Oldboy (2003) User Reviews

A couple of answers that may be useful to understand this film better!!

[kywoo7 · 9/10 · 12 February 2008]

Hi! I am a South Korean national student here in London, and would like to give you some clues why the main character, Oh Dae-Soo, was kept in the private prison for exactly 15 years and why he ate the live octopus as I hope you all understand this film a little better.

Firstly, his wife was killed one year after his being kept in the privately run prison. Obviously, Oh Dae-Soo didn't kill her but was suspected of murdering her. It must be done by Lee Yu-Jin who planned to have his sister's revenge upon Oh Dae-Soo. In South Korea, criminals of unsolved crimes including murder cases are forgiven/overlooked by law 15 years after the crimes were committed, which means a murder suspect wouldn't be charged or get punished unless the suspect is caught within 15 years after the murder. This is why Oh Dae-Soo was released 15 years after his wife was killed. Thus, he wouldn't be disturbed by the police investigation and Lee Yu-Jin could play with him at his own discretion.

Secondly, nobody in the country eats live octopus like the way he ate in the film. It seems to me that the scene shows his uncontrollable anger against the man who he talked with on the phone and didn't say anything about the reasons why he was kept in the prison. If there was a piece of cake or a bowl of rice in front of him, I guess he would probably eat it in the same way he did with the octopus. So, please don't get it wrong that eating something alive is part of Korean culture. It should be understood itself in that extreme context.

I saw this film several times with my friends. I didn't quite understand it in the first view but came to like it in the second time and it's one of my favourites now. I like the complicated plot and the shocking ending. As I'm studying translation of English and Korean, most of my classmates and friends are English who spent some time in South Korean and they liked this one the most among other Korean films.

I hope my talk helps.

Freaked me out

[Genevieve_X · 9/10 · 29 July 2007]

I haven't written a comment on IMDb for about 3 years but was inspired to with this film. It is not very often that I come across a film by accident (World Movies on cable) and the spend the next day scouring the internet to find out information about it and can't get it out of my head! Anyway, yep there are plot holes, but Old boy borrows a lot from surrealism and you are meant to suspend your disbelief! I don't buy comments when people say "it is so unrealistic because he should've done this ..." because it is a surrealist film and meant to be unrealistic! For me the sign of a good film is if it sticks on your head! THis one surely does (althought I did have to look away a few times ... ) Loved it!!!! Work of cruel genius!!! (HOLLYWOOD - Please don't ruin it by remaking it!!!)

Absolutely Sublime.......................................................

[sqreader · 9/10 · 2 January 2007]

I've scored this a 9 but I think I may have been a little harsh! I have just read a review that says the reviewer cannot understand the hype. I can see no hype. Everything the film promised and more was delivered. This is a truly wonderful film. It is beautifully acted, brutally and painstakingly directed and as good a display of raw emotion as I have witnessed in any language. The story is gripping, the characters believable and well rounded, the emotion human and the feeling I was left with at the end of the film is one of awe. And that was after I had watched it twice. Honestly, this is a truly, truly wonderful film. Do not miss it under any circumstances!

A cinematic bad boy

[Leofwine_draca · 10/10 · 8 September 2016]

Oldboy really is an odd movie. It's totally unconventional, completely original, and unlike anything else you'll probably find out there, even in the realms of Asian cinema. To say too much would be to spoil the ride, but this is a film where you'll always be guessing what's going to happen next and never quite sure what's really going on.

It's a bleak, dark movie that begins very well indeed and stays strong throughout. Chan-wook Park is an expert director and really handles everything well. He's blessed with a superior leading man in Choi Min-sik, the kind of actor who gives his all to the movie, no restraint, no mild-mannered acting here...he lives and breathes the role and you believe in him at all times. Kang Hye-jeong, starring opposite him as love interest Mido, is also very effective, completely lovely and just right for her role.

As for the story... wow. This movie has a brilliant script that constantly surprises you right up until the very last scene. Twists are commonplace these days, but the one found here is the most shocking I've ever seen. OLDBOY has it all, really. A great story unveiled in a leisurely way, piece by piece, no hurry. Touches of the surreal – the disgusting octopus-eating scene is everything you'd imagine it to be. Great acting, great technical aspects. There's violence too, of course. The tooth-pulling torture is probably the most squirm-inducing bit, but the highlight for me is the one-take corridor battle which has to be seen to be believed. One guy with a hammer versus twenty hoods...well, watch it and find out what happens.

By the time the ending comes and you find out why Oh Dae-su was imprisoned, you realise you're watching a masterwork of cinema. It's not an easy film to sit through by any means, but it is affecting and it is very well made indeed. Challenging, gut-punching and outrageous: OLDBOY is one of the bad boys of our time.

If only we were all living in Asia....

[bur_007 · 10/10 · 19 December 2007]

To start off; This is the one and only film that kept me quiet for a whole 5 mins after seeing it. I literally couldn't close my mouth, and yet there wasn't any sound coming out of it. Oldboy had such an impact on me that words are too little to describe that impact. Therefore this film is definitely in my top 3 films ever made. It belongs there because it has a massive ingredient that a lot of films seem to miss out on; a divine plot. Even though the acting and screenplay are world class, the plot is really the cherry on the cake.

