Oldboy [Blu-ray] | ![Oldboy [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51EDCVxuFqL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Chan-wook Park
Actors: Min-sik Choi, Ji-tae Yu, Hye-jeong Kang, Dae-han Ji, Dal-su Oh
Studio: Tartan Video USA
Category: DVD
List Price: $34.99
Buy New: $12.24
You Save: $22.75 (65%)
New (30) Used (8) from $12.24
Rating:  212 reviews
Sales Rank: 6575
Format: Color
Languages: Korean (Original Language), English (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: Blu-ray
Region: 1
Discs: 2
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Running Time: 120 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 5.3 x 0.5
MPN: GEPBRTVD7004
UPC: 842498070048
EAN: 0842498070048
ASIN: B000V6I7WG
Theatrical Release Date: 2003
Release Date: November 6, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Genius Products Inc Release Date: 11/06/2007 Run time: 120 minutes Rating: R
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
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 212
 Creative Thriller September 5, 2010
Victor R. Negrin (Atlanta, GA USA)
This is a different, interesting story that will keep your attention throughout the whole movie. Great thriller.
You also need to check out the other two vengeance movies that partner this one: Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Sympathy for 'Lady Vengeance'. Great director Chan-wook Park with three great movies.
Blu-Ray Technical Specs July 21, 2010
Andrew J. Beauto (Tucson, AZ)
Oldboy [Blu-ray]
Feature film Blu-Ray technical specifications (Region 1):
Video: 1080p
Audio:
* Korean dts-HD Master Audio 7.1
* Korean Dolby Digital-EX 5.1
* Korean Dolby Digital 2.0
* English Dolby Digital 5.1
* English Dolby Digital 2.0
I'm hopeful that someday Amazon's specifications listings will become more useful.
Coughing up blood... July 13, 2010
Andrew Ellington (I'm kind of everywhere)
`Oldeuboi' tells the twisted tale of a man named Dae-su Oh who is imprisoned for fifteen years with no understanding as to why only to be released suddenly, left to ponder the realities of his situation while seeking unlawful revenge on the man who stole such a large chunk of his life from him.
I don't even want to begin to hint at the films final revelations, for they are best served as a complete surprise.
Oh, but how delicious is heated debate, so I'm going to do my best to elaborate as ambiguously as possible here.
The film is a total morality tale, but it is, in the end, something completely devoid of all morals. The character of Dae-su Oh is a drunk and a disorderly man (as witnessed by the opening scene as well as by news reports overheard shortly thereafter). He has left a long trail of enemies (he himself finds it most difficult to narrow down the list of suspects in his search for his captor) and has cataloged a long list of personal failings on his part. He is, as he put it himself, nothing more than a beast. The thing is, when all is said and done, Dae-su Oh seems very human to the audience. When you take someone who is reportedly undesirable and then do awful things to them they become somewhat sympathetic, don't they? If you doubt my words then ask yourself why you don't hate him when the credits begin to roll, because you know why he did what he did and it should repulse you. Another thing I find simply remarkable is the `reason' for which all of these things take place is not anything that Dae-su Oh even recalls. As his aggressor puts it, it wasn't important to him and so he simply forgot; end of discussion. The fact that it wasn't of any importance to Dae-su Oh is something of grave importance for it outlines the very fact that our actions, no matter how innocent in texture, have lasting and at times devastating outcomes.
But then again, it's not like Dae-su Oh is completely to blame for that tragedy.
If you are reading this and have as of yet to see this remarkable film, watch it tonight.
The film could be (ignorantly) labeled an action film. Well, it is one to a certain extent, but Chan-wook Park really proves that there is no bounds to the amount of emotional depth one can heap upon a certain genre. Not many action films contain this much poignancy and remain this harrowing. The action scenes (which can get ridiculously brutal) are perfectly balanced in tone to never once convey a sense of surrealism. This film is very real. The violence is handled with care to remain something feasible. The film never dips into CGI mode (thank the heavens). The acting is also a standout. The lead performance, delivered by Min-sik Choi, is so layered it is unforgettable (especially that breakdown sequence with the whole `dog' transformation). Yes, he is angry and vengeful, but he is never one-note. The amount of emotional transference noted in a single facial expression is bountiful.
The final reveal in `Oldeuboi' is heart stopping and it may leave a sour taste in your mouth, but it is all par for the course and serves as an unforgettable way to make a lasting impression, and raise very complex question:
"And now... now, what joy will I have left to live for?"
"Whether it be a grain of sand or a rock, in water they both sink alike" May 26, 2010
Steven Stewart (Liverpool)
A movie driven by madness is the shortest and best way I can sum up this film as it seems to be a plot focusing around which man can be the most insane; the one seeking revenge against his captor or the one who has done the capturing. I will need to be careful as the way the film's structured, in order to really tell anything of the story, I may have to spoil a few important moments of the movie so you have been warned.
The story focuses around a man known as Dea-Su who, at the start of the film is seen drunk, being held at a police station waiting for his friend to pick him up and take him home. Suddenly Dae-Su goes missing and wakes up a few days later locked in a room with no knowledge or where he is or why he's there. He is locked in captivity for 15 years and is released without warning. Driven mad by his own solitary confinement, upon release he immediately sets upon a mission to find his captor and discover the reason for his imprisonment.
While out he encounters a young girl named Mi-do, a sushi chef who takes pity on him and brings him into her home as he has nowhere else to go. Dae-Su, discovers that his captor is an old school friend by the name Lee Woo-Jin and the reason behind the imprisonment is that Dae-Su never kept his mouth shut and spread a rumour that destroyed Woo-Jin's family. Driven by the passion for revenge against Dae-Su, he looks to destroy Dae-Su in the same way that the rumours destroyed him.
The film itself takes on a comic book style of storytelling, darting from one scene to the next whilst consistently narrating the story to explain exactly what's going on. The character of Dae-Su is a fairly complicated one, but turns into a sort of anti-hero movie as he moves from one depraved and sadistic act to the next in order to find the answer to the question of why. Park Chan-wook does a splendid job of directing this and it's something you can really get into, once you have become used to following the subtitles and the on-screen action simultaneously.
The acting is superb, especially that of Choi Min-Sik (Dae-Su) as he portrays a man driven mad by his captivity and his own passion for revenge superbly. The main antagonist, Lee Woo-Jin, played by Yu Ji-Tae is played so well, the character itself is as disturbing as I'm sure he was intended to appear. Almost too cool and calm to be the villain of the piece, I found myself expecting something more behind the whole scheme as he certainly did not initially appear to be the man who would be behind this torture of Dae-Su.
Overall, this is simply a masterpiece of Asian Cinema and it is unfortunate, in a way, that the only real way we would get movies this masterful in the west, is if they were independent films that would ultimately not get the exposure they would deserve because the premise and outcome of the film aren't commercial. The worst news possible, relating to this film, is that there was a planned American remake and would undoubtedly poison the brilliance of this absolute masterpiece by putting a pointlessly optimistic spin on the story. Thankfully, it doesn't look like this will be happening, so I would strongly recommend this for the purposes of witnessing brilliant storytelling very rarely seen.
Twisted Abyss of Bloodshed and Vengeance May 19, 2010
Roland Scott (New York)
Fantastic movie that surprises you at every turn. If you haven't seen it yet, what are you waiting for? There's a reason Spielberg wanted to remake this, but there's no need. It's perfect as is. The hammer sequence is jaw-droppingly cool, and this DVD is loaded (look for the 3-disc tin version though, it's out of print but a must own).
Showing reviews 1-5 of 212
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