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Land of Bad's small ensemble adds thrilling depth to the modern war movie, led by standout performances from Hemsworth and Crowe. Viewership numbers on Netflix reveal Land of Bad to be a global hit, with intense action and a talented cast drawing praise. The central cast, including Russell Crowe and Liam Hemsworth, offers a nice mix of veteran actors and younger talents worth exploring.

The Land of Bad cast is a small ensemble but the actors all add to the thrilling modern war movie. The 2023 film centers on young Jtac officer Kinney (Liam Hemsworth), who unwittingly finds himself part of a Delta Force extraction team in the Philippines, which includes Sergeant Abel, and Reaper (Russell Crowe), the Usaf drone pilot who gives the team air support. The movie is directed by William Eubank, who also serves as a producer and co-wrote the screenplay with David Frigero.

Following a small...

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Land of Bad.

Sgt. Kinney narrowly escapes enemy territory in Land of Bad with the help of his team and some close calls. Reaper's absence almost costs Kinney his life, highlighting the importance of communication in high-stress situations. The movie's resolution, while satisfying, feels rushed and includes a tonally confusing epilogue that detracts from the climax.

Land of Bad's ending concludes the movie's tense events, with Liam Hemsworth's Sgt. JJ Kinney barely making it out alive. Deployed behind enemy lines in the Philippines with the rest of his US Delta Force team, the inexperienced Kinney quickly finds himself alone once his fellow soldiers are presumed dead due to an encounter gone wrong. Leaving behind the Jsoc operative his team was originally dispatched to retrieve, Land of Bad chronicles Kinney's attempts at being extracted from enemy territory. Kinney is a Jtac in Land of Bad,...

Stars: Milo Ventimiglia, Luke Hemsworth, Ricky Whittle, Liam Hemsworth, Russell Crowe, Chika Ikogwe, Robert Rabiah | Written by William Eubank, David Frigerio | Directed by William Eubank

The Sulu Sea is a body of water in the southwestern area of the Philippines, and as the opening crawl of Land of Bad tells us, home to some of the most violent extremists in Asia. It’s also where Master Sergeant John “Sugar” Sweet and his team, Sergeant Abell and Sergeant Bishop are being deployed.

Joining them is Air Force Sergeant J.J. Kinney a rookie Jtac. He’s not qualified to go out with these guys, but he was the only one available to act as their link with drone operators Reaper and Nia back in the US.

Director William Eubank and co-writer David Frigerio take Land of Bad’s familiar scenario of a tightly-knit team of seasoned veterans sent into battle with...

A Delta Force extraction team with a novice communications officer relies on a stalwart drone pilot when their top-secret mission becomes compromised. Land of Bad is a taut and harrowing military thriller that viscerally captures the real-time stakes of bloody combat. There are no foolish heroics or snappy catchphrases as a ruthless enemy exacts merciless revenge. Swift coordination becomes the key to survival in a dire, constantly evolving situation. A sobering narrative depicts the fortitude, professionalism, and lethal expertise needed by soldiers and command in the unexpected, worst-case scenario.

In the Southeastern Philippines, Sergeant JJ "Playboy" Kinney (Liam Hemsworth), a young Air Force Tacp (Tactical Air Control Party) officer, steadies himself for a dangerous assignment. A Jsoc (Joint Special Operations Command) operative has been captured by a Russian mercenary. Master Sergeant John "Sugar" Sweet (Milo Ventimiglia) will lead a black ops unit to recover the valuable asset. Sugar asks the...

The upcoming action thriller Land of Bad features a star-studded cast including Russell Crowe, and there are some exciting details about the new film. The latest outing from genre auteur director William Eubank, Land of Bad follows an elite extraction team who must go behind enemy lines to rescue top-secret equipment and hostages. Promising to be a thrill-a-minute action extravaganza, Land of Bad features several notable names outside of Crowe including Liam Hemsworth and Milo Ventimiglia. Though the film features state-of-the-art military gadgets, Land of Bad is reminiscent of classic action films from the genre's heyday in the 1980s.

Director and cinematographer William Eubank is no stranger to genre movies and his diverse set of directorial credits includes sci-fi films like 2011's Love and 2014's The Signal, as well as horror films like Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin from 2021. While Land of Bad is the director's first foray into pure action,...

For Robert Rabiah, Queensland’s Mission Beach is more than just the location where he is filming fish-out-of-water drama Irreverent – it’s also where he began his career.