When it comes to screenplay Park Chan-Wook is unique (at least for western standards) in his way of filming. The colours are so vivid and it seems like he wanted every shot to be a piece of art. One tip: If you like the shooting in 'Oldboy', have a look at 'Sympathy for Lady Vengeance', the third part in Park's revenge-trilogy. It's even superior to the camera-work in 'Oldboy'. Don't, however, expect a story like Oldboy's, because you would be very disappointed.

When it comes to acting and the music, this film is also one of the better films ever made. The music sticks in your head and every time I put in my Oldboy-DVD and the theme-song comes up, I'm just flooded with good memories (even though the plot doesn't have a single reason to be happy about). The characters are also presented very well by the outstanding cast. Especially Choi Min-Sik and Yu Ji-Tae set a very convincing performance.

I really appreciate this film being respected as it should be, by having a place in the top 250. If, however, it was up to me it would be even higher in the ranking. I don't see why films like 'The Usual Suspects' or 'Memento', which are fantastic pieces of film-making and which without a doubt deserve a place in the top 250, are higher in the top 250 than 'Oldboy'. They serve the same cause; a fantastic plot. But those plots can't stand in the shadow or even come close to the plot of 'Oldboy'. The one and only reason is that those two films are better known and from a western production company. If we were all living in Asia, no doubt 'Oldboy' would be in the top 20 of all time.

My advice to people who haven't watched this film yet: Go see it! This is definitely a must- see. If you have a weak stomach, pull yourself together and still watch it. Don't be as shallow as a lot of people here tend to be. Look beyond the violence and see the things I mentioned before: world class acting, cinematography, music and last but certainly not least the plot. Once you've opened yourself up you'll find a whole new world of cinema. Enjoy!

You Only Live Once...

[Xstal · 10/10 · 22 January 2022]

Imagine what you'd do, when you wake from a bad dream, to find you're held by four square walls, for as long as someone deems, no idea why you're trapped, what you've done, why you're kidnapped, just a ceaseless line of dumplings going down your gyoza hatch. Now some fifteen years have passed, every question has been asked, and you're suddenly set free, can start your own avenging spree, before you do you need to feed, by eating something that's in need, so an octopus is ordered, and head first you cross the borders. But things aren't what they might seem, tied and tethered and undreamed, as the puppet master hovers, manipulates what you'll discover.

Some films you cannot watch too often and this is one of the greatest pieces of cinematic brilliance ever created.

Excellent in it's sickness

[johnny-08 · 10/10 · 22 July 2007]

I looked at program for today and I saw movie "Oldboy". I read plot and I liked it. What I expected is decent thriller from very good South Korean cinematography,something like "Salinui chueok ". But once again I was wrong. "Oldboy" is masterpiece, so unusual from all other movies. I've seen lots of violence on screen and to me this isn't nothing new but I think that people under 18 really shouldn't watch this one. It's because movie is brutal and I don't think that younger ones would fully understand this one.

To say something about plot is quite impossible because I don't know where to begin. If I start talking about the movie I could tell few important things and I know that people often read other comments because they didn't watch that movie. So,I'm going to say only what I read before watching this movie.

On his daughter's birthday, Oh Dae-su gets drunk and soon he's arrested by the police. His best friend No Joo-hwan somehow manages to get him out of jail and when No Joo-hwan is making a phone call Oh Dae-su disappears. Someone kidnap's him and puts him into room during 15 long years.But one day he's released.

That's the plot. Very interesting, you should watch this movie and then judge it. By the rating on IMDb this movie is in top 250 movies. Now I can understand why. This plot that I wrote doesn't reveal the greatness of the people who wrote the script. I bow to them because this movie is so good, with all those twists and it really represents a whole new wave of making a movie, of writing a script and of acting in it. About direction and actors I can say only good things. Director Park Chan-wook won prize Grand Jury at Cannes. That's enough about direction part. About actors. I can say that I'm impressed by one actor:Choi Min-sik. He's amazing in major role and he showed great potential. I hope I will see him again in some good movie.

I cannot say anything more because I could reveal some secret and I don't wanna do that to all new viewers. Only a recommendation. Beautiful, intelligent masterpiece of movie that I highly recommend for everyone with strong stomach and too all of you who want to see one excellent, but sick story. 10/10

One of most well-made films I've ever seen

[max8791 · 9/10 · 21 April 2007]

I decided to check this movie out after Ebert's 4 star rave review, and the cult status this movie has received (and was also intrigued by the sexy-looking Ultimate Edition), so I decided to rent it. I was VERY surprised at how different it was than I expected it to be - I expected a ton of violence and not much in the way of writing or acting. The first time I saw it, I wasn't blown away, just kind of like whatever.

When I watched it for the second time, however, I really started to notice how well it's made, in addition to liking it more. Every shot is bursting with background detail, a great amount of attention on the production design (the theme of a certain color in a scene was restrained, yet perfectly balanced). The actors really gave it all, especially the 2 male leads who really blew me away. The music is a varied mix of beautiful classical music and some pretty cool techno. The screenplay is brilliant; the characters are developed very well, extremely complex, and the plot is not only ingenious, but the payoff and twists are 1000x better than any Shamaylan movie.

Simply put, from a technical point of view, it's one of the best movies ever. From a critic's point of view, it is a very well-done movie that goes a little overboard in sex and violence, and is just a little strange.

