Naman Shrestha
Netflix’s ‘War Machine’ centers on a group of determined and hard-working Army Ranger candidates, including 81, who are in the final stages of a grueling special ops boot camp. However, their regular Army Ranger selection is interrupted by something inexplicable as a deadly force emerges from another world. Now, the potential Army Ranger recruits must join forces and fight for survival against the threat. Directed by Patrick Hughes, the science fiction action movie features intense performances from a talented ensemble cast comprising Alan Ritchson, Dennis Quaid, Stephan James, Jai Courtney, Esai Morales, Keiynan Lonsdale, Jarryd Goundrey, and Daniel Webber. The high-octane tale unfolds in a boot camp that becomes an actual battleground between the potential recruits and the otherworldly killing machine.
War Machine Filming Locations
The shooting for ‘War Machine’ took place in Australia and New Zealand, particularly in Victoria and South Island. Principal photography for the action film reportedly got underway in September 2024 and went on for about three months before wrapping up in December of the same year. The production created nearly 2,100 job opportunities for local Victorians and supported 80 local businesses, injecting over $73 million into the Australian state’s economy.
Victoria, Australia
A major chunk of ‘War Machine’ was lensed in Victoria, which is situated in southeastern Australia. To be specific, the capital of Victoria — Melbourne — hosted the production of the Alan Ritchson starrer. The cast and crew members took over the streets of the Oakleigh suburb, where they shot important scenes. They also set up camp at Docklands Studios Melbourne at 476 Docklands Drive in Docklands. Located in the heart of Melbourne, the film studio consists of six world-class sound stages, a workshop building, production offices, a mess hall building, water tanks, and more. All these amenities make it a suitable filming destination for all kinds of projects.
In October 2024, the filming unit also utilized the RAAF Base Williams in the suburb of Laverton in order to shoot several key portions for ‘War Machine.’ Moreover, the streets and neighborhoods of the towns of Bright and Myrtleford served as important shooting sites for the movie. The action sequences in the film demanded a lot of Alan Ritchson as it required navigating steep mountainsides, getting into fast-moving water, completing obstacle courses, and crossing zip lines. Alan Ritchson, who portrays 81, opened up about the physically challenging shoot. He told Screen Rant, “There were a lot of moments of doubt for me, personally. I’d come home, and I would have serious reservations about how I would figure out physically getting through the next day.”
On the first day of filming, director Patrick Hughes shot an intense stunt sequence at the edge of a cliff to set the tone for the rest of the production. “Day one, take one, I wanted to set the tone. We had quite a big ensemble cast, and we brought them all to the edge of the cliff. I called action, and we just got to hit the button and blew 12 people off a cliff with wire gags with massive explosions,” he said.
South Island, New Zealand
Officially known as Te Waipounamu, the South Island also served as the filming site for ‘War Machine.’ The filming unit set up camp in and around Queenstown, which is located on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, to lens pivotal outdoor sequences. The towns of Wanaka and Alexandra also hosted the production of the action movie. Various exterior scenes set in the wilderness were seemingly taped in and around Roaring Meg, the Kawarau River’s Chinese Dog Leg rapid, and a waterway in and around Kingston and Fairlight areas. During the conversation with Screen Rant, Alan Ritchson also opened up about the experience of shooting in the wilderness locations.
He said, “We’re out there going through hell together and having to pick each other up, and keep pushing. And there’s tears on set and there’s blood, and you’re going like, ‘We’re going to keep going.’ Everybody’s pushing each other.” Patrick Hughes also revealed, “Every single aspect of this film was shot on real world locations, in the real world wilderness. It was so remote that many of the locations we had to chopper cast and crew, and equipment, and it makes a really sort of grueling process. And then you’re dealing with the long hours, and then it’s that mental fatigue.”
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