Hansan: Dragão Ascendente

A prequel to ROARING CURRENTS, revealing another naval battle that Admiral Yi engaged in roughly five years before the events of that film. From the outset, HANSAN: RISING DRAGON sails over familiar territory; we get an hour or so of setup and character intrigue before the filmmakers let rip with an extensive battle sequence that occupies the second half of the running time. I found the cast undistinguished this time around - there's no Choi Min-sik to bring gravitas to the proceedings - and the CGI effects are only adequate. However, the concentration on military tactics and spectacle makes this a fun, breezy watch.

While it's not Yi Sun Shin's greatest naval victory, it is nevertheless a significant event in Korean history. The sea battle is beautifully depicted, though conflating details from his other naval battles, it still gets some key facts right, and about the famous turtle ships and Korean and Japanese fighting tactics. More importantly, you get a different look than the western navies that relied on sail and wind.

The movie feels a bit rushed at the start to set the stage. When you have a movie about a naval battle, I can understand that you can't spend a lot time on the buildup of events leading up to it, but it could be confusing for non-Koreans who did not grow up learning about it in school. There are of course also lots of manufactured drama, but that's to be expected--this is not a historical documentary.

This is the prequel to "The Admiral: Roaring Currents" (2014), which depicts Yi Sun Shin's most famous victory at Myeongryang Strait some five years after the events in this film.

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.

My wife turned me to South Korea movies, but while she loves doramas, I am very much into war epics, as I like good war films. I watched all the Korean Civil War mvoies, but this time it is a history piece and a great one!

Epic war movie about 16th century battle in the open sea between Choson Empire and Japanese Empire. It could easily be just another war effort with little sense, but what makes this film a real good try is a very deep and decent portrayal of several main heroes with their inner and outer weaknesses, fears and struggles.

There are no super heroes here, no one flies in the air or breaks walls, nay. Here, real people fight and die either valliantly or cowardly.

Both Japanese and Koreans are depicted like real flesh and blood, sweating and bleeding, afraid or brave.

Final Hansan naval battle is a sheer eye candy but the horrors of war are here, too. People die, ships sink, mistakes are made by both sides during the battle.

The CGI are excellent here, but they are not the main It, the It-thing gere is the human struggle, the huge battle between two great admirals and their wills. This is played so weel and so decently that little doubt remains.

I recommend this tremendous epic film to all history buffs.

The film was excellent and professional in terms of direction And In terms of filming and special effects, it is done in such a way that one cannot tell the difference between reality and design Considering that the Admiral's story has been made in other series and movies and it is almost a repeated script, nevertheless, the making of the movie was very interesting and exciting.

Also, the movie was designed very well in terms of the beginning of the story and the end of the story, and it was in such a way that the person who watched the movie was not left without answers about anything, that is, it was not confusing.