That was an excellent one.

Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

A good old medeval naval battle in the far east, interesting,and by far , very impresively made too.the use of tidal water currents as a weapon were obviously brilliant,and so are also the production of the battle scenes.with the use of vfx and cgi's its like you are at the scene yourself.considering the low total production costs of this feature film,the result are eminent.only one drawback in this film,its a slow starter,so be patient,the last hour are spectacular.

For me this was a movie of two halves. And I am well aware that the naval battle is at the center of the story but the first half was better. The battle itself was quite well done but it was too long and I got bored somewhat. I think in one of the Lord of the Rings DVD Extras, they were talking about how people can only focus on a fight scene up to 15 minutes. Then they lose interest and focus. I'd agree with that.Though people may think otherwise, this is not a reason why I put 5/10 at all.It seemed to be an over-stretched film in general. For whatever reason they stretched it like a pizza dough to be 2 hours long when in reality this could have been a slick flick 90 minutes long.Slick? Perhaps that's not quite the right word. The big issue for me was the acting. The actors playing the Japanese were dreadful. The weird pauses, the unconvincing expressions etc... not to mention that they are all Koreans. Why? Couldn't they get a few Japanese actors to speak proper Japanese? Was it a budget constraint?Having said that, the actor who played the Admiral's son was also equally dreadful. Whatever cred he built up in the first half of the film was destroyed by the regular and in my opinion useless cuts to him during the battle. It's always the same emotion and did we really need to see that at least 3 times? Just do it once if you have to, then show the crowd cheering at the end.I much prefer Red Cliff to this. While Admiral started out well, the awful acting and poor editing choices just killed it for me.

In some parts the depiction of the reactions is a bit over reacted but over all a great depiction of on of the greatest naval battles in history.Great war scenes and a great detail and research in recreating the ships and costumes that could almost be used as a realistic documentary.Epic quotes that characterize the oriental philosophy and overview with special effects and a great intensity all along.An entertaining historic movie that can be watched any time you fell like spearing a couple hours and want to enjoy some well recreated history.

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