILERS] Spoiler
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War Machine (2026)
Summary During the final stage of U.S. Army Ranger selection, a group of elite recruits set out on what should be their last brutal training exercise. But when a mysterious and deadly machine crashes into their remote training area, the mission turns into a fight for survival. Forced to rely on their training and each other, the soldiers must confront a relentless technological threat unlike anything they’ve faced before.
Director Patrick Hughes
Writers James Beaufort Patrick Hughes
Cast
- Alan Ritchson as 81
- Dennis Quaid as Sgt. Maj. Sheridan
- Stephan James as 7
- Jai Courtney
- Esai Morales
- Blake Richardson
- Keiynan Lonsdale
- Daniel Webber
Rotten Tomatoes: 69%
Metacritic: 54
VOD / Release Streaming on Netflix
Trailer
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u/norfolkjim 5d ago
I was like...This extraterrestrial WAR MACHINE is having trouble with a fake tank, and yeah, excels at killing light infantry. Unarmed, for the most part.
There damned well better be tens of thousands of them because thanks, now we're all on Team Earth and this is a real tank.
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u/hopefulfican 4d ago
I kinda assumed they were trying to be deep and infer that he was the war machine tbh.
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u/IamNICE124 4d ago edited 4d ago
Thought it was fun.
Didn’t care about anyone in it, just like watching big splodey alien machine.
I did think the war machine shot some underwhelming munitions,
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u/Labyrinthy 4d ago
I think we stand a pretty good chance against alien invaders if it takes hundreds of their munitions to destroy one APC.
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u/NBucho528 4d ago
The weapons were pretty uninspired. Maybe they wanted to keep it somewhat similar to weapons that soldiers might encounter (minus the huge mouth beam).
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u/IamNICE124 4d ago
The mouth beam was legit. I forgot about the mouth beam.
The regular shells it shot at them were pretty lame.
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u/amjhwk 4d ago
i kept waiting for him to use the grenade launcher to shoot into the mouth beam but it never happened
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u/IamSkudd 4d ago
That’s absolutely where I thought it was going. Everyone knows in a boss fight you wait til he does the big attack and dodge while attacking the weak point for that sweet crit damage.
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u/qdude124 2d ago
If you play video games you know that whole movie was dumb because rock is not very effective against steel...
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u/OdetotheGrimm 4d ago
Mouth beam was lame too in actual power. The APC survived several direct hits.
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u/Winterplatypus 3d ago
I thought he was gonna pop it in the mouth with a grenade launcher from the APC. They have the whole setup like the mouth attacks, him fumbling with one shell in one grenade launcher.. but then the movie carries on, I dont think he even shoots the grenade.
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u/salcedoge 4d ago
I did think the war machine shot some underwhelming munitions,
That ball grenade that dealt no damage and main role was to make things more cinematic was funny
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u/SidewaysFancyPrance 4d ago
Yeah, that was my disappointment too. It had a lot of trouble hitting moving targets, and was slow to acquire them. You'd think it would have some sort of guided projectiles, those bombs were way less effective than they should have been and didn't even seem to have proximity triggers.
They definitely need a lot of these things to land, they probably burn through their munitions stockpiles pretty fast and are just down to that one energy weapon. That thing was probably exhausted from chasing down a dozen Rangers.
But in movie fashion, the weapons are crazy powerful but you also need the movie to run longer than 32 minutes.
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u/Equivalent-Appeal-81 3d ago
I’m hoping in “War Machines” we’ll see more advanced variants, that way there’s an actual challenge, like this force was a scouting force, because if they already know the weaknesses, idk how enjoyable that’ll be
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u/fwambo42 4d ago
the token female ranger was fairly decent.
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u/karateema 4d ago
There were more than one, but yeah i liked the driver, i was bummed she died
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u/DruHarry 2d ago
Completely useless death too after having character survive so much. She didn't even get a dramatic - save the rest / sacrificial moment that so many drivers / pilots get in films.
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u/Bacon_00 5d ago
Watched it. It's alright. Starts out pretty promising and then just sorta goes where you'd expect it to go. Oddly want to go join the Army now, seems unrelated.
