Roaring Currents

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Movie: Roaring Currents (English title) / Battle of Myeongryang, Whirlwind Sea (literal title)
Revised romanization: Myeongryang - Huiori Bada
Hangul: 명량 - 회오리 바다
Director: Kim Han-Min
Writer: Jun Chul-Hong, Kim Han-Min
Producer: Kim Han-Min
Cinematographer:
Release Date: July 30, 2014
Runtime: 128 min.
Genre: Action / Maritime / Period-16th Century / Based on True Story / War / Best Film
Distributor: CJ Entertainment
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©

Movie depicts the Battle of Myeongryang which took place October 26, 1597. The battle involved Admiral Yi Sun-Shin, who had only 12 ships under his command, against the Japanese navy which had over a hundred ships.

Notes

Filming began January 28, 2013 and finished July 21, 2013.
Movie is based on the "Battle of Myeongryang" that took place on October 26, 1597.
The film is the first installment in director Kim Han-Min's trilogy of films based on Admiral Yi Sun-Shin's 3 great battles.
Related titles:
1. Roaring Currents | Myeongryang, Huiori Bada (2014)
2. Hansan: Rising Dragon | Hansan: Yongui Chulhyun (2022)
3. Noryang: Deadly Sea | Noryang: Jookeumui Bada (2023)

Cast



Choi Min-Sik	Ryu Seung-Ryong	Cho Jin-Woong	Jin Goo	Lee Jung-Hyun
Admiral Yi Sun-Shin	Admiral Gurujima	Wakizaka	Im Joon-Young	Jung's wife



Kwon Yool	Kim Myung-Gon	No Min-Woo	Kim Tae-Hoon	Ryohei Otani
Lee Whe	Dodo	Haru	Kim Joong-Gul	Joon-Sa

Park Bo-Gum

Soo-Bong

Additional Cast Members:

Lee Seung-Joon - Ahn Wi
Ko Kyoung-Pyo - Odook yi
Lee Hae-Young - Song Hee-Rib
Jang Nam-Boo - Na Dae-Yong
Kim Won-Hae - Bae-Sul
Yoo Soon-Woong - elderly man Kim
Kim Gil-Dong - Hwang Bo-Man
Joo Suk-Tae - Katsura
Choi Duk-Moon - Song Yeo-Jong
Park No-Shik - Kim Uk-Choo
Kim Ku-Taek - Bae Hong-Suk
Seo Sung-Gwang - Lee Eok-Ki
Ha Soo-Ho - Executive Officer Kim Eung-Ham
Jo Bok-Rae - Oh Sang-Gu
Jo Ha-Suk - Jo Tae-Sik
Moon Young-Dong - Kim Dol-Son
Choi Chang-Kyun - Kim Eung-Ham
Lee Tae-Hyeong - Song Yeo-Jong
Lee Seung-Joon - big body soldier
Shim Ji-Won - Yook-Soon
Han Sung-Yong - Bae-Seol
Lee Jae-Gu - Jo Moon-Ong
Shin Yoo-Ram - Hye-Hee
Gu Bon-Jin - Oh Kye-Jeok
Kim Kang-Il - Kato
Lee Joo-Sil - Jong-Sun’s grandmother
Hiromitsu Takeda - Japanese soldier
Lee Ho-Cheol - Japanese soldier
Kim Dae-Myung - Japanese soldier
Park Seong-Taek - Japanese commander
Lee Sung-Woo - Joseon naval force
Lee Seung-Joo - Joseon naval force
Kim Gun-Ho - captive
Na Ju-Ho - monk soldier
Kim Min-Suk
Kim Won-Jung

Trailers

Film Festivals

2014 (19th) Busan International Film Festival - Oct. 2-11, 2014 - Korean Cinema Today: Panorama
2014 (9th) Korean Film Festival In Paris - October 28-November 4, 2014 - Specials
2015 (33rd) Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival - April 7-19, 2015 - Out of Competition *Belgian Premiere
2015 (31st) Imagine: Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival - April 8-18, 2015

