One Of 2024's Most Underrated Action Movies Is Netflix's Answer To Mad Max

One of the most underrated action movies of 2024, Badland Hunters, is essentially Netflix’s take on a gonzo, surreal, Mad Max-style post-apocalyptic thriller. Every once in a while, Netflix’s original movies will deliver their own take on the plot and style of a classic action movie. The streamer will keep just enough of the original formula intact to attract its fans, but change just enough that it feels like its own thing and not just a shallow knock-off.

Rebel Moon, a sci-fi epic about a resistance force banding together to fight an evil empire, is Netflix’s version of Star Wars. Carry-On, a Christmas actioner about an everyman hero foiling a terrorist plot around the holidays, is Netflix’s version of Die Hard. Rebel Ridge, about a corrupt local police department’s manhunt for a highly capable war veteran, is Netflix’s version of First Blood. Extraction, the high-octane action franchise about an unstoppable mercenary, is Netflix’s version of John Wick. And 2024’s Badland Hunters, a bizarre post-apocalyptic thrill-ride, is Netflix’s version of Mad Max.

Badland Hunters Is A Post-Apocalyptic Action Movie Starring Ma Dong-seok

Badland Hunters Turns Seoul Into A Lawless Wasteland

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Released on Netflix on January 26, 2024, Badland Hunters is a post-apocalyptic thriller and standalone sequel to the 2023 disaster movie Concrete Utopia. That movie saw a giant earthquake devastate Seoul, and in Badland Hunters, three years after that earthquake, the city has devolved into a lawless wasteland ruled by sadistic gangs. Badland Hunters marked the directorial debut of Heo Myung-haeng, and it’s a heck of a debut — it has the sure-handed direction of a filmmaker who’s made a dozen apocalyptic actioners.

The story has the gonzo surrealism of Mad Max, with the emotions of The Last of Us.

Ma Dong-seok, also known as Don Lee — the breakout star of Train to Busan and standout star of Marvel Studios’ Eternals — stars in Badland Hunters as Nam-san, a ruthless wasteland hunter who defends helpless villagers from evil gangsters. When a twisted scientist who’s been experimenting on humans kidnaps a young girl from the village, Nam-san embarks on a dangerous quest to save her. The story has the gonzo surrealism of Mad Max, with the emotions of The Last of Us, and it’s just as great as that sounds.

Badland Hunters Added An Exciting Twist To The Post-Apocalyptic Movie Genre

It's A Zombie Movie Where The Zombies Have Fight Choreography

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While Badland Hunters borrows a lot from post-apocalyptic franchises like Mad Max and The Last of Us, it puts its own fresh spin on the genre. Badland Hunters’ post-apocalyptic wasteland is filled with a mutant army made up of zombie-like creatures, but they’re not the usual mindless monsters seen in the films of George A. Romero; they’re coordinated fighters who get into a lot of hand-to-hand, well-choreographed action. It’s not especially groundbreaking, but it makes for a fun, unique action horror movie.