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So, I just watched Oldboy!
- Thread starter The Take Out Bandit
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iamaustrian
Member
Laugh and the world laughs with you
weep and you weep alone
never before truer words were spoken
I <3 Oldboy
weep and you weep alone
never before truer words were spoken
I <3 Oldboy
Oldboy is still my favorite in the "trilogy". Lady Vengeance receives hate I don't think it deserves. The outcome of that film I found to be incredibly interesting and reminded me somewhat of a old Kurosawa film. I guess the film's biggest problem is being less gruesome than the other films.
I'm not going to start comparing Asian filmmakers to one another yet. Park is the only one to this point capable of translating himself well to American audiences thanks to his sense of visual style. There are still several other ones who are making great enjoyable films.
I'm not going to start comparing Asian filmmakers to one another yet. Park is the only one to this point capable of translating himself well to American audiences thanks to his sense of visual style. There are still several other ones who are making great enjoyable films.
OpinionatedCyborg
Member
Overrated? Hah. Oldboy's gone from being incredibly overrated to being shit on at every turn. I suppose a lot of people who thought it was a profoundly deep film have realized how full of shit they were and flipped sides completely.
I simply found it incredibly entertaining. I won't bother with a summary of what makes it so great - I'll just say that, like many Korean films, it uses Vivaldi perfectly, and there are two scenes involving teeth that will stay with me forever. They're fucking awesome.
Really cool and fun thriller that gets a bit silly at the end... don't worry about it. This movie's not supposed to change your life.
I simply found it incredibly entertaining. I won't bother with a summary of what makes it so great - I'll just say that, like many Korean films, it uses Vivaldi perfectly, and there are two scenes involving teeth that will stay with me forever. They're fucking awesome.
Really cool and fun thriller that gets a bit silly at the end... don't worry about it. This movie's not supposed to change your life.
The Take Out Bandit
Member
exarkun said:
It really wasn't quite that stunning IMO.
When we meet Oh, he's a belligerent drunk.
When he's imprisoned, he's a belligerent twat with delusions of grandeur.
When he gets released and we initially learn he was imprisoned "Because you talk too much", I was like. . . Okay! Where's the problem? He's an asshole that deserved a 15 year time out. Granted, the killing the wife part seemed odd; but made sense within the context of what I've seen thus far.
Then finding out he was imprisoned because of a school yard grudge is where it felt tacked on, that combined with trying to present me with a slightly more sympathetic; but not by very much Oh Dae Su. :|
When he's imprisoned, he's a belligerent twat with delusions of grandeur.
When he gets released and we initially learn he was imprisoned "Because you talk too much", I was like. . . Okay! Where's the problem? He's an asshole that deserved a 15 year time out. Granted, the killing the wife part seemed odd; but made sense within the context of what I've seen thus far.
Then finding out he was imprisoned because of a school yard grudge is where it felt tacked on, that combined with trying to present me with a slightly more sympathetic; but not by very much Oh Dae Su. :|
I have to agree very much with the folks that state the movie is very uneven. From a storytelling angle, I really think they needed to develop characters more, and include more threads.
I suspect part of what gives away the "shocking reveal" is that they only establish him and his daughter as characters at the start of the movie.
I also find the "don't recognize this person" crap odd. I recently ran into someone I haven't met in. . . 13 years, and after about 5 minutes of waiting in line behind this person we both remembered who the other person was.
Krev said:
The Host is not by any means better than OldBoy.
Memories of Murder is, though, and Barking Dogs Never Bite sounds awesome. Wish it were actually available somewhere.
Edit:
Vard said:
Wait, wait wait! Where can I get my hands on this? I've been looking for a while now!
With the remake being based on the manga, you don't have to worry about the twists in the film being duplicated. It's been awhile since I read it, but as I recall there's no octopus, there's no hammer, there's no
and the bad guy is mad because
incest
the main guy remembered him from back when they were in 6th grade, and they had to sing songs. The bad guy wanted to go unnoticed, but the main guy wept or something, and so years later the bad guy had him imprisoned for years. Yes, really. No sister incest plot point.
