Oldboy was released at a time when revenge films were very much in style (Kill Bill, Man on Fire, The Punisher *yeesh*, etc…). In fact, the reason it got so much attention in the first place is due to the fact it was entered into competition at the 2004 Cannes Film festival when Quentin Tarantino was President of the Jury. Safe to say his interest in the genre shed much light on this film, but dare I say it deserved all the hype. Oldboy is a mystery/action/thriller sprinkled with comedy, and unlike any other revenge film. The story is intriguing, the characters 3-dimensional, the action intense, and of course riddled with a sexual theme. Here we have a film that is watchable as pure entertainment, or for the countless debates about society and human nature that it will surely spawn.
The special features on this disc are not extraordinary, but enough to recommend buying it. If deleted scenes float your boat, than you’ll likely… float. The interview with the director is not a must see, but there are a few interesting tid-bits on the making of his films. The rest is straight forward stuff.
It’s always nice when they make a great end-all special edition DVD, especially on a film as good as this one, but unfortunately if you’re into that you’ll have to wait for a later date. That said, the film alone is worth the price of purchase.