As good and disturbing as expected.

[LeroyBrown-2 · 8/10 · 3 February 2009]

I read the review for "Oldboy" a few years ago and have since read praise about the movie from IMDb posters. Often times movies with that kind of hype tend to fall short and is a major disappointment. I don't know anything about Korean cinema so I had fairly low expectations. I had expected it to be a simplistic revenge film, shot in bad film stock. Well I have to say that I'm glad I was wrong, and even gladder still that I actually watched this film.

The basic story is that a man named Oh Dae-Su is kidnapped and held captive for 18 years and then released. He has no idea who or why this is being done to him. While in captivity he readies himself for the day when he gets out and take revenge on those who imprisoned him, and to find out why he was imprisoned. So far it sounds just like any old revenge martial art flick and up to this point it pretty much is, but it's incredibly well crafted. I have to admit I have not paid much attention to Asian martial arts films since Bruce Lee died and maybe I should now. Mainly because this movie doesn't have the jumpy camera work, or bad editing of those old flicks. This movie is a crisply shot as any Scorcese film. That alone elevates this movie to a higher plateau.

Once he is released, Oh Dae-Su goes on a quest to find what happened to his family and to find the identity of those who had him captured. During the quest for the bad guys, the movie played out like an old fashioned detective movie. The search wasn't rushed and neither was it boring. I suppose the set up made us want to go on this quest with Oh Dae-Su which sounds like Odysseus, and just as Odysseus went on one incredible quest so did Oh Dae-Su.

It's when he finds the man who had him held captive that the movie truly departs from being an average revenge film to something that is extra ordinary and extraordinarily disturbing. It's at this point that I have to say that the less said the better. It's something totally out of the ordinary and something that I think will repulse some viewers, but at the same time one can't help have sympathy for all the characters even the man who ordered Oh's incarceration.

The acting in the movie is excellent. I had no idea that Korean cinema has such skillful actors. They all really played their part incredibly well. Min-sik Choi, who played Oh Dae-Su was incredible. He goes through the rigors of being a desperate captive, to being a determined man on a mission. Along the way he runs through the gamut of so much emotion and not once did he hit a false note.

Overall I have to say that this movie is incredibly well crafted and as good as everybody say, however I find it a little disturbing so I can't give this movie a ten. But don't let my not giving the film a ten scare you away it's a good, enjoyable film.

Didn't like it much at all

[dj_bassett · 24 April 2005]

Armond White of the NY Press has called it a "virtuosic stupid movie". I think that's exactly right.

Certainly the movie looks fantastic. I liked the surrealistic touches. I think the director has a real imaginative way of capturing the process of memory -- there's an extended flashback about 3/4 way through which I think is as well conceived and shot as anything I've seen. The acting is standout. Hell, I even liked the score.

But the movie almost aggressively makes no sense.

SPOILERS Leave aside for a moment the obvious plot holes, large and small -- although it's worth noting that there's a whole lot of them. Leave aside the contrivances, too: the endless special gadgets the bad guy comes up with just when he needs them, the rather magical view of hypnosis, Dae-Su's magical new abilities, the seeming omnipotence of the badguy. Let's assume all this is beside the point, and that we're supposed to take the movie more or less symbolically ala FIGHT CLUB (probably the closest reference).

The movie doesn't make any sense thematically, either. What's it really about? The virtue of keeping your mouth shut? The movie seems to suggest that the bad guy's sexual relationship with his sister is just fine, the problem seems to be Dae-Su's big mouth. The movie rather laboriously teaches this: the sister kills herself because of the rumors which somehow the sister believes to be true (?); Dae-Su becomes convinced that he was, in fact, at fault; Dae-Su cuts his own tongue out; Dae-Su pleads that Mi-do never learn the truth; Dae-Su even ends up brainwashing himself via hypnosis to forget the truth -- or "keep his mind shut", in a sense. I mean, huh? This is a pretty juvenile kind of ethics, to be blunt about it. Although Dae-Su is the protagonist the movie really doesn't seem to be on his side. It also hints at a weird kind of passivity: for all of the hammer swinging and octopus eating, Dae-Su doesn't really do all that much: things are done to him, and eventually he begins to internalize the abuse given to him.

Is it about the futility of revenge? One would think, particularly with the references to COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO. But leaving aside the notion that Dae-Su's tormentor's omnipresence seems to weigh against the notion of him and Mi-do doing anything, really, but take their lumps or try to fight back, the fact that Dae-Su is considered by the movie to have really "done" something makes any critique pretty complicated. Remember, in COUNT Dantes is a true innocent. His motives are as pure as revenge ever gets -- that's why Dumas's ultimate critique, his ultimate notion that revenge even for the Count is wrong works so well. The force is seen in isolation. Here, though, it seems more a case of Dae-Su learning how "bad" he really is. He shouldn't take revenge because he really IS at fault.

I guess you could argue that the movie shows revenge is futile from the bad guy's point of view. Then why are we watching Dae-Su at all? Maybe the point is that everyone feels themselves righteous until they realize the true dimensions of their "sin". But I don't see a lot of people facing up to facts in the movie: I see a lot of denial, in fact. Dae-Su admits to his relatively "minor" sin but can't face up to his "major" one.

