User reviews

A lot of people are gonna hate this movie or give a so-so rating because Hollywood has lied to you into thinking every soldier/officer in the service is a uberman killing machine.

They are not. The movie serves as a stark difference between techs at bases and field units. And how even the lifestyles and air/atmosphere for these different operatives is.

How drone operators like Eddie are in a more office environment of detached, relative low stress, short shift situation while field operators like Kinney are in high intensity, high stress, extreme hours situation.

Even their personal life priorities are completely different as shown in the last minutes of the movie.

Land of Bad is not there for you to hate on one group or another just to enlighten you that if you haven't walked in either person's shoes you could never understand what they are going through as you the audience in your comfy chair with a cold drink and snack in your hands.

I don't review many movies but I felt obligated when I saw how poorly this is doing in the box office. It's unfair for how well this movie does while watching it.

When I first saw this film on a list of movies to watch on a...non reputable website for movies...I thought it was a Netflix or Amazon flick because I've never heard of it before, let alone seen a trailer. Here I come to find out that this movie was not only released in theaters but it was released TWO DAYS AGO (2/15). The marketing team completely dropped the ball on this movie. The major reason that I believe it failed is because there was zero reaching out to potential audiences.

This movie has your basic covert jungle style warfare with enemies who can't aim but it kept me entertained and into it the entire time. The acting is decent, and Russell Crowe is great as an 'in your ear drone operator'. The way they used technical equipment in this movie is better than I've seen of late in any modern movie with drone warfare.

If you want to see a jungle shooting movie with American good guys shooting at random bad guys then this movie is for you. It's very entertaining and I felt into it the entire time.

7/10.

This film isn't going to win any Oscars or be nominated by any stretch of the imagination but it's a solid action flick. It's an interesting take on a military action movie where the drone operator (Crowe) can be the difference between life and death for an American team behind enemy lines. Of course some Hollywood magic carries the movie through scenes that wouldn't otherwise happen in real life but that's to be expected.

Crowe does a great job as an aging drone operator who should be higher in rank by now but is held back by his own stubbornness. Without Crowe in this role I think the movie would fall far under the radar (pun intended) of most people looking for a decent action movie to watch. Hemsworth does a decent job in his role but it's Crowe that holds the film together. Worth a watch.

This movie is a kind of a blast from the past, when action movies like "Commando" or "Missing in Action" ruled the VHS rental stores. It has absolutely everything that fans of adult cinema appreciate and value - shootouts, swear words in the dialogues, simple motivations and quite good execution.

Liam Hemsworth may not be the king of acting, but he delivers a sufficiently interesting role to follow his fate with excitement on face. For me, it was a pleasant screening, although it lacks some clear and positive argument. It is a solid action movie in a modern edition, but without unnecessary corporate influences. It is worth watching, because such productions are basically not produced today.

A surprisingly entertaining and enjoyable movie based on modern warfare.

I'm not usually a fan of war movies, but with a cast including Liam Hemsworth and Russell Crowe I gave it a chance, and I am glad I did.

It's your typical good guys vs bad guys movie, with the obligatory fighting, bombs and action which in general work quite well.

However this movie relies heavily on modern warfare tactics, with drones, eye in the sky, and missiles which adds something a little different.

The acting is quite good, and although some of the characters are somewhat stereotypical and lack imagination, but not enough to spoil the movie.

The plot is a little over the top, unrealistic, has a few unlikely turns, but its an action movie at heart, and this allows the writers free reign over the plot.

It's never going to compete with the likes of Saving Private Ryan, but was likely never intended to do so.

It's a fun movie watch, that doesn't challenge the viewer too much.!

There are a lot of movies based around the special forces do incredible things format. And, honestly, it's a genre that's a bit overcooked, IMHO. Land of Bad is an exception.

Land of Bad, while not pushing boundaries, delivering exceptional performances, or providing a particularly insightful look into this world, does deliver an engaging slice of entertainment. It's an action film that is devoid of melodrama.

