Russell Crowe and Liam Hemsworth star in director William Eubank’s action thriller, Land Of Bad. Here’s an intense, shooty red band trailer.
Russell Crowe arguably gets the cosier end of the deal in the upcoming action thriller, Land Of Bad. While Liam Hemsworth wades through water, gets shot at, and seemingly gets involved in Fight Club-style fisticuffs, Crowe sits in a gamer’s chair and barking advice in an air conditioned military building.
Land Of Bad is the latest film from director William Eubank (who also co-writes with David Frigerio) – a filmmaker who broke through with the low-budget yet ambitious sci-fi Love in 2011. He later made sci-fi thriller The Signal (2014), the actually-pretty-good ocean bottom sci-fi horror Underwater (2020), and chiller sequel Paranormal Activity: Next Of Kin (2021).
Read more: 2014 | An unusually good year for sci-fi films
His latest film is an intense-looking behind-enemy-lines opus akin to something like Peter Berg’s Lone Survivor. The modern twist here is that, as a rescue mission in the Philippines goes wrong, leaving Liam Hemsworth’s soldier trapped in dangerous territory, Crowe’s drone pilot can provide air support from above.
Here’s a synopsis, if you prefer official wording about these sorts of things:
Starring Russell Crowe and Liam Hemsworth, a covert Special Forces operation in the South Philippines spirals into a brutal 48-hour battle for survival. When an elite extraction team is ambushed deep in enemy territory, rookie officer Kinney (Hemsworth) is left outnumbered but determined to leave no man behind. With an air strike closing in, Kinney’s only hope hinges on the guidance of Air Force drone pilot Reaper (Crowe), navigating unknowable danger where every move could be their last.
The shooty, shouty trailer below looks rather good; the subject matter may be familiar, but Eubank has a good eye for composition and tense action, so this could be one thriller worth keeping an eye on.
Land Of Bad is out on the 16th February in the US. We’ll bring you details of its UK release when we get them.