The actor’s first professional job was appearing alongside Craig McLachlan, Nadine Garner, and Antonio Sabato Jr. in George Miller’s action/adventure mini-series Tribe, which was also based in the coastal town.

Speaking to If, Rabiah said his role in the Matchbox Pictures/NBCUniversal International Studios’ series more than two decades later was a case of his journey coming full circle.

“To come back after all these years feels nostalgic and satisfying,” he said.

In Irreverent, Rabiah plays Farah, a menacing hitman sent by the Chicago Mob to settle the ledger with a criminal mediator (Colin Donnell) who has taken refuge in Far North Queensland and assumed the identity of a church reverend.

Created by Paddy Macrae, the 10-part series also...

A psychological drama from Iranian filmmaker Amin Palangi is currently shooting in Nsw, starring Osamah Sami, Faezeh Alavi, and Robert Rabiah.

Tennessine was written by Sami, who also plays Arash, a Persian man who arrives in Australia against his family’s wishes to reunite with the love of his life, the elusive Nazanin (Alavi).

While the couple is about to spend a romantic weekend in a cabin in the woods, the arrival of Nasser (Rabiah) interrupts the idyllic reunion and raises doubts about his connection with Nazanin. Soon, Arash learns of deep harboured secrets, which leads him down a path of self-destruction.

The independently financed feature is being directed by Palangi, who is also producing with Ulysses Oliver and Ben Ferris for Palangi Productions and Breathless Films.

The creative team also includes director of photography Daniel Hartley-Allen, production designer Ellen Doolan, and costume designer Cc Williams.

Sami, who is based in Melbourne,...

(L-r) Jason Lee, an unidentified extra and Frank Lotito on the set of ‘Growing Up Smith.’

Actor Robert Rabiah is frustrated with the lack of on-screen representation of Australia’s diverse communities despite some recent TV shows and movies that are more reflective of race, gender, class and colour.

That prompted Rabiah to create AussieWood, a TV comedy which follows the daily life of casting agent Steve “Aussie” Wood, a high-achieving, slightly neurotic and affable rogue who is trying to do the best he can in a pandemic-ridden world.

Rabiah pitched his idea to director/producer Frank Lotito, who wholeheartedly agreed and will helm a half-hour pilot with a top name cast.

“I wanted to challenge all that mythologising about who can carry a show or who can lead a film or who can play which role and why,” the actor whose credits include Below, Secret City, Safe Harbour and Ali’s Wedding tells If.

"Ready the cage." Madman Films has unveiled the first official trailer for an Australian pitch-black comedy titled Below, made by a Norwegian-born Iranian-Australian filmmaker named Maziar Lahooti. In a near-future, darknet grifter Dougie is recruited to work security at a refugee detention centre. There, he is drawn into an underground operation blackmailing detainees to fight for profit for in a "underground fight club". When tragedy strikes courageous fighter Azad, Dougie surprisingly finds his hitherto dormant conscience and takes a stand. This stars Ryan Corr, Anthony Lapaglia, Phoenix Raei, Alison Whyte, Robert Rabiah, Morgana O'Reilly, and Zenia Star. "Below isn’t afraid to get its hands dirty as it tackles hard issues, resulting in a deliberately provocative dare of a film that’s bound to get audiences talking." It looks like some seriously ballsy satire. Not sure if it'll be any good, but I'm still curious. Get your first look below.

Antonio Sabato Jr and Robert Rabiah.

Antonio Sabato Jr. was one of the few American actors who supported Donald Trump in the 2016 election and soon found he was virtually blacklisted in Hollywood.

His agents and manager deserted him and work dried up so after a 30-year-career he decided to move to Florida and get a job in construction.

Now he plans a comeback, producing, co-writing, directing and starring in Trail Blazers, a Western about a band of brothers who were once outlaws and decide to turn their back on their old ways to fulfill their father’s dying wish.

Safe Harbour and Secret City star Robert Rabiah, who has been a mate of Sabato since they worked in Crawford Productions’ Queensland-shot series Tribe in 1999, will play Gabriel, his younger brother.

The brothers take refuge near a small town in Utah and quickly lock horns with the local Sheriff and his deputies.

‘Safe Harbour’.

Matchbox Pictures drama Safe Harbour has won the International Emmy Award for Best TV Movie/Miniseries.

The four-part psychological thriller beat out fellow nominees Lust Stories (India), Se Eu Fechar Os Olhos Agora [If I Close My Eyes Now] (Brazil) and Trezor (Hungary).