Russell Crowe delivers a solid performance, as a passionate drone operator who battles against bureaucracy and for the special forces unit under his watchful gaze. But none of the actors have space to stretch their legs and deliver meaningful performances.

I was surprised this was a Cert 15, there are some scenes that are quite violent, beyond the to-be-expected shoot-them-up scenes.

If you like these kinds of action films, you will not be disappointed with this one. It's a solid piece of cinema that will keep you engaged.

"How do you know when someone's a Vegan? They will tell you!"

'Land of Bad' is not bad, thanks to a very adult script by David Frigerio and William Eubank and very taut direction from the self-same William Eubank.

Liam Hemsworth (AF Sgt J. J. Kinney) does a nice job, but it's Russel Crowe, as an implausible Air Force Captain (AF Captain Eddie Grim aka 'Reaper'), who steals the show. The funny vegan references are dry and very funny. Crowe's trip to the supermarket should be taught in acting Master Classes!

Unlike many action films, this one doesn't require too much buy-in and the dialogue is not loaded up with cheesy cliches-vegan, or real!

The Land of Bad follows a.special ops rescue mission to its conclusion. The tone and feel of the movie is reminiscent of Sicario and Top Gun: Maverick. The story is good with some unexpected twists, thrills, and lessons.

All of the actors do a great job but Russell Crowe steals the screen through the character 'Reaper,' a civilian contractor working as a drone operator. Reaper cares deeply about his job and takes the mission seriously. The team in the field is his number one priority and that's what makes Reaper so darn likable.

All in all the action looked and felt great but that's not what makes Land of Bad a good movie. In fact, I wouldn't even call Land of Bad an action flick. At its heart, Land of Bad is drama about the difficulties surrounding modern combat and its effect on our psyche.

Don't get me wrong. It's not an Oscar winner or anything but it's a serious and entertaining movie that I enjoyed enough to write this review.

Not as bad as I feared. There is absolutely no nitty-gritty feel to it. Nothing dark or foreboding. Nothing really suspenseful. No, it floats gently on the surface, fairly nice, controlled and polished. But on the other hand it is mostly fairly realistic and surprisingly gory. The enemies cannot aim if their lives depended on it (which it actually does, making it even more surprising that they cannot aim) and hand grenades has huge explosions, tearing down walls and stuff. But overall fairly realistic, still.

So yeah, I would give it a 6.5. Absolutely not a 7 and since 6.5 does not exist I am forced to give it a 6.

The movie itself isn't bad, but seeing all of the egregious mistakes made with military uniforms, rank, incorrect wings on the pilots, etc just made it hard to watch. While I appreciate artistic license, if you're going to include the military in a movie make sure you do the research and portray them correctly. We watch movies too and seeing ourselves misrepresented is annoying. I mean you have army rank on an Air Force enlisted person who is not wearing the right uniform to be a sensor operator in the first place. I understand it's not all on the director and producer as they hired a military liaison, but they should still do their research and verify that what they're putting out there is correct. It's not hard to just google Air Force uniforms and see what they should look like.

That's not even the worst of it. What in the actual heck is Russell Crowe wearing?? You just took a proud group of military aviators and made them look like a joke with that half assed flight suit/jacket nonsense. We take our jobs seriously and when seeing them portrayed so badly in a film it's like a slap in the face. Do better.

I almost passed on this one but it was the trailer that got me interested. I would give it a 7.5 if you could rate it that way but I rounded up to an 8 because I feel the movie is under rated.

Crowe is an outstanding actor and you almost won't recognize him in this role as a captain that has landed on the wrong side of command. Liam Hemsworth isn't one of the better known Hemsworths and I can't say he really stood out in this performance but he did do a descent job.

Without giving anything away, it's basically a story about a military op taking a number of seriously wrong turns for the worse. There are some very weak plot twists and the overall plot is pretty predictable with few surprises but if you can ignore that you should thoroughly enjoy the pace of the action.

