Volcano High (2001) User Reviews

Fun comic book action from Korea.

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 25 May 2006]

With its comic-book style, eye-candy cast, spectacular visual effects and incredible martial arts wire-fu trickery, Volcano High is a disposable piece of action cinema that, if anything, never fails to be entertaining.

In a Korean high school in the near future, where gangs of students battle against each other for supremacy, the principal supposedly owns a secret manuscript which bestows upon the owner unlimited martial arts skills; naturally, there are those who wish to lay their hands upon the document.

Kim Kyung-soo is a delinquent student with incredible power and fighting skills who is transferred to Volcano High after being expelled from 8 previous schools. He is courted by the top gangs, but refuses to join them, preferring not to fight.

When the principal is poisoned, the school's top martial artist Song Hak-rim is framed for the deed. In fact, it is the Vice Principal who, along with Jang Ryang, leader of the weight-lifting club, has planned to dispose of the principal in order to get his paws on the manuscript; however, they are unable to find what they are looking for, so they call in reinforcements in the form of five leather clad teachers with supernatural powers.

Only Kim Kyung-soo has the power to stop the bad guys from completing their task, but will he join the fight and save the day? A little overlong at 122 minutes, Volcano High is nevertheless a stunning piece of cinema that possesses little in the way of emotive storytelling, but looks fantastic. Viewers are best advised to ignore the lightweight and nonsensical plot, but instead sit back and revel in the top-notch visuals: comic style transitions, lavish CGI enhanced fights, beautifully lit rain drenched settings and a good looking young cast.

*** This review is of the original uncut Korean version of the film. ***

Good CGs, Bad Story

[kleaner · 5/10 · 23 March 2003]

Computer Graphics in this film is one of the best in Korean films but the story is pretty bad and doesn't make a sense. Song Hak Lim is

the best fighter in school and acts like he is going to do something agisnt the evil teachers. Instead, he is locked in the prison for the entire movie. Kendo girl all of a sudden flys to fight with the female teacher. How can she be that good in martial arts all of a sudden? In later parts, the film uses too many slow motions so it makes me boring. Action sequences are not choredgraphed well, either. If the director cared more about the story and details, this would have been a pretty good movie.

It was funny movie. It made that way.

[thinklogically · 7/10 · 14 July 2007]

** I modified this comments.

User rating was too lower than it seems. This is advice for how you can enjoy watching it.

1. Avoid watching English dubbed version.

2. This movie is comedy.(IMDb.com forgot to mention it.) Don't even think about otherwise. It is like Kung Fu Hustle. This movie's proper genres are action, comedy and fantasy.(This movie is based on the comic book.)

3. You can enjoy watching Jang hyuk's silly and funny acting. I believe his one of best acting on this movie.

This movie was extremely funny like Kung Fu Hustle. If you enjoyed Kung Fu Hustle, you can very much enjoy this movie, too. I don't remember how long ago. When I visited some VCD shop, I saw a lot of times shopkeeper watching this movie. It was that funny movie.

My rating - Kung Fu Hustle (8.3/10) - Hwasango (8.9/10)

Hwasango was so high rating because I don't need subtitles. It is one of my favourite like Oldboy.

*** I just watched again and then I realized that it was a little bit overrated. What I remember the movie was that it was extremely hilarious. And it was hilarious but this time I recognized that action scene(i.e. flying scene) was not really smooth. Maybe, because last time I watched it through VCD so I couldn't recognize. Shaolin soccer also quite same happened.

I am not sure what will happen if I Kung Fu Hustle watched it again, probably my rating should less than that.

My rating - Siu lam juk kau(Shaolin soccer 7.1),Hwasango(7.5)

It Sure Beats The High School I Went To!

[Jordan-M · 11 February 2003]

"Volcano High" takes every Anime high school cliche ever made and slaps them all together in a two hour extravaganza of amazing special effects, side-splitting humor, and an intentionally overacting cast. The result is cinematic perfection.

The main story is about Kim Kyeong-Su, a young man who seems to get into fights no matter where he goes - causing him to be kicked out of 8 schools previous to Volcano High. This is his ninth and final chance at success, so he can't afford to mess up. Unfortunately for Kim, Volcano High is a school that thrives on fighting - and Kim, being the new guy, is prime choice. Because of this, he spends a lot of the time getting his hindside handed to him. Once a conspiracy to overthrow the principal and introduce capital punishment to the student body comes into play, Kim realizes he can no longer stand by and let things unravel this way. Therefore, he decides to join the other students in a battle against the newly hired teachers designed to wipe out all of the fighters at Volcano High...

Which is where we, the unwitting audience, bear witness to some of the most insane battles ever displayed on film. The final battle has to be seen to be believed - but that's all I'm going to say! I leave it up to you to watch the movie for yourself. Trust me, it's hard to find, but worth the effort... Especially Hyo-jin Kong as So Yo-Seon!

"Volcano High" ranks up quite high in my list of favorites. See it for yourself, and discover if you feel the same way!

the production value degrades as the movie moves forward.

[whatdoes1know · 6/10 · 15 April 2003]

The second half of the movie takes place at night, and the lighting as well as the heavy use of digital effects render the picture quality videoesque. This might not bother the Western viewer used to watching quality lighting in entertainment as asinine as sitcoms, but at least to the Japanese viewer used to watch TV with horrible lighting that brings out the ugliest aspect of video, the last fight sequences of Volcano High evoke the cheapness of made for TV video movies. The attempt at creating an adrenaline pumped action scene at the end felt more like a bad collage of saccadic frame jumping slow-motion. The action was reminiscent of the choreography of poor taste in the nauseating bar brawl sequence early in the recent Ben Affleck installment: Dreadable.

The movie also hints at larger things and potential characters before boiling down to a plankton-brain "Carpe Fight'em". Universally, this should be something to be disappointed about. I heard that a comic is at its basis, and I'm so disappointed that I don't even feel like looking that up, but that explains--not forgive--many of the movie's plot holes. In the viewing I sat at, we even stopped the film, theorized about what the dialogue we'd just read had meant, then finally decided to finish the movie and slap some logic to it in hindsight. It didn't happen. I stopped caring. 6 out of 10 for the Kendo girls, even though they mostly served to prove the audacious statement that their captain was the most beautiful girl in school.

ugh...

[aghosh69 · 1/10 · 9 August 2006]

So then I says to the guy I says " dude where the hell have you been" and next thing I know a rabid monkey is chasing after a dog until whole world blew up. Did that make sense? Thats pretty much the same line understanding I got from this movie. There are some movies that are just so bad that even though you know that it is nothing but a flick we still get analytical and more unforgiving about it. Sadly this was one of them and yet another one on my list that got the dreaded number 1. The trailer looked good but the movie was just absurd. I read up comments and synopsis for the movie and thought it to be at least a good martial arts flick. The entire movie goes with the main character just refraining from fighting and almost everyone is wanting a piece of him. I can still take the jumping off walls and gliding in midair combat but this just... just..

The movie had absolutely no story at all except for a student with special gift enters the most violent and last schools for "talented" students and there are different factions that are seeking power. That goes for the faculty members as well. The fact that the "chosen one" fails to even act like a student that has been given hell throughout all his life and his rival ends up being a total wuss. How and why was this situation resolved will never be explained and its not good enough for eye candy. Take my advice and if you do like to watch movies that made some sense STAY AWAY!!!

Visually Stimulating

[NIXFLIX-DOT-COM · 6/10 · 28 August 2003]

VOLCANO HIGH is a film with some incredible special effects. The fights, heavily aided by CGI, is quite thrilling to watch. The story itself is a bit bare, but seeing as how VOLCANO HIGH is nothing more than an anime given live-action treatment, it's to be expected.

Of note are a couple of scenes lifted from DARK CITY, which itself lifted the scene from the final showdown in the Japanese animation AKIRA.

VOLCANO HIGH is not altogether a bad film. It's quite nice to look at, and there is enough action to keep just about anyone from being bored.

6 out of 10

(go to www.nixflix.com for a more detailed review of this movie or reviews of other foreign films)

what was he thinking of?!?!

[allen_medenilla · 3/10 · 7 October 2005]

Okay, i have to say, after watching this movie, it was great at first. The different martial artist, the titles, the intro was excellent! yet, with the story line tying into so many characters, it became very redundant. The main character got his ass whooped so much that i figured by the end of the movie, he should have been died. Also to the fact that he was such a freak'n pussy through the movie, i lost so much confidence in him. I wasn't so sure if that was what the writers were going for, but he was such a coward that my expectations were getting really low. In the end, with the fight scence of Ryan Jang guy (strong one i like to call) he finally starts kicking some serious ass besides kicking everyones ass. How come he couldn't do that when the new teachers were dragging his ass into the training hall?! oh gosh and the girl! Please girl, do some more ass kicking. She barely fought through that movie and in the end she stopped talking! Oh boy. Well, i'm sorry, this movie really disappointed me. I rather watch Stephen Chow movies, at least his movie have a much better plot line than some school thinking that it has some amazing students. My grade for the this movie, D +!!

Sheer brilliance from start to finish

[himboy32 · 8/10 · 22 October 2004]

Volcano High tells the story of Kim Kyung Soo, a high school student who has super natural powers, after he is expelled from his last school he is sent to 'Volcano High' a place where he thinks he'll be able to control his abilities with other students who have similar powers such as he.

Soon he locks horns with the school bully Jang Ryang while he tries to win the affections of the most beautiful girl in school. the gorgeous but deadly Jade, but another problem for Kim presents itself in the form of the five lords of discipline, five teachers who travel from school to school controlling the most unruly of students oh and they all have super natural powers also.

I LOVED this movie, I got such a kick out of watching it. Everything about this movie is great the acting,the action and sometimes even the script.

Watching this you'd think it was based on a Japanese manga comic but it isn't, the director Kim Tae-Gyun was heavily influenced by these comics and animated movies and set out to do a live action japanime movie and he was successful in every aspect.

Jang Hyuk who plays Kim does such a wonderful job in this role he is able to be a serious hard-ass one moment then straight away making himself look like a total goof.

A great highlight in the movie are the fight scenes, in my opinion they make good use of wire work and visual effects which is very reminiscent of movies such as 'The Storm Riders' or 'The Avenging Fist' The humour is some times lost in the translation which is to be expected if you don't speak Korean. This movie is one of the few which has been making Korean cinema more and more prolific over the past few years its up there with such other Korean gems as 'Friend' 'Bichunmoo' 'Musa' and 'Guns n Talks' I recommend this film to anyone who is a fan of Andrew Lau f/x laden fantasy epics or Japanime, you will not be disappointed.

I also recommend you try and pick up the Region 2 Premiere Asia DVD as it contains the best version(The 95 minute one) and also contains the cut footage and the second disc full of great extras.

unbelievable cinematography

[pamelaba · 7/10 · 20 November 2002]

This is a fantastic kick ass movie. The cinematography blew me away, the colours, the composition and the camera movement, not to mention the seemless effects, all came together to create this slightly eerie and magical school environment for the characters to roam around in. I loved the lead, he had so much going on in his physical gestures that he totally conveyed a wealth of character in his face and the way he moved his body from perfectly timed comedy to believable 'you've made me mad so I'm going to kick your ass now'. I could watch him all the day. Everything was well done in this movie, down to the hairdressing. Very impressive filmmaking. Please give us more.

If this movie was excellent, I hate to see horrible!!!

[Masta_Ruthless · 3/10 · 12 December 2005]

Okay some one point out the good parts of this movie. From the stupid storyline to the horrible fight scenes, this movie did not please me in the least.

I had more fun ripping my toenails out with a molten hot monkey wrench.

I won't spoil the story for anyone who hasn't seen it, but make sure you have your puke bag and no doze aspirin with you. I'll give it the fact that the CG was okay, but that is not really a comment when you add in the other CG style movies like StormRider, The Duel, A Man called Hero, Legend of Zu, and Avenging Fist.

In all, this movie was a live action Japanese anime without the Japanese. Sad to say Equilibrium was better than this, and that was a suck fest as well.

Even after the horrible review from me, some of you will like this movie, some of you won't. It's a mixed review movie, but I'll say this, if anyone found this movie to be good then they haven't seen a lot of martial arts movies, because there are so much other martial arts movies that are 100 times better.

The main character alone got on my nerves with his BS promise not to fight or get kicked out of school. Come on there has to be a better story for this, why did he wait until the last 10min of the movie to try and fight, and the hold out was terrible. All of that waiting only to have one of the most boring fight scenes in martial movie history.

Again this is a review from a person that watched the Uncut Korean version of the movie so imagine how the MTV version was. But again some of you will find this movie entertaining, but from a martial artist and Kung Fu movie buff, this film is a blatant mockery.

Watch the Korean Version, because MTV butchered the English dub.

[irontulips · 10/10 · 31 August 2005]

I thank MTV for including the Korean version of this film in it's North American release.

It's a masterpiece of stylized kung-fu action. Breakneck pacing, hyper-realism, and pulse- pounding music abound. I can't exaggerate how entertaining this movie is. The Korean version that is.

I don't have anything bad to say about it. At all. It is a little hard to follow what's going on at the beginning, and I'm sure I could find holes in the story, but it's just so damn entertaining that I didn't care.

Now, the MTV version...

How is it possible to cut out twenty-five minutes of the film and make it seem LONGER than the original?

It plays like a bad TV movie. All original music has been replaced by assorted rap that seems out of place. The story and characters have been dumbed down to the point of unrecognizability. All characters are voiced by rappers, many of whom had never acted before (yes, not only is it badly dubbed, the Asian people are talking gansta). Much of the humor has been left on the cutting room floor.

It tries so hard to be hip and cool that everything that made it hip and cool is lost. Oh, and along the way they broke every rule of good storytelling.

But as I said, at least they included the original on the DVD.

Korean 10/10 MTV 3/10

did not satisfy my lust for...um, satisfaction

[jessejace · 6/10 · 24 May 2003]

I had high hopes for this movie, since in theory, it's a great premise. And I was fully in martial arts mode when I saw it, so I was ready to be entertained. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed in the end, and found myself reaching for my Shaolin Soccer DVD for the 5000th time.

The film delivers some solid visuals, to be sure, but if you don't understand Korean, then you may get tied up in the dialog. There's lots of weird verbage going on. And don't expect the kind of big laughs to be gotten from similar films. I think much of the verbal humor was lost in translation, and what's left is lots of tepid physical humor.

As for the kendo captain being the most beautiful girl in the school, I have to disagree. But her friend, the tomboy kendo girl with the wet hair...she stole my heart, I tell you what.

The appeal of absurd

[chypher78 · 5/10 · 24 April 2005]

I saw the film and, every time i think of it i can't refrain from smiling... It's so stupid, i remember i was ill when i saw it and was obliged to stay in the bed, but i don't know if i would have left if i could. This film has a strange appeal, given by the spectacularity of martial arts and special effects (and, above all, of SHE, Ice Queen, the kendo team captain) that glues you to the monitor. But it's not the only one. The film couldn't have been made well, mainly because the potential it had was irrelevant. The plot is a continuous nonsense, the setting gives a sense of Dejà Vù being too similar to arcade game's stages (It evokes memories of The king of fighters and Rival schools) and the film itself leaves a sense of emptiness. At the end of the film you let your brain-voice talk and you hear "What the hell was all of that crap?" The apotheosis is in the final scene, 20 min. of really boring mud brawl in the perfect Asian style: The hero is up to die beaten by the punches of the "boss", he isn't a man anymore but just a piece of meat covered by blood, when he finds the weak point of his enemy kicking his ass off!

Good fun for the fun-loving

[mike paines · 24 June 2004]

I can understand why this film splits viewers into those who either love it-to-death or those who despise it. To properly enjoy Volcano High, you will need to relax, loosen up and dig up some old skool memories.

Considering this is primarily a fun film, main and periphery characters are well portrayed, and there's a lots of subtle comedy and bombastic drama to keep anyone with a developed sense of humour happy.

However, if you love martial arts movies, you will be disappointed - the martial arts is spread pretty thin. Although Volcano High is Korean, it appears to have gone the way of recent Hong Kong kung fu films, in that choreography is either obscured or entirely replaced by CGI effects. However, the special effects and acting are top-notch, Hyuk Jang especially evoking both sniggers and respect.

Well made and good fun if you don't take your movie-watching too seriously. If, however, you want something a bit more substantial from Korea, try Musa or Shiri.

Live-action anime-inspired action-packed fun.

[tanktnt · 7/10 · 31 December 2002]

Taking cues from "The Matrix" and "Shaolin Soccer," "Volcano High" uses live-action and visual effects to make a very anime-inspired movie. The story revolves around Kim Kyung-Soo, a nine-time high school reject, who just wants to finally graduate! It's a modern-day Shaolin Temple story with korean high school students, with action sequences inspired by "Dragon Ball Z" and "The Matrix." The movie is graded to look almost black and white (easy since all the korean school uniforms are black), and the action is a lot of wire-fu with computer effects throughout. The story isn't meant to be deep, and the characters are two-dimensional on purpose. Some of the action scenes are an incomprehensible blur, but some make this movie worth the movie ticket. The special effects are low-budget but effective, and the comedy is... cute. A fun romp for any anime fan who's fairly easy to entertain.

Big Loud & Pointless

[mighty_pickman · 4/10 · 21 January 2004]

Stupid, incoherent plot. Characters of little interest.

Some nice jokes, but a little too silly for it's own good at times.

I saw the Korean language version of this film & I'm glad I did, the MTV version sounds truly horrific. 4/10

pretty friggin terrible.

[mattmatthew808 · 1/10 · 25 May 2007]

I rated it as 1 out of 10 stars only because there was no 0.

How can a movie that looks like it was funded with the budget of Lord of the Rings be so friggin awful? How do people love this movie? I remember watching bits of Battlefield Earth, the movie that got a whopping 2% on Rotten Tomatoes, and its editing and storytelling were so choppy, confusing and cliché not to mention completely over the top.

I can't recommend this movie to anyone, unless you're a big fan of watching crap. And perhaps masochism. Maybe also sh** fetish.

I also have to wonder about people that say this movie is 'pure genius.' The only thing pure about this is that it's pure garbage.

School Of Hard Knocks ... and Harder Fights!

[ncc1205 · 10/10 · 9 June 2004]

VOLCANO HIGH is cool in a way that surpasses cool.

Kyeong-su Kim (Hyuk Jang) is a bad student, one who's been shuffled from school to school eight times before as his rebellious nature has forced him to shun any attempt at conformity. However, his ninth school -- Volcano High -- presents a curious dilemma: the teachers have conspired in a pursuit against the principal and the students to acquire the school's Great Manuscript, a document which promises to give its owner the ultimate power in the universe. A scheming vice-principal manages to overpower the principal, but the secrets of the manuscript still elude him. Now, in order to glean the secrets from the pupils -- all of them equipped with their own special gifts -- who know it best, the man brings in a virtual hit squad of teachers: black-leather-trench-coating wearing thugs who'll stop at nothing to instill discipline even at the cost of death.

Yes ... Kyeong-su Kim is a bad student, but he's finally found the right school to call 'home.'

VOLCANO HIGH owes much to traditional anime as much as it owes to trend-setting films like THE MATRIX. While not completely derivative, it also functions like a kung-fu version of the X-MEN films, assuming that the story focused more on the academy and its students. The special effects -- Kim's unique ability to harness wave energy and manipulate water -- are absolutely top notch, and, arguably, are even better than what comes out of Hollywood for the average science fiction film.

Movies like VOLCANO HIGH -- martial arts, action, coming-of-age, supernatural -- are never really about the script. Rather, the story only serves as a vehicle to deliver some reasonably well-founded (or, at least, acceptable) characterizations along with dazzling visual effects. The wire-fu featured in the film (from the opening fight between Kyeong-su and other students all the way until the climactic showdown between right and wrong) is absolutely spectacular, often times encompassing an entire 360-degree effect. Mr. Ma (the most evil teacher) manipulates wave energy, utilizing it to hurl people and objects out of his way, in an entirely convincing fashion. Also, the aforementioned ability of Kyeong-su to capture and control water is nothing short of exceptional.

Also, VOLCANO HIGH is the type of motion picture that requires, to a certain extent, leaving your brain at the door. Suspend your disbelief throughout the film, and it's pure visceral fun ... harmless cotton-candy pictures for the young-at-heart. There isn't a deep, meaningful message to the script: this is a battle of good versus evil, and it's fought on terms that the average movie-goer (18 - 35 years old) should revel in.

Besides all of that, the last twenty minutes -- a spectacular showdown between Kyeong-su and Mr. Ma hurling energy balls from their fingertips at one another -- will blow your mind.

Preposterous

[Vartiainen · 2/10 · 12 December 2016]

A Korean martial arts film about a high school after the so called Great Teacher's Battle, which has thrown the schools into disarray. Gangs and violence rule and the leaders are those students who have the skills and the techniques to overcome all the resistance. But there's a legend about a manuscript, held by the principal, that can end the violence and unite the school.

Yeah, it's exactly as silly as it sounds, if not more so. The premise is merely there to allow for wacky characters to go against one another mano e mano, showing off the special effects, which are decent, I must say. The plot wanders around from one scene to another and nothing seems to really connect. The backstory is not properly explained, the character are thin as cardboard and all in all there's simply not enough here to warrant a movie.

That being said, it was fun to watch this with friends and make fun of all the stereotypes, silly characters and ludicrous plot points. If that sounds like something you'd like to do, give it a chance. It has energy, if nothing else. Otherwise, steer clear.

This is what live-motion comics should look like!

[geniale_schildpad · 10/10 · 24 February 2004]

First of all, I want to make a point here. You can't review a comic the same way you review a piece of world literature. So don't review films such as Whasango (Volcano High) like you should review a more serious film, because... IT'S A COMIC!

The story is kept minimal and the characters are stereotyped. Then how come this still is an awesome film? Because it's a rollercoaster, and an extremely beautiful one. Bleashed colors, very nice CGI, cool stunts, over-the-edge acting... Whasango has it all. All it requires from it's viewers is to realise it's pure fantasy. But it's one of the best pieces of fantasy I saw lately.

PS: this is a review of the unedited, original Korean version.

Trashy, derivative nonsense

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 12 March 2013]

Imagine THE MATRIX set in a high school and you'll have the jist of VOLCANO HIGH, a ridiculous slice of high-octane action that exhibits all of the tendencies I hate in action cinema. In order: flashy direction, overblown cinematography, dated CGI enhanced fight scenes and frenzied editing. If watching guys flying through the air or performing stunts all with the aid of lots and lots of wires is your sort of thing, then good for you; me, I prefer my action gritty and realistic, not fantastic like we get here.

The virtually non-existent storyline involves a rebellious high school student struggling to fit in with the various gangs and factions in his new school. However, the students soon find themselves having to team up to tackle a bigger menace in the form of the crafty principal (played by the delightfully twitchy and bug-eyed Hie-bong Byeon, the best thing in the movie by far) and his new, thuggish teacher recruits.

VOLCANO HIGH is a truly soulless affair that seeks to emulate popular Hollywood hits instead of finding its own niche. It's also intensely boring, with lots of repetitive, CGI and wire-enhanced fights that go nowhere, characters so paper-thin that you can almost see through them, and a resolute lack of likable people. Okay, so the inevitable all-action climax is mildly entertaining, filled with wave upon wave of CGI-fuelled mayhem, but like the rest of the movie it feels very pointless and so last century.

Not too bad, but could do better

[stuartmcd · 18 July 2003]

The main problem with Volcano High is that it is half an hour too long. I felt that the first half of the film worked pretty well. The plot was incoherent, but there was a sense of movement, and the tension was building well. But when the evil teachers turned up, and that naughty kid Ryang got beaten up (repeatedly), the film suddenly stopped moving.

For the first part of Volcano High's the action sequences were amiably ludicrous, but also fairly understated. People flew around but no one really cut loose. At the final confrontation, we were ready for a bit of visual hyperbole, and I was expecting something as mind-blowing as the finales to Storm Riders, or Swordsman II, but instead the film closed with a protracted and very dull punch-up.

Visually, though, Volcano High is tremendous. While the action was derivative of the Matrix, it struck me that the camerawork and choreography had more life and grace than in that film. The comedy was amiably goofy, and the actors were charismatic.

So, not a bad film, but I think that any other persons wishing to make wu xia high school comedies can improve the formula by applying more care and attention.

It just did not deliver on some of the hype I've been hearing

[horton-2 · 4/10 · 16 December 2006]

At 121min this movie may only seem a little longer than the average film but it felt like 3hours. Not much of anything happens throughout. In fact those fantastic fight scenes some people spoke of just did not ever present themselves. The plot was completely predictable and their explanation of his powers were completely weak.

I gave it a 4 though instead of anything lower because I'll admit there were some humorous scenes in the beginning. However, after those scenes it's all down hill. The acting from most was fairly good but the material they had to work with made their hard work in vain. The film produced a certain surreal atmosphere that played well to the story but they just relied on this and CGI way too much.

a fight school movie served up korean style

[xsempaix · 8/10 · 31 December 2004]

Korean films are cool! They are often a lot harsher than you would expect, social values like social cohesion and politeness don't often find their way into the foray from what i've seen compared to Japanese fare.

There is a slew of "High School/ Fight School" films out there. For example from Japan there was Battle Royale, and Fudoh. And from Hong Kong there was My Friend the Barbarian. For a genre these films are quite a mix and Volcano Highschool is no exception.

The mood is bleak and intense. The color pallete fits the grimness of the setting, lots of muted browns, blues and gray. The Highschool looks like it was from the 16th century. The fighting scenes were better more in the way they were filmed than the actual martial prowess of the actors. The translucent energy effects were a fair representation of ideas about kung fu, just read about taoist energy arts like tai chi and ba gua. They even talk about yin and yang, so it points to some of the inspiration, though the real stuff is more awe inspiring to watch.

I found myself thinking, "That's a Korean Hottie?" Maybe the korean girls i've met that i think are sleek and beautiful looking are thought of as not that attractive by the public at large in Korea. Maybe. The female lead did grow on me more as the film progressed. For a girl who beats off the advances of suitors with a stick (literally) she did display her nurturing side, and in the end, if her character were real I would risk getting beaten for the sake of asking her out for a cup of soujou, (like Japanese sochou, but often the secret ingredient is anti-freeze).

My biggest gripe with plotpoints was with the secret scroll. As the film progressed and its nature became more obviously symbolic i was forced to accept it as a sort of philosopher's's stone that promises self-knowledge and self-mastery since this is the role it plays for our leading protagonist. This is a lofty goal implicit in this high school! If you can master the secret scroll then a fine adult you will indeed be regardless of what facts you may retain or job skills you possess. Kind of an abstract execution, but after studying mythology I am convinced this is indeed the role of the scroll in this story.