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Special Features
- Commentary from director Chan-wook Park and cinematographer Jeong-hun Jeong
- Interview with director Chan-wook Park
- Deleted scenes with optional director's commentary
- "Oldboy"/IFILM.com DVD trailer contest winner
- Trailers for other Tartan Asia Extreme DVDs
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
In the realm of revenge thrillers, you'd be hard pressed to find more ultra-violent vengeance and psycho thrills than in the creepy story of Oldboy. This Korean import made a pop splash at the Cannes Film Festival and during its limited theatrical run thanks to the imprimatur of Quentin Tarantino, who raved about it and its visionary director, Chan-wook Park, to anyone who would listen. It's easy to see why QT fell in love with the grindhouse attitude, fast-paced action, violent imagery, and icy-black humor, but it's a disservice to think of Oldboy as another Tarantino homage or knockoff. The darkly existential undercurrent in the themes that Oldboy traces over its life-long narrative arc is much more complex and deeply disturbing than anything of its kind. The movie's tagline is, "15 years of imprisonment... 5 days of vengeance." The imprisonee is Oh Dae-Su, an ordinary Joe who is snatched off a Seoul street corner and locked away in a dank, windowless fleabag hotel room for the aforementioned 15 years. Just as abruptly he is released, and thus the five days begin. Why did this happen to Oh Dae-Su? Ah, but that would be telling, and in fact we don't know ourselves until the final wrenching scenes.
Oldboy breaks into a classic three-act saga, the first of which details the hallucinatory period of imprisonment in which Oh Dae-Su wades from mild insanity to outright psychosis in the hands of unseen yet attentive captors. Act 2 is the revenge, when an entirely different tone takes over and Oh Dae-Su moves with single-minded purpose and clarity. It's this section that has gained the most notoriety, primarily for the claw-hammer dentistry scene, the one-man-army tracking shot, and the wriggling octopus that Oh Dae-Su consumes in a sushi bar (he's been dead so long he simply needs life back inside him in any way possible). In act 3, answers finally start to emerge and the sinister atmosphere grows even more profound--not without a healthy dose of extra bloodletting, of course. Oldboy is an undeniably poetic masterpiece of tension, fury, and dynamic craft. Ultimately, its epic cycle of tragedy is of the sort that mankind has been inflicting upon itself for all time. Some of the images may be gruesome, but all converge into a kind of beauty. It's in the telling of this lurid tale that these details become one and the memories of pain ultimately heal. --Ted Fry
Product Description
Oh Dae-su is an ordinary Seoul businessman with a wife and little daughter who, after a drunken night on the town, is abducted and locked up in a strange, private prison. No one will tell him why hes there and who his jailer is and his fury builds to a single-minded focus of revenge. 15 years later, he is unexpectedly freed, given a new suit, a cell-phone and 5 days to discover the mysterious enemy who had him imprisoned. Seeking vengeance on all those involved, he soon finds that his enemys tortures are just beginning.
Customer Reviews
“ If you really want to enjoy the ending just go watch the movie knowing as little about it as possible and prepare for your jaw to drop to the floor. ”
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
143 of 160 people found the following review helpful
Oldboy has a Shakespearian tone as it depicts the tale of Oh Dae-su (Min-sik Choi), whose name means "he who can get along with people". Oh Dae-su is on his way home after having been arrested for public drunkenness to celebrate his daughters birthday. However, Oh Dae-su never arrives to his home as he is kidnapped and imprisoned in a small room where his only contact with the human world is a television. During the time Oh Dae-su is caged someone murders his wife and he becomes the prime suspect for the murder. The questions that Oh Dae-su unsuccessfully attempts to answer while locked up is why revenge is being taken on him and who is seeking this cruel revenge. After 15 years Oh Dae-su is released from his torturous imprisonment, which leaves him confused and ragingly vengeful.
Chan-wook Park directs a brilliant cinematic experience that is full of well-written conspiring intrigues that will keep the audience in suspense. The suspense is initiated in the opening shot where a man is hanging over the edge of a roof top causing the audience to asks themselves--why is this happening? The suspense continues as new and mysterious clues appears, but apprehension does not leave the audience even after the end of the film as the final line echos in the minds of the audience. Park's vision of revenge in Oldboy often depicts exaggerated violence that is well balanced with story as it is related to the themes of the film. However, this should serve as a warning to squeamish folks as the film is occasionally brutal and bizarre. Furthermore, the cinematography used in Oldboy vividly projects the emotional tone of the cinematic themes and characters. The characters are also superbly performed by an excellent cast, which will help the audience to experience a first class cinematic event.