They did a good job of inserting some good humor into the script and I found myself and my wife laughing out loud several times. There are a few moments where the movie has some gratuitous violence that probably wasn't necessary but overall for a war film there is far worse.

Thankfully the CGI is very believable and they didn't over do the special effects and the ones it does have fit nicely into the film.

Overall I recommend this as a watch. It's better than many of the movies that have been real disappointing lately. So if you have a couple of hours and want to watch a pretty descent movie, I think you will enjoy this one. It doesn't have anything that anyone should really give it a low rating for.

Enjoy!

It seems like the type of movie that will come and go which is too bad because it was decent. Not the best I've ever seen but purely entertaining for what it was. Liam Hemsworth is starting to look more like his brother Chris in his old age. Possibly the one disadvantage to the film because you look at Liam and you think Chris in those Extraction movies but this movie is not on that level.

Russel Crowe was amazing in this film. He did so much with so little. It was a part that felt like anyone could play but Crowe put on the acting muscles for this. I see why he's won an Oscar. He's not going to win one for this but he gave a charming performance that made the non-action parts more interesting Yeah man, truly sorry that this movie seems to be designed to go straight to the streaming services after a courtesy release. Never even heard about it just saw it pop up on my movie theatre app very suddenly when I wanted something to watch.

Well worth the time!

When I saw the premise of this movie, I was incredibly excited. I am former Air Force, with experience supporting both ISR platforms and special operations in the Philippines. I've worked on the ground in country with multiple joint units on several occasions.. some against the ASG. To say I was looking forward to this movie when I saw it my netflix queue would be an understatement; I thought this movie would be a home run and bring me back to real world experiences.

Unfortunately, the producers, directors, and actors, have absolutely no experience with the military, the Philippines, or reality.

From comical uniforms (wtf was Russell Crowe allowed to wear?, Army insignia and USAF patches, operators without standard kit) to an absurd lack of military bearing... when a team is down, every asset on the planet is on standby to react. To think an O-6 would wear some silly hat and pay more attention to basketball than a real world combat situation is morally reprehensible. That pathetic landline phone on a morale room wall being the call center for CENTCOM (Central Command - the Middle East... last I checked the Philippines was part of PACOM) is just terrible scripting. The last minute addition to a tiered unit with an unqualified operator who hasn't been properly certified... the completely unrealistic employment of weapons and aircraft (that's not how bombs are dropped, the MH-60 to Huey transition, the B-52 to B-1, the F/A-18 gun scene and comical altitude warning)... actually, just everything about the military aspects of this movie makes me sick because I know those who never served will watch it and believe it's even remotely possible. Trust me, it isn't. This would never happen. None of it. And to think otherwise does a grave disservice to those who serve.

They allegedly had a JTAC military advisor for this one. I hope they didn't get paid because they did a terrible job and I question if they ever actually served.

Good movie. Good characters. Good actors. Cinematography is top notch. I just don't understand how a Black Hawk turns into a Huey (back and forth) in mid air. :D Fun errors apart, I say again: a very good movie.

It reminds me of the good war action movies of the eighties and nineties. The action is there, for sure, but I appreciate when the story is based on characters and not the action.

It reminds me a little bit of the vibes I got when I watched Triple Frontier. Once again, character driven storyline.

Russell Crowe is a bit on the chubby side but delivers a fantastic performance. Milo Ventimiglia's Master Sgt. John 'Sugar' Sweet is a character to remember.

A fairly decent and engaging action movie, with enough gunfire and explosions to satisfy most action fans. Russell Crowe does a good job here, although he's really too old and overweight to accurately portray a US Air Force Captain. The female SSgt who works beside him seems confused about her branch of service as her tape reads "US AIR FORCE" but her rank insignia is that of a US Army Staff Sergeant. Also, Hellfire missiles are rail launched, not eject launched.

Nitpicks aside, I'd call it entertaining. The actors playing the Special Ops soldiers seem convincing, and look quite fit for their roles.