First commissioned by Sbs, Safe Harbour follows a group of Aussie friends who come across a broken-down boat full of desperate asylum-seekers while on a yachting holiday. The Australians decide to tow the refugees, but the next morning the boat is gone. Years later they meet some of the refugees again and learn the truth: someone cut the rope between the boats and, as a result, seven people died.

Safe Harbour was scripted by Belinda Chayko (who also served as the showrunner), Matt Cameron and Phil Enchelmaier; directed by Glendyn Ivin; produced by Stephen Corvini, and stars Ewen Leslie, Phoebe Tonkin, Jacqueline McKenzie, Leeanna Walsman, Joel Jackson, Nicole Chamoun, Hazem Shammas and Robert Rabiah.

‘Safe Harbour’

The UK’s BBC4 has acquired Matchbox Pictures’ Safe Harbour, the four-part psychological thriller directed by Glendyn Ivin and produced by Stephen Corvini.

That is the second major deal for the Sbs-commissioned show after Hulu bought the Us rights last year, where it premiered as a Hulu Original series.

The BBC acquired the series, which starred Ewen Leslie, Phoebe Tonkin, Jacqueline McKenzie, Leeanna Walsman, Joel Jackson, Nicole Chamoun, Hazem Shammas and Robert Rabiah, from NBCUniversal International Distribution.

It follows six friends on a yacht who encounter a stricken vessel carrying refugees during a voyage from Brisbane to Indonesia, scripted by Belinda Chayko (who also served as the showrunner), Matt Cameron and Phil Enchelmaier.

BBC4 also picked up returning shows including Icelandic crime series Trapped , Danish drama Follow the Money and Entertainment One’s Cardinal.

Channel editor Cassian Harrison said the deals show that BBC4 “continues to fire on all cylinders,...

Robert Rabiah in ‘Safe Harbour’

After a self-imposed exile, Robert Rabiah is returning to the screen early next year in Maziar Lahooti’s Below, an action-drama set in a refugee detention centre.

The actor decided he needed a break after playing Bilal in Matchbox Pictures’ Sbs miniseries Safe Harbour directed by Glendyn Ivin.

Bilal’s brother Ismail (Hazem Shammas) and sister-in-law Zahra (Nicole Chamoun), Iraqi asylum seekers, were struck by tragedy when their nine-year-old daughter died after their vessel sank.

Rabiah tells If: “Bilal was such a draining character to play. Even though a lot of scenes didn’t make the cut, feeling my stomach turn every morning was intense and I just needed to travel for a while.”

Produced by Nick Batzias of Good Thing Productions, Veronica Gleeson and Kate Neylon and due to shoot in Wa in January, Below stars Ryan Corr as Dougie, a directionless dreamer who...

“Safe Harbour” wastes no time setting up the parallel tracks for its story. In 2013, a group of leisurely yacht cruisers encounter a refugee ship in open waters off the coast of Australia. After five years and no contact during the intervening time, circumstances bring select inhabitants of both vessels into each other’s orbits again, this time back on land.

Now available on Hulu after premiering in Australia this past spring, this setup could easily veer into an empty attempt at an uplifting tale of human connection or, on the other hand, into an overly dark tale of anger and revenge. Instead, “Safe Harbour” takes a third direction: a mystery unfolding in four acts, where the importance of the final answer gives way to better understanding of how guilt and forgiveness can be powerful forces when set in opposition.

In the present, when Ismail Al-Bayati (Hazem Shammas) picks up Ryan Gallagher...

In today’s roundup, CBS All Access releases trailers for their upcoming series “One Dollar” and “Tell Me a Story,” while “Safe Harbour” lands at Hulu for its U.S. debut.

Dates

CBS All Access has announced that Kevin Williamson‘s psychological thriller series “Tell Me a Story” will premiere just in time for Halloween on Wednesday, Oct. 31. The 10-episode first season will be available on-demand weekly on Thursdays. During the show’s panel at TCA, the creative team released a sneak peek trailer at the upcoming series that reimagines the world’s most beloved fairytales in a dark and twisted manner. The panel featured a conversation with Williamson and cast members Billy Magnussen, Dania Ramirez, Danielle Campbell, and Dorian Missick. Watch the trailer below.

CBS All Access also previewed upcoming mystery series, “One Dollar” at TCA, which is set to premiere on Thursday, Aug. 30. Set in a small rust belt town in post-recession America,...

