Facing certain defeat and
the fall of the capitol city of Joseon (aka: Seoul), the disgraced former
commander of the Korean fleet (what remained of it) returns and in October of
1597 at the Battle of Myeongnyang (Straits) turns back a vastly superior Japanese
invasion fleet.
It is all true and this
eerily similar Korean version of the English defeat of the Spanish Armada (which
occurred just nine years earlier) is the backbone of Korean filmmaker Han-min
Kim’s (Warrior of the Arrows, Paradise Murdered) naval battle blockbuster,
The
Admiral: Roaring Currents.
CJ Entertainment America
has tabbed Apr. 28 as the release date for both DVD and Blu-ray editions of
this international box office smash … even the domestic take for this
Korean-language film delivered an impressive $2.6 million in ticket sales
(that’s an outstanding number for a foreign-language import).
The ARR works out to 263 days.
The film is neatly
divided into two sections. The first
half of the film introduces us to Admiral Yi Sun-shin (Choi Min-sik — Lucy,
Tae
Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War, Oldboy, etc.), the commander of the
Korean fleet, who falls victim to corrupt palace intrigues of the floundering
Joseon Dynasty and is stripped of his command.
During his imprisonment the Japanese nearly decimate the once superior
Korean naval forces … the invasion and the fall of the Joseon Dynasty is at hand.
The second half of the
film contains one of the most spectacular naval battle sequences ever
filmed! Admiral Yi is returned to his
command — the fleet has been reduced to just a dozen ships — and is given the
impossible task of turning back the on-rushing Japanese fleet of over 300
ships! The rest, they say, is history … Admiral Yi
accomplished the same as Sir Francis Drake (an his allies) in turning back a
vastly superior invasion fleet … and in Admiral Yi’s case, with the odds
heavily stacked against him.
If you missed the
domestic theatrical run of The Admiral: Roaring Currents, then
circle Apr. 28 on your calendar now … this is one that should not be missed!!
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