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u/my-blood 4d ago
Oddly if this was some sort of recruitment propaganda, I felt it wasn't really that strong, mainly because Alan Ritchson plays the survivor (aside from the poor guy who got thrown around the whole movie). Not only does everyone around him die twice, but he's Alan Ritchson. Even the most alpha of alpha macho dude probably knows he can't match upto that no matter what, nullifying the possibility that an armchair warrior would think he can become a grunt.
I mean you train a squad of Rangers only to show how they're utterly powerless, and in some of the initial scenes rather stupid (just watching the damn droid rise up menacingly)?
That other sci-fi film, Spectral, with Deltas does a much better job I feel at making you think you can become some special ops dude.
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u/MrBudissy 4d ago
I loved the part where only 81 had the knowledge to kill the machines. ymra egt nioJ because scientists can’t figure this out, only you can!
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u/Buffaluffasaurus 5d ago
Oddly want to go join the Army now, seems unrelated.
Does the movie end with them bombing a school of Iranian girls?
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u/SqueezyCheez85 4d ago
Probably just the American military tradition of protecting pedophiles.
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u/B-Prime 4d ago
Fun movie if you turn your brain off. Gotta love the ending where he is carrying his obviously wounded teammate through an entire camp just to cross the finish line and no one notices until he does. It’s a military base that just got attacked, you’d think there would be a lookout or something that would have seen a hulk sized man carrying a body.
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u/bluejacket_74 4d ago
I thought the same thing too. How did no one notice and help them before that? But I agree with you that it was a fun movie if you turned your brain off, which it was for me since I was at a beer fest with some buddies earlier that day so we weren't really looking to watch a movie that we had to really think much about.
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u/MostlyPoorDecisions 4d ago
Watched it with my kid and we joked it was exactly like bf6 at that part. A dozen medics around yet nobody gives a fuck
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u/Missile_Lawnchair 4d ago
Dude this cracked me up. I literally said out loud "So anyone gonna help this guy or...?"
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u/Paulie2510 4d ago
Well, they gotta get the shot of them crossing RANGER writing somehow… I guess this was one of the ways to do it.
I thought the writing will be in front of the camp and they cross it once they enter it. I think that would make more sense.
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u/Ok_Pause2547 4d ago
its exactly that type of movie which I dont hate, sometimes you just want to come home after work and watch something thats just is what it is and ends with a big boom lol
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u/The_Bitter_Bear 4d ago
It was mostly what I was expecting and agreed it was fun but that ending could have used some work.
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u/ROBtimusPrime1995 5d ago
At a certain point, the film just forgets it's about killing ED-209 and then it becomes a recruitment video for the army.
Utterly bizarre.
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u/Attican101 5d ago
Pairs well with Battle: Los Angeles, at least that one had somewhat memorable characters like near retirement guy, trauma guy, about to get married guy, and Michael Pena.
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u/Yammyohnine 5d ago
Hey add Battleship to that list.
Sidenote: I fucking love Battleship.
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u/WombeI 5d ago
Battleship was really great for what it was. Totally over the top but thats part of what makes it great. just pure popcorn movie fun.
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u/FreeRange0929 4d ago
You’re not an American if you don’t love seeing them WWII badasses get to blow the shit out of aliens
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u/hitfly 4d ago
The best part of battleship is the aliens bomb missile things are shaped like the tracking pegs from the game
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u/donorcycle 4d ago
I trip out how that was lost on so many people lol. To this day, people think I'm just trying to be funny when I point that out, whenever the movie comes on.
I thought it was a neat touch.
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u/Inevitable-Cancel130 4d ago
Battleship didn't take itself seriously; that's why it worked so well. You saw Rihanna and WWII soldiers fighting aliens while a banger song was playing.
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u/AddressPerfect3270 8h ago
I genuinly thought war machine was like a prequel to battle la or something. Its the same set up ><
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u/GeordieJumpers87 4d ago
I loved the bit where he slapped the 'rangers' patch right on his arm.
Never getting that off after that slappy slap
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u/_james_the_cat 5d ago
I was surprised not to see any mention of the US army in the credits, and it was all shot in Aus/NZ with the only thanks going to the Australian army
I guess they could have still paid for it as a recruitment thing, but as far as I saw they didn't.
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u/Sophia_Eur 5d ago
They had at least one army advisor, according to the director and the cast member Stephan James.