Awards

2015 (51st) BaekSang Arts Awards - May 26, 2015
- Grand Prize (Daesang) (Choi Min-Sik)
2014 (35th) Blue Dragon Film Awards - Dec. 17, 2014
- Best Director
2014 (51st) Daejong Film Awards - November 21, 2014
- Best Film
- Best Actor (Choi Min-Sik)
- Best Technical Award
2014 (34th) Korean Association of Film Critics Awards - November 13, 2014
- Best Actor (Choi Min-Sik)
- Best Technical Achievement

Comments

Ma-ri Apr 03 2026 9:16 pm Y am i crying over a war movie..i am no korean or japanese.i dont really care if the japanese accent is perfect or not this is a movie . The heroism of everyone during war matters and it clearly portray it by min sik ajhussi. All of them are impressive..nice movie why did i delayed watched this movie

Ryan Jul 26 2023 8:24 am Too Overrated 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, i will rate it 5/10

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.

Marathon24 Jan 31 2023 12:19 pm One word: Masterpiece !!!

Best war movie ever. The long war scene is not boring at all. It's so intense and I found myself waiting for every move, command, and tactic of the Admiral in every situation.This one is at the same level as other heroic movies or drama like The Lord of the Rings and Band of Brothers. Kudos to all casts and crews. No wonder they received so many awards.

And what a line up of casts.!!!! So many popular actors are here..., and they're all my favourites.

Su San Sep 11 2022 8:12 pm Excellent movie! One of the best naval war movies ever!

BaiLaohu Nov 06 2021 12:32 am Absolutely superb movie!! I watched it several times. Excellent cast. Kudos to everyone involved in this brilliant movie.

mome Aug 16 2021 5:01 pm Great war movie!!!

Gly Jun 17 2021 9:21 pm This movie super exceeded my expectations. All the casting are excellent. The plotline stars are above the roof. Btw, Bogummy the youngest here is so so so excellent. He deserved to be cast here. His role fit him. He delivered it great.

Ahn Aug 24 2020 10:56 am Gosh! A clapping ovation to the cast and crew, a job well done

SenyaHachisu Oct 07 2018 5:33 pm What a freaking amazing movie

Thanks to 2 Days 1 Night I came to know history and about this wonderful movie.

Joonhyuk May 22 2018 10:09 pm As expected Choi Min Sik never disappoints his audience with his brilliant acting. He's perfect for the role. Also, Admiral Yi Sun Shin's courageousness amazed me. He is truly an admirable leader.

Malditang Bugay Mar 05 2018 5:32 pm This is a PHENOMENAL movie. A great man of korean history. Using his wits to creat a plan of attack while getting his men to turn fear into courage. Nicely done! Such an inspiring movie. Highly recommended to watch!

Rovelyn Binggoy Sep 10 2017 10:07 am Excellent...

ToniaB Jan 05 2017 8:53 am PERFECT . Daebak!!!

CoolBeans Aug 10 2016 4:45 pm This is a must watch movie about human perseverance against the odds. Excellent cast, great acting, directing, scenery and script. And the soundtrack was perfect.

Sassy May 06 2016 1:42 pm This movie is perfection, everything is perfect, Choi Min Shik slay it

AJ Aug 18 2015 6:05 pm One of the greatest naval battles in history. Terrific production and direction of an amazing film and tribute to the valiant Koreans.

Diane Apr 18 2015 12:07 am So why did they change the historical ending of the battle, when it would have made an even better story?? Can't figure that out, but otherwise enjoyed it.

Ruvie7 Mar 08 2015 5:09 pm Such a powerful and inspirational movie, great acting and directing, simply amazing!!!!! I'm speechless. I'm nt korean bt if I was I too would be proud of the admiral and this movie.

gladys Mar 05 2015 9:59 am Wow what a great movie!! The director deserves his award check out the sequence of the two warring ships at the whirlpool. He totally captured the soldiers were mostly scared chicken shit and the bravery of the admiral to stand alone. What made it extra impactful was that it was based on a true story -that admiral sure was brave - great leaders also inspire others. I can understand why the movie was such a big hit. The user ratings at 80 is not representative of how good the movie is.

micaella Jan 28 2015 6:18 am this is what you called a "movie," a "GREAT MOVIE!"