Critically praised Australian series Safe Harbour is set to make its U.S. debut on Hulu. As part of a deal with NBCUniversal Television and New Media Distribution, the four-part event drama will debut August 24 on Hulu.

Safe Harbour tells the story of five Australians on a yachting holiday from Darwin to Indonesia, whose idyllic vacation takes a disastrous turn when they come across a broken-down fishing boat, full of desperate asylum seekers. The Australians decide to help, towing the refugees, but when they wake the next morning the fishing boat is gone. Five years later they meet some of the refugees again and learn the truth. Someone cut the rope between the two boats and, as a result, seven people died when the fishing boat sank. The revelation drives a wedge of mistrust between the Australians, as they grapple with protecting themselves and doing the right thing. The refugees...

The cast announcements for upcoming Ozploitation film The Shinjuku Five are coming in thick and fast as; with the producers announcing today that Robert Rabiah has joined the cast playing Victor Brascoiano, the owner/operator of a Japanese Av company. Rabiah joins the already announced Aussie actor Roger Ward and Aliens star Ricco Ross in the cast of the film, which comes from Black Forest Films & Lady of the Light Productions.

This is not the first time Black Forest Films has worked with Robert Rabiah, the actor previously appeared in theor 2016 film The Perfect Nonsense. Rabiah also appeared in Australian classics such as Chopper, Face to Face and the recent hit Ali’s Wedding.

Set to film in Japan and Australia, The Shinjuku Five is written and co-directed, alongside Jasmine Jakupi, by Addison Heath (Mondo Yakuza, The Viper’s Hex) and stars Yoji Yamada, Saya Minami, Cris Cochrane, Tim Jason Wicks...

Phoebe Tonkin (The Vampire Diaries) and Joel Jackson (Peter Allen: Not The Boy Next Door) are set to star in Sbs' upcoming Safe Harbour.

The Matchbox Pictures four-parter, currently shooting in Brisbane, will also include Ewen Leslie (Rake), Leeanna Walsman (Seven Types of Ambiguity) and Jacqueline McKenzie (The 4400).

They.ll be joined by Hazem Shammas (Underbelly), Nicole Chamoun (Kick) and Robert Rabiah (Tomorrow When the War Began).

Safe Harbour, written by Phil Enchelmaier, Belinda Chayko and Matt Cameron, follows a group of friends who, on a yacht trip from Brisbane to Indonesia, intercept an overloaded asylum seeker boat. .

Glendyn Ivin (Seven Types of Ambiguity, The Beautiful Lie) will take up directing duties, with Matchbox.s Stephen Corvini (Better Man, Hyde & Seek) producing. Sbs. Sue Masters (The Principal, Deep Water) is the executive producer.

.We.ve assembled a brilliant cast that is set to entertain and enthral an audience with...

The Hunter has lead the Aacta Awards with 14 nominations including best film.

The film, by Daniel Nettheim, is also up for best direction, adapted screenplay, cinematography, sound, production design, costume, original music score, and visual effects. Meanwhile, Willem Dafoe, Frances O’Connor, Sam Neill and Morgana Davies are all up for acting awards.

The film has currently made just over $1m at the local box office.

It’s the first year for the re-launched AACTAs, formerly the AFI awards.

The technical awards will be given out at a luncheon on 15 January at the Sydney Opera House, with an evening ceremony for the more ‘public-friendly’ awards held at the Opera House on 31 January.

Running against The Hunter for best film is Red Dog, Mad Bastards, The Eye of the Storm, Snowtown and Oranges and Sunshine.

The Eye of the Storm, was second in the nominations race with 12, of which six are...

Red Dog, Oranges and Sunshine, Face to Face and The Eye of the Storm have received nominations for Best Feature Film at this year’s If Awards.

Red Dog won the most nominations, appearing in nine categories, with Oranges and Sunshine nominated in eight and Face to Face in six categories.

Nominated in the Best Direction category is Michael Rymer for Face to Face, Kriv Stenders for Red Dog and Justin Kurzel for Snowtown while Best Script nominees are Michael Rymer for Face to Face, Rona Munro for Oranges and Sunshine and Daniel Taplitz for Red Dog.

Best Documentary nominees are Mrs Carey’s Concert directed by Bob Connolly, I Am Eleven directed by Genevieve Bailey and Orchids: My Intersex Adventure directed by Phoebe Hart.

With its strong ensemble cast the Face to Face actors are up against David Wenham for Oranges and Sunshine, Josh Lucas for Red Dog and...