The Admiral: Roaring Currents

"12 ships against a fleet of 330."

2014 2h 6m KO

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7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 344

WarActionDramaHistory

Synopsis

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Admiral Yi Sun-sin faces a tough challenge when he is forced to defend his nation with just 13 battleships against 300 Japanese enemy ships in the Battle of Myeongryang.

“12 ships against a fleet of 330.”

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Where to watch · US

Cast

Choi Min-sik
Admiral Yi Sun-Shin
Ryu Seung-ryong
Kurushima Michifusa
Cho Jin-woong
Wakizaka Yasuharu
Jin Goo
Im Jun-yeong
Lee Jung-hyun
Mrs. Jeong
Kim Myung-gon
Todo Takatora
Kwon Yul
Yi Hoe
No Min-woo
Haru

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Kim Han-min
Writers: Kim Han-min, Lee Yoon-ho, Jeon Cheol-hong
Languages: Korean, Japanese
Countries: South Korea

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $138M — a 14.6× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 12 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Korean, Japanese.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Part of the "Admiral Yi Trilogy" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Kim Han-min, shot by Kim Tae-sung. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Kim Tae-seong. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Kim Chang-ju shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Choi Min-sik and Ryu Seung-ryong and Cho Jin-woong carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Kim Han-min directs. Kim Tae-sung behind the camera. Kim Tae-seong scores. Kim Chang-ju cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in South Korea. Dialogue in Korean, Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Grossed $138M — a 14.6× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
2Released 12 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Korean, Japanese.
4Part of the "Admiral Yi Trilogy" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Kim Han-min, shot by Kim Tae-sung. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Kim Tae-seong. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Kim Chang-ju shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Choi Min-sik and Ryu Seung-ryong and Cho Jin-woong carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "12 ships against a fleet of 330.".
10IMDB entry: tt3541262 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 12 themes, including "navy", "biography", "based on true story", "battleship".
12Released under 18 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Kim Tae-sung
Original score: Kim Tae-seong
Editing: Kim Chang-ju
Production design: Jang Chun-sup
Costume design: Rim Seung-hee
Makeup / hair: Shin Jae-ho
VFX supervisor: Park Yeong-su
Sound: Ko Kwang-hyun
Stunt coordinator: Lim Wang-sub
Runtime: 126 min · 2h 6m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $9,500,000
Box office: $138,342,258
Return: 1456% of budget
Original language: KO
IMDB: The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014)

Part of

Admiral Yi Trilogy

Also by

Kim Han-min

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Reno2015-09-02
★ 8/10
At war, it's not all about the manpower, but strategy. The highest domestic box office ever as well as internationally as a Korean movie. Based on the naval wars of Japanese invasion of Korea that took place in the last decade of the 1500s. The battle was fought for six long years, but this film focuses only the final one called 'Battle of Myeongnyang' in the year 1597. The famous face from the Korean filmdom, Choi Min-sik can be seen in the title role. For the international market, he was badly needed than the role wanted him. But I don't say that, he was amazing as always, like the character was specially created for him. As an important historical subject of the Korea, it was a very carefully made flick. But the product was more commercialised than being practical, especially in the battle scenes. You can't expect logic and accurate historical account, but entertainment is promised as the film's main intention. Awesome visuals, but as I said lacks the reality. Not a bad film either, because a very much acceptable for having interesting tiny bits in the battle. The first half was more a drama and as we are viewers, there is a chance to lose the focus. Barely generates any interest, kind of a setback to the movie. Not even the character constructive was handled that better in those sections where it should have been. Exactly after the first hour the pace picks up as the war commenced. Then it was a non-stop action, one must buckle up his seat belt for onwards to enjoy. Mostly never seen before style, because it was exhibited in the Korean style of a sea battle. It involves some kind of oceanography like the second half of the title say, 'Roaring Currents'. But not in a theoretical calculation rather a practical by observing the pattern and executing the plans like any old civilization was doing in any field. In one of the dialogue, the admiral uses the word 'virus' about fears spreading among his men. I don't think so the virus was discovered not before the late 19th century. "Fear does not discriminate, it can equally affect our enemy." It may be a Korean answer to the '300: Rise of an Empire'. There are no similarities, one is a fictional war and the other one is a biographical war film, but deals on the same theme. Especially when the hundreds of soldiers fight against the thousands, definitely reminds '300'. Actually, it was 12 Korean warships against the 330 Japanese fleets. There are so many characters, the editing was much better to give space for everyone to show their parts in this 2 long hour run. The music was equally matched to the visuals. It includes some emotional segments too, but not the appealing one like you are going to have tears rather the narration demanded it and it worked. In the last two decades, Korean filmmakers going after the untouched territories and their success were inevitable. The quality of graphics in the world cinema is the revolution. Something is sure that now it does not belong to Hollywood alone. Because of this technology the world cinemas can compete with Hollywood. When I was a kid, my frequent question was 'why its so gloomy?'. The one thing I liked in this film was they were not afraid to create the battleground (atmosphere in the sea) in the daylight. You can see sunshine, shadows as well as gloomy as the clouds passing by. This film was a spectacular piece, that does not mean I said it a masterpiece. Like I always say, knowing/learning history through the films are easier than the textbooks. Hope there is a part 2, seems I want one. 8/10

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