Movies like The Great Hero Yi Sun Shin (1971)
The best movies like The Great Hero Yi Sun Shin (1971) are Hansan: Rising Dragon (2022), The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014) and Noryang: Deadly Sea (2023). If The Great Hero Yi Sun Shin hooked you with its drama and war, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMy Way (2011)7.9/10 from 472 votes
- NewestLapland War (2026)Released 2026
- In KoreanHansan: Rising Dragon (2022)Also in Korean
Hansan: Rising Dragon (2022)
In 1592, admiral Yi Sun-sin and his fleet face off against the might of the invading Japanese navy and its formidable warships. As the Korean forces fall into crisis, the admiral resorts to using his secret weapon, the dragon head ships known as geobukseon, in order to change the tide of this epic battle at sea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014)
Admiral Yi Sun-sin faces a tough challenge when he is forced to defend his nation with just 13 battleships against 300 Japanese enemy ships in the Battle of Myeongryang.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNoryang: Deadly Sea (2023)
The Imjin War reaches its seventh year in December of 1598. Admiral Yi Sun-shin learns that the Wa invaders in Joseon are preparing for a swift withdrawal following the deathbed orders of their leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Determined to destroy the enemy once and for all, Admiral Yi leads an allied fleet of Joseon and Ming ships to mount a blockade and annihilate the Wa army. However, once Ming commander Chen Lin is bribed into lifting the blockade, Wa lord Shimazu Yoshihiro and his Satsuma army sail to the Wa army's rescue at Noryang Strait.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOperation Chromite (2016)
A squad of soldiers fight in the Korean War's crucial Battle of Incheon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
SnoozefestMovies like thisMy Way (2011)
During the invasion of Normandy the photograph of a slim Korean man in German uniform was found. It transpired that the man had served as a soldier in the Japanese, Russian and German armies. His incredible story inspired director Kang Je-Gyu to create this epic war drama.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Fortress (2017)
Ancient Korea, 17th century. The powerful Khan of the Jurchen tribe of Manchuria, who fights the Ming dinasty to gain China, becomes the first ruler of the Qing dinasty and demands from King In-jo of Joseon to bow before him; but he refuses, being loyal to the Mings. On December 14th, 1636, the Qing horde invades Joseon, so King In-jo and his court shelter in the mountain fortress of Namhan and prepare to defend the kingdom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDevotion (2022)
The harrowing true story of two elite US Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. Their heroic sacrifices would ultimately make them the Navy's most celebrated wingmen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this12.12: The Day (2023)
After the assassination of President Park, martial law has been declared. A coup d'état bursts out by Defense Security Commander Chun Doo-gwang and a private band of officers following him. Capital Defense Commander Lee Tae-shin, an obstinate soldier who believes the military should not take political actions, fights against Chun Doo-gwang to stop him. The conflict between the two grows while military leaders are holding their decision and Defense Minister is gone. In the midst of chaos, the spring of Seoul that everyone longed for heads to unexpected direction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson, the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEmperor (2012)
As the Japanese surrender at the end of WWII, Gen. Fellers is tasked with deciding if Emperor Hirohito will be hanged as a war criminal. Influencing his ruling is his quest to find Aya, an exchange student he met years earlier in the U.S.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUprising (2024)
In the Joseon Dynasty, two friends who grew up together — one the master and one the servant — reunite post-war as enemies on opposing sides.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Swordsman (2020)
After being blinded in a coup against the king, Joseon's greatest swordsman goes into hiding, far removed from his city's anguish. But when traffickers kidnap his daughter, he has no choice but to unsheathe his sword once more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Sword with No Name (2009)
Mu Myeong is a Joseon dynasty headhunter who meets and falls in love with lady Ja Yeong who will become the future Empress Myseongseong. A few years later, Ja Yeong enters the royal palace to marry King Gojong. Mu Myeong still having feelings for Ja Yeong and in an attempt to get closer to her becomes her personal body guard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Battle: Roar to Victory (2019)
Over a 4 day period, a fierce battle takes place between Korean independence militias and imperialist Japanese forces in Manchuria, China. The militia includes a master swordsman and an expert marksman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNorthern Limit Line (2015)
In this true story from 2002, South Korean patrol boats engaged in a deadly battle with North Korean patrol boats who crossed the maritime border known the Northern Limit Line and attacked.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Concubine (2012)
A tragic love triangle story between Hwa-yeon, a daughter of a nobleman, her true love Kwon-yoo, a servant and the man who will be King, Prince Sung-won.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Treacherous (2015)
The story of Joseon's tyrant king Yeonsan who exploits the populace for his own carnal pleasures, his seemingly loyal retainer who controls him and all court dealings, and a woman who seeks vengeance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlades of Blood (2010)
