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Plot:
An ordinary man named Oh Dae-su, who lives with his wife and adorable daughter, is kidnapped and later wakes up to find himself in a private makeshift prison. Dae-su makes numerous attempts to escape ...( read more 
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:August 18, 2008The best of the Vengeance trilogy and one of the best revenge stories ever told. Brilliant, brutal and twisted.
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MCT:August 15, 2008
Of the Chanwook Park Vengeance trilogy, Oldboy is the middle piece, the one with the least subtext and the most predictable, and not surprisingly the one with the most orchestrated glorified violence that the American market devours. And the one with the most pointless "twists" may I add, whereas plot "twists" in the other movies unravel like a perfectly dropped ball of yarn cascading in a straight line down a staircase.
This is the weakest movie of the trilogy, and anyone wishing to understand the subtext of Chanwook''s vision should at least do him the courtesy of watching Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Lady Vengeance before taking to analyze this is terms of theme because the movies are meant to be like a chord. One note - nothing but repetitive sound. Three notes- a chord. And Oldboy is an annoying note. It's a great movie but it's just not anywhere as good as the other two.
"So Fucked Up" highlight:
Dae-su chokes on real live octopus -
MCT:August 11, 2008
"Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone."
Chan-wook Park's Oldboy is an intense, gut-wrenching Korean thriller. The film has received continuous accolades since its initial release in 2003 and its more global release in 2005.
Oldboy is perhaps best remembered due to its heavy content: the violence, torture and themes are unflinching and far more uncompromisingly pungent than any American thriller. Instead of the customary over-the-top martial arts, the filmmakers opt for far more brutality. Witness a five-minute shot depicting the central character confronting a gang of thugs in a corridor. This is a nasty, vicious conflict without any fancy Jackie Chan-style choreography: this is dirty street fighting as men assault each other, sometimes falling, sometimes missing. Objects are utilised as men are stabbed or beaten. People bleed and show vulnerability as well as weakness. The punches sound like actual punches...men get tired, men lose energy and collapse after growing out of breath. It's this impressive edge that elevates Oldboy higher than most Asian productions.
Personally, I've never had a fondness for Asian cinema. Films such as Hero come across as convoluted and confusing but with beauty in the visuals. These visuals, however, generally seem over-the-top and suspending disbelief is too difficult. Oldboy is far more down to earth and believable. The visuals are impeccably constructed: each shot engages an audience with its panache and elegance. The grimy streets, filthy characters and engrossing scenarios are more effective. Below its face value the film is a deep, thematic character study regarding a heart-stopping journey of one man's quest for vengeance.
Oldboy opens with a bang. As engaging music absorbs the viewer, the visuals depict a wild-haired man dangling another man off the edge of a building by his tie. This wild-haired man is Oh Dae-su (Min-sik). In a flashback his story is revealed: Dae-su is a regular man with a loving family. Under perplexing circumstances, he is kidnapped and incarcerated in a secure hotel room for a total of 15 years. Over the course of these 15 years, he has had nothing but dumplings to eat and his only window to the outside is a TV. He learns that his wife has died, and he has been framed for the murder. From this point forward he vows to escape and acquire his revenge. His captors eventually free Dae-su. He is given a wad of cash and a cell-phone. The mastermind behind his capture challenges Dae-su to find him within 5 days...if Dae-su does this, he will learn the reason why.
This is the mystery that drives Oldboy so effectively: it isn't long before the villain is revealed, but the ambiguity clouding the "why" is what fuels the proceedings. This builds to the film's shocking climax. This final confrontation presents an audience with a succession of astonishing twists.
The production values are first-rate considering the genre and origin. The torture scenes feel so realistic that one will be squirming in their seat. And the action scenes...are phenomenal! On top of this the director's style is enough to keep one engaged for the dialogue and the action. The cast competently tackle their characters as this established realism is further retained. The highlight of the film is undeniably its music. The main theme is haunting and evocative. This theme is repetitive and is used constantly. The music simply cannot be faulted. The tone is continually established with each new segment of music.
