History Main / Oldboy

* FridgeLogic: All this trouble could have been avoided with an abortion.
** How does [[spoiler: Woo-Jin]] have the resources to keep a man imprisoned and alive in a hotel room for 15 years, kill his wife and frame him for it, and [[spoiler: adopt his daughter]]?
*** By having the best superpower of all: [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney being extremely rich]]. [[spoiler: Woo-Jin's]] wealth is emphasized several times in the film (not merely coming from an extremely well to do family, but growing that wealth through judicious application of the ever so useful [[ChessMaster ChessMaster]] abilities.

* AdaptationDisplacement: The manga has been all but dwarfed by the film.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: The hallway fight. Dae-Su fights a whole bunch of henchmen down a hallway with just a hammer and his bare fists. After clashing to exhaustion, with a knife in his back to make things harder, he leaves them gasping for breath and on the floor. He proceeds to the end of the hallway and more of the henchmen appear from the elevator, but he deals with them without breaking another sweat. BADASS.
** For the director as well, given that the entire scene is nearly five minutes long, and is all filmed on one camera, in one take. The fight sequence took three days worth of attempts to nail.
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: When Oh Dae-Su walk away from the upset woman and [[spoiler: the suicide guy falls on the car close by.]]
* CompleteMonster: Lee Woo-jin. Mr. Park, the warden of the prison, is a Complete Monster as well.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: Much of the movie, particularly...well...see above under GoryDiscretionShot.

* {{Squick}}

* TearJerker: Several scenes, but especially the unbearable finale when [[spoiler: Dae-su screams and grovels before Woo-Jin, begging him not to tell Mi-do that her Dae-su is her father.]]
** "The Last Waltz", which plays during Mi-do's fantasy of the ant on the train and during the end credits, is a TearJerker all of itself, when the movie is over.

* TheWoobie: Oh Dae-Su. The dude gets locked up alone in a hotel room for fifteen years straight without being told why, and then [[spoiler: finds out that he's been manipulated into banging his own daughter]]. Even the CompleteMonster Lee Woo-jin gets a [[TheWoobie Woobie]] moment when [[spoiler: he watches his sister die]].

** The director originally intended to have Dae-su [[spoiler: cuts his ''penis'' off with scissors,]] and understandably he changed his mind, thinking it would be too... much.

* ItWasHisSled[=/=]AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame: If you've even ''heard'' of this movie, you probably know the twist at the end.

* ItWasHisSled/AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame: If you've even ''heard'' of this movie, you probably know the twist at the end.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: Much of the movie, particularly...well...see below under Gory Discretion Shot.

* IAmNotShazam: Some people think "Oldboy" is the name of the protagonist.

* SnowMeansLove: The ending.

* [[spoiler:TheBadGuyWins]]: Played with. [[spoiler:Woo-jin's plan is a complete success; but he realizes that he no longer has anything left to live for and [[DrivenToSuicide shoots himself in the head]] shortly after achieving his victory.]]

* [[{{ptitledfyrl5zg}} Everything's Squishier With Cephalopods]]: The live octopus-eating scene.

* [[spoiler:IncestIsRelative]] which is why...

Also occurs when Dae-su employs {{JackBauerInterrogationTechnique}} on Mr. Park. You could see the bloody molars on the keyboard.

* GoMadFromTheRevelation

* CompleteMonster: Lee Woo-jin.

A South Korean movie very loosely based on a Japanese manga and the second installment of Park Chan-wook's Vengeance Trilogy. The film has several parallels to ''TheCountOfMonteCristo'', as well as {{Shout Out}}s to ''TitusAndronicus''.

[[caption-width:400:[[PreAssKickingOneLiner It's]] [[IncrediblyLamePun hammerin']] [[DropTheHammer time.]]]]

[[caption-width:400:[[PreAssKickingOneLiner It's]] [[IncrediblyLamePun hammerin']] [[DropTheHammer time.]] Alternately: [[MemeticMutation Stop!]] [[MCHammer Hammertime!]]]]

*** By having the best superpower of all: being extremely rich. [[spoiler: Woo-Jin's]] wealth is emphasized several times in the film (not merely coming from an extremely well to do family, but growing that wealth through judicious application of the ever so useful [[ChessMaster ChessMaster]] abilities.

* XanatosSucker: Mido, so very much.

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[[caption-width:400:[[PreAssKickingOneLiner It's]] [[IncrediblyLamePun hammerin']] [[DropTheHammer time.]]
Alternately: [[MemeticMutation Stop!]] [[MCHammer Hammertime!]]]]

[[caption-width:400:[[PreAssKickingOneLiner It's]] [[IncrediblyLamePun hammerin']] [[DropTheHammer time.]]]]

** My favorite things about it are twofold: the entire fight is one take; and he GOES BACK FOR THE HAMMER.

*** By having the best superpower of all: being extremely rich. [[spoiler: Woo-Jin's]] wealth is emphasized several times in the film (not merely coming from an extremely well to do family, but growing that wealth through judicious application of the ever so useful [[ChessMaster]] abilities.

*** By having the best superpower of all: being extremely rich. [[spoiler: Woo-Jin's] wealth is emphasized several times in the film (not merely coming from an extremely well to do family, but growing that wealth through judicious application of the ever so useful [[ChessMaster]] abilities.