I saw this recently and up until the end i was starting to wonder what made this movie worth mentioning. If it wasnt for the twist at the end, i wouldve considered this movie terrible, but the twist saved it IMO.
I dont understand how the twist and the end was so perfectly captured, yet the rest of the movie just seemed so.....out of place. It almost seemed like 2 people directed this movie.
What are these Vengeance movies you guys speak of? Is it in the same line of this movie where theres a twist at the end? I like those kinds of movies. I only saw this coz i remember seeing a thread about it here.
I dont understand how the twist and the end was so perfectly captured, yet the rest of the movie just seemed so.....out of place. It almost seemed like 2 people directed this movie.
What are these Vengeance movies you guys speak of? Is it in the same line of this movie where theres a twist at the end? I like those kinds of movies. I only saw this coz i remember seeing a thread about it here.
Feenix29 said:
Mr. Vengeance > Lady Vengeance > Oldboy.
... But Mr. Vengeance can be really hard to get in to. It's really slow paced movie and takes while untill something happens. Lady Vengeance dont have a twist at least not in magnitude of Oldboy or even Mr. Vengeance. Still Mr. V is my favorite of the trio. It't shows how vicious the cycle of vengeance can be
Dirtyshubb
Member
"Be it a rock or a grain of sand, in water they sink as the same."The Take Out Bandit said:
That was the whole point, it may have been something that seemed rather trivial in the first place but the ramifications it had were huge and thus it still had a profound impact on Woo-jin Lee's life.
Park Chan Wook has got to be one of the greatest cinematographers now....really reminds of Stanley Kubrick in some respects, even if you dont like the movie its still damn pretty...
btw my ranking of the vengeance series
Oldboy>=LadyVengeance>>>>>>>>>>>>>Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance was way to hardcore for me, I have trouble with drawn out torture scenes and they're plentiful in this movie. Yeah really didnt like it at all.
Also Park Chan Wooks film in 3 Extremes is also cool, didnt like the torture, but damned if it wasnt pretty
btw my ranking of the vengeance series
Oldboy>=LadyVengeance>>>>>>>>>>>>>Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance was way to hardcore for me, I have trouble with drawn out torture scenes and they're plentiful in this movie. Yeah really didnt like it at all.
Also Park Chan Wooks film in 3 Extremes is also cool, didnt like the torture, but damned if it wasnt pretty
I dont watch Star Trek, what is the point of your post?teepo said:
Thanks, will watch it later on.CiSTM said:Mr. Vengeance > Lady Vengeance > Oldboy.
... But Mr. Vengeance can be really hard to get in to. It's really slow paced movie and takes while untill something happens. Lady Vengeance dont have a twist at least not in magnitude of Oldboy or even Mr. Vengeance. Still Mr. V is my favorite of the trio. It't shows how vicious the cycle of vengeance can be
stupei said:
I had to buy it from Ebay. Yesasia.com has some copies every now and then but mostly Hong Kong editions (poor picture/sound). I'd say ebay.com is your best option.
Here is one right away
edit: CDWOW.com seems to have it too.
I really hope they don't remake all of Park's movies. It sounds like a cruel joke.
http://movies.ign.com/articles/984/984840p1.htmlIGN said:
So i just watched Sympathy for Mr Vengeance.....
Holy fuck you werent kidding about the pacing of this movie. This movie was fucking slow as hell and did not need to be 2 hours long. This movie couldve been done in an hours time and still had the same effect. There was so many pointless and dragged out scenes. There was no likable characters in this movie and so little dialogue that it felt like i was watching a silent film. To put it in short, i didnt like it.
Atleast Oldboy had the twist at the end to save it.
Is Lady Vengeance like this coz i dont know if i want to finish this trilogy now. For those that like Oldboy over Mr Vengeance, should i still watch the Lady one?
CiSTM said:Mr. Vengeance > Lady Vengeance > Oldboy.
