X
- 2013
- R
- FilmDistrict
- 1 h 44 m
- 2013
- R
- FilmDistrict
- 1 h 44 m
Summary An advertising executive is kidnapped and held hostage for 20 years in solitary confinement. When he is inexplicably released, he embarks on an obsessive mission to discover who orchestrated his punishment, only to find he is still trapped in a web of conspiracy and torment. [Film District]
Directed By: Spike Lee
Written By: Mark Protosevich
- 2013
- R
- FilmDistrict
- 1 h 44 m
- 2013
- R
- FilmDistrict
- 1 h 44 m
Oldboy
49
4.4
Where to Watch
Summary An advertising executive is kidnapped and held hostage for 20 years in solitary confinement. When he is inexplicably released, he embarks on an obsessive mission to discover who orchestrated his punishment, only to find he is still trapped in a web of conspiracy and torment. [Film District]
Directed By: Spike Lee
Written By: Mark Protosevich
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 41 Critic Reviews
49
29% Positive
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
44% Mixed
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
27% Negative
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 41 Critic Reviews
49
29% Positive
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
44% Mixed
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
27% Negative
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
In the end, the most impressive performance may be Spike Lee's. He uses skill without gimmickry, flash without fuss, to tap the mesmerizing soul of this pulp.
Surprisingly, the movie doesn’t bear much of the stylistic stamp we’ve come to expect of Lee, who’s in his generic journeyman mode here. But aside from a satisfyingly clever new direction in the denouement, what distinguishes the remake from the original is its cartoonishness.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 178 User Ratings
4.4
28% Positive
50 Ratings
50 Ratings
31% Mixed
56 Ratings
56 Ratings
40% Negative
72 Ratings
72 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 178 User Ratings
4.4
28% Positive
50 Ratings
50 Ratings
31% Mixed
56 Ratings
56 Ratings
40% Negative
72 Ratings
72 Ratings
Awesome Spike Lee movie, with a wild twist at the end! Too bad it came out when other bigger movies were released, which resulted in low box office sales. Glad I found this one, favorite movie in long time!
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Everyone in the review section is a idiot. They're just hating on it because it's a remake.
This movie was great. I'll just leave it at that.
And IMO this stacks well with the orginal, I'll even say it does just about everything better.
Again don't listen to these but hurt idiots, they just can't take off their nostalgia goggles.
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Most normal people will not see this as a "pleasant" film -- I hope that's the case, anyway -- but it certain makes you feel something.
Spike Lee's remake of 2003's Oldboy is as brutally perplexing as the South Korean original, and needless for both its repetition and tweaks. Nothing is really lost in translation, or gained.
This one has its technical virtues, but it’s frankly kind of a muddle, and may have been doomed from the outset. I would divide the potential audience for Oldboy into two groups: Those who will be disappointed and those who will be bewildered.
The feel-bad movie of the holiday season, Spike Lee’s often-repellent Americanized reimagining of Korean director Chan-Wook Park’s twisty 2004 revenge thriller Oldboy is relentlessly gruesome, self-consciously shocking and pretty much pointless.
The longer it drags on, the sillier it gets. A preposterous narrative, illogical red herrings, trick endings, bad acting and—shazam! — Spike Lee turns into M. Night Shyamalan!
Incredible performance by Josh Brolin. Starts out as a despicable, disgusting drunkard, becomes a driven fighter searching for vengeance. The film does not try to really be believable, and yet it traps you in a vortex of pain and loss, until the very end, which does not disappoint.
Now i must watch the Korean original!
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One of my all time favorite world cinema is the Korean version of this movie. Remakes are okay, but some movies won't suit for recreation because of its masterpiece value, believing that won't come close for the second time. Just like Mona Lisa, Starry Night, Birth of Venus, The Last Supper and other arts, it should have left alone untouched. Like Japanese did, because it was their story after all. This American version was good, but very much commercialized with the fast pace approach kind of ruined. If I had not seen the original, probably I would have liked it. I knew the twist so I did not get the excitements in those parts. So those who are not familiar with the 2003 movie can definitely have a good time.
It was not a copycat from frame to frame, many things were altered in this movie. The most laughable was to see gangsters fighting with knives, hammers and bare-hand like the Korean style. What I know in American gangster theme is that they take a gun and bang bang. The first poster where Josh Brolin comes out of the large wooden box was kind of funny, gives the impression of a comedy movie. I liked Josh Brolin in 'Labor Day' and yet again he was not bad in this film except if you compare him with his counterpart from the Korean movie, Choi Min Shik. It is one of the best role he has ever played, sadly the movie was not recieved well due to many other reasons than him.
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It was more curious that other thing what made me watch it. It was interesting given the necessary changes that had to be made for occidental audience, that is accepted in oriental movies. Good remake, but it won´t be never as good as the original.
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Even for those who are able to stomach the various degrees of nastiness in Oldboy there is little to find but an underwhelming and pointless revenge thriller.
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The script and dialogue are terrible, this is easily Spike Lee's worst movie. If you want to waste your time, you will watch this movie, but if you really want to entertain yourself watch the original, this was without a doubt such an unnecessary remake. Like always Hollywood, spoiling everything.
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Production Company
FilmDistrict,
Good Universe,
Vertigo Entertainment,
40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks
Release Date Nov 27, 2013
Duration 1 h 44 m
Rating R
Tagline Ask not why you were imprisoned. Ask why you were set free.
Website
http://oldboyfilm.tumblr.com/
Awards
Acapulco Black Film Festival
• 2 Nominations
Golden Trailer Awards
• 1 Nomination
Women Film Critics Circle Awards
• 1 Nomination
