MovieChat Forums > Oldeuboi (2003) Discussion > overrated

overrated

posted 12 years ago by replayre
102 replies | jump to latest

I thought the story was weaker than people are claiming, this movie is not an 8.4/10, the story is disjointed thematically like a schizophrenic worldview, the plot in general is a stretch, most notably what Woo Jin points out about Dae Su imprisoning his daughter in the same place he was imprisoned, I know how the movie sells it, I'm just not buying, not that this movie was exactly realist in nature, I mean, he even says "are you really that dumb?", exactly, not only is he that dumb, he's not done being dumb; it seemed like they had to have that character say that because of the utter absurdity of that plot element

the action sequences are mediocre, better has been done before and since, and I can't tell if the acting is good, because of the comically bad voice over work, especially MiDo who sounds like Anime porn, that is, except for the Woo Jin character who took me out of the ominous tone he was supposed to create with inappropriate gestures and facial expressions, I knew his acting wasn't good

but then, neither is Oldboy a 1 or 2, it's really a high 5, closer to 6 but not quite

[–] CyberGhostface-1 12 years ago

and I can't tell if the acting is good, because of the comically bad voice over work, especially MiDo who sounds like Anime porn, that is, except for the Woo Jin character who took me out of the ominous tone he was supposed to create with inappropriate gestures and facial expressions, I knew his acting wasn't good

You were watching the English dub, weren't you.

[–] replayre 12 years ago

right

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"no I don't know, you said it, How do I know?"

[–] CyberGhostface-1 12 years ago

No offense but I really don't know how you can make an opinion on something if you haven't even bothered to watch the film in its original language as the director intended. I mean you're judging an actor when you only saw half of his performance.

[–] replayre 12 years ago

Well gosh, Ghostface, you're judging my post based on less than half of it.

The tormentor's voice over was probably the best, his acting was bad based on nonverbal cues, which I stated. There was plenty to criticize outside of the voice acting, and I did.

The version I watched was streaming on Netflix. Like I said the movie isn't bad, but at 8.4 it's significantly overrated.

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"no I don't know, you said it, How do I know?"

[–] CyberGhostface-1 12 years ago

You're still putting yourself at a disadvantage. No one watching a dub is getting the same experience as watching it in it's original language. The dub for Oldboy was excruciating in particular; you might as well be trying to critique The Dark Knight with Gilbert Gottfried doing v.o. work as the Joker.

[–] replayre 12 years ago

I already acknowledged the dub was bad and it affected perception, and I factored that into my rating and mentioned it in my original post. The disadvantage is better movies going underrated, while this sits at an 8.4, and the disadvantage to the discussion is "making" points that have already been made, otherwise known as regression. It really surprised me when I saw the rating was that high, usually I find IMDB ratings to be much closer to accurate.

I think you're putting the movie industry on a pedestal if you think the obligation lies with the viewer/consumer to seek out the truth in the artist's vision. Seeing as this copy was that bad of an interpretation, it should have never been made, much less used as the main copy on Netflix streaming. There's plenty of movies on NF Instant with English subtitles and I've watched plenty and appreciated them, so I would have preferred that. I know it was likely out of Park's hands by that point and other pressures are inherent in the movie business, but all we can judge is the product we receive, the entertainment business isn't a charity of passion on the part of the consumer, now that would be perverse.

But I'm laughing thinking about what the Joker would sound like with Gotfired, that is funny, but you can be sure the studio, producers and director would have never let that happen to one of the greatest performances of my lifetime, sometimes the majority's not wrong.

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"no I don't know, you said it, How do I know?"

[–] CyberGhostface-1 12 years ago

Fair enough.

For what it's worth, it was likely an error on Netflix's part. They probably just took the dub because it's the default language track on one of the DVDs.

[–] queerever 11 years ago

Why the heck have you been so patient & pleasant with this cretin. Do not let it off because it allowed Netflix to choose its destiny.

[–] RaxR1991 11 years ago

Restepa for the Gotfried joke! :D
Btw, I agree with your point.

"Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity." - George Carlin

[–] spookyrat1 11 years ago

Clever and creatively eye - catching cinematography by Chung-hoon Chung, can't do anything to alleviate this relentlessly bleak, gloomy, completely humourless story, peopled by emotionally despondent characters. It won't be a film I'll be rushing back to see again in the near future.

The film does have an interesting initial premise and it's for that reason that I feel the Spike Lee remake may be worth seeing.

[–] pauloed-campos 11 years ago

Ok, kids.. this is how you spot a troll!

[–] Nux3000 11 years ago

I'm not sure how Gilbert Gottfried's voice over would be any better or worse than what the guy who played Joker did.

[–] cccl350 11 years ago

Actually, watching subtitled and dubbed movies mask the bad acting. This is why overdubbed movies are so big in third world countries. They dont know it the acting sucks or not. We just see a bunch of pretty cinematography and pantomiming.

[–] baygerbieger 12 years ago

"the story is disjointed thematically"

How so?

"the plot in general is a stretch"

It's a movie.

"most notably what Woo Jin points out about Dae Su imprisoning his daughter in the same place he was imprisoned"

Wasn't the same place. New prison and all. The belief of the enemy of my enemy is my friend, doesn't sit well with you? Alright. well it sat well with Oh Dae Sue. Which is probably what the movie was going for.

Oh Dae Sue isn't dumb, and even if he is, that isn't important. He is only thinking about one thing. He wants to know why, he wants to make Woo Jin pay, but he wants to keep Midoh safe and has no real options outside of, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". But whatever.

"the action sequences are mediocre, better has been done before and since"

It isn't an action movie. It isn't even close to trying to pass itself off as one. "The shoot out scenes in No Country For Old Men were mediocre. Better has been done before and since".

Okay you heard the dub and judged everything on that? Well you'd have no other choice really. Except stop the movie when you heard it was a dub and look for the flick with the original track. Still hindsight huh? In any case, Woo Jin is supposed to sound rehearsed. He is supposed to seem the actor. He has been rehearsing this thing since his sister died. He is the actor, director, writer, and everything in Oh Dae Su's torment and revenge plot. The movie is about Woo Jin Lee's revenge as told through Oh Dae Su. The dubbing was awful. The movie is a masterpiece.

Shame you didn't like it, I guess.

Nothing amazing ever happens here.

[–] buster_rules 12 years ago

I watched the movie in Korean and I must agree with the OP and say that the film is quite overrated. I did not hate the movie at all it was pretty good actually just nowhere near as good as I had heard. I personally would rate the movie around a 6.5 or 7 out of 10.

[–] baygerbieger 12 years ago

Well at least you said why.

Nothing amazing ever happens here.

[–] Vader999 12 years ago

I would rate Shawshank a 6.5 or 7.0 out of 10 but I wouldn't throw a hissy fit over why it was rated so high, I can appreciate how others may like it. I personally put more value in artistic merit over plot, if I want plot I'll read a book (Shawshank), plot for me also largely works only once (try enjoying something like Bourne as much on a second sitting). It appears you have a different consumption strategy to movies than the people who like Oldboy, thats cool, but arguing over what movie needs to be higher up the 250 chart is such a futile waste of time. All the IMDB ratings are useful for are for weeding out the trash, unless you happened to like trash like 80s Italian B-Movies like I do, again I wouldn't throw a hissy fit about one of my top 5 movies being rated a measly 4 point something. Just use the ratings as a tool rather than ta personal insult.

[–] Tyrione 11 years ago

I personally put more value in artistic merit over plot, if I want plot I'll read a book (Shawshank), plot for me also largely works only once (try enjoying something like Bourne as much on a second sitting).

How about you just watch porn all day.

Themes require plot. The more intricate the plot the better.

[–] Kim_Ji_Hun 12 years ago

Steven spilberg, QT said oldboy is a Masterpice.
That is all.

Top 1000 voter.

[–] murdoc-2000 11 years ago

You sound like a bandwagoner.
People judge films by their personal experiences and feelings. Not because some famous people said so.

