Hansan: Rising Dragon

In 1592 the Japanese navy invades Korea. Admiral Yi Sun-sin sets a trap off Hansan Island against a numerically superior enemy. The entire second half of the film is that sea battle. Kim Han-min directed. Park Hae-il plays Yi Sun-sin. It is the prequel to the same director's Roaring Currents from 2014. The admiral is built younger and quieter here, deliberately away from the heroic register of the first film. The naval battle runs about an hour and was built entirely digitally, with the ships shot on platforms constructed in a studio. Tactics sit at the centre: the wing formation, the use of the turtle ship and the direction of the wind are all shown in detail. It performed strongly in Korea and the final film of the trilogy followed. The sparse dialogue and the length of the battle drew mixed reactions. Who it is for: viewers who like historical naval warfare and Korean period films. Who it is not for: anyone after depth of character; the film concentrates on tactics.