7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.8 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.2 |
During the Japanese invasion of Korea, which lasted from 1592 through 1598, the legendary Joseon Admiral Yi Sun-Shin won the naval Battle of Myeongryang against impossible odds. With only 12 ships remaining in his fleet, he vanquished a superior force of over 200 Japanese warships. The battle, which took place in 1597 in the Myeongryang Strait off the southwest coast of the Korean Peninsula, is an iconic event in Korean history.
Starring: Choi Min-sik, Kim Myung-gon, Ryu Seung-ryong, Cho Jin-woong, Jin GooForeign | 100% |
History | 21% |
War | 18% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Korean: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Korean: LPCM 2.0
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The Admiral: Roaring Currents is the first Korean film to attempt a depiction of the Battle of Myeongnyang, one of the pivotal events in Korean history. It may be presumptuous to draw an analogy to American history, but imagine if Hollywood had waited until now to make a movie about D-Day or the Civil War. By comparison to the events depicted in The Admiral, however, these are recent occurrences. The Battle of Myeongnyang took place in 1597, during the reign of the Joseon dynasty. Under the command of Admiral Yi Sun-Shin, a legendary figure in Korean history, a tiny fleet of only twelve vessels (some say thirteen) beat back an invading Japanese armada of over 300 ships. Had Admiral Yi lost the battle, the map of the Far East would likely look very different today. Korea has had a thriving film industry for many years now, but only recently has the local special effects capability expanded to the extent necessary to handle a project of The Admiral's scale. In 2008, China's production of John Woo's Red Cliff provided an example of the successful melding of Hollywood techniques with indigenous stories and traditions. With adequate technical resources now available in his own country, director and co-writer Kim Han-min (War of the Arrows) applied a similar approach to portraying Admiral Yi's incredible (many said impossible) victory against the Japanese navy. Released in Korea in July 2014, the film broke box office records and is currently the top-grossing film in Korea's history.
The Admiral: Roaring Currents was shot on Red by cinematographer Kim Tae-seong, who shot War of the Arrows for director Kim and also composed the score for both films. Post-production was completed on a digital intermediate, from which CJ International's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray was presumably sourced. Contemporary audiences are too sophisticated to be completely fooled by computer-generated shots of giant fleets of antique ships, but that's no fault of the Blu-ray image, which is clean, sharp, detailed, colorful and presents the extensive CG work as well as one can possibly hope. Practical effects such as cannons, guns, swords, and the elaborate and extensive period costumes are reproduced with truly impressive fine detail—a real benefit for the Japanese battle uniforms, which were custom designed for each major warlord and commander. (Korean armor, by contrast, was standardized.) The blacks of nighttime vigils and the contrast that reveals shadow detail by firelight are both properly set. There is some light, occasional banding at scene transitions, but otherwise the image appeared to be flawless. CJ International has mastered The Admiral with an average bitrate of 23.94 Mbps, and the compressionist appears to have allocated the available bits carefully so that the latter half of the film, which is far more action-packed, gets the larger share that it requires for a smooth presentation.
Both English and subtitled Korean soundtracks are provided, each in a choice of lossless PCM 2.0 and DTS-HD MA 5.1. The 5.1 track is the clear winner, because the sound mix for The Admiral is superb, especially in the second half when the naval battle begins. With an almost constant assault of surging ocean, creaking (and breaking) hulls, cannon and gunfire, clashing swords, exploding shells, bullets hitting hulls, arrows flying through the air, men barking orders (or simply screaming) and dozens of other sounds layered into the mix, The Admiral's soundtrack plunges the viewer into the middle of battle to the death fought with weapons that are antique but deadly nevertheless. The bass extension reaches down to the low registers, and even when the weapons aren't thundering, the drums in Kim Tae-seong's musical score are doing so. (Kim seems to have worked into the score the drumbeats used to keep the rowers working in unison.) At a few key moments, most of the sound drops out entirely, giving the effect of a moment suspended in time that allows both the audience and Admiral Yi to take in what is happening. Having watched the film with subtitles and the Korean dialogue, I cannot vouch for the clarity of the dialogue, but once The Admiral gets past its initial historical exposition, it is far more a visual and aural experience than one driven by dialogue.
When The Admiral played briefly in U.S. theaters last year, some reviewers found it almost jingoistic in its portrayal of the Korean side as universally courageous and self-sacrificing. But what else would you expect from an account of one of the country's proudest moments, when its forces won an impossible victory against seemingly impossible odds? It's hard to envision such a victory without imagining that every single person who contributed to it found hidden reserves of courage in him- or herself, which is precisely what Admiral Yi (in Choi Min-sik's portrayal) hoped to inspire. As the events of the film's first hour make clear, the Korean forces did not begin bravely. They became brave under the Admiral's leadership, which is why he is revered. To bring such high drama to the screen with so much spectacle is no small achievement. Highly recommended.
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