Movielogr

The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014)

Directed by Kim Han-min

History | War | Action

Overview

The film mainly follows the famous 1597 Battle of Myeongryang during the Japanese invasion of Korea 1592-1598, where the iconic Joseon admiral Yi Sun-sin managed to destroy a total of 133 Japanese warships with only 13 ships remaining in his command. The battle, which took place in the Myeongryang Strait off the southwest coast of the Korean Peninsula, is considered one of the greatest victories of Yi.

Length 126 minutes

Actors

Choi Min-sik | Ryu Seung-ryong | Cho Jin-woong | Jin Goo | Lee Jung-hyun | Kim Myung-gon | Kwon Yul | No Min-woo | Kim Tae-hoon | Ryohei Otani | Kim Kang-il | Park Bo-gum | Lee Hae-yeong | Jang Jun-nyeong | Mun Yeong-dong | Kim Won-hae | Choi Duk-Moon | Park No-shik | Shin Yoo-ram | Ha Soo-ho | Kim Hyeon-tae | Kang Tae-young | Kim Gu-taek | Jo Bok-rae | Ko Kyoung-pyo | Lee Jae-gu | Jo Ha-seok | Lee Joo-sil | Han Yi-jin | Joo Suk-tae | Kim Min-sik | 이승준 | Lee Seung-joon | Jung Je-woo | Kim Moon-jong

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Date ViewedDeviceFormatSourceRating
08/28/2014Movie ScreenDigitalTheater7 stars
 

Viewing Notes

Pretty epic period piece on the true story of the Korean admiral faced an armada of Japanese battleships. Basically 12 ships versus 300. His expertise navigating and understanding the currents of the strait where the battle occurs leads to his victory. Also plenty of luck is involved.

Not sure how much of this is accurate but this had to be a challenging production. I’d love to see a making-of for this film, could be as good if not better. Not that this film isn’t good because it is and very well crafted. However, the sets and number of actors involved is nuts. Choi Min-sik is typically great even if he doesn’t have to do that much other than be the determined Admiral to go against all odds and lead his troops into battle.

More impressive is that this film continues to get large crowds in its second week of release. They even moved the film into the largest non-IMAX theater at my AMC. I’m guessing it will get at least another week from the attendance I witnessed tonight. I guess Koreans really enjoy their historical epics. Cool.

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