TRAILERS

20th Anniv. Re-Release of Park Chan-wook's 'Oldboy' Official Trailer

by Alex Billington
May 11, 2023
Source: YouTube

Neon has released an official trailer for Oldboy, the iconic cult classic Korean thriller made by Park Chan-wook. This originally opened in Korea in 2003, then premiered at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. It took a few years to become a cult classic in the US, playing at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival before opening in limited theaters. Neon has re-acquired the film and is giving it a proper restored and remastered re-release this August in theaters nationwide - to celebrate its 20th anniversary. If you have never seen it, you MUST go. It's pretty much a rite of passage for any and every cinephile. After being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years in a room, Oh Dae-su is released, only to find that he must find his captor in five days. Why did they do this to him? Once you know, you know. Oldboy stars Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, and Kang Hye-jeong. This was also remade in 2013 by Spike Lee starring Josh Brolin, but it wasn't that good. This original is the only true Oldboy movie and it's worth watching on the big screen to squirm and scream all over again. Especially when he eats that octopus - so gnarly. What a gorgeous dialogue-free trailer for this masterpiece.

Here's the trailer (+ poster) for the 20th anniversary re-release of Park Chan-wook's Oldboy, on YouTube:

Oh Dae-Su (Choi Min-sik), an obnoxious drunk abducted on a rainy night in 1988, wakes up in a strange, windowless hotel room. Kept under lock and key for an unknown reason, Oh Dae-Su's invisible captors keep him fed and systematically sedated to avert suicide, providing only a colour television to keep him company. And after fifteen long years in captivity, perplexed Oh Dae-Su finds himself released. Now, his pitiless abductors encourage Oh Dae-Su to track down the ones behind the mysterious kidnapping and finally get his brutal, longed-for revenge on the unknown tormentor. However, who would hate Oh Dae-Su so much that he would deny him a quick and clean death? Oldboy is directed by the acclaimed Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, his third feature film at the time - in between Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Lady Vengeance. The screenplay is by Chun-hyeong Lim, Jo-yun Hwang, and Park Chan-wook, adapted from the manga by Garon Tsuchiya & Nobuaki Minegishi. It premiered at 2004 Cannes Film Festival after opening in Korea in late 2003. Neon will re-release Oldboy in theaters nationwide on August 16th, 2023.

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