Oldboy DVD Review

Quality is pretty good. Colours are never over saturated, save a few reds here and there and contrasts are handled well. Look out for some internet café scenes about 50 minutes into the movie to see how well shot Old Boy is. There is a small amount of fuzz in the picture, but nothing unusual. There is one scene that has a greatly reduced quality that I can only assume is intentional. I cannot think why, but grain is very present and obscures details like the pattern of a dress, or facial characteristics. There is no excessive blocking or edge enhancements to what is a remarkably natural looking print.

The best part of Old Boy's track is the musical score. It isn't used too much, but when it is, like at the very beginning, it works exceptionally well. Dialogue has a clean snap to it that allows every vocal characteristic be heard. Some of the more emotionally charged scenes toward the end are a joy to listen to and wince at. Spot effects are subtle with very little in the way of crash-bang obviousness. This is all well and good, though, fitting in well with the movie. The DTS track is a half bit rate one and offers no discernable advantages over the DD one.

The extras present are all in Korean with no English subtitles. This is fine as this disc is a Korean R3 one, but for most of us, this makes watching the disc's extras a bit academic.
Sadly, I'm not impressed when a movie features animal cruelty and therefore find this still disturbing, however if you are nonplussed by this, then Old Boy has much to offer, but for me to go out and say “yes this is good entertainment - go and buy it” is just a step too far.