Volcano High

What happens when a bunch of Korean post-grad film students decide to make a big budget spectacular that merges classical Asian themes with modern Hollywood know-how?

The answer is Volcano High, a full-tilt actionfest that incorporates teen romance and awkwardness with traditional (and wire) martial arts plus a healthy smattering of magic and paranormal powers.

Kim Kyung-soo is a regular kid who’s just been expelled from his eighth consecutive school for nothing more than projecting pitched chalk back at the perpetrator… who happened to be a teacher. The fact he did it with his mind is another matter altogether. So then, he comes to the end of the line; Volcano High School. This is the conjunction for every drop-out and trouble-making student in Korea and is ruled by clans who collect under the banners of the school’s activity clubs.

On Kyung-soo’s first day he gets into a rumble with both leaders of the two most powerful gangs; the Rugby Club and the Dark Oxen. He also develops an instant romantic connection with Yoo Chae-yi, the head of the Kendo Team.

"Well, I’m grateful… it’s been years since I used Mercurochrome®."

The school principal hides a secret parchment that grants untold powers to whoever holds it, but is poisoned and the paper lost. With the cruel vice-principal now in charge and also wanting the parchment, the gangs start asserting themselves as they try to get hold of the missing treasure. Before long Kyung-soo is so deeply ensconced in the bitter civil war within the school the only way he can see himself not being expelled again is to fight all the gangs and win. Unfortunately though, his special powers are nothing unique in this school and he must learn to rely on a lot more than just them.

With the gang war escalating out of control, the vice-principal calls in the notorious School Five – harsh teachers with paranormal powers – yet this just serves to unite the clans against the common enemy. And it’s now the real fight begins.

A first-time director and mostly inexperienced cast and crew have somehow managed to get themselves through a grueling film-making schedule to create a good, fun action film that is certainly of mass appeal. The shoot went way over schedule and took a total of ten months to complete, with the final climactic rumble taking the longest of all at three months. Due to this length of shooting, there are various continuity errors within, but these aren’t worth worrying about. Overall the film is a comedy and even finds time to poke fun at itself and the inexperience of its cast and crew, so these minor flaws are nothing but charming.

The story is complexly filled with characters who seem to have leapt straight to the screen from a comic book and this helps create the fun of the film. Naturally, there are some killer scenes with kendo swords and the mandatory wire work kung-fu, and while these aren’t as well executed as the bigger boys across the lake, they are still good fun and great to watch. Overall, this bunch of young Korean people have made themselves a brilliant film that parodies action, humour, teen angst and Hollywood without ever once being trite or offensive. While some may have trouble keeping up with the subtitles in this fast-talking film, I urge you to hang in there with it. The charm of the film will win you over by the end and the reward of seeing an action film that has been made well and not by Hollywood will be enough in itself.

Deliberately designed to look like a comic book, the majority of the sets are in crumbling and decaying buildings while still maintaining a heavy contrast between blacks and whites throughout. These contrasts have been well thought out and work very well here to put us into the context of the film’s intent. The outdoors hangs with overcast skies and rain throughout, giving the whole film another level of classic atmosphere that amplifies the depression of the teen years and the misery off Kyung-soo’s plight. It gives the impression of a slight on The Matrix series, but this was shot between August 31, 2000 and July 9, 2001 so of course that’s impossible. At any rate the film looks super and although sporting its fair share of artefacts, these don’t detract and even work for the decaying environment.

We get to view all this hard-arse and comical action via the 1.85:1 cinema aspect ratio with the usual 16:9 enhancement. Colours are deliberately used (when used) and aren’t oversaturated while blacks are true and shadow detail is excellent. I might stress this isn’t a black and white film, but instead is just infused with a lot of black and white contrasts in the darkened hallways and school uniforms.

Crank this baby up too loud and you’ll have no glass left in your house and the neighbours will complain (once their ears stop ringing). This sound is huge, I gotta say. It’s in a choice of Dolby Digital 2.0 or 5.1 surround or DTS 5.1 and goes everywhere constantly. The subwoofer is running at full thump for most of the time and I think mine even had some smoke coming out of it. The constant wind and rain moves around the speakers, as do the electrical energies expended and the noisy fight scenes.

Park Yeong’s original score does everything a score should in supporting the action, the whimsy, the romance and the fighting. It’s not always a grunge-style metalfest either, which may be the first impression, including some bluesy guitars and even flamenco. Cool! Dialogue is all in Korean, and there are a couple of fast-talking issues with subtitles running to keep up, but nothing too tricky. At times we’re not sure who has spoken a full line or a split line because of the subtitles having to cram themselves onto the screen at the same time. Oh well.

A veritable plethora of arse-kicking extras here. Beginning things is the making of which is so heartfelt and honest any errors in the film are immediately forgiven. This plays like a director’s diary rather than a making of, but does sport some interviews and such in its 11:53. A very different making of, but strangely compelling and well worth checking out.

Open the Eye is a visual commentary of sorts in which we can see a related featurette or behind the scenes bit. Also, the Eye gives us the ability to insert deleted scenes back into the movie. (This is actually the next extra; deleted scenes. There are 11 of varying lengths in fully finished 1.85:1 with enhancement plus subtitles. My highlight: Drinking Contest. Hilarious. Also, reliable sources tell me that the version with deleted scenes is the Director's Cut. Seems to me like they should have pointed that out on the case, but oh well). And by the way, The Eye refers to the Eastern Eye series of DVD releases from Madman.

Interviews are the usual soundbite promo stuff with the director Kim Tae-gyun, the SFX supervisor Chang Seong-ho and the lead actors Jang Hyuk and Shin Min-ah. The longest of these is 4:05.

The trailer is fun, but contains many deleted scenes and spoilers, so do watch it after the feature. This is in stereo with 1.85:1 but no 16:9 and scoots by for 2:36.

Finally, the Eastern Eye trailers which feature the cool Eastern Eye Montage, plus Infernal Affairs, The Grudge, Avalon and Kung Faux.

And there’s a hidden DVD credits page that I don’t consider worth enough to call an Easter egg.

Being a new cast and crew, there are some interesting and worthwhile bits here to check out; perhaps more than a locally flavoured release.

Volcano High is good solid fun from a bunch of youngsters who know what they want to see in an action film. Fighting, Kendo, supernatural powers, fighting, comedy, the paranormal, fighting, romance, teens versus adults and fighting. Lots and lots of fighting.

I say if you’re looking for something unexpected, something a little actiony with a different approach or even something fairly easy to absorb, this is well worth it. Don’t let the subtitles dissuade you from what is a great debut film and the biggest film-making project ever attempted in Korea. This is good fun with arse-kicking aplenty.

(last quip coming… ) Volcano Highly recommended.