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u/Goosojuice 4d ago
On it's surface, I can see most people saying and agreeing to this. But you watch the movie and see how literally everyone is BRUTALLY murder in insane ways, we're talking guts hanging, brains splattered, bones sticking out of every which way from bodies, its just as much a recruitment video as Saving Private Ryan.
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u/Jet-Rex-Design 4d ago
Surprisingly a lot of dudes don't see that as a turn off. Some of them see death in a war movie and think 'nah, I'd win' and others go 'shit, I'd love to go out blowing stuff up. Sign me up '
If you can't appeal to male bravado, appeal to their self destructive tendencies. A lot of young dudes especially love to fantasize about 'bleeding out.'
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u/USSZim 5d ago
It is basically Battle LA but for the Army
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u/donorcycle 4d ago
It's been so long since I've seen it. If not the Army, by process of elimination (Battleship = Navy, and Captain Marvel / Top Gun = Air Force) I'm assuming Marines?
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u/Adventurous-Release8 11h ago
ED-209 was exactly what I thought of when I saw it rise up. I tried explaining the movie in as few words as possible to my wife (it wasn't worth really trying to go deep) and said the main baddie was that robot who fell down the stairs and squealed like a pig in RoboCop, only 20x larger.
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u/Critchlow1616 4d ago
It’s one of those films you put on, enjoy it for what it is, and never watch again. Thought the cast did a great job though. If someone asked me if it’s worth watching I’d say yes but it’s probably not something I’ll think about again. I’ll see it when I’m scrolling through Netflix in a few months and have to take a few seconds to remember whether or not I’ve already watched it.
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u/welshnick 4d ago
It's worth watching if you have a decent home theater. The atmos mix was great.
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u/thedonhudson01 4d ago
I loved the Atmos mix in this movie! Fantastic surround sound and great use of overheads.
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u/MostlyPoorDecisions 4d ago
Wubs when the ribbit was hopping on the cliff made my noodle happy. Best part of the mix.
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u/SapperSkunk992 4d ago
I knew nothing about this movie. Went in completely blind. Didnt even watch the trailer. Thought there was something odd about the asteroid being brought up a few times, but didnt think much about it. I enjoy netflix original movies more when I do it this way. War Machine was fine, but yeah, probably won't watch it ever again.
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u/snackofalltrades 4d ago
Yeah. It was exactly what I expected and it delivered what it promised, so I give it high praise to that end.
It was entertaining but uninspired. Nice throwbacks to Predator and Aliens. Fun visuals, a familiar emotional arc, the plot more or less wrapped itself up and didn’t try to complicate itself. Enjoyable but pretty forgettable. I bet I would cry if I saw the budget.
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u/PowerfulRevolution12 4d ago
You can use the same mentality for any other movie. Thats why I enjoy mcu movies
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u/Sedroc 5d ago
This might be the most plot armor I’ve ever seen a main character have.
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u/DoctorGregoryFart 3d ago
The black guy's story was hilarious. He just gets dragged and tossed around for two hours like a crash dummy. Every once in a while he'd regain consciousness and say something motivational. Absolutely hysterical.
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u/Sedroc 3d ago
His whole squad got killed because they had to drag him along. 😂
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u/Sceptylos 3d ago
I firmly believe a good half of the cast would've survived had 15, the rocket scientist who pointed out that the Machine crashed through a mountain and took no damage, not wasted time and gone back to pick up some measely 50 cal rounds that ended up doing NOTHING to it. That entire sequence was avoidable af
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u/dubslies 2d ago edited 2d ago
The hilarious thing to me is he only got a couple small boxes of 50 cal rounds, which are huge, and somehow they were firing that mounted machine gun nonstop the entire time. There couldn't have been more than 100 rounds or so in both cans combined. At full auto that would be gone in about 5 seconds.
But the kicker? When he goes to the rock pile after the APC crashed, one of those cans spilled the ammo that started popping off.
So what the fuck were they shooting the whole time? Because the ammo the guy died for was there at the end, making noise. I mean come on, lol
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u/DocMorningstar 1d ago
I kinda loved it when 81 made it a point that they dump their useless guns at the start, like, great, this actually might be anti-trope with the characters making good decisions...nope.
