Badland Hunters is a dystopian action film from South Korean martial arts director Heo Myung-haeng, set in post-earthquake Seoul, where everything from skyscrapers to society has collapsed. Amid the chaos, a fearless hunter sets out to rescue a teenager who has been kidnapped by a mad doctor and held captive in a camp full of dangerous cult members.
That’s hard enough, but our hero Nam-san (played by the always fantastic Don Lee of The Eternals And Train to Busan) may have bitten off more than he can even chew: As if roaming gangs of bad guys weren’t enough to deal with, it turns out our hero also has to fight a whole host of things just as deadly and significantly more dead. These ingredients (and the trailer below) make this one of this year’s new Netflix films that certainly piqued our interest.
Badlands Hunter looks like yet another South Korean hit
If the trailer is any indication, we’re in for some appropriately shooty, snappy, and aaagh-they-want-your-brain fun.
Badland Hunters is one of the fruits of Netflix’s investment in South Korean talent, which has also yielded us shows like Black knight. Post-apocalyptic chaos seems to be a common theme so far, as it too is set in a grim dystopia following a massive disaster – in that case a meteor impact. It has had a lot of success, and Badland Hunters may be planning to do the same: after all, who doesn’t love a high-octane actioner set in a deeply dystopian world where virtually everything our heroes encounter is trying to kill them, starring one of the most charismatic actors working today ?
The hope here – and it’s a comparison that some YouTube commentators have noted – is that Badland Hunters is of the same quality as Don Lee’s zombie thriller Train to Busan, a favorite of the Ny Breaking team. It currently sits at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, with one reviewer calling it “the best zombie apocalypse movie of all time.” That had another director, and Badland Hunters It seems to have a bigger and more epic scope, but if it’s even half as good, it’ll be a good candidate for our list of the best Netflix movies.
Badland Hunters will be available to stream worldwide on Netflix from January 26.