After I saw this I read some interviews with the cast and crew, and apparently some of this vagueness is intentional -- we're supposed to be left unsure. Well, the movie is successful in that, but I think it's an unworthy goal, an abdication of the artist's responsibility. People have bristled at the charge that this movie is nihilistic, but if that really is the point, that the movie's supposed to throw up it's hands and say, "hey, I dunno, you figure it out", then that truly is nihilism.

Ah well, I could go on, but I won't bore you. A virtuosic stupid movie indeed, I think: often amazing to watch but underneath the surface just a whole bunch of muddleheadedness.

weak plot does this one in

[Shai-8 · 6/10 · 14 January 2005]

***minor spoilers**

I have to laugh when I see some people calling this a work of genius. The characters are cardboard set pieces in the sandbox of a weak writer. "Hypnosis" is frequently used as a device to cause the main characters to act sans mental phenomena. (hypnosis or memory don't work at all like the way suggested, the movie versions of these concepts are deus ex machina only with a different label) There is room in a narrative of control for character development but there is little conflict between man and that environment in this story, only slightly above average fight scenes that are unconvincing. (it's a comic book universe where one man takes on 30 or 50 or however many people at once because he was training by shadow boxing in an earlier scene)

There is a reference to "The Count of Monte Cristo" (or rather an acknowledgement of borrowing from that tradition), and there are obvious parallels, for example the protagonist in this learns from watching TV for 15 years, the Count of Monte Cristo books and a wise prison companion. They've essentially added one big twist to that basic story but the only way to make it work drains it of character and meaning.

Decent acting from Min-sik Choi can't save this one.

6.5/10

Pass by the "Boo" comments.

[tetsuoisleet · 10/10 · 6 September 2007]

After going through the comments, i must say i'm impressed how many people out there don't have a slightest clue of beauty or intelligent screenplays. there are so many comments from people that totally disliked the movie. which is plain and simple not possible, if you got an open mind and a open heart (and are not drunk). I would compare it to chocolate. You may find it too sweet and prefer bitter chocolate. or you like white chocolate more. Or you got diabetes and can only sometimes eat one. But people that totally dislike chocolate scare me to death. Same goes for Oldboy, you gotta admit some of the genius art-form it contains. Its everything in there. Its heartwarming , disgusting, intelligent, beautiful and lead with outstanding performance of any actor . You HAVE to like something, cause it wont get much better. Its chocolate. If you disliked the movie so much and on a constant basis, why even bother to write a comment? My guess is you just could not follow the movie at all. which is my only guess actually. well enough rambling.

:::::::::: Bottom Line :::::::::

If you call common sense, and a human heart your own and like "challenging" movies, go and see it NOW.(i recommend the original korean version with subs)I also recommend the pre- and sequel to this movie. (just browse Chan Wook Park) If you think "The Fast and the Furious" is the best movie ever made, please do not even bother to watch Oldboy, and spare others your "brilliant" reviews.

Average revenge film with an extremely weak payoff

[Thomas_Neville_Servo · 7/10 · 30 September 2004]

After reading praise after praise about this film on the internet from mostly western viewers (such as the completely clueless Tarantino) and seeing as how it won a major prize at the most recent Cannes Film Festival, my expectations were naturally high when I finally got around to viewing it.

I'm sorry to say that I do not share in their optimistic appraisal of this movie.

After being imprisoned for 15 years for unknown reasons by an unknown person/persons, Daesu (Min-sik Choi) is naturally a bit upset and is dying to figure out who imprisoned him and why. Borrowing a page from M. Night Shyamalan's guide to movie surprises, writer/director Chan-wook Park (along with 3 other writers) attempts to craft a whodunnit that will keep you guessing and interested until the very end. Well, they only half succeed. I'll admit that I'm normally slow when it comes to movie surprises, but this one jumps out at you as soon as Daesu gets out of prison. It couldn't be more obvious unless the director was sitting next to you whispering it into your ear. From that point on, the movie really begins to drag as we watch Daesu meander from one place to the next in an unfocused attempt to find his enemy and discover the reason behind his imprisonment. Perhaps the main problem with the film is the severe lack of information given to both Daesu and the viewer. Rather than finding out the real truth on his own, he is essentially told everything in the end thanks to a well choreographed monologue. This is not a "detective"-style story that gives you clues along the way. Some secrets and identities are revealed much too early, leaving only the unknown reason for Daesu's imprisonment the movie's last remaining attempt to keep the viewer interested. When we finally learn of the reason, it's a total letdown and should leave any experienced movie watcher either scratching their heads in total disbelief that someone actually considered this as a basis for a film or make you angry enough to stop the movie right then and there. With the movie's undeniably gritty sense of style and beautiful classical score, this should have been mind blowing. But it's not. It's pathetic. It's obvious the filmmakers really didn't know how to craft a film of this caliber, so they fall back on the "H" word (you'll catch the "H" word when you hear it in the film) to solve ALL of their screen writing problems.

