An Exercise In Nonsense

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The DVD box says: "This film either serves as a political parable about Korean society, a microcosm of Korean social problems or, alternately, just a hell of a lot of fun." I couldn't sum it up any better."Attack the Gas Station!" can be many things... or nothing at all. Therein lies the mark of a great work of art. I'm not familiar with Korean politics or society, so I can't comment on whether it's a fitting allegory for those... but I personally saw this film as a brilliant "immorality play" and definitely a lot of fun.Like the classic morality plays of the 15th century, it uses characters to personify certain human virtues & vices. However, unlike a classic morality play which is supposed to teach a moral lesson, "Attack the Gas Station!" draws no moral conclusions ...except maybe that you should never p*ss off Chinese food delivery boys. They can get nasty.Instead of moralizing over right & wrong, this film simply tells it like it is. The plot & premise is summed up in the title: a bunch of hoodlums decide to attack a gas station. They do it for no real reason other than "just because". If you're a fan of Camus ("The Stranger") and certain other influential writers of the 20th century, already you see an interesting theme of existentialism here.As the film progresses, we see that theme become more powerful. Characters answer to no higher morality other than their own individual instincts. Good & bad become irrelevant. Actions, reactions and situations seem almost random. Folks, if I were to teach a 10th grade English class about Existentialism, I'd say to heck with Camus, Sartre & all those heady books... just watch "Attack the Gas Station!" and have a blast.On the flip side, if you watch this movie and try to judge what's right & wrong, you may hate it. Like "Pulp Fiction" the lines of right & wrong are erased, and often the most likable characters are the ones who are doing horrible things.OK, enough of that deep stuff. Let's assume the movie is just intended to be "a hell of a lot of fun". It's definitely a comedy, but the comedy isn't in your face. It's more like an absurdist comedy where the situations are so bizarre you can't help but laugh. In that respect it reminded me of Buñuel's 1962 surrealist classic "Exterminating Angel". In the DVD interview, the director of "Attack the Gas Station!" states that the gas station is designed to represent a fantasy bubble, separate from the rest of the world, where peoples' true natures come out and anything goes.Also in the DVD interview, he mentions that each of the 4 main characters represents a different emotional aspect, and the 4 put together represent a complete individual. I can't remember exactly who represents what, and you'll probably have more fun figuring that out for yourself, but for example "Mad Dog" may represent frustration, "Rock Star" may represent regret, etc.The presentation itself is stylish, hip and fast paced, like an MTV video. It may remind you of "Amelie" or other Jean-Pierre Jeunet films (who, himself, claims to be influenced by Japanese and Korean films). If you're familiar with Asian cinema, think of "Kamikaze Girls" or "Cutie Honey (live action)". But there are also some sober moments giving us time to reflect on the deeper significance... if there is any.Like I said, "Attack the Gas Station!" can be many things... or nothing at all. The best part is that it doesn't pretend to be anything, so it's up to you. I highly recommend it for a philosophical/socio-political mind trip as well as a mindless action-comedy flick. See it if you get the chance.

I can definitely see the cult potential of this movie but is the actual movie itself being that good? Not really.Of course it's a very entertaining movie to watch but also a real simple and shallow one. It isn't being that terribly clever with its story and it mostly purely relies on its main concept of having a bunch of anarchist youngsters taking over a gas station, holding employees and costumers prisoned, while a whole bunch of other crazy stuff is happening. And yes, the concept of the movie does make this movie fun but in terms of being a comedy, this movie really isn't being clever or even funny enough.The movie doesn't do a very good job with fleshing out its characters or making them interesting or compelling ones. It makes the whole movie a quite distant one to watch and it also turns it a bit into a long sit, even though the movie itself is just under 2 hours, so nothing that long in itself actually.The story itself just doesn't ever take the trouble to take itself serious or believable. This is of course the right approach for a comedy of this sort to take but it actually more often comes across as some lazy writing. Seriously, these guys didn't even had real weapons but yet nobody attempts seriously to escape, even though the numbers are being heavily in their favor. And sometimes characters just disappear out of the story or add nothing to it at all. In the end, the movie does feel like an ultimately pointless one.It was also obviously a quite cheap movie to make, which can mostly been seen back in the entire way and style the movie got shot in. Most of the people involved with this movie come across as talented ones but they still made tons of mistakes with this movie. At multiple times throughout the movie its clearly getting day, while the entire movie is supposed to be set during one night and it shouldn't be in the morning till at the very end of the movie.So plenty of criticism about this movie, yet it was still one that I enjoyed watching. Despite everything, I regard this movie as a perfect one to kill some time with. It doesn't stand out in any way but it at least is something unlike anything else. Despite that the movie is not being really clever with its story or concept, it's still being an original movie to watch. This of course has also everything to do with the fact that you are watching a South Korean movie here, so it's unlike anything else that you would usually watch or would expect to see (unless you are Korean yourself of course). And yes, there are also definitely being some good and fun moments in this movie, that help to make it an entertaining one to watch.But in truth the movie did really seem to have far more potential in it. It seemed to try to make some statement regarding human/group behavior and it almost seemed to me as if it was going for a "A Clockwork Orange" done more comedy-style, like approach. Needless to say that the movie does not really work out as a social commentary but does this take away any of the fun of this movie? I think not.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

**SPOILER ALERT** I don't know if ATTACK THE GAS STATION holds up to repeat viewings, but it's terrific fun once, at least. An adrenalized, ultra-stylized, comic-book-violent black comedy about a group of well-scrubbed but very alienated youth who rob a gas station out of boredom, before then deciding to return and run the place for a night, pocketing all of the sales, and then taking off. Of course, the plan goes a little awry...The style is a deadpan blend of Kubrick, Tarantino, Peckinpah and maybe Suzuki, played for all the gleeful nasty humor and actually sharp social critique that can be gotten out of the premise; at the very least, this film energetically puts the 'slap' back into slapstick. A Peckinpah quote/homage becomes a running punch line, which as much as anything sums up the sensibility. The way, way over-the-top climax is quite well-orchestrated.Tokyo Shock DVD is of good quality, not many extras (making-of featurette), though I don't know if this one really needs 'em.

"Attack the Gas Station" (Juyuso seubgyuksageun) is an exuberant, anarchic tour de force from post-punk Korean director Sang-Jin Kim (Gangster Lessons, Kick the Moon). These four kids who are really strong just kick the crap out of a gas station, and then they hold the staff hostage and spend the rest of the day running the place. But instead of putting the money in the register, they just keep it!This is a great movie, and a great idea for how to make a lot of money by pretending you work in a gas station. This is something everybody should do.4 stars.