... But Mr. Vengeance can be really hard to get in to. It's really slow paced movie and takes while untill something happens. It't shows how vicious the cycle of vengeance can be
Holy fuck you werent kidding about the pacing of this movie. This movie was fucking slow as hell and did not need to be 2 hours long. This movie couldve been done in an hours time and still had the same effect. There was so many pointless and dragged out scenes. There was no likable characters in this movie and so little dialogue that it felt like i was watching a silent film. To put it in short, i didnt like it.
Atleast Oldboy had the twist at the end to save it.
Is Lady Vengeance like this coz i dont know if i want to finish this trilogy now. For those that like Oldboy over Mr Vengeance, should i still watch the Lady one?
OpinionatedCyborg
Member
Yeah, Mr. Vengeance is really beautiful to look at, but it's drawn out so slowly and it's incredibly depressing and agonizing. Not an enjoyable experience, but I still found it worthwhile.Feenix29 said:
Feenix29 said:
To attempt to answer your question: Lady Vengeance is very different from the other too. It takes a while to get going, not because it's slow like Mr. Vengeance, but rather because it is told in a deliberately disjointed fashion and so it takes a while to really get settled and know what's going on. But it doesn't really ever lack for action or things going on. It really has more beats and plot points than either of the two films, or maybe even both of them put together. It might have too much going on, but that's another matter entirely.
Don't know if that helps with your decision, though.
I have seen all three and I do think Oldboy is the best, yeah it is the accessible and has action scenes but I still think the story and characters were the best as well.
I have heard many people say Lady Vengeance is the best, I disagree, I thought it was the worst, although all are worth watching.
The director's latest movie (Thrist) has come out recently, I know it is playing in Chicago this weekend, I plan on seeing it.
I have heard many people say Lady Vengeance is the best, I disagree, I thought it was the worst, although all are worth watching.
The director's latest movie (Thrist) has come out recently, I know it is playing in Chicago this weekend, I plan on seeing it.
The Take Out Bandit
Member
Dirtyshubb said:
That's the thing
On paper, I can appreciate a character that holds a stupid grudge for years. I do. This just lacked any character you'd want to root for, which is fine as an experiment; but not my cup of tea. I prefer having a character that's polarizing one way or the other and then you decide from there.
UnluckyKate
Member
The hammer + corridor scene is one of the best I've seen in any movie I saw in my life
LocoMrPollock
Banned
I don't get the love for this movie. Is it just all the incest that makes Gaf love it?
BobsRevenge
I do not avoid women, GAF, but I do deny them my essence.
I thought the twist was absolutely hilarious. I was watching it alone and I still laughed out loud.
I believe I even said "nice."
I believe I even said "nice."
D
Deleted member 8095
Unconfirmed Member
One of Gaf's most overrated movies.
Fake edit: In before "you just don't get it."
Fake edit: In before "you just don't get it."
polyh3dron
Banned
You just don't get it
Anasui Kishibe
Banned
Tom Penny said:
yeah, it's pretty much one big laugh after another
polyh3dron
Banned
It's The Feel-Good Movie Of The Year!Tom Penny said:
It's a an okay thriller with some very cool cinematography and some shocking moments. Objectively speaking, I don't think this movie is a "classic", or would rank anywhere near as high as something like "Seven". If this was an American film, I have a feeling people would be ridiculing the plot twist as much as they did for The Orphan. However, the fact that it's a foreign film makes it more palatable. Its quirkiness and craziness is easier to accept when you've convinced yourself it is somehow amplified by the cultural divide. Subjectively speaking, I love this movie for exactly all those things I said above. It's shocking. It looks AMAZING (Hallway fight scene <3). It's foreign. It's unique. I will love this movie 'till the day I die.
It is overrated. GAF has a love affair with foreign films. But I do too. When the Western film market is saturated with shitty sequels, predictable cliche endings, character archetypes, and actor roles who do not contribute anything to the story but sexual appeal, foreign films are a breath of fresh air.
It is overrated. GAF has a love affair with foreign films. But I do too. When the Western film market is saturated with shitty sequels, predictable cliche endings, character archetypes, and actor roles who do not contribute anything to the story but sexual appeal, foreign films are a breath of fresh air.
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