Thankfully the movie does have some positive aspects. The lighting and color scheme really reflect the inner conflicts within Daesu. This is a dark film, and it shows. The cinematography is inventive and vibrant with clever scene transitions and unique movements. The aforementioned score couldn't be better. It's a great mix of classical pieces, original music inspired by classical pieces, and moments of pseudo techno/industrial music, and it certainly does a great job of infusing the viewer with a sense of doubt and depression. Min-sik Choi gives an extremely admirable performance as the mentally conflicted Daesu and handles all kinds of scenes from action to romance with a great sense of confusion and surprise. Finally the relationship between Daesu and the mysterious Mido (Hye-jeong Kang) is really quite touching, allowing for some nice dramatic moments.

That being said, it's ashame that the film's story couldn't match its style.

Chan-wook Park has directed some of Korea's best and most memorable films in recent memory, such as JSA and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, but Old Boy is simply a semi-interesting film. In the realm of revenge flicks, this is perhaps one of the more ambitious (which is definitely a good quality) films out there, but ambition can only get you so far, and Chan-wook Park just can't pull it off. Worth a look for film fans, but it's just not remarkable enough to be recognized on a global scale. Beware before you buy, for you could end up being sorely disappointed as well. 6/10

A rather disappointing effort

[schnofel · 5/10 · 29 September 2004]

Old Boy sucks! No, wait, let me rephrase that: Old Boy is a stylistically challenging, highly innovative, but ultimately hollow and repugnant exercise in genre film-making.

And just to let you know where I'm coming from – 'Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance' was brilliant; an unforgiving and touching descent into doom. In that movie everything that happened somehow had to. One action triggered the next one and we experienced a vicious circle of violence and revenge. The characters seemed trapped in their situation.

In Old Boy our protagonist is also trapped, but you know the story, so I won't tell you again. So he's in this room and there is great sound design and camera work. But once he frees himself, the complications and problems multiply. The plot is at first close to incomprehensible as he stumbles from one situation to another. When the villain explains his schemes at the end and brings enlightenment, I just couldn't care anymore. The intriguing premise is destroyed by the revelation that it's all a contrived revenge plot by the bad guy.

And contrived it is. The story only works by inserting endless flashbacks (full of bad pathos) and explanations. To keep the audience interested, we get gruesome scenes of murder, self-mutilation and general mayhem. As others have remarked, these scenes are well done, but serve no greater purpose. It's all a so-what comic extravaganza.

Out of 'Old Boy' I got small pleasures and a lot of disappointment, courtesy of one of the most interesting directors working today. I liked (among other things) the infamous hallway scene, the actors, the fight with the bodyguard, the revelation of the Secret and the sequence of Oh Dae-su leaving his bad self behind at the end. Small pleasures, indeed.

Great film!

[lucas739 · 9/10 · 17 March 2007]

I feel compelled to defend this film from some quite frankly unwarranted criticism. Although it isn't without its flaws, and all films have a few,it certainly isn't a one star film.What this film has is the ability to be sublime, shocking, ridiculous, mildly amusing and visually stunning which is some feat for any film.The sheer scale of the comments here suggests that here is a film that gets to you in one way or another. This film is as far away from Maborosi as you can get yet both films are up there as great pieces of cinema. I wont divulge the plot or end this comment with a Latin quote to reinforce my self importance i'll just say go and watch it, preferably if you're not too squeamish and don't mind subtitles.This film left me thinking about it the following day which is normally a good thing (atleast it shows my memory is working!)

One step ahead of America

[ryuakamrvengeance · 9/10 · 7 March 2007]

Oldboy takes a hammer and "batters" its American equivalents, leaving them as pulped as a chewed up squid. Park Chan Wook displays what America misses with his ultra-stylish, ultra-violent thriller. Why watch Ben Affleck fail spectacularly to summon any displayable talent, when Min sik Choi serves up a memorable role as the disturbed, vengeful Dae Su Oh, in the second of the Vengeance trilogy. Park skillfully creates a compelling plot that will have you guessing through the entire film, up until the final shocking revelation. The Cinematography expertly done by Jeong-hun Jeong, who also worked on the follow up to this film, Chinjeolhan geumjassi. Everything about this film is done in style and panache and creates a memorable experience, and has many memorable scenes.

Many people accuse this film of being "unrealistic". These people forget that this a film, not a documentary. No one complains About Star Wars being unrealistic, and rightly so. Films have a right to stretch out reality, don't forget the reason it does this is to be entertaining.

Although the film has strong violence of a graphic nature, I advise you to watch it, if only to broaden your perspectives of world and Asian cinema.

Amazing Movie

[gdmvy · 10/10 · 29 August 2007]

Yes this is a twisted movie with plots that unravel slowly and sometimes there are scenes that are slow. But over all it's incredible. Some of the symbolism behind the scenes are stunning. You have to go deep to appreciate it. There is a lot of gore and violence that can turn you off, but I was simply amazed by the depth and width of some of the scenes.

Without giving anything away, once the main character is released he meets a man with a dog. It's seems to be an irrelevant scene, but put yourself in a cage for 15 years and think about how you would act? What happens to that man? Isn't he also in a cage? Aren't we all? What is the symbolism of that man? How about the dog? Revenge to the main character in this movie is his life. Why? And you don't question it because you know what happened to him. He doesn't question it either.

To me this was one of the greatest depictions of Oedipus or other Greek characters I've seen this decade in a movie. Nothing is new. If you liked "Requiem for a Dream" or "Blue Velvet." Consider this one.

