Oldboy

My favourite movie. This has so much fighting in it that I don't know what to do, and Choi Min-Sik has become one of my favourite actors. This film is BRUTAL

This is a movie you should know at best nothing about before watching. It is worth it.

A masterpiece of a movie.... a story about revenge. A man is imprisoned for 15 years and randomly set free. He has 5 days to find his captors.... and this is when the story begins. A crescendo of violence, intimidation, and investigation into the past in order to uncover this mystery person. This movie is so much deeper then revenge but more so about the consequences of our actions past and present and how they impact others. This movie is layered and it’s wonderful watching it reveal itself. Great cinematography. If you like gritty thrillers this is a must watch. I loved it!

How have I only just watched this film? Absolutely breathtaking. The corridor fight scene, all shot in one take, is masterfully choreographed. I haven't seen the remake yet, but something tells me, it won't be a patch on this. Just watch it.

ten!

"Oldboy" is a messed-up double revenge story that never holds back and takes risks over compromises. Instead of the slightly more realistic, social critique-oriented approach of "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance", Park Chan-Wook goes for an overly stylized, pulpy but elegant approach here, almost to retain some kind of connection with the Japanese manga the film is loosely based on. It feels silly and caricatural at first, but things get more and more engaging after you start connecting the dots and noticing how each shot is carefully constructed, how the action scenes are tastefully choreographed, how inventive ad original the mise-en-scene is every time. The mystery behind Dae-su's captivity is what drives the whole narrative, but the stylish visuals are enough alone to keep you engaged on multiple views.

The film also goes full crescendo in its last thirty minutes, offering some of the most intense and emotionally impactful endings yet. There are shocking twists and glimpses of grotesque violence here and there, but the elaborated cinematography suggests that it's not only about mere shock value. It's not a film for everyone, but aside a couple of convoluted plot points during the investigation, there is literally nothing I would fix.

About the final twist: I thought the film purposely hinted at Mi-do being Dae-su's daughter from the very beginning. My suspects started as soon as they ask each other if they had met somewhere before, but I kind of dropped the idea of it after they have sex. You wouldn't expect such a film to get that far. Even though the reveal wasn't a huge surprise, it was still unbearably painful to watch. Not to mention the way Dae-su decides to solve the problem.

I have committed an unforgivable sin. How in the world did it take me so long to watch this film? I feel like such a fool. It's very rare that I find a film lives up to all the hype and acclaim, but Oldboy certainly does. Phenomenal stuff. The twist at the end is one of the most shocking in cinema history.

best revenge movie of all time, and one of the best films ever made. Perfect in nearly every way, my favorite film as of writing this.

Oldboy is a fantastic original revenge movie with a gritty tone and some hard to watch scenes. Now that's what I call a revenge movie.

If you are looking for a movie to screw with your head then I highly recommend this one. I didn't read the movie synopsis so it had a really disturbing and unsettling impact on me. Well done for creating such an emotional response. Worth viewing. A big 10 from me. Now I need a Valium to calm my nerves.