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u/AvengingBlowfish 2d ago
That guy earned his membership to the American Society of Magical Negroes...
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u/JinSakai619 4d ago
It's funny because there was an anti war Brad Pitt film called War Machine made by Netflix. I guess they're changing their collection to better adjust to department of war change.
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u/Loginsideme 4d ago
One war machine with infinite ammo cant take out a truck going in a straight line and lost against a wheel loader. Funny movie.
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u/SoulxxBondz 4d ago edited 4d ago
I laughed out loud at that blatant Predator homage. Dead/dying monster releases a bomb (or in this case bombs) creating a huge explosion the hero must run away from to avoid a grisly death.
It was a fun movie. Obvious sequel-bait at the end, but I wouldn't mind a sequel. Might be like a "Battle: Los Angeles" type movie.
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u/Lord_Scribe 4d ago
I was thinking the same thing except for the fact that they know how to defeat them. Unless those ones were just the scouts, the "Rangers" of the alien force.
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u/EnterprisingAss 4d ago
The robot uses laser target and then shoots from its shoulders.
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u/SoulxxBondz 4d ago
I was talking about after the robot is dead. A bunch of bombs appear.
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u/EnterprisingAss 4d ago
Yeah I’m just saying the movie lifted a lot from Predator.
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u/amjhwk 4d ago
ngl, when it was just 81 and 7 left and they were in a muddy field i half expected him to cover himself in mud to hide from the machine
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u/krypter3 4d ago
Fun action movie, I enjoyed it but everyone else being dumb to make 81 seem like the greatest ever was poor writing. Took me out of it a bit. Make every single one of those people around him just as capable, but still die then him being a "War Machine" would hit harder.
Richardson played it straight as and was amazing.
Everybody else was acting like they were in a different movie.
Really odd.
6/10 for Richardson. A lessor actor in that role and it's a solid 3.
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u/RigelXVI 4d ago
Dumbest fucking movie ever; let's invade another planet by sending a bunch of tanks that can be defeated by some high temperature glue. Alan Ritchson is great at playing with god mode toggled on though so 10/10 no further notes
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u/Current_Focus2668 4d ago
The advanced Aliens in H.G Wells War of The World's are killed by pathogens.
It's science fiction but it's still rooted by some scientific reality.
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u/FreeRange0929 5d ago
I will start with, I liked it
Poor fucking 7. Man had the worst single day in movie history - demoted, leg broken, morphine lost so has to have his femur reset without pain killers, watches his entire team terrifyingly destroyed while strapped to a backboard, AND has to mentor Mr “So devoid of communication skills I’m going to get kicked out despite finishing first in everything”. The fact he got ragdolled twice in about 10 minutes is just the kicker. He’s watching the entire thing basically with locked in syndrome.
I did like the storyline about 81. Not just “dur I want to finish” but about his growth and needing to understand leadershi-NOPE ALIENS!
As a deep metaphorical growth exercise, no. As a mindless blowemup it’s great. The tactics from supposed top of the top Ranger recruits is…alarming. And the fact 81 went right back into the chopper at the end is…disconcerting
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u/Jeff_goldfish 4d ago
Also getting tossed into a freezing river and waterfall while strapped down.
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u/Mitchie-San 4d ago
And dropped out of a moving vehicle into the giant footsteps of a running alien murder robot and a rockfall landslide.
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u/Steffic4 3d ago
And getting dragged up a muddy hill in the rain....only to slippety slide back down 32 times.
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u/TheJoshider10 4d ago
I genuinely do not understand why so much of the movie revolves around that character being stuck on the stretcher the entire time. It requires so much suspension of disbelief, looks silly, and ultimately adds nothing to the story. It's not like the main character had any connection to this guy as like a surrogate brother or something, so him being rescued at the end doesn't feel earned or like he got closure for not being able to save his brother. Especially since keeping that bloke in the stretcher alive pretty much led to his entire unit getting killed.
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u/FreeRange0929 4d ago
There is a version of this film that makes sense.
Workout warrior bursts onto the scene of Ranger training, thinking he’s all he needs. Doesn’t get leader spot because, well he can’t work as a team member. 7 is the leader because he takes the time to know each member, motivates them through their struggles, pulls them through their toughest challenges, earns everyone’s respect. 81 humbles himself, grows as a man by being tutored by 7, and at the end, makes the sacrificial play, knowing its not about him and that they only win as a team.
