Koroshiya.co.uk - Once upon a time in High School

Synopsis

Everybody has an unforgettable moment in their life. For Hyun-soo, it was the year 1978…

The story of a boy who moves to a new militaristic school and the people he meets while there!

Review

It’s another one of those movies I didn’t know anything about really before watching. I was very pleasantly surprised by the whole affair!

This is the story of Hyun-soo, he moves with his family and starts a new school which is a hardcore militaristic place. You seem to get punished for doing anything but this is 1978 and everyone… all the kids are obsessed with the Great Bruce Lee.

Once upon a time in High School is a film with some very brutal fights. This isn’t Hollywood punch ups this is kicking and smashing people hard style! Hyun-soo doesn’t like to fight at the start, even though his father is a Tae Kwan Do instructor and actually he’s not bad at it! Things change towards the end though;) This is also a love story… about the first time Hyun-soo fell in love with a girl called Eun-ju and what happened.

I don’t want to give away the plot but what I will say is that this is very much one of those films about people and how they all cope differently with being in the same place. It’s not just the main characters that are important it’s the whole thing, everything about the school, Korea at that time and how important someone like Bruce Lee to look up to is when you’re in a situation that basically sucks. How you don’t necessarily choose your friends wisely, how no matter how hard you try to make things work out sometimes they just aren’t going to.

If I’m honest I’d say that in a couple of places the love story got a little bit too sickly for me… but don’t take that as a slight on the film that’s just me! In general I don’t choose to watch love story films so I guess that’s not surprising. However despite that I would recommend this. Even to people who like me would not neccesarly choose a lovey movie. Besides, there is enough punching/kicking violence to keep anyone interested.

I would also say that I was surprised to discover that this was 116 minutes long! It didn’t feel anywhere near that which is also a sign of a good movie. Grab yourself a copy of this one, well worth the effort!

4 out of 5

Review by Uzumaki (UK)

Released on 17th April in the UK by PremierAsia

Once upon a time in High School (AKA:- Spirit of Jeet Keun Do)

Original Title:- Maljukgeori janhoksa

Synopsis

Review

Review It’s another one of those movies I didn’t know anything about really before watching. I was very pleasantly surprised by the whole affair! This is the story of Hyun-soo, he moves with his family and starts a new school which is a hardcore militaristic place. You seem to get punished for doing anything but this is 1978 and everyone… all the kids are obsessed with the Great Bruce Lee. Once upon a time in High School is a film with some very brutal fights. This isn’t Hollywood punch ups this is kicking and smashing people hard style! Hyun-soo doesn’t like to fight at the start, even though his father is a Tae Kwan Do instructor and actually he’s not bad at it! Things change towards the end though;) This is also a love story… about the first time Hyun-soo fell in love with a girl called Eun-ju and what happened. I don’t want to give away the plot but what I will say is that this is very much one of those films about people and how they all cope differently with being in the same place. It’s not just the main characters that are important it’s the whole thing, everything about the school, Korea at that time and how important someone like Bruce Lee to look up to is when you’re in a situation that basically sucks. How you don’t necessarily choose your friends wisely, how no matter how hard you try to make things work out sometimes they just aren’t going to. If I’m honest I’d say that in a couple of places the love story got a little bit too sickly for me… but don’t take that as a slight on the film that’s just me! In general I don’t choose to watch love story films so I guess that’s not surprising. However despite that I would recommend this. Even to people who like me would not neccesarly choose a lovey movie. Besides, there is enough punching/kicking violence to keep anyone interested. I would also say that I was surprised to discover that this was 116 minutes long! It didn’t feel anywhere near that which is also a sign of a good movie. Grab yourself a copy of this one, well worth the effort! 4 out of 5 Review by Uzumaki (UK) Released on 17th April in the UK by PremierAsia www.koroshiya.co.uk for all your Asian film reviews!