However, there is one lethal flaw: the film is very difficult to follow and keep up simply due to the appalling distinguishing of key plot points. From the film's beginning I struggled to find a coherent succession of scenes. Only with repeated viewings can one entirely understand the movie. This flaw is present in virtually every piece of Asian cinema I've seen so far. Oldboy is just superior because with its stylish visuals and brutal tone, we're compelled to be swept along with the proceedings.
Overall, Oldboy is a stunning Korean film that has earned an enormous fan base since its initial release. The film is a visceral cinematic experience created by a masterful group of filmmakers who excel at their art. It's hard to follow at times, but still mighty entertaining and extremely violent! -
MCT:July 31, 2008
A great action thriller by Chan-wook Park. The acting in this is really good, if you ignore the bad dubbing, and the last 20 minutes of the movie just leave you stunned until it's over.
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MCT:July 27, 2008
Amazing film. The second film in Chan Wook-Park's "Vengeance Trilogy." If you are a fan of David Fincher or Quentin Tarantino's works, you absolutely must see this. Choi Min-Sik is incredible.
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MCT:July 27, 2008
One of the first movies i watched with subtitles and i was not not diaspointed, fanatasic plot and a very intense film
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MCT:July 19, 2008Once all of the pieces of this twisted puzzle get put together you won't believe what you are seeing.
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MCT:July 13, 2008
Tarantino who???Park!!! just excellent...no blood just for blood...but blood for revenge with an accurate dose of black humour when it needs!!great direction,great perfomances..a perfect movie!
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MCT:July 9, 2008
A shaking film... Intensity during it and a tragical exultation in the end... Brilliant combination...
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MCT:July 3, 2008
My favorite Japanese movie to date. Great story, great fight scenes, great twist. Just a great movie.
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MCT:July 3, 2008
This is so good. It's twisted in all the right place. This movie is F*cked up and brilliant. I am very excited to see what Park directs next.
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MCT:June 30, 2008
One thing really bothers me about the revenge trilogy...you have sympathy for mr vengeance which is just sooo intensely emotional and raw, filmmaking with a true passion, followed up by 2 wonderful films (oldboy and lady vengeance) which are very well executed, but don't even arrive at a tenth of the heart and soul that SFMV has. The problem? SFMV is greatly underrated.
Anyways, about oldboy, it has an interesting story accompanied by a good plot. It has some very memorable scenes made unforgettable by outstanding performances, good score, and stylish camerawork...there is no doub that it deserves the attention it has gotten, but to say this glossy revenge film is better than a raw, uncompromising film like SMFV, especially when the subject is "revenge" is really absurd... -
MCT:June 27, 2008
wow, this is sick, twisted and very good. didnt know what i was getting into at first and knew less until the very end. well worth the wait
Wyatte -
MCT:June 23, 2008
Imagine an ordinary man disappearing out of the blue and waking up in a prison (some cheap hotel room with a steel door) without knowing why he has been sent there.
This man Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-Sik) after a long long period of time finds out in the news (because he has a T.V. in the cell) that his wife has been brutally murder and he himself is the only suspect because his blood DNA sample and his fingerprints were found in the crime scene, then he swears to get out and take revenge. Then suddenly after a planed failed intent to get out Oh Dae-Su is released from a 15 year incarceration with a wallet filled with money and a cellular phone, the phone rings and the man who imprisoned him (Yu Ji-Tae) asks Oh Dae-Su to find him in 5 days in excange, he will tell Oh the hole truth. He begins his salvage journey to revenge solving puzzles, torturing, romancing with a young lady and beating tons of men in a single fight only to discover the horrific bizarre truth. Its not predictable because its not that kind of movie that gives clues, is not intended that way (unless you have a lot of twisted imagination). Unforgettable, riveting, controversial, and when the movie is over you'll be asking a lot of questions. Good actors, good story, good director. Seat and be prepared to get riped. -
MCT:June 23, 2008
Brilliant Korean thriller and the second in Chan-wook Park's Vengeance trilogy.Oh Dae-su,a seemingly ordinary man is randomly taken prisoner and locked up for 15 years.On his eventual release he is given a mobile phone and wad of cash.When he later gets a call from the man that imprisoned him he finds out he has only a few days to find the reason why he was imprisoned and to get his revenge.It's a great story with brilliant performaces,great music and its also well directed by Park;the sex and violence is never glamourised,it's just there,and theres some great shots as we see Dae-su,in an amazing performance by Min-sik-Choi, go from a confused and upset prisoner,to the angry,revenge driven man he is on his release to a man struggling with whats happening to him as he tries to find the reasons behind his capture.A great,if disturbing twist at the end to.A motherfucking masterpiece!