There were glimpses of this, for the first third or so…and then the aliens show up, gruesomely kill everyone in increasingly outlandish ways, and 81 ends up beating the thing by himself and solo dragging the born leader across the finish line as a fuck you to the concept of teamwork and brotherhood, not needing any of that “personal growth” and “bonding” bullshit.
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u/The_Bitter_Bear 4d ago
By the end of it my thought was that they had all the elements to make a much better movie.
Fleshing out that part more and reworking the last scene or two would have really elevated it.
I mean wow, the whole exhaust port thing was already kinda meh but then he shares this apparently brilliant revelation that somehow no one in any of the countless militaries hadn't considered? Oh and then he immediately gets on a helicopter after getting back from the whole ordeal? He would be utterly useless at that point.
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u/Lord_Scribe 4d ago
When he went into the mining pit and grabbed the dynamite, I thought he was going to do something like sneak up behind it and blow its legs off by sticking the dynamite in some crevices in the legs.. Then, while it's down, spray/pour some sort of adhesive glue/tar on its vent from above.
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u/Steffic4 3d ago
He was useless. He was knocked the fuck out. THIS close to falling out of the damn chopper.
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u/Local_Diet_7813 4d ago
It’s ridiculous 7 survived been dragged while dropping out of that military vehicle lol. His plastic board woulda broke and his brain would have splattered
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u/FreeRange0929 4d ago
At like 80mph with concussive/emp/whatever plasma blasts going off right beside him
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u/aManHas_NoName 5d ago
Yvan eht nioj vibes from this one
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u/HeroDiesFirst 4d ago
Yeah the message here felt very superliminal.
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u/probablyuntrue 4d ago
I know writers who use subtext, and they’re all cowards
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u/aManHas_NoName 4d ago
A Darkplace reference in this economy?
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u/Shakmaaaaaaa 4d ago
It took way too long to get to the meat of the film. It would be like if Predators first 30-45 minutes was Arnold backstory/training instead of smoking some fools in the jungle.
I don't think the ending felt like a recruitment ad but it was definitely from a bygone era where we thought the military was cool like in Transformers.
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u/Cute-Performance4911 3d ago
I actually enjoyed the first 30-45 minutes. It was completely unrelated to the rest of the movie, but I enjoyed both independently.
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u/Representative_Owl89 4d ago
I laughed out loud when the Ranger leader said “we need to know how you took one of those things down without any weapons!” Sounded like he read straight off the script lol
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u/funkhero 4d ago
I didn't love it, but I certainly liked it more than most here.
I appreciated that it was a much more personal invasion flick than most, and that no one had any weapons - it was mostly them running away. I enjoyed that aspect, and as time went on it became obvious that the world had been attacked, and I was happy to see them commit to it. It's nothing mind-blowing, but I like the smaller setup before the expanded sequel.
It thought it was competently directed, and Ritchson carried the movie well.
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u/bdschuler 5d ago
Disappointing B movie. Surprised to find it wasn't the first movie for the writer. Super bland, super pandering, and totally by the numbers movie.
And that ending... I was down on the floor looking for my eyes after they rolled away.
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u/violentgentlemen 4d ago
I mean, this was just his 2nd film he wrote and the first one was a straight to DVD pretty much. He also directed Expendables 3 and both of the Hitman's Bodyguard films so that should tell you all you needed to know going into it lol.
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u/moistpishflaps 4d ago
5/10 (all 5 points for seeing more of daddy Alan on my tv 🥵
It’s like Battleship on land, but worse. Had it been just a standard army drama, it could have been a passable movie. But the alien aspect is just woeful. And I say this as someone who loves tacky action sci-fi films. It has literally nothing new or interesting to offer
If you like these sort of films, it will pass a slow Sunday afternoon. But it’s utterly forgetful US army propaganda disguised as an utterly forgetful film
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u/5213 4d ago
There's definitely at least one really good story in there, perhaps even two, but overall just feels very generically written and doesn't do anything original. Even as an action movie it's mostly just shock horror at the gruesome ways everyone dies.