A masterpiece for the cinema fanatics.

[maciusp · 9/10 · 19 February 2008]

The first time I watched "Old-boy", I was half-amazed, half-disgusted. I wasn't quite sure how to rate the movie in general. I knew 2 things: 1. From a visual point of view, it's one of the best movies I have ever seen. Cinematography & scenography are nothing short of perfection. 2. I had problems with the plot, some holes in it, and a general feeling of injustice, as crime seemed to be pretty lightweight compared with the punishment.

2nd time was a weird situation. A girl I knew tried to get into the film school, and the day before her exam she asked me to supply her with some movies that were interesting visually. 2 films we watched were "Natural Born Killers" and "Old-boy", and, especially the 2nd 1 was a revelation.

Knowing the plot, it was easy for me to concentrate on the visual side, and my friend always consumes the movies this way. Results of paying attention to the tiniest of details were stunning. I don't think there's 1 scene in there shot without an idea, without something happening in the background, or without an image responding to the theme of the scene.

Don't be a baby crying about violence - camera turns away in key moments. Don't be a smartarse, picking on the shortcomings of the plot - think about Hitchcock or Chaplin and how they gave a flying f... about plot. Appreciate the work of the whole crew, and for best effects watch it a couple of times. It's worth it.

Korea's great gift to movie industry

[LeBaturalp · 10/10 · 15 November 2016]

I don't know why but this movie will always be my favorite. Maybe because of amazing screenplays, very emotional soundtracks or feeling the high tension in every second. I watched so many movies which includes fight scenes. Some of them were good and some of them were bad but in Oldboy... I guess the best describing word is '' real'' about that fight scenes. Because I felt they were. And that scenes are covering about only 2% of the whole movie. Cinemography, perfect harmony of music and scenes, an amazing story and one of the great plot twists in movie history. I am struggling to find the correct words for this movie because this is a movie not a book. And I may easily say it is a masterpiece... I enjoyed the movie with every second of it. I wish there were more movies like Oldboy.But who knows? Maybe there will be...

Complex, challenging masterpiece that puts Hollywood to shame.

[MrVibrating · 10/10 · 20 October 2007]

While Hollywood is slowly choking to death on clichés and unrealistic budgets, the movie lovers turn their attention to Asia. Especially interesting is Korea's emerging movie industry. Japan has a long tradition of quality horror and anime and China dominates the epics with state-sponsored spectacles. Which place Korea will take we don't know but if Oldboy is any inclination it would be intelligent, disturbing drama-action movies.

Oldboy has an extremely intelligent and edgy script, which will make you think and question your morals. It would NEVER be picked up in Hollywood. Even the initial concept of being locked up for 15 years without apparent reason would be deemed to strange for the audience. Thankfully, the Korean producers could see the brilliance of the script and give it a shot. It's budget is some $4 million, which is amazingly well used.

Oldboy is very much the child of it's director, Chan-Wook Park, who's name should warrant a lot more fame than it does. The camera-work and pacing is amazing. There are virtually no dull moments. The fighting scenes are used to compliment to movie, not to give a reward after half an hour's boredom.

The lead actors are no less amazing. Min-Sik Choi is a perfect anti-hero. Unlike the Western antiheroes, he even has the looks of an everyman, which makes his transformation so much more spectacular. The lead actress is a bit understates in my opinion, but memorable never the less. The best one is by far Ji-Tae Ju, the charismatic villain. He dominates every scene he's in, a sort of Korean Christian Bale American Psycho.

Music and choreography is great as well. All the details and the grit makes the movie really come alive. At the end, you are in awe, a rare feeling for a movie. The feeling stays with you for days. Occasionally you will think of the movie and shake your head, unbelieving someone could actually pull it off.

So do yourself a favor, watch Oldboy. You will not be disappointed.

Revenge: a dish best eaten live?

[Chris Knipp · 7/10 · 11 April 2005]

In Park Chan-wook's 'Oldboy' (which won the grand prize at Cannes in 2004 when Tarantino was at the helm), a rough-looking man is held by the cops for some hours after a drunk. A series of relentless jump-cuts show him misbehaving at the police station. Once bailed out, he suddenly disappears in a pour-down rain while his rescuer is in a phone booth. The next we know he's imprisoned in a tiny apartment-like jail cell, and is held there for….fifteen years! Again jump cuts take us through this experience, which includes pumped-in gas while he sleeps, self-tattoos of cross-hatching to remind himself of the years, a journal, a constant TV which is his only companion, imaginary swarms of insects, and personal martial-arts conditioning that includes punching the wall till his knuckles bleed.

Once released, having a taste for something other than the pot-stickers he was served all the time in his prison, our man stops at a sushi bar and asks for "something live." He's brought an octopus as big as two fists and he gobbles it -- live -- and passes out. The female sushi chef presiding at this event bonds with the man and they go looking for whoever imprisoned him and try to find out why. I forgot a man who jumps off the roof of the prison building before this: but nobody could keep track of all the hyper-kinetic, dark, grungy contents of 'Oldboy.' It's in Korean, by the way, and if you don't know Korean you may miss a bit of the dialog. It's got those subtitles that fade when the background's light, and they flick by pretty fast too.