Larry Terrell Jan 06 2015 5:50 pm awesome movie...;-)

jungle_fish Jan 06 2015 12:25 pm in the opening I dont really understand about the movie.. in the battle scene until the end I'm so speechless... Heol~.. THIS MOVIE IS EPIC.... although I'm not korean but why I can feel my heart is beating, on fire, touched, and very proud when they won the battle over japan.. big applause for the director and lee soon shin cast *nearly want crying till end of credit* (y)

ahaha Dec 29 2014 10:57 am Admiral Yi Sun-Shin is my 15th great grandfather ^_^ (movie is based on real life event) anyway amazing movie.

Edward Dec 24 2014 10:59 pm I hope this will be out on DVD soon. :)

Delbert Nishimoto Nov 28 2014 7:31 pm Will this movie be put onto a DVD format and go on sale?

ohoho Sep 30 2014 4:48 am Admiral Yi Sun-Shin is my 16th great grandfather ^_^ (movie is based on real life event) anyway amazing movie.

Jake Aug 17 2014 2:00 am I always like to see that scene of ancient east aisa is dinamically shown by motion picture. So, I think that in my perspective, Roaring Currents is perfect movie. If the movie is imported in my nation, all of people probably watch the interesting movie.

ZangetsuLee Aug 16 2014 4:13 am It was like the story of Red Cliff (battle of Chi bi) of china but KOREAN VERSION!! DAEBAK!!

Ki Aug 13 2014 12:20 pm I watched this movie last weekend at a theater in South Korea and had to sit in the very first row. Normally, I don't ever sit that close to the screen, but all the other seats were sold out and I didn't realize at the time that this movie was selling tickets at a record setting pace.

The quality of the film is about on par with director Kim Han-Min's prior film "War of the Arrows." There's some great action scenes, simplified portrayals of good and bad guys and generous helpings of simpleton emotionalism brought out to make the masses happy. In retrospect, I probably enjoyed "War of the Arrows" a little more, but I though "Roaring Currents" was well worth the 7 or 8 bucks for the movie ticket. Choi Min-Sik provided the foundation for the film and his performance was on the money. Ryoo Seung-Ryong's portrayal of the Japanese admiral veered too close to a boogeyman in a horror film which dampened my enthusiasm for the film. I would have enjoyed some more depth in his character, but damn the action scenes are intense!

After 2 weeks since its opening, it looks like "Roaring Currents" will likely become the top selling film of all-time in South Korea. I have my own theory on why the film is likely to accomplish the feat and it all goes back to the tragic Sewol Ferry accident from a few months ago. That incident really scarred the pysche of Koreans with the cowardly behavior of the ferry staff members. Saving face, honor and all that is really important to everyone here in South Korea and the Sewol staff really brought shame upon everyone here. With Koreans subconsciously and consciously craving to identify themselves with acts of honor, bravery and strength there's Choi Min-Sik in "Roaring Currents" standing as Admiral Yi Sun-Shin on a boat that is outnumbered by 100 to 1. As other boats in his fleet withdraw from seeing the massive Japanese fleet coming, Admiral Yi Sun-Shin stands on his ship and is ready to fight to the death to save his country and people. This captain just ain't running away.

In a way, it's almost like an entire nation is having a mad rush right now to wash away their guilt & embarrassment from the actions of the Sewol Ferry crew and "Roaring Currents" has become the perfect vehicle to provide that at just the right time and place.

chona Aug 08 2014 12:59 am not that great.

LuckyLee Jul 28 2014 8:03 am HOHo Great Movie!!

Hordy Jun 25 2014 1:17 pm DAEBAK!!!

Roaring Currents

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Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©

Notes

Cast

Trailers

Film Festivals

Awards

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