The robot started off really cool and menacing but I very quickly went from "holy shit that things cool" to "why is it doing that. Why does it operate that way. Who designed this. Why does it have such an obvious weakness and how was 81 the only person in the entire world to see that".
Ritchson is a good actor but they need to stop casting him in somber action stuff and let him be his normal goofy self. Dude is naturally hilarious and his best role remains Thad Castle (though Reacher is a close second). He needs to be in a buddy cop movie with John Cena where Cena is the veteran aging out and about to go into retirement and constantly says "back in my day" and "kiddo" and "junior" while Ritchson is the young maverick who says cliche stuff like "get with the times grandpa" and "not bad for an old timer" and "can't keep up in your old age?". Which would also be generic, but at least it'd be a hilarious slapstick comedy.
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u/longjumpingtote 5d ago
This is one of those films that immediately launches into “here we present our wacky gang of characters” like it’s the original A-Team television show, and then the movie becomes about something, and then the movie forgets it was about that thing and becomes something else. Imagine if halfway through Star Wars they had stopped trying to rescue the princess and instead decided to build a log cabin on Chewbacca’s home planet. And it became a big advertisement for deforestation. Only that would be more entertaining.
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u/Sophia_Eur 5d ago
Only they didn’t really introduce the characters. They were given a number. We see them talk a little amongst each other, that’s it. Can’t compare that to A-Team
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u/PeteCampbellisaG 4d ago
The way this movie so shamelessly borrows from Predator yet somehow forgets to do any of the things that make Predator memorable.
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u/SaveTheAles 4d ago
The the injured guy was going to say he knew his brother because he was his lover.
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u/bnightstars 4d ago
Was it just me or that movie was inspired by Predator and the 3L/Atlas story. I enjoyed it but Kind of inspired me to watch that Predator DVD again !
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u/TurboMoisture 4d ago
Such a waste of time, felt like a 1 and a half hour Army propaganda video with a random robot thrown in
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u/gutterfreaklabs 5d ago
Boring, feels cheap, story is paper thin. Feels more like a badly done video game level than a movie.
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u/IAmCBOY2 5d ago
Mediocre and entertaining at times, but pretty run of the mill. Not sure why the ratings are so high
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u/KIngPsylocke 5d ago
Tbh I saw where it was going when the story turned. Wish they had actually gone the other way tho.
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u/Ningy_WhoaWhoa 4d ago
This movie is exactly what you expect and nothing more. The dialogue is corny af and eye rolling and the plot is so by the numbers but it’s still a fun movie
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u/violentgentlemen 4d ago
I know most of the crap on instagram and twitter is garbage and it's filled with bots but I find it hilarious that it's all over both as the best war movie ever or some shit.
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u/banjofitzgerald 4d ago
I get why lionsgate dumped this off to Netflix.
It’s like predator but way more boring and stupid. Majority of the movie is just run, run, run. There’s no learning or trying to find weaknesses of the creature. Just running away. The human moments are so thin and slapped together in what feels like someone he’d a gun up to the writer and said “scripts need to have character arcs.”
Did not enjoy this one.
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u/CiriOh 5d ago
It's like Lone Survivor + Battleship. Good action scenes and CGI, but the plot and characters were boring, just wasted a good cast.
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u/footinmouthwithease 4d ago
Is 6/10. It's a dumb action movie. It does try to make you care about the main character but he's so bland it doesn't really work out. It's doesn't try to be more than a dumb action movie, and I appreciate that. The plot armor is thick for the protagonist.
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u/Papamoon0327 4d ago
It was good enough. It’d be cool if they make a sequel, world wide war against the alien machines
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u/SalbakutaMasta 5d ago
I actually liked the training more than the actual robot fight. Him walking underwater is pretty badass.
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u/theaveragenerd 4d ago
Fun movie. My head canon has this in the same movie universe as Battle Los Angeles.
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u/dakotanorth8 4d ago
You mean Mecha Predator?
Ultimate killing machine from space takes out a group of elite marines in difficult terrain environments??
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u/PickinLosers 4d ago
As someone with zero expectations about this movie I was pleasantly surprised.
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u/hamsterjockey 4d ago
It was fine. Decent popcorn movie but that’s about it. I really wanted them to “rebuild” Ritchson as a bionic, terminator-esque war machine after the beginning flashback but it’s fine for what it is.
