Volcano High, or 화산고, was the first Korean movie i’ve seen (and bought). and wow, what a fun ride this one is. this action comedy movie takes place almost totally within a school called Volcano High. the students have all joined various school clubs, like weightlifting and kendo, and all seem to be competing to be the best and most powerful of the school. to become the most powerful, however, they need to find the legendary manuscript that the principle has hidden. the evil vice principle also has his eyes on this manuscript and hire’s 5 substitute teachers to help search for it and keep all the students in their place by whatever force is neccessary.

this movie feels like a comic book come to life and is much different than any other movie i’ve seen. it’s kind of hard to describe.. there are lots of computerized special affects riddled thorughout, and many scenes are filmed with high contrast and low saturation giving an almost black and white look to everything.

i really enjoyed this movie when i saw the international version, which is 100 minutes long. i was able to find the 121 minute Korean version which i feel is much better with the extra footage left in. it doesn’t have a very deep plot at all, but i found i really liked the style this movie had, as well as the various characters. especially the hero (on the cover) who comes across as a dopey kid who doesn’t want to fight at all. check it out if you enjoy action comedies 🙂

some pics:
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