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IMDb > WaSanGo (2001)

Overview

User Rating:
5.9/10   2,086 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 5% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Tae-gyun Kim (writer)
Dong-heon Seo (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for WaSanGo on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
5 December 2001 (South Korea) more
Genre:
Tagline:
Violence inside Korean schools, especially WaSanGo. more
Plot:
Violence in Korean High School, especially inside the WaSanGo (Volcano High). You won't be able to escape. full summary | add synopsis
User Comments:
Sheer brilliance from start to finish more (54 total)

Cast

  (in credits order)
Hyuk Jang ... Kim, Kyeong-su
Min-a Shin ... Yu, Chae-i
Su-ro Kim ... Jang, Ryang
Sang-woo Kwone ... Song Hak-Rim
Hyo-jin Kong ... So, Yo-seon
Sang-hun Jeong ... Golbangi
Hyeong-jong Kim ... Shim, Ma
Shi-ah Chae ... Yo-mi
Jun-ho Heo ... Mr. Ma
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
André Benjamin ... Kim Kyeong-su (MTV English Dub) (as André 3000)

Big Boi ... (MTV English Dub)
Hie-bong Byeon

Snoop Dogg ... Song Hak-lim (MTV English Dub)
Su-Jeong Eom
Mu-hyeon Lee

Method Man ... Mr. Ma (MTV English Dub)

Tracy Morgan ... (MTV English Dub)

Pat Morita ... (MTV English Dub)

Mya ... Yu Cha-i (MTV English Dub)
Pete Sepenuk ... Dean
Create a character page for: ?

Directed by
Tae-gyun Kim 
 
Writing credits
(in alphabetical order)
Tae-gyun Kim  writer
Dong-heon Seo  writer

Produced by
Seoung-Jae Cha .... producer
Moon-Su Choi .... assistant producer
Seung Chung .... executive producer
Ted Chung .... executive producer
Brian Cox .... executive producer
Rob Edwards .... executive producer
Celia Hamel .... associate producer
Cheol-gyu Kang .... line producer
Woo-Suk Kang .... executive producer
Hyo-Jung Kim .... assistant producer
Jack Maeby .... producer
Anant Singh .... executive producer
 
Original Music by
Gary G-Wiz 
Yeong Park 
Amani K. Smith 
 
Cinematography by
Yeong-taek Choi 
 
Film Editing by
Im-Pyo Ko 
 
Art Direction by
Geun-yeong Jang 
Kyeong-hie Kim 
 
Sound Department
Peter S. Carlstedt .... adr mixer
Mark DeSimone .... adr mixer: MTV version
Paula Fairfield .... supervising sound editor: MTV version
Patrick Giraudi .... sound re-recording mixer: English dubbing
Peter D. Lago .... assistant sound editor (2003 English dub)
Donald Lyles .... adr mixer
Carla Murray .... sound effects designer (MTV version)
Carla Murray .... sound effects editor (MTV version)
Derek Vanderhorst .... additional adr mixer
 
Visual Effects by
Seongho Jang .... visual effects supervisor: Mofac Studio
Seunghyuk Kim .... visual effects
Hojin Park .... digital compositor
 
Casting Department
Sandy Holt .... adr voice casting
Vinnie Potestivo .... adr voice casting
 
Editorial Department
Damon Fecht .... assistant editor (MTV English Dub)
 
Other crew
Eung Jun Lee .... martial arts choreographer
Vinnie Potestivo .... talent executive
Masaki Yokochi .... title designer
 

Production CompaniesDistributorsSpecial Effects
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Hwasan Highschool (literal English title)
Volcano High (International: English title) (Berlin film festival title)
Kazankô (Japan) [ja]
Volcano High School (Spain) [es]
more
MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for martial arts violence, some partial nudity and language.
Runtime:
Canada:99 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | Germany:121 min | South Korea:120 min | UK:95 min (25 fps)
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Company:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
André Benjamin's film debut. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Noksaek uija (2005) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
14 out of 15 people found the following comment useful.
Sheer brilliance from start to finish, 22 October 2004
8/10
Author: himboy32 (himboy32@yahoo.co.uk) from Newcastle, England

Volcano High tells the story of Kim Kyung Soo, a high school student who has super natural powers, after he is expelled from his last school he is sent to 'Volcano High' a place where he thinks he'll be able to control his abilities with other students who have similar powers such as he.

Soon he locks horns with the school bully Jang Ryang while he tries to win the affections of the most beautiful girl in school. the gorgeous but deadly Jade, but another problem for Kim presents itself in the form of the five lords of discipline, five teachers who travel from school to school controlling the most unruly of students oh and they all have super natural powers also.

I LOVED this movie, I got such a kick out of watching it. Everything about this movie is great the acting,the action and sometimes even the script.

Watching this you'd think it was based on a Japanese manga comic but it isn't, the director Kim Tae-Gyun was heavily influenced by these comics and animated movies and set out to do a live action japanime movie and he was successful in every aspect.

Jang Hyuk who plays Kim does such a wonderful job in this role he is able to be a serious hard-ass one moment then straight away making himself look like a total goof.

A great highlight in the movie are the fight scenes, in my opinion they make good use of wire work and visual effects which is very reminiscent of movies such as 'The Storm Riders' or 'The Avenging Fist' The humour is some times lost in the translation which is to be expected if you don't speak Korean. This movie is one of the few which has been making Korean cinema more and more prolific over the past few years its up there with such other Korean gems as 'Friend' 'Bichunmoo' 'Musa' and 'Guns n Talks' I recommend this film to anyone who is a fan of Andrew Lau f/x laden fantasy epics or Japanime, you will not be disappointed.

I also recommend you try and pick up the Region 2 Premiere Asia DVD as it contains the best version(The 95 minute one) and also contains the cut footage and the second disc full of great extras.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for WaSanGo (2001)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
lol Juken
WaSanGo or Hwansango - WHAT DOES IT MEAN? M-Petri
End Credits Song novi-l33t
A Prelude to Volcano High! wildcat5680
Chinese text on documents? Rising_Zan
American Version Vaizard
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