Ponyo on Blu-ray (Specs questions, both JP and US releases) (1 Viewer)

[cafink]

It's been years since I've spun the disc, but doesn't the Princess Mononoke DVD include two English subtitle tracks, one which more-or-less transcribes the English dub, and one which more accurately reflects the original Japanese dialogue?

 

[JediFonger]

hi cafink, mononoke is miramax/weistein . yeah i know Disney owns them but mononoke was the 1st miyazaki that became popular in the states and it was treated as a "foreign film" hence the subtitle status.

but since then, the Disney proper arms have taken over =(.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

Actually, the US Princess Mononoke DVD was originally going to be released with only the dub (one of a long list of bad decisions Miramax made with that movie). It was only after negative reaction from fans that they delayed it in order to include the Japanese language track and literal subtitles (the other subtitle track is English closed captions, including sound effects descriptions).

I agree translation is a tricky thing. Ideally, the "literal" English subtitles should still be an "interpretation," but one that doesn't have to conform to the actors'/characters' mouths.

 

[cafink]

I remember that Princess Mononoke controversy well. I certainly wouldn't have bought the DVD without the Japanese audio and decent English subtitles, so I'm glad Miramax came through in the end.

 

[JediFonger]

didn't know that, thanks peepz =). i didn't pay attn to most DVD releases...

i was all about hi-def since hearing about it from early 90s . BD was a almost 20 year old wait for me =).

 

[Paul Arnette]

If the information on disneystore.com is to be believed, it appears Ponyo will have a Japanese audio track but a lossy one.

http://www.disneystore.com/disney/store/DSIProductDisplay?storeId=10051&productId=1259586&categoryId=13691&catalogFromSearch=10002&catalogId=10002&langId=-1

 

[JediFonger]

^now THAT'S how Disney should've released this. disc 2 has making of. unfortunately even the Japanese import doesn't have English subs for disc 2 and 3. only the movie itself has ENG subs =*(. that's all blu-ray.

if the US version is released as is, i'm shocked and surprised because John Lassetar is a huge Miyazaki fan... one would *think* that they would do right by doing everything possible to include something like the above!

 

[Edwin-S]

^^^

Disney is all about ROI. This film didn't really do much at the box office, so why would Disney fork out big dough in the form of production expenses on a special edition like the one you are depicting? The profit margins for this film on BD will most likely be modest, so I do not picture them spending big dough on a lavish S.E. I saw the trailers for this film and it is the first film by Miyazaki that left me with no real desire to see it. I'll rent this on BD, but my expectations for this film relatively low.

 

[Paul Arnette]

DDD House has shipped my HK Ponyo BD, so I'm set. I'll pick up a US copy for the kids when its on sale. All told I expect both to be far cheaper than either of the JP Ponyo BDs.

 

[JediFonger]

er... how much did u pay Paul?

 

[Paul Arnette]

Originally Posted by JediFonger

er... how much did u pay Paul?

I bought Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence along with it, so splitting the shipping cost evenly across both discs the total came to roughly $32.24 plus whatever credit card currency conversion fees wind up getting applied.

 

[AaronMK]

If the information on disneystore.com is to be believed, it appears Ponyo will have a Japanese audio track but a lossy one.

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

It is like Hero all over again!!

Too bad. I ended up seeing this movie with the Japanese audio, subtitles that my friend said were very faithful, and really liked it.

However, just like with Hero, I won't purchase a release where the original performances are a second class citizen. (They were much better than on the dub.) I'll pick up an Asian release if I can get it at a price reasonably close to what I would have paid for a US Blu-ray. Otherwise, I'll remain quite content with what I already have.

Hopefully, we'll be pleasantly surprised when this is released.

 

[AaronMK]

Paul,

Have you received your import from Hong Kong? How is it quality wise? I read a report this it is 1080i, but not from anywhere I would consider reliable.

Thanks!

 

[Paul Arnette]

Aaron, I have received it, but I haven't watched it yet. I will pop it into my PS3 tonight and confirm its encode, but if the JP BD was 1080p, I suspect the HK is also since it is supposed to be the same transfer. I did confirm it has JP DTS-HD MA 6.1 however.