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War Machine (2017)
⭐ 6.1/10 — 42,871 ratings
NR | 2h 2min | Comedy, Drama, War | 26 May 2017 (Netflix)
The myth. The legend. The idiot.
Plot
General Glen McMahon arrives in Afghanistan like a force of nature — chest puffed, jaw set, eyes blazing with the unshakeable conviction that he is the man who will finally win this war. Armed with charm, audacity and a dangerously simplistic worldview, McMahon builds his team, courts the media and draws up ambitious plans to pacify a nation that has humbled every foreign power before him. But Afghanistan doesn't care about his plans. And Washington doesn't care about his war. A sharp, darkly comic dissection of modern military hubris and the absurdity of nation-building told through the eyes of one gloriously self-deluded general.
Director
David Michôd
Writer
David Michôd (based on the book "The Operators" by Michael Hastings)
Stars
- Brad Pitt as General Glen McMahon
- Anthony Michael Hall as Greg Pulver
- Topher Grace as Matt Little
- Emory Cohen as Ricky Ortega
- Ben Kingsley as President Karzai
- Meg Tilly as Jill McMahon
Critic Reviews
🗞️ The Guardian
"Michôd has crafted something genuinely unusual — a war film that is neither celebration nor condemnation but something far more uncomfortable. Brad Pitt is extraordinary in his controlled absurdity."
🗞️ Rolling Stone
"War Machine lands its satirical punches with precision. It is Dr. Strangelove for the post-9/11 generation — bleaker, quieter and perhaps more honest about the hopelessness of it all."
🗞️ Variety
"A film that is frequently brilliant and occasionally frustrating. Pitt disappears entirely into McMahon — a man so committed to his own mythology that reality simply cannot penetrate."
🗞️ The New York Times
"Uneven but undeniably ambitious. War Machine succeeds most when it trusts its audience to sit with the discomfort of its central thesis — that the machinery of modern war runs on ego as much as ideology."
User Reviews
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "The most underrated Netflix original ever made" by FilmFanatic_Nairobi — June 2017
Nobody talks about this film enough. Brad Pitt at his most committed. The slow burn satire hits harder the more you know about the Afghanistan conflict. A masterpiece hiding in plain sight.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Brilliant but deliberately uncomfortable" by CriticalEye_KE — July 2017
This is not a fun war movie and it is not trying to be. It is a cold, precise autopsy of institutional arrogance and Pitt nails every beat. Stick with it — the payoff is worth it.
⭐⭐⭐ "Wanted to love it more than I did" by CasualViewer404 — August 2017
The performances are fantastic and the satire is sharp but the pacing drags in the second act. Feels like it can't quite decide whether it wants to be funny or devastating. Still worth watching though.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Brad Pitt deserved awards for this" by MovieMaven_NBI — September 2017
That jaw. That walk. That absolute conviction. Pitt creates one of cinema's great comic-tragic figures in McMahon. The scene with the Rolling Stone journalist is worth the entire runtime alone.
⭐⭐ "Too slow for its own good" by ActionMovieFan — June 2017
Expected more action, got a slow political satire. Not my cup of tea but I can see why serious film fans appreciate it.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Dr. Strangelove for the War on Terror generation" by MidnightCinema_KE — October 2017
Michôd and Pitt have made something genuinely important here. Funny, sad, infuriating and ultimately hollow in exactly the way it intends to be. Essential viewing.
Details
| Release Date | May 26, 2017 |
| Country of Origin | USA |
| Language | English |
| Filming Locations | Abu Dhabi, Germany, USA |
| Production Co. | Netflix, Plan B Entertainment |
| Budget | $60M (estimated) |
| Based On | The Operators by Michael Hastings |
Did You Know?
🎬 Trivia: Brad Pitt based General McMahon's distinctive walk and jaw-set posture on real footage of US military commanders, studying their body language for months before filming.
📖 Source Material: The film is based on Michael Hastings' book The Operators, the same journalist whose Rolling Stone article brought down real-life General Stanley McChrystal.
💬 Quote: "You can't win a war if you don't have the will to win it. And you can't have the will to win it if you don't believe in what you're fighting for." — General McMahon
🎭 Trivia: Ben Kingsley spent just two days on set as President Karzai but his scenes are among the film's most memorable.
Awards & Recognition
| 🏆 | Cannes Film Festival — Out of Competition Screening 2017 |
| 🎬 | Saturn Award Nomination — Best Action/Adventure Film |
| 📺 | Netflix Most Discussed Original — June 2017 |
More Like This
Dr. Strangelove • The Big Short • Vice • Three Kings • Green Zone • Charlie Wilson's War • American Made
Critic Consensus
War Machine is a bold, brilliantly performed satirical autopsy of modern military hubris. David Michôd refuses to offer easy answers or comfortable catharsis — instead delivering a film as hollow and self-perpetuating as the war machine it depicts. Brad Pitt gives the performance of his later career, inhabiting General McMahon with terrifying comic precision. Uneven in places, unforgettable in many more.
Tomatometer: 58% 🍅 | Audience Score: 63% 🍿
