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Listing of movies where burned-in subtitles are replaced with player-generated ones? (1 Viewer)

Brian PB

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jan 31, 2003
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671
For films in English where only a portion of (non-English) dialogue is subtitled, it doesn't matter to me one way or the other.

To the larger question of subtitling 'foreign' films: Nearly half of my 800+ films on DVD are non-English language. I will also turn on the English subs occasionally in films from the UK (e.g. Trainspotting, Sweet Sixteen) when the dialect can be difficult to understand.

That said, I HATE burned-in subtitles (as do most 'foreign' film fans I'm aquainted with). They are a distraction to those viewers who can understand the language of the film (it also works in the reverse: there are some English-language films that are only available in other regions---it's maddening when they have burnt-in subs in, say, French or Spanish).

For films I've seen often, but in languages I'm not fluent in, I often prefer to turn the subs off so I can enjoy the film as the director intended.

Finally, the English subtitling for the theatrical prints of some older films leaves much to be desired, so I appreciate it when new subs are commissioned for the DVD release. Criterion has even released one DVD (Kurosawa's Throne of Blood) with a choice of subtitles by two different translators.

With respect to player-generated subs, I've yet to watch a DVD where they were illegible, too large, etc. I, too, prefer white subs with black borders, but removable yellow subs aren't that big a deal to me. Even poor subtitles are preferable to lame English-langauge dubbed tracks (don't even get me started on that one).
 

ChristopherDAC

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2004
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Real Name
AE5VI
I had a very fun experience just a little while ago, wathcing the Japanese rental LaserDisc of Glory with its Japanese subtitles, sometimes counterpointing on-screen English text. Conversely, Ghost in the Shell: Innocence was released to theatres with these no-border white subtitles which were only marginally legible -- a serious problem considering the amount of dialogue in the film. In general, I have little use for dubs of foreign-language films; I prefer to listen to the original dialogue, and I like to have the option of watching with or without subtitles.
The best example of short stretches of subtitling I can think of is Wings of Honneamise, in which some of the characters are "foreigners" and speak a fake language which is translated by on-screen Japanese subtitles which are part of the animation. What can you do with that?
 

Lyle_JP

Screenwriter
Joined
Oct 5, 2000
Messages
1,009
Fargo is, hands down, the worst example I've yet seen. The opening title card explaining what you are about to see looks like it was created on an Atari 800, and many of the title cards explaining where the action is look similarly rendered. Mind you, this is only on the more recent MGM special edition. The first Polygram and MGM discs did not have this.

Also, it is not just the first DVD of Tomorrow Never Dies, it is every DVD of the film ever released. You can add Octopussy and The Living Daylights to the list as well (although they're all out of print now).

I've seen player subs look pretty good, with handsome fonts and even fading effects put in. But, not eveyone uses care in this department.

-Lyle J.P.
 

DaViD Boulet

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 24, 1999
Messages
8,826
Blu-ray should offer some nice user-adjustable features for subtitling that should make the "problems" of electronically-generated text moot. Why do I bring this up? Because the quality of subtitles is one of my pet-peeves with DVD and it's one of the issues that we raised in our "HD" DVD petition for the studios to address!

Also...it means don't lose too much sleep...your future blu-ray HD versions of these movies will do a much better job on subtitling.
 

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