Chan-wook Park's - Oldboy - DVD Review Chan-wook Park Oldboy DVD Review Chan-wook Park Oldboy DVD Review Chan-wook Park Oldboy DVD Review Chan-wook Park Oldboy DVD Review Chan-wook Park Oldboy DVD Review Chan-wook Park Oldboy

(aka "OldBoy" or "Old Boy")

directed by Park Chan-wook
South Korea 2003

Oh Dae-su is an ordinary man, who one day is kidnapped and imprisoned in a hotel room for 15 years, then one day, just as sudden as he was kidnapped, is released, with new clothes, money and a cell phone. Thus begins Oh Dae-su’s search for an explanation, for who was behind it and for revenge. But this is just the second part of the plan, the kidnapper has for Oh Dae-su.

Winner of the Grand Prix de Jury in Cannes, “Oldboy” is Park’s today most complex and cruel film. Where all his films study cause and effect, “Oldboy” is a Kafka-ian ping pong game.

Park has always created extremely fascinating visuals, and here, as the book is based upon a comic book, he goes over the edge, literary adapts comic compositions to the screen in terms of mise-en-scene, and creating his to date most visual film, which has to be seen on the big screen to be experienced at full force.

Interesting is Park’s directorial choices. He did chose a very popular comic and did cast the two most popular actors in Korea, but never altered his auteurist signature nor his leitmotif. As such, one can see this as an attempt to create an auteurist blockbuster.

Be advised to ignore the rave from Tarantino about this film, as it reduces the quality of the film. Instead, sit back and enjoy one of Korea’s greatest filmmakers taking you on a roller coaster ride. Park is not everyman’s taste, but an acquired taste, which ones you get the hang of it, never can let go again.

Henrik Sylow

Posters

Theatrical Release: November 21, 2003

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DVD Comparison:

Tartan Asia Extreme (2 Disc Special Edition) - Region 0 - PAL vs. Tartan Video USA - Region 1 - NTSC

Big thanks to Henrik Sylow for the PAL caps and Gregory Meshman for the NTSC!

DVD Box Cover
Distribution	Tartan Asia Extreme Region 0 - PAL	Tartan Video USA Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	1:55:04 (4% PAL speedup)	1:59:44
Video	2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 7.83 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.6 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate PAL
Bitrate NTSC
Audio	2.0 Dolby Digital Korean, 5.1 Dolby Digital Korean, 6.1 DTS ES Korean	5.1 Dolby Digital Korean, 5.1 DTS Korean, 5.1 Dolby Digital English (DUB)
Subtitles	English, None	English, Spanish, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Tartan Asia Extreme Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1 Edition Details: • Audio commentary by Park Chan-wook • Audio commentary by Park Chan-wook and Jeong Jeong-hun • Audio commentary by Park Chan-wook and selected Cast • Trailer • Disc 2: • Flash (22:57) • The Cast Remembers (10:58) • Production Design (13:14) • CGI featurette (7:10) • The Music Score (16:50) • Le Grand Prix at Cannes (8:51) • Exclusive interview with Park by Mark Salisbury (22:13) • 11 Interviews with director, writer, cast and crew (41:20) • 10 Deleted Scenes with optional audio commentary by Park (24:17) • Newly digital remastered with new English subtitles DVD Release Date: February 28, 2005 2 disc Keep Case Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: Tartan Video USA Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - Edition Details: • Audio commentary by Park Chan-wook and Jeong Jeong-hun • Interview with Park Chan-wook (7:01) • 9 Deleted Scenes with optional audio commentary by Park (21:51) • Photo Gallery • Theatrical Trailer • Oldboy Trailer Contest Winner • Trailers for 6 other Tartan USA releases DVD Release Date: August 23, 2005 Keepcase in a Slipcase Chapters 16

Comments

Addition - The Tartan Region 1. - Well it appears as though Tartan actually converted to NTSC before transferring which is a nice gesture, but the DVD (unlike the PAL counterparts) is not progressively scanned (see combing in last 2 large captures). It also falls short in the extras department. Stick with the Tartan Asian Extreme from the UK.

*****

Tartan - PAL:

Image
The image is simply incredible, amongst the best ever from Tartan. I have not been able to find any compression artefacts. There are no ghosting visible, not even during fight sequences. The only element of critic should be, that in Image #7, the green of the oceans fades into her arm.

The image at times grainy and has extreme light / contrast elements (see Image #6), but based on how I recall it from the cinema, they are due to the directorial decision and not to blame any transfer issues.

Sound
All DVD editions I've heard, as well as the film theatrically, has been extremely dynamic. The new 6.1 DTS ES mix is almost reference quality, in how subtle background sound plays in the rears. Compared to both the 5.1 Dolby Digital and the DTS, the 2.0 Dolby Digital is sadly very tame.

Extras
The film is accompanied by three audio commentaries. Best of these is the solo Park commentary, where he discusses the film itself, next is the director / cinematographer commentary, which notes upon the technical aspects, and finally the director / cast commentary, which is very chatty and sort of "lets say something".

On disc 2 we first have 48-minutes of production of production featurettes. In general can be said, that the more specific the topic is, the better they are.

Next comes 12 interviews, where the main interview is a by Tartan for this DVD made 22 minute interview with Park, and 10 deleted scenes with optional audio commentary by Park.

- Henrik Sylow

DVD Menus

Screen Captures

subtitle sample (English only)
captures resized to 800px from 1016px native resolution

Recommended Books on Korean Cinema (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)

NO COVER AVAILABLE		NO COVER AVAILABLE		NO COVER AVAILABLE			NO COVER AVAILABLE
The Cinema Of Japan And Korea (24 Frames) by Justin Bowyer, Jinhee Choi	Contemporary Korean Cinema : Culture, Identity and Politics by Hyangjin Lee	The History of Korean Cinema by Young-il Lee, Young-chol Choe	Korean Cinema: The New Hong Kong by Anthony Leong	Korean Film : History, Resistance, and Democratic Imagination by Eungjun Min, Jinsook Joo, Han Ju Kwak	The Remasculinization of Korean Cinema (Asia-Pacific) by Kyung Hyun Kim	Essential Cinema by Jonathan Rosenbaum	Korean Cinema (Images of Asia) by Frances K. Gateward

Check out more in "The Library"

Report Card:

Image:	PAL
Sound:	-
Extras:	PAL
Menu:	-

DVD Box Cover

Distribution

Tartan Asia Extreme

Region 0 - PAL

Tartan Video USA

Region 1 - NTSC

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