What is clear is that as somebody taunts him, Oh Dae-Su's just in a larger prison when his captors let him out, and what he does is part of a maniacal scheme to do him far worse harm than mere physical confinement.

What's initially endearing about this accomplished but cartoon-like revenge-mystery action film, apart from Choi Min Sik's gonzo performance as Oh Dae-Su, the imprisoned man who turns sushi freak, is its obsessiveness, which Choi's intensity neatly underlines. The troubles begin when you realize that however maniacally determined Oh Dae-Su's pursuit of his tormentor and unraveling of his imprisonment's secrets are, it's all ultimately lost on us because it makes little logical, and even less emotional, sense. Or, where it does make sense, it's patently impossible.

Park Chan Wook is a clever and inventive filmmaker who like many of the other 'dark,' 'cool' filmmakers of today has a visual style that outstrips his ability to tell a story. Since you could have said that about The Big Sleep and many still do, it may be that critical head-shaking over 'Oldboy' will seem passé in time and the film will morph into a classic. It's been said already though that Park is pursuing cult status faster than he can keep up with himself.

The encrustation of the mechanical upon the living was Bergson's definition of the comic, and by that definition this movie should be a laugh riot. There's both elaborate visual trickery and intense real physicality -- witness Oh Dae-Su's consumption of the octopus. He really bites the thing's head off and chews on the still-writhing tentacles as they nervously coil round his cheek. The martial arts sequences are tricky and complicated; I doubt that the actor is doing all his stunts like Tony Ja in 'Ong-bak: Thai Warrior,' but his physicality is down to earth as he punches out one thug after another. No jumping, just punches and falls. But the images and their sequencing are most artfully manipulated. There's a sex scene, and an erotic scene, and a torture sequence involving dental extractions.

How Oh Dae-Su finds people and how people find Oh Dae-Su is pretty confused. There's a vague sense that those tormenting Oh Dae-Su are evil masterminds à la James Bond. They have gangster connections and there's a posh huge penthouse at the end. But our hero seems to have been held in a kind of rent-a-jail cell, and whoever ordered up this treatment was apparently connected with something more mundane than Goldfinger: simply a schoolmate who bears Oh Dae-Su an obscure grudge. When the school enemy appears, if I've got this right, he seems to be a decade or two Oh Dae-Su's junior. Does it matter? Well, cultists of the movie will want to explain everything. But not rest of us, because the people aren't real or specific enough for us to care. Choi Min Sik's a gnarly little dynamo (his wacko behavior fits better here than it did in the artistic biography Chihwaseon) and his nemesis is a tall, cool, godlike personage. That's the point. The contrast is enough.

Oldboy has hints of Tarantino and Tarantino's Asian martial arts sources, but although there's a lot of dialog, as far as one can tell the talk is very far from Pulp Fiction's priceless exchanges.

You think the idea's unique -- imagine being locked up for fifteen years without explanation -- but then you realize it's not only what happened to Victor Hugo's Jean Valjean, but essentially what happens to a lot of black men in America, only then it isn't the beginning of a hip nightmare film. The imprisonment of black men is the real tale of society's revenge on an undeserving minority, but Oldboy's maniacal and inexplicable personal revenge of one middle class man on another has no social significance; worse yet, it never acquires an emotional one.

Director Park Chan Wook is a director to reckon with -- some of Oldboy's sequences are hard to forget -- and he's found a worthy star in Choi Min Sik. But this disturbing, violent movie is clever without being intelligent.

One of the most gripping movies I have ever seen

[LoneWolfAndCub · 10/10 · 4 March 2007]

Oldboy is one of the most intense movies you will ever see. Breathtaking, brutal and easily one of the best revenge movies ever made. The acting is amazing, especially Choi as the main protagonist Dae-su Oh. All the actors did great but his performance was powerful and emotional (all you need to do is see the infamous squid scene). Chan-wook Park gives this movie a very unique style with his direction. The plot starts off like a fairly standard revenge drama but he slowly makes the movie darker through a series of beautifully shot flashbacks and a huge scene involving nothing but a family photo album.

If you can't handle extremely strong violence, torture, sex and language and can't stand subtitles it's best you stay far away from Oldboy....if you can, though, then watch it! It's an incredible movie with some of the best performances, a moving score and a disturbing but unique plot with twist after twist.

5/5

Ugh.

[chris-2512 · 6/10 · 2 August 2005]

I saw Old Boy on a grey market DVD about half a year ago and fell asleep during the first twenty minutes. Since then, my friends have literally been begging me to see it to the end, so this Saturday I watched it on the big screen where I had no chance of escape.

Boy was that a mistake. Old Boy is by turns idiotic, horrendous and senselessly violent. It lacks the glee of the most basic revenge film. Even Kill Squad did it better.

Old Boy simply has no point to speak of. My question is: How did the director and scriptwriter screw up a revenge thriller?

Old Boy is very reminiscent of Takashi Miike's far superior Ichi the Killer. The difference between Ichi and Old Boy is one of extremes. Both films revolve around extracting brutal revenge. In this film, the eponymous hero seeks vengeance for fifteen years of imprisonment in a hotel room. In Ichi, Kakihari, a Yakuza enforcer, must track down his kidnapped Boss who may or may not be dead. Both Kakihari and Old Boy use torture to achieve their ends, but in Ichi the violence is committed by such dedicated sadists that it transcends itself and becomes Dionysian. Thusly, Ichi is far more violent than Old Boy, but far more aware. In Old Boy, the violence does nothing but communicate itself as alternately grotesque and depressing.

