Palisades Tartan announced today they would be rereleasing Korean filmmaker Park Chan-Wook’s beloved “Vengeance Trilogy” as an 8-disc DVD box set on November 24, including all three movies–Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Old Boy and Lady Vengeance–and tons of extras and surprises.
Director Park first came to the attention of many Western filmgoers when Quentin Tarantino brought his movie Old Boy to the Cannes Film Festival, and the film has since gone onto become a cult classic, one that’s rumored for a remake starring Will Smith. Most recently, Park’s vampire thriller Thirst was released by Focus Features.
The full press release for the DVD rereleases is below:
Youve been asking, weve been planning and this November Palisades Tartan will release the most exciting, impressive and comprehensive Vengeance Trilogy box-set the world has ever seen! Featuring 8-discs and more special features then any other set on the planet (including the Korean version), celebrity essays as well as a few surprises, Palisades Tartan will release Park Chan-Wooks VENGEANCE TRILOGY November 24th in DVD stores across the country.
SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE is the first film in Park Chan-Wooks acclaimed Vengeance trilogy. The sister of a simple and deaf factory worker, Ryu, falls ill and needs a kidney transplant, however he is not a match so he looks to the black market which he cant afford. After being fired from his job, his rebel girlfriend suggests that he kidnap the child of his former boss, Park. When the girl accidentally dies, her father seeks vengeance for her death.
OLDBOY is Park Chan-Wooks classic genre-defining revenge tale of a man whos wrongly been imprisoned for 15 years and is then suddenly released. Given money and a cell phone, hes challenged to discover who incarcerated him in the first place, but he only has five days to uncover the truth. Even with a mysterious young girl to help him, his tortures have just begun. Cannes-winner championed by Tarantino, OLDBOY regularly appeared in top ten best movie polls across the country and is listed as one of the all-time best films as rated by IMDB users.
LADY VENGEANCE, the final film in the trilogy was created by Chan-Wook for his daughter. After being wrongfully convicted of kidnapping and murdering a young child, a beautiful young woman (Lee Young-ae) is imprisoned for 13 years. While in prison she gains the respect and loyalty of her fellow cellmates, all the while plotting her vendetta on the man responsible (OLDBOYs Choi Min-Sik). Upon her release she sets in motion an elaborate plan of retribution, but what she discovers is a truth so horrifying, even revenge doesnt seem punishment enough.
Director Park Chan-Wooks most recent film THIRST won the Jury Prize at Cannes (2009) and was released in the US earlier this year by Focus Features. All three films in his celebrated Vengeance trilogy collection have garnered an impressive 28 Film Festival wins at prestigious venues including Cannes, Venice, Chicago, Fantasia, Stockholm, Hong Kong and the Sitges International Film Festival to name a few.
Each film is recorded in their original language (Korean) and offer English and Spanish subtitles. Each title is presented in anamorphic widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and DTS Surround Sound 5.1.Special features include an essay on each film by celebrated filmmakers, actors and writers, including Eli Roth… Additional features include but are not limited to Audio commentary by Park Chan-Wook and actor Ryoo Seung-wan (SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE), Behind the Scenes, The Process of Mr. Vengeance, My Boksu Story, Storyboards, Photo Gallery, Filmographies, Film Notes, Crew Interviews, Three Audio Commentaries (OLDBOY), 5 Behind the Scene featurettes, Le Grand Prix at Cannes, Deleted Scenes with commentary, Regular and Fade-To-White versions (LADY VENGEANCE), Character Interviews Lee Geum Ja, Prof. Baek, Prisoners, Families, Lady Vengeance at the 62nd Venice Film Festival, Trailer, Film Notes, Making of and Deleted Scenes.
