Scott Eastwood's New WWII Thriller With Iconic War Movie Tradition Debuts To Underwhelming RT Audience Score

3 hours ago 10

Scott Eastwood's John Castle worriedly looking through a sniper rifle in Lucky Strike

Published Jul 2, 2026, 6:46 PM EDT

Adam has been writing in the entertainment news space for over a decade. Beginning his career of covering film and TV at CinemaBlend, he has also appeared on The Flash Podcast and done several radio spots.

Despite including what’s become a tradition among various war movies from the last decade, Scott Eastwood’s new World War II thriller is not faring well with the moveigoing public on Rotten Tomatoes.

Various war movies from the last 10 years have utilized oners, i.e. extremely long takes. Sam Mendes’ 1917 is arguably the most well-known example of this filming technique, since the movie is presented as if it’s two continuous shots, and Eastwood’s 2019 movie The Outpost also included several of such sequences. Despite Lucky Strike, the actor’s newest contribution to the war genre, also boasting a fair number of oners, it’s not enough for the overall product to impress audiences.

Lucky Strike currently has a 63% rating on Rotten Tomatoes’ audience-driven Popcornmeter following its release on June 26. This accompanies the 56% Tomatometer rating among critics based off 39 professional reviews. ScreenRant’s Lucky Strike review rated the movie three out of 10 stars, saying that it feels “simultaneously so familiar and so off that it sometimes feels like WW2 movie cosplay,” and ultimately “has little to offer that you couldn't find done better elsewhere.”

Eastwood stars in Lucky Strike as Captain John Castle, a United States soldier who gets trapped behind German enemy lines during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. The movie’s cast also includes Colin Hanks, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Henry Hughes, Taylor John Smith, and Alfie Stewart, who previously starred with Eastwood in The Outpost. Rod Davis Lurie directed Lucky Strike, as well as co-wrote the script with Mark Frydman.

Although this new movie doesn’t include as many oners as The Outpost, Lurie explained to ScreenRant ahead of Lucky Strike’s release that the reason these long takes have become a war movie tradition is because “it gives you the best chance to be immersive,” while also providing “first-person experience” to viewers “as they watch the film through the eyes of the protagonist.” So when it came to making both Lucky Strike and The Outpost, the filmmaker felt that the oners were “best way for the audience to stay completely in the immersion of the character.”

Unlike Lucky Strike, The Outpost was met with critical acclaim when it was released in 2019. It has a 93% Tomatometer and an 82% Pocornmeter. However, one thing both movies have in common is disappointing at the box office. The Outpost only made $2.3 million worldwide during its theatrical run, and Lucky Strike has only pulled in approximately $1 million across the globe so far. Roadside Attractions and Saban Films handled the latter movie’s distribution.

Lucky Strike opened the same day as major motion pictures like Supergirl, Jackass: Best and Last, and The Invite. The World War II movie’s release follows Eastwood’s busy 2025, when he starred in Alarum, Tin Soldier, Stolen Girl, and Regretting You. His upcoming movies include Wind River: The Next Chapter, the sequel to 2017’s Wind River, and Red Card, which co-stars Halle Berry and Djimon Hounsou. Neither of these features have release dates yet.