There’s a scene in War Machine—the new gritty sci-fi action movie that began streaming on Netflix today—where star Alan Ritchson walks the full length of a pool, underwater, while carrying weights. When I found out that Reacher star Ritchson really did that stunt, holding his breath for a full two minutes, I had just one question: How?
“I’ve been asking myself that same question,” Ritchson responded with a laugh, in a recent Zoom interview with Decider. “I can’t hold my breath for like, 10 seconds.”
Writer/director Patrick Hughes (known for The Hitman’s Bodyguard films) added that Ritchson walked so far, he bumped into the camera operator. “You have to see that film to know what the scene is about, but I was like, ‘Why is Alan doing it for real? He knows we’re acting and pretending, right?’”
In War Machine, we know Ritchson character only by his military-assigned number, 81. After losing his brother in a attack while serving overseas, 81 enrolls in a brutal boot camp to become an “Army Ranger,” a special ops group that 81’s brother dreamed of joining. But when a deadly force from another planet crashes to earth, 81 and his fellow recruits have bigger fish to fry than their training.
War Machine, which was filmed on location in Hughes’s home country of Australia, is chock-full of practical stunts, from scaling a suspension rope above dangerous rapids, to firing explosives that created real, 500-feet-high fireballs.
“It takes a lot out of me to shoot Reacher,” Ritchson said of the Prime Video action series that made him a star. “But this—this one almost got me.”
Decider spoke to Ritchson and director Patrick Hughes about those death-defying stunts, the film’s emotional core, and the possibility of a War Machine sequel.
DECIDER: Alan, how did the stunts and training you did for War Machine compared to your experience with Reacher. Is there anything you found challenging or different about the action in this film?
ALAN RITCHSON: War Machine really takes the physicality to another level. We don’t go to as many practical locations and do nearly as many extreme physical stunts on Reacher. Reacher’s difficult, and there’s a lot of action, but it’s more fight-based, usually. In this, we were getting blown off mountains, and jumping into Class V rapids, and getting thrown around the steel hull of a Humvee. There’s just another level to this, and you can feel it in the body. It takes a lot out of me to shoot Reacher, but this—this one almost got me. [Laughs.]
One of the scenes that really blew my mind in the movie is when 81 walks the length of the pool underwater, carrying weights. I read that you really did that. My question for Alan is: How? For Patrick, how did you set up and film that sequence?
AR: I’ve been asking myself that same question! I can’t hold my breath for like 10 seconds. I tried to play that game with my kids in the pool, I can’t do it! And honestly, I was so nervous that day going in. I don’t usually get nervous doing stunts. I was nervous doing that, because I thought I wasn’t going to be able to give the camera what it needed, like get the shot. Somehow, I just kept trucking underwater. I was not going to let myself ruin that shot.
PATRICK HUGHES: Alan walked so far that he ended up walking the entire length of the pool, and walked into our camera operator, who had nowhere left to go. That’s true! We got the footage, he walked straight into the lens. He wasn’t wearing goggles, and he couldn’t see. You have to see that film to know what the scene is about, but I was like, ‘Why is Alan doing it for real? He knows we’re acting and pretending, right?’
Another standout scene for me in the film was the low point near the end of the movie, where 81 breaks down in the mud. Can you tell me both about creating that moment, finding the emotional heart of that scene?
AR: The emotional heart of this movie, and that scene, comes from Patrick. If there’s anything you connect to on the screen, the brotherly love—that thread that weaves its way throughout the film in such a beautiful way—that’s all Patrick. I’m just there trying to bring that to life.
But the tough thing about that scene is we had to do it twice. We came back to do re-shoots, remember? We did the rainmaker, and then we came back to do the part where I’m laying down, to do the rain again. We just wanted to take another pass at the emotion of it. I remember we were just out in the cold and under those rainmakers for a while, trying really hard to get that scene right. I love the way it turned out. I think it’s just enough of what you need to really tell that story, but we put some effort into getting that one.
The movie very much sets up a sequel, maybe even a franchise. Tens of thousands of machines are coming, we’ve heard. For both of you, do you want to do a sequel, and what ideas do you have?
AR: It’s already done. We’re already ready to shoot. [Laughs.]
PH: I don’t know, if that opportunity came up, then yeah. Look, I know exactly where I want to take it, and what that broader story is. We absolutely love the character of 81. For me, I wanted to tell a film that started with the micro, and ended with the macro. And I thought that was a really unique take on the genre that we were working in. Let’s see what happens.
AR: Yeah, 81 goes to Paris, and he stays at Le Bristol, and he gets that really lovely chicken truffle soup that they have.
PH: [Laughs.] That’s right. 81 goes to the Amalfi Coast.
And maybe we’ll learn 81’s name in the sequel. Does he have a name?
PH: Maybe. He does, but I’m not telling you. I’m not telling you! It’s Jack Reacher. [Laughs.]
