''The Pirates'' (; "Pirates: Bandits Going to the Sea") is a 2014 South Korean

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Period (punctuation) * Era, a length or span of time *Menstruation, commonly referred to as a "period" Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (o ...

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

starring

Son Ye-jin Son Eon-jin (; born January 11, 1982), better known by her stage name, Son Ye-jin (), is a South Korean actress who rose to fame in 2003 in ''The Classic (2003 film), The Classic'' and ''Summer Scent'', which were followed by the commercially ...

and

Kim Nam-gil Kim Nam-gil (; born March 13, 1980) is a South Korean actor, producer, director, singer and philanthropist. He is best known from leading roles in period drama ''Portrait of a Beauty'' (2008); adventure film ''The Pirates (2014 film), The Pirate ...

. A standalone sequel, titled '' The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure'', was released in theaters on January 26, 2022.

Plot

On the eve of the founding of the

Joseon Dynasty Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

, a whale swallows the Ming Emperor's Seal of State being brought to Joseon by envoys from China. With a big reward on whoever brings back the royal seal, mountain bandits led by Jang Sa-jung go out to sea to hunt down the whale. But he soon clashes with Yeo-wol, a female captain of pirates, and unexpected adventure unfolds.

Cast

Main

as Yeo-wol **Lee Do-yeon as young Yeo-wol; She was born in an environment where her father was a pirate and her mother was a haenyeo, but her mother was killed and became a pirate due to her father's pirate activities. *

as Jang Sa-jung

Supporting

Pirates

Lee Geung-young Lee Geung-young (; born December 12, 1960) is a South Korean actor. Education and career Lee graduated from the Department of Drama in Seoul. He debuted in 1977 and after completing his mandatory military service, he debuted in 1982 as the 10th ...

as So-ma *

Shin Jung-geun Shin Jung-geun (; born September 26, 1966) is a South Korean actor. He is most active as a supporting actor in films such as '' Running Turtle'' (2009), '' In Love and War'' (2011), '' The Grand Heist'' (2012), and '' The Five'' (2013), as well ...

as Yong-gap * Choi Sulli as Heuk-myo *

Lee Yi-kyung Lee Yi-kyung (; born January 8, 1989) is a South Korean actor. Career Lee enrolled in Seoul Institute of the Arts Acting Department class of 2011. Lee made his acting debut in 2011, and first gained recognition from playing a rebellious stud ...

as Cham-bok *Kim Kyeong-sik as Subforeman

Bandits

Yoo Hae-jin Yoo Hae-jin (; born January 4, 1970) is a South Korean actor. After graduating with a Theater degree from Seoul Institute of the Arts, he became a member of Theater troupe The Mokwha Repertoire Company. He has established himself as one of the ...

as Chul-bong *

Kim Won-hae Kim Won-hae (; born April 6, 1969) is a South Korean actor. Since his debut in musical in 1991, Kim Won-hae worked on stage in plays and musicals before joining the non-verbal performance Nanta as an original member in 1997. He is best known a ...

as Choon-seop *

Park Chul-min Park Chul-min (; born January 18, 1967) is a South Korean actor. Career Park Chul-min began acting in his high school drama club at Chosun University High School, and though he majored in Business Administration at Chung-Ang University, he ...

as Monk *Jo Dal-hwan as San-man *Kim Won-joong as Catfish *Song Yong-ho as Snakehead *Moon Seong-bok as Eel *Jeon Won-gyu as Pine cone *Lee Jae-ho as Cudgel *Kim Jae-hak as Straw

Joseon officials

* Kim Tae-woo as Mo Heung-gap *

Oh Dal-su Oh Dal-su (; born 15 June 1968) is a South Korean character actor who has appeared on television, film, and stage. His acting career spans over 35 years. Oh is best known for his supporting roles in director Park Chan-wook's films, having appear ...

as Han Sang-jil *

Jo Hee-bong Jo Hee-bong (born August 23, 1971) is a South Korean actor. Hee-bong began his acting career in 1997 as part of the theatre troupe Bipa (비파). He later became known as a supporting actor onscreen, in films such as '' Blind'' (2011) and ''Inco ...

as Oh Man-ho *Jung Sung-hwa as Park Mo *

Ahn Nae-sang Ahn Nae-sang (; born December 25, 1964) is a South Korean actor. He began his career on the stage, and in 1994 made his film debut in the Bong Joon-ho short film ''Baeksekin'' ("White Man" or "White-collar worker"), followed by Jang Sun-woo's ...

