Oldboy (DVD)
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Oldboy isn’t a horror movie, but the horror community has embraced it wholeheartedly so it seems fitting that we at Horror.com should join the fray and review the DVD, which comes out tomorrow (August 23). (By the way, Oldboy director
Oldboy opens somewhat inauspiciously on a pudgy Korean businessman who is so sloshed he can hardly keep a hold of his daughter’s birthday present (a pair of wings, which later add to the film’s symbolic plot twists). Cursing and slurring while wildly gesturing, Oh Daesu (Choi Min-Sik) is released into the custody of a friend and on his way home. Or so he thinks. Oh Daesu is abruptly whisked off the street and held in a motel-motif prison for the next fifteen years.
Through the use of montage, we watch these 15 years ebb and flow, Oh Daesu never knowing why he was kidnapped and held. All he knows is, his wife was brutally murdered that fateful night and that the police have considered him the prime suspect ever since he turned up missing without a trace. Suddenly one day, Oh Daesu finds himself free — wearing a nice suit that has in its pockets a cellphone and a walletful of money.
I wish I could tell you more, because the elements that make Oldboy so gripping would be a delight to write about and explore, but to do that would load this review with spoilers and if you haven’t seen the movie I want you to discover it with as fresh an approach as possible.
The visceral, violent, emotionally complex Oldboy is filmed in a lush, color-noir style that brings to mind of a Martin Scorsese meets David Fincher style (even when sauntering into Quentin Tarantino Grand Gugnal, Park doesn’t bat an eye), and the attention to detail is flawless. Choi Min-Sik as Oh Daesu does an amazing job of showing the metamorphosis of a character that truly runs the gamut of every emotion in the human feelings handbook. Some of the CGI is below the gold standard and some of the action sequences are beyond believable, but it’s all in good, cold-blooded fun.
The DVD has the original Korean language track in Dolby Digital surround sound. There is also an English dubbed language track, but the actor used to dub Choi Min-sik doesn’t quite have the guttural growl that works so well for the character. I did listen to it for awhile with the English captions on, and found that the dubbed dialogue and what’s written don’t match very well.
Extra include a very technical audio commentary from the director, and cinematographer Chung Chung-hoon. There’s also a less-formal interview with the director which gives some insight to the characters and plot, plus a selection of deleted an alternate scenes (with optional commentary).
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson