Volcano High (2001)

Who payed the critics

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

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.

You have to remember, there are two versions, one dubbed and one with the original sound. I haven't heard the dubbed one, but come on, since when has a dubbed film ever sounded or looked right? Check out the original, and you might enjoy it. As for me, it's one of my favorite Korean films, and I think of it as a kind of kung-fu Harry Potter goes to a new high school. It's like anime, but live-action, and very strange. But it's fun. It's funny, it's silly, and it's meant to be that way. It has nothing to do with the gangsta rappers on the poster above, either. It's really unfortunate that someone dubbed this, and I hope that the original actually is available in North America. If not, make a trip to your local Chinatown and see whether they have the original version. It's worth it, take it from me.

I thought this movie was pretty okay, as far as Korean high school movies go. I bought the DVD with the American rappers doing the voices, and I was ready to hate the movie by the time the credits FINALLY rolled, but then I watched the Korean version and realized that the rappers had completely ruined it. So much stuff gets cut out or changed until the movie starts to look like they were trying to make fun of cheesy old kung fu movies. In its original form, however, the movie is great. Everything falls into place and makes so much more sense. You find that the characters aren't half as stupid as the rappers make them seem, and the story just works better. My advice to anyone interested in this movie is that they should watch the Korean version first. Watching the rapper-dubbed version may bias them against the original, and then they'll be left thinking the rappers made an improvement on the original

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.