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Oldboy
  • Studio: Tartan
  • Release Date: Mar 25, 2005
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Metascore
74 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 31 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.7 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 159 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Starring: Hye-jeong Kang, Ji-tae Yu, Min-sik Choi
  • Summary: Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is an ordinary Seoul businessman with a wife and little daughter who, after a drunken night on the town, is locked up in a strange, private "prison." No one will tell him why he's there or who his jailer is. The imprisonment last for 15 years until one day when Dae-su finds himself unexpectedly deposited on a grass-covered high-rise roof, determined to discover the mysterious enemy who had him locked up. (Tartan Films)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 31
  3. Negative: 1 out of 31
  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    Oldboy is a powerful film not because of what it depicts, but because of the depths of the human heart which it strips bare.
  2. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: Anthony Lane
    60
    Oldboy has the fatal air of wanting so desperately to be a cult movie that it forgets to present itself as a coherent one.
  3. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    10
    Put simply, in my humble opinion, Oldboy sucks.

See all 31 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 76 out of 83
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 83
  3. Negative: 5 out of 83
  1. ZiggyStardust
    10
    I read critics of people who try to explain that this movie has flaws, that Park Chan-wook is overrated or that this movie's a load of bull. Then I learn what movies they like and it all makes sense. This movie is one of the very few masterpieces that exist in human history. If you don't like this movie or if you think you see a flaw then I ask you to watch again and again and again ad infinitum. Maybe you'll learn of its beauty somewhen.… Expand
    • 2 of 2 users said yes
  2. grandpajoe6191
    9
    "Oldboy", a Korean revenge thriller, differs from those western revenge films such as "Kill Bill", "Machete", or "Inglourious Basterds". It doesn't use sword and blood to define revenge, but thought provoking words and tension between the main characters. It's a 'revenge' movie that builds itself unlike other revenge movies.… Expand
    • 5 of 5 users said yes
  3. BobA.
    2
    After a thrilling, original premise, we take a two hour trip down mystery lane toward an incredibly unsatisfying solution. The filmmakers must have known this, when they decided to throw in another twist at the end (done to shock us on a pretty shallow level) since the original puzzle solution wasn't worth 2 hours.… Expand
    • 0 of 6 users said yes

See all 83 User Reviews

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