Badland Hunters

2024 South Korean film

Badland Hunters

Promotional poster

Hangul|

Hanja|

Literal meaning| Wilderness
Revised Romanization| Hwang-ya
McCune–Reischauer| Hwangya
Directed by| Heo Myung-haeng
Screenplay by|

* Kim Bo-tong
* Kwak Jae-min

Produced by| Byun Seung-min
Starring|

* Ma Dong-seok
* Lee Hee-joon
* Lee Jun-young
* Roh Jeong-eui

Music by| Kim Dong-wook

Production
companies

* Climax Studio
* Big Punch Pictures
* Nova Film

Distributed by| Netflix

Release date

* January 26, 2024 (2024-01-26)

Running time

| 107 minutes[1]
Country| South Korea
Language| Korean

Badland Hunters (Korean: 황야) is a 2024 South Korean dystopian action film directed by Heo Myung-haeng, in his directorial debut. It stars Ma Dong-seok, Lee Hee-joon, Lee Jun-young, and Roh Jeong-eui. The film is a sequel to Concrete Utopia and takes up the story post-earthquake transformation of Seoul into an apocalyptic wasteland, where everything from law and order to civilization has collapsed.[2]

The film is an original Netflix production and was released on January 26, 2024.[3][4]

## Plot[edit]

In a post-apocalyptic Seoul, Nam-San, a relentless wasteland hunter, along with his friend Choi Ji-wan and other survivors, are living a hard life in their village. Nam-San and Ji-wan navigate the desolate wastelands and scavenge for resources to sustain their community. Trouble ensues when Su-na, who is from their village, is kidnapped by a rogue scientist, Dr. Yang Gi-su, who has been illegally experimenting with making humans immortal by injecting them with a certain serum, which has led to the death of many teenagers.

Gi-su was in need of more supplies for the serum, and he had set up a network to bring more teenagers to his camp, in an apartment complex. Nam-San, Ji-wan, and Lee Eun-ho, a member of the camp, discover Gi-su's experiments and go to rescue Su-na. It is revealed that Gi-su had been conducting the experiments in order to revive his daughter So-yeon, who had died around the time when Seoul became a wasteland.

Nam-San, Ji-wan, and Eun-ho arrive at the camp and fight with mutant soldiers. They manage to rescue Su-na, while Gi-su escapes with So-yeon's body in a suitcase. However, he is surrounded by a mob of people, who are prepared to beat him to death. While shooting at the crowd, he accidentally damages the suitcase, killing So-yeon. Nam-San kills Gi-su and returns to his village, along with Su-na and Ji-wan.

## Cast[edit]

* Ma Dong-seok as Nam-san, a relentless wasteland hunter
* Lee Hee-joon as Yang Gi-su, a doctor who survived the catastrophe[5]
* Lee Jun-young as Choi Ji-wan, Nam-san's trusted partner
* Roh Jeong-eui as Han Su-na, a bold girl who is kidnapped by Gi-su[6]
* Ahn Ji-hye as Lee Eun-ho, a special forces sergeant[7]
* Jang Young-nam as a teacher[8]
* Lee Han-joo as Lee Joo-ye, a teenage girl who is also kidnapped by Gi-su
* Park Hyo-jun as Tiger, a former rival of Nam-san
* Seong Byeong-suk as Su-na's grandmother

## Production[edit]

Planning for the film began after the production of Concrete Utopia, on November 14, 2021.[9] Filming began on February 15, 2022, and finished on May 18, 2022.[10]

On November 2, 2023, Netflix confirmed that the film was directed by martial arts director Heo Myung-haeng and produced by Climax Studios, with Big Punch Pictures and Nova film as co-producers.[3]

An Ji-hye, who plays special forces sergeant Eun-ho, performed 99% of her action scenes in the film.[11]

## Release[edit]

As per KOFIC's integrated computer network for movie theater admissions announcements, Badland Hunters was released on January 26, 2024, on Netflix.[1]

## Reception[edit]

Audience response

Badland Hunters ranked first globally in the Netflix movie category, just one day after its release,[12] and from January 22 to 28, with 14.3 million views, was in first place in the Global Top 10 weekly list of the most-watched Netflix TV films (non-English).[13]

Critical response

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 71%, based on 17 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10.[14]

