5 Best Movies Like Alan Ritchson's War Machine

The latest smash hit Netflix original is "War Machine," not to be confused with the the 2017 Brad Pitt film of the same name or the solo Marvel Cinematic Universe outing starring Don Cheadle that will probably never happen. This "War Machine" stars Alan Ritchson as an Army staff sergeant known only by the codename "81." He leads an entire squad of numerically-named soldiers as their tryouts to join the Army Rangers are interrupted by a global invasion from extraterrestrial robotic beings. 

Though we likely won't see a "Jack Reacher" movie with Ritchson despite him starring in the character's popular Prime Video series, his film career will be just fine as long as he keeps making movies like "War Machine." It won over critics who are usually cynical about these kinds of flicks, with the Rotten Tomatoes critical consensus hailing it for "providing Alan Ritchson an ideal vehicle to flex his brawny charisma" and saying that, despite its fairly one-note characters, the movie "soldiers on to deliver an awesome dose of action spectacle."

Drawing comparisons to action classic "Predator" as well as other films of its era, "War Machine" excels by being a tribute to the golden era of popcorn action films combined with the added benefit of modern special effects and polish. These five recommendations share that basic criteria, but will each also appeal to "War Machine" fans for their own specific reasons. 

Looking for another sci-fi action movie that feels like it was transplanted to the 2020s from 30 years ago, starring a lead that is equally good at being tough and charming? Then "The Tomorrow War" should be your next watch, provided you are a Prime Video subscriber. Hitting that service in summer 2021, it was originally meant to be a theatrical release — and with its $200 million production budget, it remains among the most expensive movies to ever go straight to streaming. But what that means for you is an action flick that looks and feels like the tentpole summer blockbuster it was originally meant to be.

Chris Pratt plays Dan Forester Jr., a former Green Beret who now works as a biology teacher. But when time traveling soldiers appear and conscript him to help them save humanity from alien invaders, Dan is back in action and blasting swarms of giant bug-like creatures. It has shades of not only "Predator" — which we already pointed out was a clear inspiration to "War Machine" — but also '90s cult classic "Starship Troopers." 

Critics were fairly sour on "The Tomorrow War" despite praise for how well Pratt carries the film, but more importantly, audiences loved it. And you probably will too if you liked "War Machine" and its particular brand of satisfying alien blasting. 

All the MCU actors named Chris have been keen to prove that they could lead action movies outside of that franchise. And while Chris Pratt was off blasting space insects for Amazon, Chrises Evans and Hemsworth took to Netflix with movies written by "Avengers: Endgame" co-director Joe Russo. For Evans, that meant "The Grey Man," which doesn't really have "War Machine" vibes. But Russo's project for Hemsworth, "Extraction," feels a little like a cross between "War Machine" and "John Wick."

To be clear, aliens aren't involved in "Extraction." Instead, it sees a mercenary (Hemsworth) embark on a dangerous mission to save the son of a dangerous crime boss — and, surprise surprise, the assignment isn't all it's cracked up to be. That's where the "John Wick" of it all comes in, as this mercenary is able to handle entire armies of henchmen on his own with a combination of rapid-fire headshots and bone-breaking punches and kicks. Several of those scenes were filmed in one long take, making for incredibly impressive action set pieces.

Hemsworth's co-star, Golshifteh Farahani, told Looper in an exclusive interview what it was really like to film "Extraction" – and she confirms that all of the actors and stuntpeople are working every bit as hard as it looks like they are. So it might have human enemies instead of aliens, but "Extraction" will still get classic action fans' adrenaline pumping just as hard as anything in "War Machine." 

Of all the movies on this list, "Boss Level" is inarguably the least well known. Hitting Hulu in 2021, when the world was still crawling out of the aftermath of COVID-19 and only a few select things seem to hit the cultural zeitgeist, it was one of many offerings that got overlooked — and in the streaming world, if something isn't a hit within a week of its release, it's quickly buried by its platform and never mentioned again.

But "Boss Level" absolutely deserves to be rediscovered and proclaimed a cult classic. The inventive premise takes a cue from "Groundhog Day" in that its protagonist, Roy Pulver (Frank Grillo), finds himself repeating the same day over and over again but doesn't know why. Only he's not a mild-mannered weatherman stuck in a quiet town — he's a retired soldier who keeps getting killed by assassins for reasons he needs to figure out. That is, if he can manage to get far enough into a day without getting murdered to actually do some investigating. 

Grillo is fantastic here, and he should be given the chance to do more action comedies. He leads an impressive cast that also includes Naomi Watts, Michelle Yeoh, and Mel Gibson, among others. It feels like the kind of gimmicky sci-fi action movie that was especially prevalent in the '90s, and that's meant as a compliment. 

It stands to reason that fans of a movie which feels like a love letter to "Predator" should also watch "Predator." And if you enjoyed "War Machine" and have never seen the original "Predator," you of course should watch it, as it's an undeniable classic. But this list is focused on movies that just feel old school, rather than movies that actually are old school. 

So that brings us to "Predator: Badlands," which is not only the most recent "Predator" movie but also one of the best-reviewed. One of the things that makes it so great — and perfect for "War Machine" fans — is specifically that it has the spirit of a "Predator" movie which could have been released right after the 1987 original, but with the special effects of a movie that came out in 2025.

Not only did critics love it, but "Badlands" blew away everyone at the box office. In a fascinating twist on the traditional formula, "Badlands" is the first film in the franchise in which a Predator is the main protagonist. Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) needs to prove himself a worthy member of his race by surviving on a dangerous planet and killing an apex predator — the ultimate goal of any Yautja (the actual species name of the Predators). During that mission, he meets Thia (Elle Fanning), a humanoid synthetic who was also shunned by her own kind and likewise needs to prove herself.

This last recommendation is admittedly a bit of a curveball — there are no sci-fi elements, and how "old school" it feels is debatable. Well, that's not entirely fair: It's definitely old school, but more a golden era Hollywood, grand adventure spectacle-type of old school rather than '80s/'90s action movie old school. But the primary reason we are including it is that it's another showcase for Alan Ritchson, and further proof of his ability to headline a fun action flick — as well as another reason why he's sometimes called his generation's Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Directed by Guy Ritchie, "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare" is every bit the action comedy with snappy dialogue and stylish set pieces that the filmmaker is known for and does so well. Loosely inspired by the real history of the U.K.'s first special forces organization, Ritchson plays Gus March-Phillips and Henry Cavill is Anders Lassen — both real people — as they lead a black ops group whose methods are unusual but ultimately prove so effective that they literally help turn the tide of WWII. 

If "War Machine" is Ritchson's "Predator," than "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare" is his "True Lies." So who will play his double when Ritchson does his "Twins"? Who are we kidding — it should just be Danny DeVito again.