Hansan: Rising Dragon (2022) User Reviews

Beautiful reenactment of one of Admiral Yi's naval campaigns

[yooniverse · 7/10 · 13 September 2022]

While it's not Yi Sun Shin's greatest naval victory, it is nevertheless a significant event in Korean history. The sea battle is beautifully depicted, though conflating details from his other naval battles, it still gets some key facts right, and about the famous turtle ships and Korean and Japanese fighting tactics. More importantly, you get a different look than the western navies that relied on sail and wind.

The movie feels a bit rushed at the start to set the stage. When you have a movie about a naval battle, I can understand that you can't spend a lot time on the buildup of events leading up to it, but it could be confusing for non-Koreans who did not grow up learning about it in school. There are of course also lots of manufactured drama, but that's to be expected--this is not a historical documentary.

This is the prequel to "The Admiral: Roaring Currents" (2014), which depicts Yi Sun Shin's most famous victory at Myeongryang Strait some five years after the events in this film.

Easier to understand if already knew the story of the Japanese Samurai Warriors

[Fuad_RMNM · 7/10 · 16 September 2022]

I thought it was pretty hard to understand this movie without any knowledge of Japanese History. Thanks to my past exp., I'm already into it since I was a kid, I've played Samurai Warriors Games and caught up with the story.

This movie really focused on the historical moment of the Admiral of the Joseon Dynasty, Yi Sun-Sin. Even outnumbered (56 vs 100 ships), He and two commanders fought the Japanese Navy, the three Generals. Joseon Navy won without any ships wrecked while 100 Japanese ships were wrecked.

The best thing about this movie is its really strong Japanese Samurai ambiance. Any Japanese cultural thing seems perfect from war armor to a movie set. Besides, the movie plot is great! The strong leadership & analytical thinking of Admiral Yi Sun-Sin is well delivered throughout its entirety. His strong chars easily to be sensed by audiences. Supporting actors are great too, such as Kim Sung-kyu as a rebellious Japanese samurai, named Junsa.

Personally, the huge cons are this movie worse than the sequel, The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014). Why? The sequel is much easier to understand, more focused plot, and Yi Sun-Sin seemed stronger chars & struggled. Compared to this, this movie is just standard quality, maybe coz the Admiral Yi Sun-Sin cast was different. But, this movie is still worth watching!

Nevertheless, this movie is motivating us with period war spirits to keep us remembering veteran services and our history in order to gain country freedom as today. Great to cope with our burnt-out, so watch it!

Great tale, well told

[avindugunasinghe · 7/10 · 20 November 2022]

Rising Dragon is a sequel done perfect. A well made movie with hardly any flaws in the re-enactment process. Great work by the whole cast not missing a single beat. Excellent character insight and story build up no plot holes at all every bit of the story ia relevant to the final victory at battle. It's one of the very few movies of the genre that really is exciting without straight up war and bloody. Rising Dragon has a quietening effect to it which results it's action sequences to be fully effective. Mind-blowing special effects, simply fun to watch. Sound effects supplements well too. Worth the watch without a doubt.

Breezy prequel

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 8 July 2023]

A prequel to ROARING CURRENTS, revealing another naval battle that Admiral Yi engaged in roughly five years before the events of that film. From the outset, HANSAN: RISING DRAGON sails over familiar territory; we get an hour or so of setup and character intrigue before the filmmakers let rip with an extensive battle sequence that occupies the second half of the running time. I found the cast undistinguished this time around - there's no Choi Min-sik to bring gravitas to the proceedings - and the CGI effects are only adequate. However, the concentration on military tactics and spectacle makes this a fun, breezy watch.

Hansan is powerful

[kumar_delish · 7/10 · 21 December 2022]

The movie start with slow and it ends in high thrilling The movie the fight between Korea and Japan the movie experience the real war feeling in 15 century The greatest minds are ruled on the century In morden super computer making fighting strategy and lot techniques to make the plot.

But they plot only on minds and paper marking victory Really wonderful thing Wonderful CG work The flight in sea is grt about wind and calculate the flow of water and making the move Ther true battle is very hardship on admiral hands. It actually took place on 1592 The flim is wonderful time to spend valuable time to watch and know about history of great people and there minds.

Unabashedly Korean blockbuster

[witra_as · 6/10 · 25 August 2022]

Unabashedly Korean blockbuster had arguable historical accuracy but Kim Han-min surely treated audience with impressive production values and 'geokbukseon' final battle. That's how weak interrelated subplots and underutilized characters are forgiven.

A bit disappointed but it's still a nice movie

[alephbeth · 7/10 · 15 February 2024]

This is undoubtedly one of the most interesting movies from south Korea. Unfortunately the narrative is a little bit biased. My objections might be far fetched but as a history enthusiast I knew that admiral Yi Soon-Shin was obviously asking the Chinese emperor to aid them but in the battles they showed Koreans fought alone, anything about Ming China didn't really have significant appearances here. It's also noticeable that the samurai army's Japanese obviously spoken in THICK KOREAN accent (why the director didn't hire any Japanese actors? That's bizarre!). I can't understand if they insisted to hire only Koreans, why didn't they hire some dialect/accent coaches to dub spoken Japanese like native speakers? Honestly I'm a bit annoyed by this. My brain interpreted it roughly as the battles between 2 Korean forces, one force is deserters versus the other force is patriots of homeland. I appreciated this movie a lot but my criticism is obvious, this movie is self-centered about Korean narrative of their historical battles. As someone who diagnosed with ADHD and I paid almost $ 7 to watch this movie in the cinema, I can only lament the historical distortion of this movie. Typical anti-Japanese propaganda...sigh (I'm sorry you failed to amaze me! Hansan : rising dragon is not better than Admiral: roaring currents). I rated this movie, 7.2 out of 10.