Jeong Do-jeon Jeong (the Revised Romanization spelling of ) may refer to: *Jeong (surname) *Jeong (given name) *Qing (concept) In Chinese philosophy, ''qing'' ( zh, c=, p=qíng) is a concept translated variously as "emotion", "feeling", "sentiment", or "passion" ...

Lee Dae-yeon Lee Dae-yeon (born November 13, 1964) is a South Korean actor. Filmography Film Television series Web series Theater Awards and nominations References External links Lee Dae-yeon at JR Entertainment * * * 19 ...

Yi Seong-gye Taejo (; 4 November 1335 – 27 June 1408), personal name Yi Seong-gye (), later Yi Dan (), was the founder and first monarch of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. After overthrowing the Goryeo dynasty, he ascended to the throne in 1392 and abdi ...

Others

Jeon Bae-soo Jeon Bae-soo (; born June 2, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He is known for his supporting roles in various TV series and films. His better known works are: 2016 TV series ''The K2'', 2019 romantic comedy '' When the Camellia Blooms'', 2020 his ...

as Baek Seon-gi *

Park Hae-soo Park Hae-soo (; born November 21, 1981) is a South Korean actor. He is best known worldwide for portraying Cho Sang-woo in the first season of the Netflix hit series ''Squid Game'' (2021), which earned him a nomination for the Primetime Emmy A ...

as Hwang Joong-geun *Lee Gyu-ho as Mool-gom *

Kim Ian Kim Ian (; born Kim Bo-ryung on March 28, 1987) is a South Korean actor and singer. Career Kim can play the clarinet and his hobbies include soccer, Taekwondo, the saxophone, and piano. Kim made his first appearance in f(x)'s endorsement of K- ...

as Baek Chi

Release

Domestic

''The Pirates'' sold 272,858 tickets during its first two days of release, placing second on the box office chart behind '' The Admiral: Roaring Currents''. After 17 days in theaters, it became the third Korean film in 2014 to reach 5 million admissions. At the end of its run, the film reached 8,665,269 admissions, and also grossed .

International

Lotte Entertainment Lotte Entertainment () is a South Korean film producer and distributor and entertainment division under '' Lotte Cultureworks'' (), which is a Republic of Korea company that also houses '' Lotte Cinema'' (). History In September 2003, ''Lotte E ...

pre-sold ''The Pirates'' to 15 countries at the 2014

Cannes Film Market Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The city is ...

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics and currently holds a 57% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

. Martin Tsai of ''

The Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper in the U.S. and the larges ...

'' described the film as a "derivative trove of swashbuckling action, romance, comedy, special effects and revisionist history" which contains typical Hollywood devices, while Nicolas Rapold of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' notes that "Neither the action nor the comedy in this action comedy is consistently strong." Frank Scheck of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' criticizes the film for its "endless slapstick fight scenes" and the film's special effects but praised the underwater scenes with the whales which he says have a "hauntingly ethereal quality."

Sequel

A sequel of the film titled as '' The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure'', directed by Kim Jeong-hoon, produced with new cast of

Kang Ha-neul Kim Ha-neul (; February 21, 1990), known professionally as Kang Ha-neul (), is a South Korean actor. He gained early recognition through television dramas such as ''The Heirs'' (2013), '' Misaeng: Incomplete Life (2014)'', and '' Moon Lovers: S ...

and

Han Hyo-joo Han Hyo-joo (; born Han Ji-yeong, February 22, 1987) is a South Korean actress. She gained wide recognition with the back-to-back successes of '' Brilliant Legacy'' (2009) and ''Dong Yi'' (2010), both of which were massive hits with high viewe ...

was released on January 26, 2022 by

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
''The Pirates''
at

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pirates, The (film) 2014 films 2014 action adventure films 2010s historical adventure films 2010s Korean-language films 2010s South Korean films South Korean action adventure films Films set in Joseon Lotte Entertainment films Films directed by Lee Seok-hoon Pirate films South Korean historical adventure films Films about whales