Alan Ritchson Says 'War Machine' Was More Grueling Than Reacher

Alan Ritchson says his new sci‑fi action film War Machine pushed him harder than the physical demands of Reacher Season 3. He recalled finishing Reacher’s three‑week fight sequence with Olivier Richters—"he's 7'2, 400 pounds"—and thought it was the toughest work he’d done, until War Machine, which he said left him "drained in the best way." Directed by Patrick Hughes, War Machine follows Ritchson as a combat veteran called 81 who endures an unforgiving Army Ranger training program that is interrupted by an alien crash landing.

What begins as a military story quickly pivots into a sci‑fi survival thriller, with 81 and the other trainees forced into a desperate fight against a deadly otherworldly machine. A review praised Ritchson’s committed performance as the movie’s strongest source of momentum, noting the film combines brutal military training with an unexpected alien invasion and delivers plenty of action even if the story rarely breaks new ground.

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