Why So Blu?

The Admiral: Roaring Currents (Blu-ray Review)

In the year 1597, when the Joseon Dynasty faces imminent ruin by the Japanese, disgraced Admiral Yi Sun-shin (CHOI-Min-sik rom Lucy, Old Boy) is summoned as a last resort to lead the kingdom’s remaining 12 ships and an army of doubtful soldiers against the Emperor’s 330 strong fleet.  

Film 

The Admiral: Roaring Currents is the story of the second attempted invasion of Korea aka Joseon Dynasty of 1597 by Japanese forces. The fleet was 330 strong and defeat was out of the question. Admiral YI Sun-shin (Choi Min-sik) is at the helm and must rally his fearful troops into battle once again. What is to follow could very well be the last great battle of their lives.

On the surface The Admiral: Roaring Currents has a very 300-ish vibe. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with since I am big fan of that franchise. I do like watching historical war films that show certain forces that have the odds set against them. Admiral Yi has to spend the first hour of the film holding his ground against those from within his ranks that want him out, to the Japanese forces out there in the ocean that want to blow him out of the water.

The Admiral does spend its first hour (almost to the minute) setting up the tactics of ship warfare and how conflicted Admiral Yi really is. He knows that surrendering is not an option, and that even if he and his men are defeated, the memory of standing up against the enemy must remain. Tactics and planning are revised over and over, the fear that grips his army must be soothed, and the Japanese forces must be met head on.

I mentioned that the first hour is strictly for planning but once we get to the 61-minute threshold all hell is unleashed and you will see some amazing battle ship warfare. The scale is like that of Master and Commander but with gallons and gallons of blood and brutality. You will see armies of sailors turned into shreds of meat by lines of cannon ball fire and it will blow your mind! I literally developed a bit of “restless leg syndrome” when I was watching the film due to how insane the scenes of warfare were.

The film cost $9.5 million to make and grossed 3-4 times that in South Korea and it made almost $3 million in the states alone. The film was a success. It is now on Blu-ray and before you even finish reading the rest of this review I will say that it is worth purchasing – especially if you’re fan of historical war films. Okay, you may finish reading the rest of the review. 😉

Video 

Encoding: AVC/MPEG-4

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Clarity/Detail: The Admiral: Roaring Currents comes to the Blu-ray format sourced from a 5K digital file. It was shot with various RED cameras and the final image is spectacular. You will see every little blemish on the sailors’ faces, every splinter from an exploding ship, etc. Contrast and sharpness levels are beyond pristine. This is about as reference as reference does.

Depth: Let’s go swimming! The ocean looks marvelous and a lot of it isn’t actually real. You wouldn’t know that unless you looked real carefully or waited until you watched the special features to find out. There are many scenes that will pop out at you.

Black Levels: Crush? Surely you jest.

Color Reproduction: The color palette is rich without out going overboard.

Flesh Tones: Everyone outside of the bigger army look beat, tired, and worn. Folks are a bit red and lips are chapped and cracked due to the sun and sea conditions.

Noise/Artifacts: This is a native 5k-film shoot – I did not detect any instances of noise, artifacts, noise, etc.

 

Audio 

Audio Format(s): Korean DTS-HD MA 5.1, Korean LPCM 2.0, English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English LPCM 2.0

Subtitles: English

Dynamics: We are treated to four different audio tracks – the two English language tracks are dub but I prefer the original Korean language version. This is a reference audio track all the way. From the hushed tones of war planning to the dynamics of battle the Korean lossless track comes through with breathtaking clarity. You will feel every ripple, shard, splinter, explosion, whirlpool, etc., as if you had your very own cabin onboard one of the ships. This is one of those soundtracks that will give your home theater a very nice workout.

Low Frequency Extension: The subwoofer LFE channel rocks and goes all out during the scenes involving cannon fire, explosions, and huge ships crashing into one another. The entire house shook during that final hour.

Surround Sound Presentation: The rear channels handled every splinter and shard that flew around in epic fashion. You could definitely hear the screams of agony from injured and maimed soldiers in the back. This is one surround sound presentation that doesn’t hold back.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue levels are flawless.

Extras 

The Admiral: Roaring Currents has a few special features that include “highlights,” which are more or less deleted scenes and B-roll footage. The short featurette on the making of the film is very cool in that it goes into some depth on what went into the making of the film. The Admiral had a very large budget. Trailers round out the supplemental materials.

• Making Of
• Highlights
• The Admiral Teaser
• The Admiral Trailer

 

 

Summary 

If you can make it past the first hour of plotting then you will be in for a visual feast that will blow you away. Literally. Choi Min-sok gives it his all and his portrayal of the Admiral is a fine one. The film boasts some great production, costume, and visual effects design. You will be pleasantly surprised at how good the film really is just as I was.

 

 

The Admiral: Roaring Currents was released on Blu-ray & DVD April 28th.

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