Brad Pitt's 'War Machine' had a real war veteran on sets, & other trivia about the film

Brad Pitt’s movies like Ad Astra, World War Z, and Meet Joe Black have brought the 56-year-old actor a lot of fame and success. War Machine was Brad Pitt’s 2017 satirical war film. The film starred Anthony Michael Hall, Anthony Hayes, Tilda Swinton, Topher Grace among many other celebrated actors.

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Brad Pitt’s War Machine trivia

• The character of Frank Groom, who was a British officer played by Rufus Wright on War Machine, was named after director David Michôd's assistant Michael Groom.
• War Machine has clear references to the real events of the Afghanistan war. Brad Pitt’s character General Glen McMahon, was actually based on General Stanley McChrystal who was an ISAF commander. The viewers of the film, who are familiar with the Afghanistan war period, will understand the impression of a humorous documentary that the film creates.

Image Credit: YouTube (still from the film trailer)

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• The statue which Brad Pitt’s character, General Glen McMahon visits after his press conference in the film, is located at the Neue Wache or New Guardhouse in Berlin, Germany. The statue was placed as a memorial to all Victims of War and Dictatorship.
• Despite War Machine being an anti-Afghanistan war film, everyone in the Pentagon, the US military headquarters thoroughly enjoyed the film. Helene Cooper who is the reporter of the Pentagon revealed this to a news portal. She added that many officials at Pentagon had lost their colleagues and fellow soldiers in the war. Hence, they could relate to the satirical theme of the film.

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• Brad Pitt and Scoot McNairy who appears in War Machine together were also in the 2013 film 12 Years a Slave and the 2012 film Killing Them Softly.
• Brad Pitt and Topher Grace from War Machine also appeared in the 2001 film Ocean's Eleven and the 2004 film Ocean's Twelve.
• In the war room scene in the film, where General Glen McMahon briefs his team about launching the operation on Kandahar, Foxy can also be seen around the map table. Foxy is a real special forces veteran with experience in Afghanistan while serving with the Royal Marines and the Special Boat Service.

Image Credit: YouTube (still from the film trailer)

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War Machine: The Plot

War Machine is based on journalist Michael Hastings' book The Operators: The Wild & Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan. The film narrates the story of the days of the war in Afghanistan after Barack Obama’s election. This was when the world was basically just waiting for the conflict to end but people on the ground still had a war to fight. War Machine’s script narrates the complete confusion that must have dominated the days in which President Obama was sending troops over to Afghanistan, and telling the country at the same time that the war would be over soon.