Exults in its own audaciousness, in its abandonment of convention and flaunting of unexpected intelligence.
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04/08/05
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Oldboy (2005)
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Reviews Counted:118
Fresh:96
Rotten:22
Average Rating:7.3/10
Consensus: A strange, powerful tale of revenge.
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Reviews for Oldboy
A movie that can leave you lost, repulsed, fascinated and ultimately chastened.
04/08/05
Top CriticIt is brutally epic.
04/08/05
The climax depends on knowing that justice -- bizarre or practical, deserved or excessive -- is done.
04/08/05
Oldboy is a true-to-form sendup of grittier, more lurid manga fare. This is good news for die-hard fans of the form and teeth-gritting torture for those who are not.
04/08/05
Tantalizes and tortures you as it lures you into its mysterious vortex.
04/07/05
Top CriticDirector Park Chanwook forces us to feel Oh Dae-su's pent-up rage and obsession with revenge, making us complicit when he acts out.
04/07/05
Top CriticUnsettling, terrifying film weaves a tale of revenge.
04/07/05
Unsettling, terrifying film weaves a tale of revenge.
04/07/05
Reaps its full portion of machismo's horrors and hosannas.
04/07/05
As ludicrously complex and silly as any of Brian De Palma's worst thrillers...suffers from an excess of filmmaking brawn and a lack of brains.
04/06/05
May be a cinematic highlight right now, but it is destined to become a classic in years ahead.
04/02/05
If you can handle it, Oldboy is a unique film that challenges the viewer both mentally and physically.
04/01/05
A dark and psychologically discomfiting drama of abstract action and horror.
03/31/05
Like the swift blow of a hammer to the skull, the film shocks with blunt violence, and leaves a lasting impression.
03/29/05
The director's Fincher-esque style may finally beat out intellectual substance, but it's a fair fight, grounded in the existential horror of essential emotional truths.
03/28/05
A major Korean film with extreme, though not gratuitous, violence, a whodunit with a surprising Freudian turn.
03/27/05
You will either feel mollified by the hysterically moral denouement or feel offended by the filmmaker's strategy of debasement, which reduces the audience to the mongrel-like prostration of its protagonist.
03/26/05
Top CriticIt's a grand, gritty, indelible experience.
03/26/05
Top CriticIt is not a pleasant movie, but it's close to a great one.
03/25/05
Latest News for Oldboy
November 10, 2009:
Oldboy Remake Rumored Dead 
Is the Steven Spielberg/Will Smith "Oldboy" remake dead? That's the inside scoop from sources at Latino Review. More...
June 29, 2009:
Oldboy Remake Slowed by Legal Battle
Despite a behind-the-scenes legal tangle involving a pair of production companies that no longer exist, Will Smith and Steven Spielberg's planned "Oldboy" remake continues to... More...
May 24, 2009:
Cannes 2009: The Tomato Report - Haneke's The White Ribbon Scoops Palme d’Or
Michael Haneke took Cannes' top honour tonight as his film, The White Ribbon, won the prestigious Palme d'Or. It's Haneke's third major Cannes prize but his first Palme d'Or.... More...
May 15, 2009:
Cannes 2009: The Tomato Report – Thirst’s Vampires Descend on the Croisette
Park Chan-wook is best known for his exceptional Vengeance Trilogy -- Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance -- three blood-soaked, expertly drawn films that... More...
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