Lee Mong-hak and a skilled blind swordsman Hwang Jeong-hak, both long to wipe away corruption and heal the world. Lee Mong-hak creates a rebel army to achieve his goal and get rid of the King.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKundo: Age of the Rampant (2014)
In 1862, amidst the rule of the late Joseon dynasty in Korea, a band of fighters named Kundo rise against the unjust authorities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this71: Into the Fire (2010)
In August 1950, waiting for UN troops to arrive, the South Korean army assembled to protect Nakdong River. Only 71 student-soldiers are left behind to guard the city of Pohang. Now they are on a mission to defend the country from North Korean troops.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Grey Zone (2001)
The story of Auschwitz's twelfth Sonderkommando — one of the thirteen consecutive "Special Squads" of Jewish prisoners placed by the Nazis in the excruciating moral dilemma of assisting in the extermination of fellow Jews in exchange for a few more months of life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLapland War (2026)
Young soldier Heikki fights on the Karelian Isthmus alongside his friend Pauli. Arvo, recently released from prison, joins the company, challenging the others' views on war and duty with his worldview. The ceasefire raises hopes of returning home, but it soon becomes clear that Finland must turn against its former German allies in Lapland. At the same time, Saara, who works as a German interpreter in Rovaniemi, must choose her future: stay in Finland or flee to Germany with her beloved, Major Duisberg.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Cromwell (1970)
Disgusted with the policies of King Charles I, Oliver Cromwell plans to take his family to the New World. But on the eve of their departure, Cromwell is drawn into the tangled web of religion and politics that will result in the English Civil War.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLucia di Lammermoor (2009)
Star soprano Anna Netrebko adds Donizetti’s hapless heroine to her growing list of Met triumphs in this production by Mary Zimmerman that updates the events to the 19th century. Rising young tenor sensation Piotr Beczała is Edgardo and Mariusz Kwiecien plays Lucia’s brother Enrico whose brutal authority forces her to deny her heart and marry for the sake of her family. The famous mad scene brilliantly depicts the cascading fragments of Lucia’s disintegrating mind.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Eight Men Out (1988)
Buck Weaver and Hap Felsch are young idealistic players on the Chicago White Sox, a pennant-winning team owned by Charles Comiskey - a penny-pinching, hands-on manager who underpays his players and treats them with disdain. And when gamblers and hustlers discover that Comiskey's demoralized players are ripe for a money-making scheme, one by one the team members agree to throw the World Series. But when the White Sox are defeated, a couple of sports writers smell a fix and a national scandal explodes, ripping the cover off America's favorite pastime.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSword In The Moon (2003)
Kingdom of Joseon, ancient Korea. A usurper has conquered the throne. His ministers are being systematically eliminated by a mysterious assassin. An arrogant master swordsman is in charge of putting an end to the carnage.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Season of Giants (1990)
At the turn of the sixteenth century, Michelangelo (Mark Frankel), Raphael (Andrea Prodan), and Leonardo Da Vinci (John Glover) create their masterpieces, while dealing with religious persecution, political turmoil, and the discovery of America.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ghosts of a Holy War (TBA)
When a family in Memphis, Tennessee discover a box of century-old letters in their attic, a journey begins: not only to learn about the young man who wrote the letters from the holy city of Hebron in British Mandate Palestine, but about the massacre that took his life in 1929.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Another League (2026)
Spain, the 1970s. Although Francoist ideology remains deeply entrenched in society, a group of young trailblazers and an ambitious promoter are about to change the history of women’s football.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ecce Homo Brâncoveanu (2024)
A parable about honor and true character, inspired by the reality of the 18th century. Constantin Brâncoveanu preferred to be beheaded in Constantinople alongside his four sons - Constantin, Stefan, Radu, and Matei - as well as by his counselor Ianache Vacarescu, instead of renouncing the Christian faith.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Great Hero Yi Sun Shin?
The closest matches to The Great Hero Yi Sun Shin are Hansan: Rising Dragon (2022), The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014) and Noryang: Deadly Sea (2023). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Great Hero Yi Sun Shin?
Start with Hansan: Rising Dragon (2022), the closest match to The Great Hero Yi Sun Shin.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Great Hero Yi Sun Shin?
My Way (2011), rated 7.9/10 by 472 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Great Hero Yi Sun Shin?
Lapland War (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Korean movies like The Great Hero Yi Sun Shin?
Yes: Hansan: Rising Dragon (2022), The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014) and Noryang: Deadly Sea (2023).
How are movies similar to The Great Hero Yi Sun Shin chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Great Hero Yi Sun Shin, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.