I finally watched War Machine, a movie that jams together Alien, Predator and Independence Day and sprinkled with Mech Warrior. It was ridiculous, over-the-top, full of video game physics and logic, and I absolutely loved it. Alan Ritchson is a star, if we already didn’t know that from Reacher, and War Machine is one of Netflix’s best action movies in a while. Maybe pretty high on the overall list, at least in terms of original features.
So, you’re done with War Machine and want more similar movies to watch on Netflix. Well, fortunately, there are a lot to choose from, both Netflix originals and licensed features it currently has. I will go through what I would deem the five best options.
This was an easy one, and Extraction remains one of Netflix’s best original action movies with Chris Hemsworth taking a break to put on fatigues as he tries to rescue the son of a crime lord. It has some fantastic action and fight choreography, and it spawned a sequel that I would argue is worth watching as well, as it’s on par with the first. A third movie is supposedly coming, a true rarity for any film franchise on Netflix that isn’t The Kissing Booth.
This is not a military movie in the traditional sense, but if I had to make one singular Alan Ritchson comparison here, it would be Aaron Pierre. He’s more Ritchson’s Reacher than Ritchson in War Machine, but the comparison stands. This is also one of Netflix’s highest-scoring action movies ever, with a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes.
I wanted to include one movie with at least some level of science fiction, rather than being mostly military features, and I landed on Upgrade, the absolutely ridiculous sci-fi action film that has fight scenes that you will genuinely never have seen before, and a great lead performance by Logan Marshall-Green, next seen in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.
The oldest movie on the list, it has racked up 100,000 audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, earning an 87%. It’s 11 years old at this point, but the only film here based on a true story and a standout performance from Friday Night Lights’ Taylor Kitsch, not long after he wrapped that series. One of the better military films based on real events.
War Machine is wild and cheesy, so let’s get a Jason Statham crowd-pleaser in here. While Statham has made about 10 versions of the same movie at this point, Wrath of Man is one of his better ones, where Statham, a security guard, defends his truck during a heist with, surprise, his secret special ops abilities, revealing an alternate motivation and backstory for his character. Absurd, but fun.
There are more to choose from here, but those are my picks for now. I’m open to other recommendations as well.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.