Chan-wook Park directs a brilliant cinematic experience that is full of well-written conspiring intrigues that will keep the audience in suspense. The suspense is initiated in the opening shot where a man is hanging over the edge of a roof top causing the audience to asks themselves--why is this happening? The suspense continues as new and mysterious clues appears, but apprehension does not leave the audience even after the end of the film as the final line echos in the minds of the audience. Park's vision of revenge in Oldboy often depicts exaggerated violence that is well balanced with story as it is related to the themes of the film. However, this should serve as a warning to squeamish folks as the film is occasionally brutal and bizarre. Furthermore, the cinematography used in Oldboy vividly projects the emotional tone of the cinematic themes and characters. The characters are also superbly performed by an excellent cast, which will help the audience to experience a first class cinematic event.
34 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'm surprised to see that no one else has written about this collector's edition DVD package because it's so cool that it needs to be spoken about in some form or other. It comes in a metal box which is exactly the same dimensions as the box that the HBO series "Band of Brothers" came in. There's that which is already pretty nice but inside is where you find the real treasure. The film comes in a three disc set, each one in an individual slipcase with one of the three main characters in the film on the cover. The presentationof the film is on par with, if not above the quality of the previous Tartan video release in terms of picture and sound. This set has a 6.1 DTS mix which is nice, clear and loud. The picture is very nice as it should be, since this film is beautifully shot. There are plenty of bonus features like commentary and featurettes but the third disc has the best supplementary feature which is a production diary from the entire shoot. I think this is one of the shining examples of a behind the scenes documentary done right as it really shows you what goes in to making a film and how much hard work it can be. It's lengthy, it's detailed and thankfully, it has English subtitles because I don't speak a lick of Korean. Just for this documentary alone, this set is worth picking up.
Finally, you get not only a 35mm film strip encased in a nice cardboard sleeve, you get a miniaturized graphic novel of the original similarly titled Japanese Manga that the film was based off of. If you've seen the special edition of Sin City that came with the Hard Goodbye graphic novel, it's just like that except its printed in reverse and you have to read it from back cover to front like you would with an actual Japanese book! (Don't worry, the language is in English so you can still read it)
This is easily one of the best recommendations I can make. If you love the movie, this is a no-brainer. If you know someone else who loves this movie, this would make a great gift. Either way, this is one of the coolest all around DVD packages I've ever picked up and believe me, I've picked up plenty.
Finally, you get not only a 35mm film strip encased in a nice cardboard sleeve, you get a miniaturized graphic novel of the original similarly titled Japanese Manga that the film was based off of. If you've seen the special edition of Sin City that came with the Hard Goodbye graphic novel, it's just like that except its printed in reverse and you have to read it from back cover to front like you would with an actual Japanese book! (Don't worry, the language is in English so you can still read it)
This is easily one of the best recommendations I can make. If you love the movie, this is a no-brainer. If you know someone else who loves this movie, this would make a great gift. Either way, this is one of the coolest all around DVD packages I've ever picked up and believe me, I've picked up plenty.
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By Sean Keeley
Format:DVD
Just to correct everyone out there who is saying this DVD release is not the full movie, I just watched the official DVD and it is indeed 120 minutes long, unedited and uncut. Not sure where the discrepency came from but you can be sure that you're not missing out on anything in the film on this DVD release.
As for the film itself...brilliant!
As for the film itself...brilliant!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
An aquired taste
Strange, mind bending, too violent for some tastes, brilliantly done. It will make you love subtitles. All three of the movies in the trilogy are worth watching.
Published 5 days ago by J. Latham
3.0 out of 5 stars
Freshly stylized
Definitely worth seeing as an example of Korean film making, but the sensational plot felt forced. The twist at the end was over-the-top. Read more
Published 5 days ago by J. Kline
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow
I am beyond words.This movie was like no other I ever seen with a plot, and twist I couldn't even imagine. Read more
Published 12 days ago by bey0nd beauty
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quite possibly the BEST movie EVER!
My boyfriend introduced me to this and I was speechless! This movie takes suspense to a whole other level. Read more
Published 13 days ago by A. Sylvester
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shakespeare would have been jealous
The depth and intensity of this story is truly unrivaled. The film is masterfully crafted and exceedingly cool. Read more
Published 13 days ago by Matt Schoen
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Film
The quintessential definition of "turn-about is fair play". Well cast, well acted, great cinematography. Keeps you engrossed from start to end.
Published 18 days ago by George Quartell
3.0 out of 5 stars
Stylishly Shallow
The acting, camera work, color choices, and all the rest of the building blocks of the story were great, but the story itself was pretty lame. Read more
Published 20 days ago by George S. Christiansen
5.0 out of 5 stars
Old Boy is awesome!
Despite the more graphic intimate moments (trying not to ruin the details for those who haven't seen this), the remainder of the story is entirely original. Read more
Published 1 month ago by ScipioIV
5.0 out of 5 stars
loved it
loved the story line and the suspense..Like said in other review not the weak mind..Highly recommended for someone who wants to watch an interesting movie
Published 1 month ago by G THIRUMALAISAMY
4.0 out of 5 stars
A real psychic adventure on the order of the Count of Monte Cristo
I am not sure there is a spoiler alert for this - the whole movie is a ride through the victim's mind leading to the final confrontation with how absolute power can be used so... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Geoff LaPlace
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