Search - Volcano High on DVD

Don't even BOTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michael D. Bandy | Denton, TX USA | 01/28/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"OK, I'll try to keep this short, but this release really has me PO'd!! If it was possible, I'd give ZERO stars!!!
DON'T BUY THIS PIECE OF JUNK!!!! And, that was putting it mildly!! The original version (yes, there is another version!) of this film is a GREAT mix of martial arts, action, comedy and SFX. It is an absolute blast to watch!!! But, this US released version has been COMPLETELY changed. First, it has been cut buy 19(!!!) minutes. Second, it has been rearranged. Third, it was DUBBED by rap and hip-hop stars!!!!!!
The tag line is "Where Hip-Hop and Martial Arts Collide". The original has NOTHING to do with hip-hop or gangs or anything like that!! It is basically a story of a guy who has "special" powers (it's explained) and is trying to graduate from high school but he always gets into trouble because no one will leave him alone. There is also another storyline dealing with the "secret manuscripts".
I own an Asian cinema DVD shop in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and I have been watching this movie since 2002. You can find the original almost anywhere online and, if my memory serves my right, Amazon sold it for awhile through the Tai Seng distributor. Buy the original. ENJOY!!!
But US distributors mutilating Asian films is nothing new! (MIRAMAX is the worst of the distributors) Why is it we (Americans) always have to change things if they aren't American?!!! Ninety-nine percent of all Asian films are cut, rearranged or DUBBED!!! Why? Are Americans (yes, I was born here!!) that dumb? Acutally I'm afraid of that answer! Who are we to change other peoples works of art? Even "Hero" was slighty altered. (The subtitles at the end were made to be more acceptable to the Western-i.e. Christian population). Can't we leave anything alone? Would it hurt to learn from other cultures, especially those that have been around for thousands of years and we haven't even been here for 300 years?
It seems, and I know I am going way off the original subject, that we have the attitude, "If it ain't American, it ain't good. If it ain't American, we MAKE it American!". It is ashame that the American based ditributors of foreign films feel this way. At the very least we should be given a choice of the versions of some of the greatest films in cinematic history. Let the viewer decide. If you want a crappy, cut-up, dubbed American version, FINE!!!! But give the others out there who want to learn about and appreciate other cultures the option of doing so.
Well, so much for keeping it short!! Until next time.....
If it ain't American, we'll make it American. It seems that is a view held by alot of people in our government. Hmmmm....

Hey, you 2 reviewers...
Just going on the info that was presented by Amazon and every other place I have looked! Whether it has both versions or not is not the real point. The fact is that some stupid American company was dumb enough to destroy a really cool movie in the FIRST place!! Just like most American companies change and destroy almost all movies that aren't American!
How can you say the director should get the highest reviews, when this TURD isn't even the real movie?!!!!
Get your facts straight about the ORIGINAL movie!"

One side crap - other side great

Kung Fu Fanatic | Indiana | 05/21/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The first side of this movie has the 80 minute American MTV version dubbed by rappers and the like - and is quite honestly crap. It is supposedly the directors cut - but the way it is cut changes the original storyline and is confusing especially if you have seen the original.

There are three cuts of Volcano High the original Korean version
(122 min) the International version(100 min) then the American version (abt 80 min). If you flip the disk over it does contain
the original Korean version(with Eng subtitles) this does redeem
the movie to some extent.

The basic plot stays the same in all three movies a good boy with supernatural powers who has been kicked out of 8 or 9 high schools gets one last chance at Volcano High where everyone
in the school knows martial arts and is after a secret manuscript.

my recommendation is for the International version of the movie
(it is not too fast -nor too slow) then the original version
then lastly the American version."

Fun movie, good picture/sound, stupid CC Subtitles

Edward A. Kim | 03/23/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"If you're in the mind for a over-the-top, crazed, charged, genre-bending action-comedy movie, then VOLCANO HIGH is a good choice. It has great energy and interesting performances from the stars. The anamorphic picture is quite good and the sounds is very good. It is really nice to have the original Korean movie, as i find the MTV version nearly unwatchable, but the real annoyance here is that the english subtitles are CC english subtitles, which means there are things like, "[Thinking]" or "[Rumbling]" that show up in teh subtitles, which are just too irritating.

4 stars for the movie
-1 star for the bad subtitling."

Excellent!!!

Greg Rivera | Miami, Florida, US | 03/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Don't listen to the naysayers; some people just don't believe in live and let live. Sure the MTV version is a butchered and mercilessly chopped-up version of the original, but the hip-hop voice acting and soundtrack make it a fun movie for more casual viewers. But for those who want a deeper experience, there's the original, which viewers will find has a more complex plot, expanded editing and larger roles for much of the supporting cast which were greatly marginalized in the MTV version. Now if they could only offer a third alternative: the original cut, with the original script, but dubbed with the hip-hop voice-overs and soundtrack. MTV didn't need to Americanize it so much that they had to remove so many extensive scenes from the original; give some credit to the viewers to be able to enjoy another country's art and culture without worrying that they'll reject it, or worse, defect from the union. For having both versions (and hopefully it's the complete version of the original) this is very much a worthy buy."