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MCT:June 16, 2008Oldboy even with some of the most brilliant sequences and its amazing stylistic appeal is below average and at times plain ridiculous with its hollow, unexplained and in the end a highly stupid plot. One of the most overrated movies of all time.
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MCT:June 13, 2008
Dark and relentless. The plot followed surreal themes and left the viewer thinking a whole load of things. Good film in all :)
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MCT:June 7, 2008
Stylish, Brutal, Storyline left me wordless.
A must see for all the Tarrantino-fans out there.
Sometimes I do wonder if Western viewers get the full effect of this film.
It's not the violence, nor the sex.
It's all these breaking of taboos that make this film truly sick-thus, enjoyable.
Over here, taboo is still taboo, and seeing Oldboy jump all over those comforting borders makes it harder to let go.
New York Daily News | Jami Bernard
This hunt for revenge is really a quest for self-discovery. The story, acting and brilliant directing elevate Oldboy into a human struggle to know yourself and your place in the universe, and to live with that sometimes terrible knowledge. -
MCT:June 1, 2008
Oh Dae-Su is kidnapped and held prisoner for fifteen years, when he is unexpectedly released. The film then follows him as he tries to track down those that imprisoned him and why they did it. I was expecting this to be a typical film with plenty of action as it follows a man's quest for revenge. Although there are some fight sequences this is certainly not an action film, and is more entertaining for it as it is something quite unique in its story. The story had me gripped from start to finish.
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MCT:May 31, 2008
Hmm I'm not sure what happened to my original review, but oh well here we go again. Oldboy is one of those movies that you will only see once and nothing else comes close to comparing to it. This film along with the rest of the vengeance trilogy puts all other revenge thrillers to shame. This chapter is very intense and with a male lead the aggression is heightened and some of the scenes are quite brutal. This is a movie that deserved all the praise and being made in Korea the film was allowed to explore areas which modern american cinema can't explore. It has one of the best endings I have ever seen and probably will ever see in a movie for a very long time. Instant Classic and one of the greatest films ever made.
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Comments
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showbiz101posted 197 days ago -
It wasn't the trapping of the man that excecuted brilliances, it was the events following that, especially the end.
But I thought the movie was deftly prepared, and I was "wowed" at the end. It the movie is a tad slow paced, but I kept watching because I was trying to dicern the wacky scenes and parts of the film.posted 429 days ago -
Oldboy is one of the most overrated pieces of crap I've ever seen and I hate it more than life itself. Taking up a heroin habit would actually be more constructive than watching this movie. I won't dispute that it started off strong enough and had me intrigued for the first hour, but once the hammer came down it didn't even make a dent for me.
I don't know if there were some cultural differences that didn't translate well ot what, but it started off brilliantly and ended in the most pathetic of ways. And I understand and appreciate that it didn't follow a formula, but you've got to understand as a filmmaker that if you lock someone in a room for 14 years there won't be a reason on earth that's going to leave an audience paralyzed with brilliance.
And this is all just my opinion. I say this because everyone on this site seems to have a boner for this movie and I can't understand why.posted 471 days ago -
The second film in the Revenge Trilogy, Olboy pacts a punch! The key is identifying the actual protagonist... only then will you understand the meaning of vengeance in this movie. A must see!!!
posted 483 days ago -
So far the only review of the film i had read that sums up everything about it:
http://www.thegline.com/dvd-of-the-week/2004/05-24-2004.htm
Must read, for both fans and detractors of the film.posted 573 days ago -
my wifey got me the 3 disc set for Xmas. Color me overjoyed. Best movie of 2005.
posted 580 days ago -
Fans of Oldboy should definetely get the Deluxe 3 disc DVD, it's packed with Greatness.
posted 638 days ago -
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