Tactical and Stunning Movie
This movie did not have a dull moment in my opinion. Every scene, sequence was smooth and had meaning. What made the show really good was that this was a true historical story and a real character in Korean History. If you are Korean , or love Korean culture this is a must watch.The main character and even the Japanese villain both had real passion that was felt behind the screen. This made the ending/climax 10x better. Really love it when brains and scenes in the movies have unexpected twists and plotting/thinking involved similar to psychological warfare.
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Righteous Fighting Against the Unrighteous
I feel fortunate that I was able to watch it in theaters today. Initially, I watched it because of Ok Taec Yeon, but ultimately, I fell in love with it because of the visual effects, storytelling, acting, and music. When it comes out on DVD, I'll definitely buy it. I enjoy historical fiction, historical drama, and historical films, so if you're not a fan of them, I wouldn't recommend watching the film.This film specifically focuses on Japan attacking Korea via the ocean. So it encompasses what happens when another country tries to fight back by using ships and what happens the war goes to land. The visual effects between the main actors (specifically the generals and admirals and the spies) are amazing going back and forth between the war in the ocean and the war on land. The director did an amazing job showcasing the tension between the two warring opponents. On top of that, the actors were fabulous, which added to the tension of the story. The music was incorporated beautifully into the film. The sounds of war, drums, horns, and ships crashing into each other and into rocks were just as amazing and it made me feel like I was there.
Overall, I think this film is a great addition to Director Kim's trilogy.
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This review may contain spoilers
Not bad!
The main reason why i watched this movie was Kim Sung Kyu. I'm a really big fan of him and i was mainly curious about him. This movie was a little dissapointing for me i liked the first one more, but it wasn't bad!Positive/liked:
-Byun Yo Han's performance...oh my gosh!! He was amazing and he definitely deserves an award for playing Wakizaka this good. This role made me love him more <3
-Kim Sung Kyu was good as i expected, such a talented man i love him.
-The cinematography was amazing
-The battle scenes were really good!!
-I'd like to mention the outfits as well, Kim Hyang Gi's hair...wow!
Negative/Disliked:
-Not giving enough screentime to Ok Taec Yeon and Kim Hyang Gi
-Park Hae Il's performance as Yi Sun Shin was really weak in my opinion
-Little bit mess script/story.
Overall a good historical movie, if you would like to get to know the famous korean admiral Yi Sun Shin's story, start with this movie then watch the Roaring Currents.
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"It's a trap!"
Hansan: Rising Dragon is a prequel of sorts to Admiral: Roaring Currents, with the events taking place five years earlier. The battle we are told was a war of the righteous against the unrighteous as Hideyoshi of Japan sought to put both Joseon and China under his heel. To protect his country, the shrewd and stoic Admiral Yi Sun Sin took on the ambitious and cocky General Wakisaka in a deadly game of oceanic chicken.The film begins with Joseon having suffered several humiliating defeats. In a battle of spying and strategizing, both sides seek to gain the upper hand for the inevitable sea battle. Yi's ship designer has developed plans for a new and improved turtle ship which the Japanese promptly steal. The first three quarters of the film deal with spying, coordinating or killing allies, and preparing for the fights for survival on land and sea.
Having watched Admiral: Roaring Currents I was underwhelmed with this film. It was lacking in the same tension and energy. Much of the first half of the film bounced around so much that it was hard to keep up, much less emotionally connect with any of the characters. I was surprised to discover the same man directed both. I suppose the difference was that The Admiral had a different screenwriter. The pacing and character development were noticeably lacking in comparison to the previous film.
Overall, the acting was serviceable. Park Hae Il played Yi so stoically that the famous admiral seemed devoid of any personality. He held the same expression throughout the film regardless of what was going on around him. The only character who drew me in was a samurai who pledged his allegiance to the great Joseon admiral. Kim Sung Gyu gave a compelling performance as the double agent who chose to fight on the side of righteousness. The bloated cast had many a familiar face if you could make them out behind the beards.
The water battles and CGI were spectacular giving you the claustrophobic experience inside a ship all while showing the full scope of battleships with their canons firing and splintering the opposing ships. The water sequences worked well with the varying currents as did the fog and wind elements. The land skirmishes lacked any weight to them and seemed very small scale in comparison to the sea battles.
The final fourth of the film was engaging as Admiral Yi showed why navies around the world have studied him even centuries later. Outnumbered and outgunned he outfoxed Wakisaka in a game of Crane Wing vs Fish Scale. This was a man you did not want to play chicken with, especially when death was on the line. I only wish the first three-fourths of the film had been remotely as captivating as the final showdown.
6/10/23
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Enjoyable Movie
I truly enjoyed the whole movie. The intricate costume design and meticulously crafted set in this movie are cool, man. The Japanese armor design is dope af, and they've truly captured it exceptionally well. I love that they showcase the nuanced aftermatch of his campaign in this movie. The cinematography is top-notch, with numerous beautiful scenes that vividly capture the grand scale of war. Usually, other series or movies don't depict it with such precision.However, it's kinda hard to follow the plot, even with my knowledge of the Imjin War. And yeah, I agree that the first movie was much better in terms of direction, but this movie excels in action, in my opinion. As a devoted fan of Admiral Yi Sun Shin, I thoroughly enjoy this movie despite its flaws.
