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OldBoy
2003
A man is inexplicably kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years and his wife is brutally murdered. On his release, he is given a wallet full of money and a mobile phone. A stranger calls and asks him to try and figure out why he was imprisoned. A girl appears and promises to help him solve the enigma and seek revenge for his cruel .. Read more
| Starring | Kang Hye-jeong |
|---|---|
| Director | Chan-wook Park, Park Chan-Wook |
| Genres | Drama, Thriller, World Cinema |
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OldBoy
A man is inexplicably kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years and his wife is brutally murdered. On his release, he is given a wallet full of money and a mobile phone. A stranger calls and asks him to try and figure out why he was imprisoned. A girl appears and promises to help him solve the enigma and seek revenge for his cruel fate. A tense film of cat and mouse chase. Winner of the London Independent Film Awards 2004 and Winner of the Grand Prix in Cannes 2004.
| Starring | Kang Hye-jeong |
|---|---|
| Director | Chan-wook Park, Park Chan-Wook |
| Studio | PALISADES TARTAN |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 55 mins Blu-ray: 1 hr 55 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, Thriller, World Cinema |
| Language | DVD: Korean Blu-ray: Korean |
| Subtitles | DVD: English Blu-ray: English |
| Released | DVD: 28 Feb 2005 Blu-ray: 22 Oct 2007 Production year: 2003 |
| Format | DVD |
OldBoy (2003)
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Critics' reviews (4)
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Director Park Chan-wook demonstrated that his critically acclaimed Sympathy for Mr Vengeance was no flash in the pan when he received the Grand Prix at 2004's Cannes film festival for this mind-bending action thriller. Choi Min-sik plays the happily married father, who is kidnapped and incarcerated for no apparent reason. He's then horrified to discover that his wife has been murdered with himself as the principal suspect. Fifteen years of unexplained Kafka-esque detention follow. Suddenly, he wakes up to find himself free, and gets down to the serious business of vengeance by leaving a trail of blood and mayhem that would make Quentin Tarantino proud. Some viewers will be repulsed by scenes of self-mutilation and the most painful visit to the dentist since Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier's tête-a-tête in Marathon Man. However, Oldboy has more to offer than action and violence — it's an imaginative tale of guilt and revenge, with a shocking twist in the tale.
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Its easy to feel blasé about the steady stream of action-oriented movies from the Far East, but this latest... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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111 out of 123 people found this review helpful
Blew me away
I heard about this film out of the blue by listening to Mark Kermode talk about it. After that a few other people talked about it and one of the main praises for the film was the fight scenes. They were great but not realistic. Having said that the way it was shot was brillaint and i think the corridor fight scene was done all in one shot, i don't remember their being an edit. But it's the bizarre story that is best of all. The ending was obvious 3/4 of the way through so seemed dragged out when the guy finaly gives his reason for it all. But over all it was great and haven't seen anything like it before. Definatly in the top 3 films of 2004 of what i've seen.
If South Korea has anymore films like that, then i've been missing out and especialy you Tarintino fans. So i suggest you Tarintino lovers watch this film if you want to see gruesome torture. And if you want to know what i'm getting at, a guy having his ear cut off in Reservoir Dogs is soft compared to what happens in the OldBoy. This film is not for everyone. But if you seek originality and like being suprised by how far violence can go then you'll love this film. Not forgetting though that the best part of this film is how it gets the viewer to question if revenge is worth seeking. -
Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Horrific Violence, Both Mental and Physical
This film left me mentally drained after one scene of violence and torture after another. Even as the film ends, the mental torture continues. It is a film you will think about for a long time. I give the film 5 stars for a gripping storyline, originality and depth.
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News and features
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Voters select top foreign film
- 11 May 2007
A poll to find the most popular foreign-language films of all time has put touching drama Cinema Paradiso at number one. The survey conducted by and reported in the Guardian puts the Italian/French movie - which was originally released in 1989 - at the top, being the story of a film director who revisits his hometown and reminisces about a girl he fell in love with as a young man. French romantic comedy Amelie followed in second place, starring The Da Vinci Code actress Audrey Tautou as the... Read more
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- OldBoy - BLU-RAY Version
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Free Delivery - RRP £24.49 (you save: 47%)
A man is inexplicably kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years and his wife is brutally murdered. On his release, he is given a wallet full of money and a mobile phone. A stranger calls and asks him to ... -
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OldBoy
A man is inexplicably kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years and his wife is brutally murdered. On his release, he is given a wallet full of money and a mobile phone. A stranger calls and asks him to try and figure out why he was imprisoned. A girl appears and promises to help him solve the enigma ...
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