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Badland Hunters
Badland Hunters
	Promotional poster
Hangul	황야
Hanja	荒野
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; Ma Dong-seok;
Starring	Ma Dong-seok; Lee Hee-joon; Lee Jun-young; Roh Jeong-eui;
Cinematography	Byun Bong-sun
Edited by	Nam Na-yeong; Ha Mi-ra;
Music by	Kim Dong-wook
Production; companies	Climax Studio; Big Punch Pictures; Nova Film;
Distributed by	Netflix
Release date	January 26, 2024;
Running time	107 minutes
Country	South Korea
Language	Korean

Badland Hunters (Korean: 황야) is a 2024 South Korean post-apocalyptic action film directed by Heo Myung-haeng in his directorial debut. A standalone sequel to Concrete Utopia (2023), it follows characters trying to survive in post-earthquake Seoul, now an orderless wasteland, three years after the original film's events.^[2] Producer Byun Seung-min is the only key crew member to return from the original film.

Starring Ma Dong-seok, Lee Hee-joon, Lee Jun-young, and Roh Jeong-eui, the film is an original Netflix production and was released on January 26, 2024.^[3]^[4]

Plot

In a post-apocalyptic Seoul,^[a] 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 needed more supplies for the serum, and he had set up a network to bring more teenagers to his camp, in an apartment complex.^[b] Nam-san, Ji-wan, and Lee Eun-ho, a military sergeant of the camp, discover Gi-su's experiments and go to rescue Su-na. It is revealed that Gi-su had been conducting experiments 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

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 kidnapped by Gi-su
Park Hyo-jun as Tiger, a former rival of Nam-san
Seong Byeong-suk as Su-na's grandmother

Production

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

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

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 75%, based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10.^[12]

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."^[13] 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."^[14] 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."^[15] 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."^[16]

Viewership

Badland Hunters ranked first globally in the Netflix movie category, just one day after its release,^[17] 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). It retained this position in the following weeks, from January 29 to February 4, with 18.1 million views, and from February 5 to 11, with 6.1 million views.^[18]

Notes

^ The Earthquake that devastated Seoul in the first film is stated to have happened three years prior.
^ The apartment complex is the same as the one the original film was set in.

References

^ ^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.
^ 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.
^ ^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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ "마동석 액션 빼면 볼 게 없다, '황야'가 놓친 것". OhmyStar (in Korean). January 29, 2024. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
^ 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.
^ "Badland Hunters – (Korean Movie, 2024, 황야)". HanCinema. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
^ 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.
^ "Badland Hunters (2024, Action/Sci-fi)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
^ Norton, Romey (January 26, 2024). "Badland Hunters Review – Badass apocalyptic drama". Ready Steady Cut. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
^ Cross, Christopher (January 26, 2024). "'Badland Hunters' Review". Asynchronous Media. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
^ Moore, Roger (January 26, 2024). "Netflixable? Another tale of the Korean Apocalypse – "Badland Hunters"". Movie Nation. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
^ Whang Yee Ling (January 31, 2024). "Badland Hunters (M18)". The Straits Times (Singapore). Retrieved February 2, 2024.
^ 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.
^ "Top 10; Weekly Top 10 lists of the most-watched TV and films". Netflix top 10. Retrieved February 14, 2024.