Finally, man, can they just hire a Japanese actor for a Japanese character? After watching so much anime, I can distinctly hear the not-so-Japanese-speaking character. You can almost sense the un-Japaneseness. And I'm not even Japanese. Imagine for people who speak Japanese; it must be hell to listen to. I'm not against the actor, but at least if you don't want to hire a Japanese actor, consider a Korean actor with fluent Japanese.
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Remarkable milestone for Korean war movie
This movie is a remarkable milestone for the most visually impressive and energy intensive Korean war movie ever focusing on naval battle in ancient warships. Although it's loosely served as the prequel of Roaring Currents and a younger Yi Sun Sin on deck, the naval battle sequences in here that lasted for almost an hour is bigger, bolder and better with enormous clashes due to cinematic advancement. The battle scenes are so realisitic it's unbelievable how they've manage to shot those scenes that contains sheer amount of power in great precision. The intense story buildups for the war campaign, the emotional acting and explosive soundtrack, this is certainly the perfect package for spectacular cinema.Was this review helpful to you?
honestly it's not that bad.
it's not a bad movie. I enjoyed it I gave it to seven and a half if I had nothing else to watch I definitely would watch it again because it's a relatively decent movie. going through some of the other reviews here where people really bashed the movie I didn't think it was that bad there's some little things here and there that I can understand the criticisms of but other than that it's fine. I wouldn't want to label this movie one of my favorites and I'm not going to leave it one of the worst it's really a happy medium kind of movie I don't necessarily like it a lot but I don't hate it like I said decent movie.Was this review helpful to you?
A fantastic epic ‘War at Sea’ movie
Hansan: Rising Dragon is a thriller movie and is near perfect all around.There have been great historic war battles which have been fought throughout history. One such war battle took place near Hansan Island in Korea, during the Joseon era in 1592 CE. Two great tacticians of War went up against each other in a chess game of wits. They were Admiral Yi Sun Sin of Korea (Played by Park Hae-il from Decision to Leave) and Admiral Wakisaka Yasuharu of Japan (Played by Byun Yo-han from Six Flying Dragons). While the Great Battle at Hansan Island was replayed out on the big screen, a great acting battle was wonderfully delivered by these two great actors playing their prospective Admirals. Those looking for the quintessential offerings of Korean Film and Drama do well to follow the movies and dramas of these two gentlemen. (Fans of Ok Taec-yeon from Vincenzo, see if you can spot him in this movie)
This decisive Battle at Hansan Isalnd took place during the invasion of Korea by Japan, and it was a Naval battle. Of course, liberties were taken with history to produce this nail-biting cinematic experience. However, from the imaginations of writers Kim Han-min and Yun Hong-gi and direction of Kim Han-min, the viewers see a perfect chess match played out at sea, accompanied by a great movie score. The movie is written from the prospective of both men and it imagines the challenges they might have faced to try to obtain a victory at sea. Hansan : Rising Dragon was a movie that took my breath away as I observed the chess match depicted in this strategic battle. It’s beautifully recreated miniature sets, cinematography through the roof, and gorgeously loud sound effects added greatly to this high quality movie. With any war victory, one pauses to recognize the loss of life as grunts are sacrificed for glory, however, this movie takes a behind the scenes look at the cost of victory.
An important quote paraphrased from the movie is “They prepared themselves for offense, but they neglected to account for defense too”.
‘Hansan: Rising Dragon’ is another movie from 2022 staring Korea actor Park Hae-il which garnered many post production accolades and awards, as did his second film ‘Decision To Leave’, which won the Baeksang Arts Awards (Korean Oscars) for Best Film for 2023 (Competing against Hansan: Rising Dragon). In addition, Byun Yo-han (Mr Sunshine) won the Baeksang for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Admiral Wakisaka Yasuharu. Much of the movie was delivered in the Korean language and the rest of the movie was delivered in Old Japanese. Byun Yo-han had to deliver all his lines in Old Japanese and he did an award winning job.
Admiral Yi Sun Sin of Korean from Bansan: Rising Dragon (Played by Park Hae-il from Decision to Leave)
Admiral Wakisaka Yasuharu of Japan from Bansan: Rising Dragon (Played by Byun Yo-han from Mr Sunshine).
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Really disappointing
The Admiral is one of my favourite Korean flicks, so I was waiting for this since I saw it announced, a little over a year and a half ago!Sadly, this failed to live up to both its predecessor and my own hype, as I often found myself checking how long was left, since the battle seemed to take forever to start!
Even worse: once the battle came about, it was a one-trick pony... which is all I'll say, as to not ruin it for others.
Yes, the cast is strong, the music is somewhat rousing and the effects are all decent, but the story failed to pull me into both the human elements and the strategic build-up (and massive anti-climax).
I rated this a 6 instead of the 5 I wanted to give it, because I probably judged it (slightly) too harshly, but I'm so disappointed now, I may even go back and watch, The Admiral again, just to brighten my mood.
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