Oldboy

2013 • 103 minutes
3.7
1.12K reviews
39%
Tomatometer
R
Rating
Eligible
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About this movie

Oldboy follows the story of an advertising executive (Josh Brolin) who is kidnapped and held hostage for 20 years in solitary confinement without any indication of his captor's motive. When he is inexplicably released, he embarks on an obsessive mission to discover who orchestrated his bizarre and torturous punishment only to find he is still trapped in a web of conspiracy and torment. His quest for revenge leads him into an ill-fated relationship with a young social worker (Elizabeth Olsen) and ultimately to an illusive man (Sharlto Copley) who allegedly holds the key to his salvation.
Rating
R

Ratings and reviews

3.7
1.12K reviews
Nathan Cunningham
March 17, 2014
I've never heard of the original movie that this flim was based on but i found parts of this movie to be good and some of it like what the hell. J. Brolin does a good job at acting in this but not on the level of "No Country For Old Men". I loved that his weapon of choice was a hammer and there are some excellent fight scenes where he takes down a couple dozen guys with just his hands and hammer. The story it's self is good for the most part and I think they could've done alittle more but overall I'm giving it 4 stars since I like strange thrillers with crazy fight scenes.
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Justin Dory
April 28, 2015
OK so everyone pumps up the original version of this flick like it was an epic and spectacular movie but I'll be honest it took me four nights to watch that pile of garbage because I kept falling asleep. So many people talk it up and I just don't get it. This movie isn't perfect by any stretch but it has some really cool twists and turns you won't see in any other movie. The fight scene where he fights off twenty some guys is absurd I'll admit, but I can name a dozen movies with similarly ridiculous scenes.
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jason hood
March 15, 2014
This remake was the equivalent of Turkish Rambo from the 80s. The original was a psychological thriller that was underpinned with a sense of plausibility that drew you into the film. The violence in the Korean film was used to camouflage the psychological revenge, which was much more painful than the beatings Oh Dae-su received. Spike Lee tried to use violence to cover his lack ability in this genre of film. The hammer fight scene in the original was realistic because of the restriction on firearms in Korea, not just used for gratuitous gore. Not saying that machine guns everywhere are realistic, but a sophisticated criminal organization fighting with boards and knives is pretty far out there. I have three guns in my house and they can't find one? And why were the bad guys dressed like they just came from the set of The Warriors? I never once felt as if this could really have happened, which is what made the original great. Spike Lee should beg Park Chan Wook for forgiveness and Josh Brolin could use acting lessons from Choi Min Sik.
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