The Admiral: Roaring Currents
Theatrical release poster
Hangul	명량
Hanja	鳴梁
RR	Myeongnyang
MR	Myŏngnyang
Directed by	Kim Han-min
Written by	Jeon Chul-hong Kim Han-min
Produced by	Kim Han-min
Starring	Choi Min-sik Ryu Seung-ryong Cho Jin-woong
Cinematography	Kim Tae-seong
Edited by	Kim Chang-ju
Music by	Kim Tae-seong
Production company	Big Stone Pictures
Distributed by	CJ Entertainment
Release date	July 30, 2014 (2014-07-30)
Running time	127 minutes
Country	South Korea
Languages	Korean Japanese
Budget	₩14.8 billion[1]
Box office	US$138.3 million

The Admiral: Roaring Currents (Korean: 명량), or simplyThe Admiral, is a 2014 South Koreanepichistoricalaction-war film directed and co-written byKim Han-min. Based on the historicalBattle of Myeongryang, it stars anensemble cast led byChoi Min-sik as the Korean naval commanderYi Sun-sin.^[2][3][4] The film was released theatrically in South Korea on July 30, 2014.

The film recorded 10 million admissions only 12 days after its premiere and set a record in South Korea for achieving such a high number of viewers in the shortest amount of time. The movie also surpassedAvatar's record of 13 million viewers to become themost-watched and highest-grossing film of all time in South Korea with 17.6 million admissions and a worldwide gross ofUS$138.3 million.^[5][6][7]

A prequel,Hansan: Rising Dragon, was released in 2022 and a sequel,Noryang: Deadly Sea, was released in 2023.

The film revolves around the titularBattle of Myeongryang around 1597, which is regarded as one of legendaryJoseon AdmiralYi Sun-sin's most remarkable naval victories. He led only 12 ships under his command to a heroic victory against an invading Japanese fleet of 133 vessels.^[8]

At the onset of the battle at their base inHaenam, theJapanese invaders underTōdō Takatora are confident that theirplanned expedition toHansong to capture KingSeonjo will be rather straightforward. However, they remain reserved over the news that Joseon's greatest admiral,Yi Sun-sin, has been restored to his former command after thedisaster at Chilcheollyang, which has reduced the Korean navy to a mere dozen battle-ready ships. To ensure the success of the operation,Hideyoshi sends one of his finest naval war leaders to Joseon,Kurushima Michifusa, the commander of the Murakami Clan Navy who is an expert in naval combat but enjoys a shaky reputation among his fellowdaimyō as a pirate. One of the admirals of theJapanese Left Army,Wakizaka, first meets Kurushima and his lieutenant, Kimura, while he finishes off the remnants of a group of Joseon soldiers. He especially distrusts Kurushima and draws his sword on him several times, especially after the latter insults him by shaming hisdefeat at Hansan Island. Later, Kurushima and Haru, hissharpshooter, drinksake as Kurushima elaborates on his personal vendetta against Yi Sun-sin, stating that his brother Michiyuki had beenkilled by the latter earlier in the war.

In the meantime, Yi Sun-sin is facing the despair mounting among his officers and troops. Facing an enemy force that far outnumbers them and seeing no reasonable chance of success in the inevitable clash even with one singleturtle ship remaining, many consider the fight lost before it has even started. Despite his outwardly indifferent demeanor, Yi is hard-pressed to maintain morale among his men and desperate to find a solution to his problem. However, the breaking point seems to be reached when GeneralBae Seol, the deserter of Chilcheollyang, burns the turtle ship and has his men try toassassinate Yi. Although Yi escapes and Bae is killed for his act of treachery, the ship is lost, which boosts confidence among the Japanese and further dispirits Yi's troops. To seek an answer, Yi travels to theMyeongryang Strait, an area notorious for its strong and treacherous currents, which the Japanese intend to cross on their way to Hansong. Later, he confides in his sonHoe that to win the fight, he must turn the fear paralyzing his men into courage.

Upon hearing that the departure of the Japanese attack fleet is imminent, Yi abandons his base and moves to Usuyeong after burning the naval facilities to the ground. The next morning, Yi's fleet arrives in the strait and is shortly met by the Japanese, who are using the morning tide to move into the channel, with Kurushima leading the vanguard. Yi engages Kurushima's fleet in battle, but as the other Korean commanders are still hesitant to involve themselves, Yi's flagship is quickly surrounded and attacked byboarding parties. In the apparently hopeless situation, Yi commands several cannons to be fired from the rower deck's port hatches in a concentrated volley, to use their recoil to blast the ship free of its encirclement. As Yi had hoped, this bold act of survival inspires the rest of his countrymen to take the fight to the enemy.

When the tide turns and forms awhirlpool in the middle of the channel, thus solidifying Yi's defensive position, Kurushima orders an all-out attack with the rest of his ships. Despite the efforts of Haru and a shiploaded with black powder charges, the renewed courage of the Koreans prevails, though heavy sacrifices are made. Kurushima's desperate situation is observed by Todo, who merely laughs atKatō's suggestion of reinforcing him. Kurushima, realizing that he is now on his own, boards the Korean flagship but is decapitated by Yi himself after he takes several arrows from Koreanarchers, and his head is hung from the tip of the ship's mast.

When Yi's ship itself is caught in the whirlpool, his civilian navy servants and local fishermen courageously drag the vessel back to safety. Joined by the rest of the fleet, Yi leads a counterattack that deals the Japanese forces a crushing blow, forces them into retreat, and leaves the Koreans triumphant. The film ends with a reminiscence of the first encounter of the Japanese with the turtle ship in 1592.

The Battle of Myeongryang, on October 26, 1597, the KoreanJoseon Kingdom'snavy, led byAdmiralYi Sun-sin, fought theJapanese navy in theMyeongryang Strait, nearJindo Island, off the southwest corner of theKorean Peninsula.

With only 13 ships remaining from Admiral Wŏn Kyun's disastrous defeat at the Battle of Chilchonryang, Admiral Yi held the strait as a "last stand" battle against the Japanese navy, who were sailing to support their land army's advance towards the Joseon capital of Hanyang (modern-day Seoul).

• CJ Entertainment (2014) (Korea) (theatrical)^[12]
• Big Stone Picture (2014) (Korea) (theatrical)
• Cj Entertainment (2014) (Korea) (theatrical)
• CJ CGV Viet Nam (2014) (Vietnam) (theatrical)
• CJ Entertainment America (2014) (USA) (theatrical)
• CJ Entertainment America (2014) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• CJ Entertainment (2014) (Worldwide) (theatrical)
• Min Gyo Tour (2014) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Viva International Pictures (2015) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• Madman Entertainment (2015) (Australia) (DVD)
• New KSM (2015) (Germany) (DVD)
• Twin Co. Ltd. (2015) (Japan) (DVD)

The Admiral: Roaring Currents drew 682,882 viewers on its first day in theaters on July 30, 2014, grossingUS$4.77 million. This was the all-time highest opening day box office in South Korea, for both a foreign and domestic film, breaking the previous record set byKundo: Age of the Rampant.^[14][15] It went on to set other new records: highest opening weekend, with 3.35 million admissions (US$25.94 million), surpassingTransformers: Dark of the Moon's record of 2.37 million (set in 2011) by 41%; biggest single day for a film in South Korean history with 1.25 million admissions (US$9.71 million); the first time that a film generated over ₩10 billion in a single day; and the quickest film to reach 10 million admissions.^{[16][17][18][19]}

By August 15,The Admiral: Roaring Currents became the all-time most-watched film in South Korea, breaking the previous record held by Hollywood blockbusterAvatar (13.62 million). By August 17, it became the first film to sell more than 14 million tickets in South Korean theaters and the first domestic film to exceed theUS$100 million mark.^[5][20][21] At 17,607,820admissions,^[22] it has grossedUS$132 million in South Korea.^[23]

It opened in limited release across 30 theaters in North America, beginning August 15, 2014.^[24] Due to favorable reviews from critics and moviegoers, it expanded to 42 theaters on its second week, and its first week gross ofUS$1.18 million surpassed the previous record held byMasquerade (US$923,442) as the highest-grossing film directly distributed by a South Korean distributor.^[25] The film has grossed CN¥26.53 million in China,^[26]US$2,589,811 in the United States,^[27] andUS$138.3 million internationally.^[28]

• Naval battle scene
  • Song Ji-hyun wrote inThe Korea Economic Daily that "61 minutes of naval battle scene was not boring at all."^[29]
  • Choi Su-moon wrote in theSeoul Economic Daily [ko] that "By only showing navy's efforts not chains, like a theory from historians, it upgraded the movie's quality."^[30]
  • Heo Ji-woong [ko], inSeol Jeon [ko], said that "61 minutes of naval battle scene is hard to figure out in Hollywood, and it was great."^[31]
• Amazing casts and acting ability
  • SBS funE's Kim Ji-hye said, "Nice casting and amazing acting ability upgraded the movie's quality. Actors feelings were well delivered."^[32]

• Kim Hyun-shik wrote inNo Cut News that "Because it only followed history, there is no impact, although there are romance going on."^[33]
• MBN Yoo Myung-joon said that "The movie was so focused on Korean navy, especially Yi Sun-sin, and Japanese navy seemed insignificant."^[34]

While producingThe Admiral: Roaring Currents in 2013, Big Stone Pictures announced plans to produce two more films related toYi Sun-sin if the first film was successful.^[50] It was later confirmed that the rest of the trilogy would be produced withKim Han-min directing.^[51]

The second film in the trilogy,Hansan: Rising Dragon, was released in 2022 to box office success. It is based on theBattle of Hansan Island, withPark Hae-il playing Yi Sun-sin.^[52]

The third film of the trilogy,Noryang: Deadly Sea, based on theBattle of Noryang, was released in December 2023.^[53]

• Official website
• The Admiral: Roaring Currents at theKorean Movie Database(in Korean)
• The Admiral: Roaring Currents atIMDb
• The Admiral: Roaring Currents atHanCinema
• The Admiral: Roaring Currents atRotten Tomatoes

• 2014 films
• 2010s historical adventure films
• 2010s action war films
• 2014 war films
• South Korean historical action films
• South Korean action drama films
• South Korean historical adventure films
• South Korean war drama films
• 2010s Korean-language films
• Films about Japan–Korea relations
• Films about naval warfare
• Films set in Joseon
• Films set on ships
• War adventure films
• Action films based on actual events
• War films based on actual events
• Cultural depictions of Yi Sun-sin
• 2014 South Korean films
• Films about the Imjin War
• Films set in 1597
• 2014 adventure films

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