A SPECTACULAR MOVIE!

[GilVillahermosa · 9/10 · 12 December 2022]

I LOVE great international movies!

And I LOVE historical movies based on real events!!

I am particularly fond of Korean films of the historical genre.

HANSAN is based on an actual naval battle between Japanese invading forces and defending the defenders of Joseon (modern day Korea).

Intent on conquering China, the Japanese first had to invade and conquer Joseon in the 1590s. They came very close to success.

However, the navy of Joseon, which included heavily armored and armed "Turtle" ships stood in the way of the Japanese navy and final conquest.

HANSAN is well written, well acted and ACTION PACKED!

I loved the ATTENTION TO DETAIL with regard to Joseon and Japanese culture - especially the clothes, armor, and weapons of individual soldiers and their commanders, and the naval vessels of both sides.

HANSAN is another Korean historical film I will add to my collection.

Breathtaking film!

[seungdeokseo · 9/10 · 7 September 2022]

I have been waiting for this movie for 8 years and I have to say I got what I wanted. The introduction of the movie was done well especially the opening battle. It showed naval warfare from a perspective different from that of the Europeans. The costumes and the sets of the movie was able to show what it would truly have looked like at that time. I find this movie unique in that there are simply not that many movies out there that show the samurai from this perspective which is that of an antagonist, and instead most of the movies seem to show the samurai as these incredibly heroic beings. Speaking of the samurai, their costumes and culture was shown splendidly in the movie.

The Koreans were given a more human quality and were also depicted quite well in terms of costumes and culture.

The climax was simply incredible.

I must say however, the first half of the movie with the large number of names and historical people could confuse some people, especially those not well versed in Korean History or not paying attention. However if you are aware of it, then it is not much of a problem. My say is that if you are looking for a movie to watch in a laid back fashion, its not the best pick.

The movie had a nice soundtrack that went well with movie overall. I'd rate it a 9/10.

Pumped and saddened for the last movie of this trilogy which will mark the great generals death...

Full review of the movie

[piridara · 10/10 · 8 September 2022]

The film was excellent and professional in terms of direction And In terms of filming and special effects, it is done in such a way that one cannot tell the difference between reality and design Considering that the Admiral's story has been made in other series and movies and it is almost a repeated script, nevertheless, the making of the movie was very interesting and exciting.

Also, the movie was designed very well in terms of the beginning of the story and the end of the story, and it was in such a way that the person who watched the movie was not left without answers about anything, that is, it was not confusing.

Excellent South Korean War Epic

[denis888 · 10/10 · 7 March 2024]

My wife turned me to South Korea movies, but while she loves doramas, I am very much into war epics, as I like good war films. I watched all the Korean Civil War mvoies, but this time it is a history piece and a great one!

Epic war movie about 16th century battle in the open sea between Choson Empire and Japanese Empire. It could easily be just another war effort with little sense, but what makes this film a real good try is a very deep and decent portrayal of several main heroes with their inner and outer weaknesses, fears and struggles.

There are no super heroes here, no one flies in the air or breaks walls, nay. Here, real people fight and die either valliantly or cowardly.

Both Japanese and Koreans are depicted like real flesh and blood, sweating and bleeding, afraid or brave.

Final Hansan naval battle is a sheer eye candy but the horrors of war are here, too. People die, ships sink, mistakes are made by both sides during the battle.

The CGI are excellent here, but they are not the main It, the It-thing gere is the human struggle, the huge battle between two great admirals and their wills. This is played so weel and so decently that little doubt remains.

I recommend this tremendous epic film to all history buffs.

Enjoyable Movie

[Jeydie · 8/10 · 16 January 2024]

I truly enjoyed the whole movie. The intricate costume design and meticulously crafted set in this movie are cool, man. The Japanese armor design is dope af, and they've truly captured it exceptionally well. I love that they showcase the nuanced aftermatch of his campaign in this movie. The cinematography is top-notch, with numerous beautiful scenes that vividly capture the grand scale of war. Usually, other series or movies don't depict it with such precision.

However, it's kinda hard to follow the plot, even with my knowledge of the Imjin War. And yeah, I agree that the first movie was much better in terms of direction, but this movie excels in action, in my opinion. As a devoted fan of Admiral Yi Sun Shin, I thoroughly enjoy this movie despite its flaws.

Finally, man, can they just hire a Japanese actor for a Japanese character? After watching so much anime, I can distinctly hear the not-so-Japanese-speaking character. You can almost sense the un-Japaneseness. And I'm not even Japanese. Imagine for people who speak Japanese; it must be hell to listen to. I'm not against the actor, but at least if you don't want to hire a Japanese actor, consider a Korean actor with fluent Japanese.