Cool Stuff: Park Chan-Wook's Oldboy Is Getting A Special Edition 4K Blu-Ray Release In December

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By Devin Meenan/Oct. 12, 2023 5:00 pm EST

Park Chan-wook's revenge thriller "Oldboy" celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. In commemoration, the film was remastered and theatrically distributed this past August by Neon. If you missed this beautiful restoration in theaters, fear not: Neon has announced it is releasing a limited edition 4K Blu-ray of "Oldboy," scheduled for release on December 12, 2023.

"Oldboy" is based on a manga by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi. The film adaptation transposes the setting from Japan to South Korea, but retains the core premise. Boorish businessman Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is abducted and held in a locked room for 15 years. Freed one day out of the blue, Oh Dae-su makes it his mission to find out who imprisoned him — and why. But by the end of his journey, he wishes that he'd stayed locked up.

Co-written by Park, Hwang Jo-yun, and Lim Jun-hyung, "Oldboy" is the second chapter of the director's "Vengeance" thematic trilogy (following "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" and preceding "Lady Vengeance"). It's the most unflinching of an overall dark trilogy, with a famous third-act twist I'll leave unspoiled. Lead actor Choi Min-sik shows commendable courage in how much he lets his character be debased onscreen. "Oldboy" worms its way into your mind before reaching a climax you can never forget (with hypnosis or otherwise).

Despite and because of the violence on display, the film was an instant classic. It took home the 2004 Cannes Film Festival's second-highest honor, the Grand Prix prize, and turned Park into an internationally renowned filmmaker.

On top of the film itself (with the 4K HDR restoration personally supervised by Park), this new Blu-ray holds plenty of treasures for "Oldboy" fans.

Special features on the Oldboy Blu-ray

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This "Oldboy" Blu-ray has the presentation and content to rival a Criterion Collection release. The disc is stored in a white box, adorned with both the film's title (in English and Korean text) and a drawing of an octopus. If you've seen the film, you'll know the significance of that image. If you haven't, now is your chance to find out.

Also housed in this edition is a 68-page casebound book. The book's cover image is a disembodied hand wearing a class ring (another important image from "Oldboy"). The book not only includes production stills and storyboards, but also three new essays on "Oldboy" by renowned film critics:

Stephanie Zacharek (film critic for Time, formerly the Village Voice).
David Sims (film critic for the Atlantic and co-host of the "Blank Check" podcast, listen to the episode on "Oldboy" here).
Phoebe Chen (a freelance film writer with credits at the Nation, Criterion, and more).

Other included special features are:

Six gift-wrapped "collector cards," each displaying a different frame of the film on a green paper background.
The 2016 making-of documentary, "Old Days: An Oldboy Story."
The 2005 video diary, "Autobiography of 'Oldboy'"
Three audio commentaries, all featuring Park. The second also features cinematographer Chung Chung-hoon, while the third includes Choi Min-sik and his castmates Yoo Ji-tae (Lee Woo-jin, the film's villain) and Kang Hye-jung (Mi-do, Oh Dae-su's girlfriend).
A new interview with Park and director Nicolas Winding Refn ("Drive").
Behind-the-scenes featurettes.
Archived cast and crew interviews.
Deleted scenes (with optional commentary by Park).
Photo and storyboard galleries.
"Oldboy" teasers, trailers, and a music video.

You can pre-order the "Oldboy" Blu-ray on the Neon website here.