Romey Norton, writing in Ready Steady Cut rated the film 4/5 and wrote, "Badland Hunters is thrilling from beginning to end, filled with action, danger, brutality, and a tiny bit of humor to take the edge off."[15] Christopher Cross of Asynchronous Media rated it 3.5/5 and said, "Badland Hunters [...] has just enough momentum to string together a series of fisticuffs and close-quarters combat that will elate any action fan." [16] Roger Moore of Movie Nation graded the film 2.5/4 and opined, "The story is recycled and nothing that should hold the interest of anybody who's seen a single post-apocalyptic zombie movie", adding, "But the action beats are first-rate, the fight-choreography next level and the trash talk...is top drawer B-movie pithy."[17] Whang Yee Ling of The Straits Times rated the film 3/5 and wrote, "Don Lee is true to form, pummelling bad guys in an adequate if unsurprising star vehicle."[18]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b Choi Jeong-ah (November 1, 2023). "[단독] '흥행킹' 마동석, '황야'로 이준영·노정의와 새해 넷플릭스 첫 타자" [[Exclusive] 'Box-office King' Ma Dong-seok joins Lee Jun-young and Roh Jeong-eui for the first hit on Netflix in the new year with 'Wilderness']. Sports World (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
2. ^ Kim Na-yeon (November 2, 2023). "마동석 '황야', 극장 아닌 넷플릭스 간다..전 세계 190개국 공개" [Ma Dong-seok's 'Wilderness' goes to Netflix instead of theaters... released in 190 countries around the world]. Star News (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
3. ^ a b James Chang (November 2, 2023). "Going Big: Don Lee's 'Badland Hunters' to Redefine Korean Blockbusters" (Press release). Netflix Media Center. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
4. ^ Jonathan Hicap (January 14, 2024). "Netflix drops main trailer for film 'Badland Hunters' starring 'Train to Busan' actor Ma Dong-seok". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
5. ^ Lee Da-won (February 7, 2022). "[단독] 이희준, '황야' 출연...마동석과 뭉친다" [[Exclusive] Heejun Lee to appear in 'The Wilderness'... I unite with Ma Dong-seok] (in Korean). Sports Kyunghyang. Retrieved November 2, 2023 - via Naver.
6. ^ Jeon Hyung-hwa (January 26, 2022). "[단독]마동석·이준영·노정의, '황야' 호흡..'콘크리트 유토피아' 세계관 관심↑[종합]" [[Exclusive] Dong-seok Ma, Jun-young Lee, Jeong-eui Noh, Breathing in 'The Wilderness'.. Interest in the world view of 'Concrete Utopia' ↑[Comprehensive]] (in Korean). Star News. Retrieved November 2, 2023 - via Naver.
7. ^ Kim Da-eun (January 2, 2024). "'황야', 1월 26일 공개...마동석, 파격 사냥꾼 변신" ['Wilderness' released on January 26th... Ma Dong-seok, transformation into an unconventional hunter] (in Korean). Dispatch. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
8. ^ "마동석 액션 빼면 볼 게 없다, '황야'가 놓친 것". 오마이스타 (in Korean). January 29, 2024. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
9. ^ Jeong Hyung-hwa (December 27, 2021). "[단독]이병헌·박서준→마동석 '콘크리트 유토피아' 세계관 2022년 기대↑ [종합]" [Exclusive Lee Byung-hun, Park Seo-joon – Ma Dong-seok's 'Concrete Utopia' world view in 2022]. Star News (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
10. ^ "Badland Hunters – (Korean Movie, 2024, 황야)". HanCinema. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
11. ^ Ryu Ye-ji (January 2, 2024). "[공식] 안지혜, 넷플릭스 영화 '황야' 캐스팅...마동석과 호흡" [[Official] Ahn Ji-hye cast in Netflix movie 'Wilderness'... Breathing with Ma Dong-seok]. Ten Asia (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
12. ^ Kim Na-yeon (January 29, 2024). "마동석, 넷플릭스도 삼켰다..'황야' 글로벌 1위 등극" [Ma Dong-seok swallows up Netflix too...'Wilderness' ranks first globally]. Star News (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
13. ^ "Top 10; Weekly Top 10 lists of the most-watched TV and films". Netflix top 10. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
14. ^ "Badland Hunters (2024, Action/Sci-fi)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
15. ^ Norton, Romey (January 26, 2024). "Badland Hunters Review – Badass apocalyptic drama". Ready Steady Cut. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
16. ^ Cross, Christopher (January 26, 2024). "'Badland Hunters' Review". Asynchronous Media. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
17. ^ Moore, Roger (January 26, 2024). "Netflixable? Another tale of the Korean Apocalypse – "Badland Hunters"". Movie Nation. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
18. ^ Whang Yee Ling (January 31, 2024). "Badland Hunters (M18)". The Straits Times (Singapore). Retrieved February 2, 2024.

## External links[edit]

* Badland Hunters on Netflix
* Badland Hunters at IMDb
* Badland Hunters at HanCinema