The end of this film is so unbelievable that it made me wonder why they didn't just let a seven year old rewrite it. It was that bad. If you thought the end of Ichi was head-scratching, wait until you see this one. You will feel so betrayed by Old Boy's cop-out you may never want to see another South Korean film again.

I think the ridiculous praise this film received (Ebert and Tarantino included) happened because NO ONE was comfortable recommending Ichi. Additionally, Ichi was not distributed theatrically in Ontario (Where I live) and was for a period, even banned.

Ichi is a more violent, more difficult film, but it's rewards are far greater than this misdirected piece of trash. How this film ended up at Cannes is beyond me. I think it was because of the reputation of Park Chan's much better "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance".

Most likely, nothing I'm going to write here is going to prevent the curious from seeing this film. But if you feel like your time was wasted, don't tell me I didn't warn you.

This was what all the fuss was about?

[thomas196x2000 · 3/10 · 15 October 2006]

I don't go to see a lot of movies anymore, despite the fact that when younger I would see easily 5 movies a week, two or three at the movies and the same in rentals.

Now, I usually only go to the theaters a few times a year for something special, and when I see an interesting DVD, I just buy it, I don't rent.

So, somehow I came across this film when reading things online and noticed a very high Rottentomatoes.com rating. (that should have told me something right there).

The "Kafkaesque" description intrigued me. A guy wakes up in a prison, everything is controlled, and literally years go by. He is framed for his wife's murder. Why? At first, the dubbing seemed distracting, a little too "bright", but I got used to it. In fact, right away, you could see a lot of effort when into the camera work for this film, and the music. It was compelling.

The story starts to slip when the guy gets out of the prison. First, this guy is hard to look at, just kind of wacky. He refuses to listen to another man (had he just been released too???) and when that man falls to his death, it is done for comic effect. I started thinking, uh oh.

Next, he meets a young woman and eats a live octopus. Not clear why. Perhaps a metaphor that those with the power will consume the lives of those that they can dominate. See, I remember film school too.

Anyways, the absurdity of why this guy was locked up, and who is really seeking revenge on who are plot details better left unsaid, but are actually quite disgusting. In fact, this movie is nothing like what I thought it would be.

I thought there would be a lot of stylized action. Either the director doesn't know how to stage action, or I don't know what. There could have been a great fight sequence at the beginning with the young punks, but the camera just turns away. Later, at the "big fight scene", Oh fights off literally dozens of guys with sticks, armed with only a hammer. There is no fight choreography, no real action, just a slow camera track. Oh is no fighter, but somehow beats up all on-comers, often not really connecting with them but they fall over anyways. At one point he is beaten down but just keeps going in a very odd fashion.

At another potential fight sequence, he is simply pushed down by another gangster, and cannot even coordinate standing back up again. By this time, I knew there was not going to be too much action by this guy.

This is not an action film. There is plenty of blood and guts, and the "twist ending" comes way before the end of the film. The lead character is so degraded, he begins to degrade himself. And when his ex-best friend laughs at how silly he behaves in his self-degradation, his laughing and attitude makes no connection to what he does to himself in the elevator a few minutes later. If this is all he had to live for, why not lock the guy up again? Here are the problems I have:

1) At some points, Oh can kill 50 people at once; the next scene, one guy can overpower him.

2) What's the point of the film? Incest is OK as long as you shut up about it?

3) Why would OH make the choice he did at the end, knowing who the girl is?

4) Doesn't a normal restaurant delivery service question bringing tons of food every day to a building that has rooms and screaming coming from it?

5) Wouldn't you eventually die after being gassed every night?

6) Hypnotism has limited powers, and only on people who WANT to be hypnotized. By now, everyone over the age of 10 knows that, so what was the deal here?

7) I don't buy films where the good guy or the bad guy are in some way omnipotent. Or where a character has to have chosen an exact path from a whole series of variables to arrive at the outcome that the other parties--and the script...are expecting. This was the problem with films such as Arlington Road, Seven, The Game, and dozens of other titles. I believe it is a result of lazy or untalented writing.

8) Never, ever go see a movie that Quentin Tarantino recommends!

So, if you thought this film might have great action, forget it. Martial arts fighting? No. A decent story? Uh uh. Nice shots of the mountains at the end? Yes.

More people need to see this film!

[JagsFanJay · 10/10 · 15 August 2007]

In an age of American cinema where our biggest blockbusters are based on films already successful overseas, this is one movie that needs to be seen by more American movie goers. This is the movie that got me hooked on Asian revenge films. Oldboy is an original movie that shows what happens when a man's freedom is taken away and he doesn't know why, or by whom. He is sudden thrust back into society where he must track down the person that took away his freedom. Along the way come multiple plot twist and surprises that you just don't see coming.

It's a shame so many American film goers refuse to see foreign films, because this movie is genius. Who knows, maybe someday the movie will get remade for audiences here in the U.S. and the main character will be played by Mel Gibson or Bruce Willis. If you want to stay true to the Asian vision, I even think Jackie Chan could be a candidate.