Check it out.

-The movie is on the style of 'Lone survivor'

-Action is very good

-Very bad ratings are given just because people are mad at how bad some military personnel is represented or because it's not 100% realistic. Fair enough but those elements don't play that big of a part to justify a 1 or 2 rating. In addition, the vast majority of military personnel are heroically represented

-The acting by the main subjects is of a high standard, I was surprised, especially Liam hemsworth shows that he did not take the role just because of his brother halo.

If you like special forces and military films you will like it.

Ignore the bad reviews. This movie made me sit at the edge of my seat. Been a while since I saw an action movie this good! The camera angles, sound effects and direction is just top notch! It had a lot of stealth elements as well which really catches my attention; felt more like a Splinter Cell Ops military action movie. If you're into stealth, action, and great effects, then this movie is for you. Find some of the reviews here quite hilarious where they state there wasn't enough emotion. This isn't a love movie for Pete's sake! Look at it as an action flick and you'll dig every moment of it! Totally loved it, must watch!

Someone should have warned them 'Land of Bad' is a marketing disaster as a title for a movie. There is no way I'm going to remember the movie by this title.

'Land of Bad' offers nothing original. We've seen this premise so many times before and chances are you're going to watch it for the action and not so much the story. A Delta Force team is sent to the Philippines to extract a CIA agent (whom we never get to see). Kinney (Liam Hemsworth) - also known as Playboy - is mistakenly assigned to the operation, and - as predicted - becomes the protagonist.

When the extraction goes horribly wrong, the team relies on drone operator 'Reaper' (Russell Crowe) to be their eyes and guide them to safety. 'Land of Bad' is a no-holds-barred actioner with action and adventure from beginning to end. There are a few very good action sequences and even well crafted suspense. I do think the film's final moments could have been better, but in general I rather enjoyed 'Land of Bad' - even if just for the action and to see those ripped bodies in action.

I appreciate the commando style movie, but I couldn't take it seriously from the first scene where Branson is wearing an Air Force uniform with army stripes. The writer (or whoever they were getting info from) was clearly ex army and grudging on the usaf. It doesn't run that way at all in real life and even the timeline didn't make sense. The caricature was not appreciated. The plot was thin which is to be expected but the same time, it made no sense. The military slang was all over the place. Not like... wrong but not but wrong and sometimes ridiculous. Other than that, it was a well executed piece of ... something. The acting was good, the cinematography was good, no punches were pulled.

The movie started out just fine, tier 1 guys giving the new guy from a desk job a hard time, then giving a little actual advice and out the door they go.

All fine and dandy, until new guy doesn't report in some crucial info that he observed, namely that drain/exhaust pipe that was way too long to be for a ground level shed. Not a horrible mistake, but you just can't be that stupid out on an OP, rookie or not.

Most or the fighting was handled well. Shot well and helped immerse you in the action.

The drone operators were pretty good.

Though a few times when given information, it wasn't always read back/confirmed, which is a big deal if one digit is wrong.

The largest problem I had with the movie this that Kinney turned into a killing machine to match the Tier 1 guys, just not believable when he was scared from the first mention of the mission. This could've been played better if the script said he was already a reasonable operator who was only that, or if he was a guy striving to reach being a tier 1 operator and had been denied for X reason.

The #1 question that a reviewer is supposed to answer is, Is the movie entertaining? The answer here is YES IT IS and in fact a lot more entertaining than many of the films that made it to Oscars 24, including the incredibly strange and deliberately perverse POOR THINGS. There is a trope used here that will stick with you long after the credits roll -- a US soldier is being tortured with no obvious means of escape. He insists that there is a drone strike due any moment and everyone has to leave. His torturer mocks him and throws him into a metal tub of water to complete the torture. When the remote strike comes, the protagonist is protected by the tub, but his torturer is not so lucky. Clever! The story is not as cohesive as it should be, but it holds the attention. And Crowe is brilliant. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))