Deaf people don't care about DVD extras? (1 Viewer)

[RobR]

It seems that Criterion thinks deaf people don't care for DVD extras such as deleted scenes, interviews, audio commentary tracks, documentaries, scene-by-scene analysis, etc. I had a good laugh when I received my copy of Criterion Spartacus (which is the only Criterion DVD I own, by the way) and noticed the print "English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired" on the back of the case. Yet, the DVD extras are not English-subtitled.

I'm aware that 98% of the extras on DVDs are not English-subtitled or closed-captioned, but at least other companies don't advertise the actual movies as "English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired" while not including subtitles for the extras.

 

[Ike]

Rob,

Has there been a DVD that's actually captioned the commentary? I thought this would be a nice feature, just because sometimes I can't make out what someone is saying. But I've never seen it.

 

[Josh_Hill]

ALmost Famous: Bootleg and Evolution have subtitles for the commentary. Both are Dreamworks.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Paramount has been very good about subtitling their extras. The only slip-up I have seen lately was the Apocalypse Now Redux trailer, but that disc was crammed to the gills, and it was the only extra at all. Dreamworks has recently started providing a subtitle track for their commentaries as well. Shrek and Almost Famous Untitled Bootleg Cut both have commentary subtitle tracks. Shrek even has it in multiple languages IIRC.

Regards,

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Paramount has been very good about subtitling their extras. The only slip-up I have seen lately was the Apocalypse Now Redux trailer,

Paramount indeed do a great job of including subtitles for their extras. However, the lack of text for the trailer shouldn't really qualify as a "slip-up", for they virtually never include subtitles for trailers. Everything else, yes; trailers, no. Dunno why this is...

 

[RobR]

Ike,
I've never seen a DVD with the audio commentary tracks subtitled. Of the very small collection I have, only 4 "extras" discs contain English-subtitles or closed-captions (The Battle over Citizen Kane, Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures of the Kubrick Collection, Psycho Collector's Edition 1960, and the bonus disc in The Godfather Collection). But then again, not everything on them are subtitled (commentaries, trailers, etc.).
Colin wrote

However, the lack of text for the trailer shouldn't really qualify as a "slip-up", for they virtually never include subtitles for trailers.

Hahaha, you're just as bad as Criterion! Deaf people would surely disagree with you

 

[Michael Eriksen]

Still better than Anchor Bay, MGM, Artisan and Infinifilm that dosent think that deaf people cares about movies.

And now Artisan has announced a new Rambo boxset in may...i just know there will be no subtitles, and I wont buy it because of that.

Michael Eriksen

 

[Adam Tyner]

Rob: I believe you misinterpreted Colin's last comment. He's saying that the lack of subtitles for the trailer isn't a slip-up, not because it's unimportant, but because Paramount historically has not subtitled trailers. If a company rarely, if ever, provides subtitles on trailers, pointing to one disc like Apocalypse Now: Redux isn't really a slip-up...it's just an example of the way that particular company does things, for whatever reason.
...apologies if I was the one who misinterpreted what Colin was saying...

 

[Alex Giese]

I don't know how many of you are deaf or hard of hearing but its great to see support for captions or subtitles in movies and especially those extras at the end. My wife and I are deaf by the way and enjoy some extras if they were captioned at all. Jackie Chan movie extras are about the only ones we can enjoy as these involve mostly actions.

Over the weekend we watched both American Pie and AP2. I noticed we had to choose the captions from the disc itself. Normally we use the TV's captions as it is more appealing to the eye over subtitles or the disc's captions in this case. Is this something Universal does to their DVDs? I sure hope not. I much rather have the choice between subtitles or the TV's captions than be stuck with their captions.

 

[Ken Seeber]

I'm aware that 98% of the extras on DVDs are not English-subtitled or closed-captioned, but at least other companies don't advertise the actual movies as "English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired" while not including subtitles for the extras.

I'm afraid I still don't get why you're singling out Criterion for criticism. I own plenty of non-Criterion discs that boast of subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the film, but don't subtitle extras.

 

[RobR]

I'm afraid I still don't get why you're singling out Criterion for criticism. I own plenty of non-Criterion discs that boast of subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the film, but don't subtitle extras.

I'm not singling out Criterion, just using it as an example. However, most companies simply state that a movie contains "English subtitles" or "English captioned." Criterion is the only company I've seen that uses the exact phrase "English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired." I've seen other companies make such a statement on the menu screen of DVDs (for the language option), but not in print. That might make a difference because what if a deaf or hearing impaired individual buys a DVD with such a claim only to discover later that the extras aren't subtitled or captioned?

 

[David Susilo]

I think every part of any DVD should be subtitled, or at least close captioned.

It does not only help people with hearing impairment, but also people who are learning the language, and also to kill the necessity to crank up the volume level and got shocked by the sound effect of the scene snippets they put in the making-of etc.

 

[Adam Tyner]

So what difference does that make? Historically not subtitling trailers, but providing them on movies should tell you something.

I think you're reading too much into what people are posting. I wasn't making any comment whatsoever on the practice of subtitling trailers, nor was I lending any support behind Paramount's practice.

 

[RobR]

OK, sorry.