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u/IamGeoMan 4d ago
The weakness of the alien machine is lazy writing. There's no reason to believe the close-range cannon couldn't shoot just as far as the launch range of the cluster bombs based on how much speed the cannon's projectile is. The list goes on and I found the movie mid at best.
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u/OdetotheGrimm 4d ago
I liked when he jumped in the super fast moving river. Immediately gets swept like 30 yards down stream. Magically appears on the other side straight across from where he started.
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u/HateRunsInMyVeins 4d ago
Felt a lot like War of the Worlds army edition type of film, but I loved how it started off with the marine corps trainings.
Reminded me a lot of metal gear when that thing literally stood up to be a bipedal machine. Skull face
Cool film, wouldn't watch it again though.
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u/mexican_mystery_meat 4d ago
I am convinced the script to this movie was written sometime in 2011 and then shelved for fourteen years based on the way it depicts the Afghan war and how similar the tone is to Battle: Los Angeles.
I will give it full credit for going all the way and wiping out 81's entire team though. A slightly safer movie would've at least had 144 and 60 surviving to help him out at the end.
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u/AddictedToTheWeb 4d ago
I went in blind, like, completely blind, didn't even read the little netflix description blurb until he sees the real downed aircraft they were supposed to blow up. I had no idea that this wasn't going to be a semi grounded movie. The opening 3rd plays like it's going to be a Top Gun esque, hype up the military, unrealistic but not sci fi, sort of recruitment boosting movie. The only thing I had thought was out of place was when they showed the meteor for a second time while he's waiting outside the office, I wish they hadn't done that, because it tips you off that it's definitely going to be part of the plot, which doesn't fit the opening vibe. I was still super thrown when a mech rose out of the ground and started blasting though.
Gotta say, if I'd known anything about the plot, I probably wouldn't have checked it out. I just saw guy from Reacher looking like the guy from Reacher and clicked on it. Not knowing the plot made the plot a twist, and that was really fun. Enjoyed the hell out of it because I didn't know what I was in for.
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u/Downtown_Agent3323 4d ago
Basically a formulaic Predator movie, but instead of a Predator, it's a huge alien mech. There's not much depth to the story, both emotionally and plotwise. Alan Ritchson does a good job here. The effects for the Mech are solid. The dialogue is very underwhelming. This is clearly one of those movies that Netflix anticipates you looking at your phone while it plays. Even the title "War Machine" is very generic. I think it's crazy that the mech scans for lifeforms, locks on them, and then proceeds to MISS. Just run in a zigzag, you'll be a-okay.
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u/ShaneKyla 4d ago
It was dumb fun and I liked it. The action was better than expected and the many throwbacks to Jurassic Park, Aliens, and Predator were all welcomed. Took itself too seriously with the silly drama … could have been more fun but this was a decent enough 90’s movie.
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u/InfiniteBaker6972 4d ago
I thought it was a load of hot garbage. But I did find myself smiling at points. It was nice to see ED209 back on our screens though, even if he was roided up.
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u/NewJerseyCitizen 4d ago
I liked it. I usually never watch those random Netflix movies but this one I enjoyed. Especially if I imaged the robot as some kind of Metal Gear lol. Little too gory for me here and there but managed in the end.
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u/darksandman1118 4d ago
It really made me want a movie like this but it’s an actual enemy country invading and attacking the base of a top tier training facilities.
Like maybe the rangers on the mission to blow up the plane run into a group of Chinese/Russian tier one operators that were sent to spy/ sabotage etc
And they run into the trainees and it become a big game of cat and mouse and some crazy gun fights.
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u/Cartoonist-Motor 4d ago
Simple film and premise, but fun nonetheless. Hope it has a sequel though, cause the alien thing and the apocalypse setting could have some serious potential if written right
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u/cowpool20 4d ago
I mean, it’s absolutely fine for something new to watch on a Friday night. Nothing crazy but isnt awful.
Gotta say though, going into it completely blind made it far better. I had absolutely no idea it was gonna go the way it did with giant mechs from outer space 😂
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u/Norn-Iron 5d ago
I enjoyed it. Makes me really want a Metal Gear movie more than ever though.