[–] Karneda92 12 years ago

I might have disagreed with you you 5 years ago, but after recently viewing this film again, I completely agree with you, and it's not really the critics that overrate the movie it's the fans oh my god, that said it's a good film not a great one.

"The stuff that dreams are made of."

[–] gtbarker 12 years ago

You're opinion and you are entitled to it. But I would say you have clearly missed the point of the film entirely from what you have written here.

[–] chilone 9 years ago

You're opinion and you are entitled to it.

"You are" opinion? Lol!!!

I don't love her.. She kicked me in the face!!

[–] stargazer-lea 12 years ago

Oldboy is the best thriller to come out of S.Korea in the past decade. It is an odd thing to take in. But you have to take into account the culture differences. The plot is far fetched if you look at what we as a culture in the western world know and believe. But at the end of the day overrated is the wrong word. You didn't like it, it's fair enough. Oldboy is a hard one to watch and understand. It took me 3 watched in it's ORIGINAL language to fully understand and appreciate it's beauty. I would give it 10/10 every single time.

Sticking Feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken.. Tyler Durden

[–] Robert0666 12 years ago

It's a hollywood type of film for hollywood type of film crowd.

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[–] DD-931 12 years ago

You're right, OP. It is indeed overrated.

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" 'the plot in general is a stretch'

It's a movie."

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There can't be a weaker response to criticism of a movie than "It's a movie". The great films have great plots, a great internal logic, and don't fall back on the pitiful excuse of "well, we don't have to do a good job with the storytelling. It's only a movie".

Some people will buy into anything, but that doesn't mean their opinions deserve respect.

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[–] DD-931 12 years ago

The criticism as I saw it was that the plot was a stretch, which is not the same thing as "it wasn't realistic". Saying the plot is a stretch to me means it doesn't have a consistent internal logic, that it "cheats" in the reality we are supposed to buy into. Even Col. Kurtz in AN does not exist in the same kind of fantastic reality as a James Bond, much less a Spiderman. And periodically entering the psychosis of the protagonist, as in Vertigo, certainly does not alter the underlying reality of the film. The altered reality of a good fantasy or even horror film doesn't pretend to have the same stakes as, say, a gritty cop drama. When it tries to, like in this film, yeah, I don't buy into it.

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[–] mhrist 11 years ago

yo wat u talkin about son! homeboy got set up to bang his own daughter yo cause he snitched on a *beep* that *beep* was tight yo

[–] baygerbieger 12 years ago

My post was more than just that, troll. Respond to all of it, or go somewhere else where you won't be challenged to do better.

What about the movie didn't follow it's own logic? What about it was awful storytelling? The movie is overrated is your argument, troll. That isn't an argument. I actually argued, so now it is your turn.

Nothing amazing ever happens here.

[–] ivanmessimilos 11 years ago

I agree,for im its a little overrated,i gave it 7.

Maybe its cuz I dont like so much Japanese movies :-)

[–] Bambikilled 11 years ago

Ehm...
It's Korean...

[–] ivanmessimilos 11 years ago

Yeah,i know. I was like potato-potato :-)

Funny eyes,funny language,funny food,... lol

[–] lmv92 11 years ago

I see you have Batman's logo as your avatar. You really love Canadian movies, don't you? ;D

[–] ivanmessimilos 11 years ago

Why Canadian,i dont get it

I gave it 7/10, so its not a big difference from average 8,4

[–] lmv92 11 years ago

*facepalm* Nevermind.

[–] queerever 11 years ago

Absolute, +$%#%#@ retard. Like an infant who can miraculously speak or write - this absurd creature admits, without shame, that it was watching a dubbed version! Since Spaghetti Westerns and old time Martial Arts films, I didn't know people watched films dubbed into English any more! SUCH a retarded thing to do, it is.
So, never before was the author of an opinion so obviously not deserving of even the slightest consideration or respect.

[–] chilone 9 years ago

Settle down, Beavis!!

I don't love her.. She kicked me in the face!!