Volcano High (2001) dir. Tae-gyun Kim
Kim Keyong-Su (Jang Hyuk) has been expelled from nine schools for trouble-making. It’s not so much that he goes looking for trouble, as that he’s always targeted by jerks who want to pick on him, and he winds up using his superhuman powers in response. Kim got them in an accident involving lightning and eels as a small child, and has always considered his abilities a curse. So he’s determined that at his tenth school, Volcano High, he’s going to keep his head down and stay out of trouble.
Circumstances are about to keep Kim from achieving that goal. Head of the weightlifting team, “Dark Ox” Jang Ryang (not his birth name which is silly-sounding in Korean) (Soo-Ro Kim) is conspiring with Vice Principal Jang Hak-Sa (Byun Hee-Bong) to acquire the Secret Manuscript, a mystic writing said to give those who master it great power. To do so, they arrange for the principal to drink poisoned tea and frame top student Song Hak-Rim (Sang-Woo Kwon) for the attempted murder. With Hak-Rim out of the way, Jang Ryang moves to establish himself as top dog among the students, and to woo “Icy Jade” Yu Chae-I (Shin Min-A), captain of the kendo team.
The students have so much freedom of movement as the educational administration was weakened by the Great Teacher War some years before. Vice Principal Jang was on the losing side in that war, and would dearly love to bring back the strict discipline of yore. In order to bring this about, he summons the School Five, “teachers” who specialize in breaking the wills of delinquents. The Five are led by Mr. Ma (Joon-Ho Huh), who has a personal grudge against Kim.
Because of Kim’s powers and reputation, he’s the subject of attacks and recruitment attempts by multiple parties, and eventually must step up to his full potential to save the day.
Good: Excellent action scenes, decent acting, a good soundtrack.
Less good: Various plot points really need a familiarity with the Korean school system to fully grasp, and others are poorly explained. I could have done without the fart humor. Some of the actors for minor characters feel like they’re phoning it in.
I watched both the Korean original and the “MTV Cut” which has prominent rap and hip-hop artists do the majority of the English dub, and a new hip-hop style background music soundtrack. I’m happy to say that such notables as Andre 3000, Snoop Dogg and Method Man do an excellent job with the dialogue they’re given. The MTV Cut is about half an hour shorter, eliminates the Secret Manuscript subplot, does not have Dark Ox and the Vice Principal working together, and moves a particularly bizarre character to being a fantasy sequence. It also has voiceover narration that explains plot points more clearly than the Korean version.
If watching the Korean version, be sure to stay for the end credits, which tie up a couple of subplots.
Content note: Martial arts violence, some bloody. Underage drinking. Bullying, both by students and teachers. One pantyshot, rather more male nudity (from the rear.) Senior high students on up should be okay.
Overall: I recommend watching both, if you can find both, as it’s an excellent example of adaptation to a very different audience.
