overrated

Cinematography was stunning, I remember being really annoyed by the music though. I thought the plot overreached and I was expecting, from the way the movie was set up, for it to be a bit more subtle or follow logic a bit more. I remember not having a problem at all with the acting (watched it in Korean though). I found the pacing uneven.

To be fair, I think I'd have liked it more if I hadn't been led to believe it was going to be a total game-changer. It really has a cool premise and is executed very well on a technical level. I just felt unbelievably let down, which is obviously a personal opinion and not a judgment of those who like it.

I actually feel sorry for the film, not you, for having someone like you watch it.

well said

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

To me, it is about 7.5 ~8 for the story and editing alone. The action is a bit wierd indeed but I don't think the movie is trying to focus on the action. I watched the original voice with Chinese sub (I read Chinese), I always found Chinese translation makes more sense than English subtitle.

I personally think the story alone deserve 7.5 but the rest is a bit over acting. I like how they edit the movie with the past; it is quite difficult in my opinion for movie to get correct timing to discuss about the past. The thing bothers me is the actors seem to be overacting in a lot of scenes. It is probably just my taste.

I watch Korean Drama, movies probably over 1,000 hous literally and there are some poor acting and poor stories (I don't pick my movies, I just watch them) but they hardly overact like this movie. I found it is strange.

Well, I watched the Korean (with english subtitles) and I kinda agree.

I think this is a generational thing. Mostly younger people... and mostly guys... will find this stuff a lot 'artier' than I do... probably because it -looks- quite a bit like a graphic novel.

If you're a big Tarantino fan, you'd probably love this. It has that same over the top 'opera' meets 'comic book' quality.

But if yer like me? A lot of it, like a lot of Tarantino, is just silly. If you like ultra-violence and insane revenge, it's fine. But no 'masterpiece'.

My complaints: There seems to be this thing in a lot of asian movies that feels very retro to me. The way they treat women for example seems about 50 years behind. Eg. The whole idea that he is imprisoned for such a medieval issue of 'honour' seems stupid. And the fact that the guy seems to actually -agree- that he has committed this 'unforgivable sin' and -deserved- his punishment is nuts. This macho crap seems like something from the old south.

Wait? You watched the dubbed version and then went to the forum to tell us how much you hated it? Are you trolling?

no offense but i think u couldnt catch the unique style of making of this film

of course it's overrated at it's current 8.4/10 (with 240,361 votes) and is #73 in the Top 250 as it's no where near THAT good in my mind.

it's good but nothing special if you ask me. i give it a 6.5-7/10 (which is a mild thumbs up. i should eventually get around to re-watching this just to make sure i still like it though as i have only seen it once so far).

i give the 2013 remake a 6/10 (maybe a 6.5) (Thumbs Down) ; but it's definitely not borderline horrible like it's made out to be based on it's average 5.2/10 rating it currently has.

p.s. if anything the 2013 remake of Oldboy is underrated as it's got a 5.2/10 average currently and that should be more in the low 6's (say a 6.1 or 6.2) for an average if you ask me. makes me wonder if the 2013 remake has a lower than normal average rating due to people overpraising the 2003 movie so they act like the 2013 one is horrible because of that and then rate it abnormally low?


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My Vote History ... http://imdb.to/rb1gYH
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