Ringu impressions (1 Viewer)

[Richard Hardbattle]

My Canadian copy of Ringu has just turned up.

The box is not bilingual, and there is no insert in the box.

The print is WAY better than my UK Tartan version, and the sound,
remixed in 5.1 is a huge improvement on the previous release.

Should scare the piss out of anybody who has a good imagination!

Enjoy!

Rich

 

[Joshua_Y]

Cant wait to get this Tues!

 

[Jeff Kleist]

RING! The movie is called THE RING! NOT RINGU

Freaking Dreamworks

 

[James Reader]

Jeff I assume you are talking about the Japanese version? That's simply 'Ring' (Without the 'The')

 

[David Susilo]

but the box says "Ringu"... those Dreamworks idiots! aaaaargh! just because some Japanese pronounced "Ring" as "Ringu" they think they can get away with it.

I guess the Asian market should rename North American titles based on how it's pronounced using their own language then.

For example, the Region 3 release for "Titanic" should be retitled to "Taytanik", or "Temple of Doom" to "Tempel of Dum".

 

[Jeff Kleist]

David:

In Japanese, the title is written in katakana, the phonetic alphabet for non Japanese originating words

So while it is written "Ringu" it is INTENDED as "Ring"
Lum is written "Lumu" but it's Lum

And any translator would have told them that

 

[Brendan Brown]

Oh well, I guess we can't call Karaoke 'Karaoke' anymore but 'Kara-Orch' (sarcasm)

Seriously though, the Japanese are perfectly capable of having an English alphabet title and do so quite often if they choose (Battle Royale) and that is officially listed that way instead of 'Bataru Royaru' which is how it would come out in Katakana. in this case the official title was spelled out in Katakana 'Ringu' and is spelt that way (usually with the Hepburn romanization) in film registries. That is the Filmmaker's intention.

I'm sure those poor feeble minds at Dreamworks are kicking themselves right now because they had absolutely no idea that 'Ringu' actually was 'Ring' instead of a huge coincidence....SHOKU! (sarcasm again)

Also, it makes it much faster to distinguish between remake and original. I see no problem with calling it 'Ringu'

 

[Jeff Kleist]

They should have called their film something else. How about "The Unnecssary Remake of Ring" Just because some Wal-Mart hick is too stupid to look at the package and buy the "right" one doesn't mean that they should put the wrong title on a film

 

[Dwayne]

They should have called their film something else. How about "The Unnecssary Remake of Ring" Just because some Wal-Mart hick is too stupid to look at the package and buy the "right" one doesn't mean that they should put the wrong title on a film

You make it sound like they changed the title. Ringu is, in fact, how it is written in Japanese. Just because you refuse to acknowledge the fact that the remake exists doesn't mean that others shouldn't.

According to the following link, the cover gives the original due credit by displaying "The original movie that inspired The Ring".

http://www.dvdplanet.com/product_lis...521&format=DVD

Personally, I think Dreamworks should be commended for releasing it. I remember Ring(u) conspiracy theorists previously stated that Dreamworks, although holding the rights for the region 1 release, never had any intention of releasing it and were hiding it from American eyes which, in retrospect, is quite laughable.

Thanks again, Dreamworks. I'll be picking up both.

 

[James Reader]

Personally, I think Dreamworks should be commended for releasing it. I remember Ring(u) conspiracy theorists previously stated that Dreamworks, although holding the rights for the region 1 release, never had any intention of releasing it and were hiding it from American eyes which, in retrospect, is quite laughab

Well, I asked the question would they release it - it was a possibility that they wouldn't. Many international films which 'inspired' American remakes haven't had a US Home video release. And it's not laughable, just business - i wonder if we would be seeing a release of the Japanese Ring if the US version had bombed at the box office.

 

[Brendan Brown]

Dwayne:

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[Dwayne]

i wonder if we would be seeing a release of the Japanese Ring if the US version had bombed at the box office.

That's a good question. I think the probability would be greater for it compared to films from other countries. Films that have originated from Japan have enjoyed considerable success here in the states. Of course, most of them would be Anime.

 

[Damin J Toell]

You make it sound like they changed the title. Ringu is, in fact, how it is written in Japanese.

That doesn't make it a proper translation. Phonetic "translation" of katakana into English aren't proper translations, as the phonetic pronunciations are usually meaningless words ("ringu" being a good example). Like any other translation, the translated words should be what the words mean. Otherwise, translations aren't particualrly understandable to readers. In this case, it's rather easy to figure out the word, since only one is involved. However, translating longer groups of words in this way could result in absurd and non-understanble translations. Katakana is in fact designed to be used to write out non-Japanese words to begin with, so the only reasonable translation of katakana is to use/translate the original non-Japanese word before it was adapted into katakana in the first place.

By using "Ringu," Dreamworks isn't giving us the title as actually understood by Japanese speakers/readers. Instead, they've given us a bad "translation" from Japanese katakana of word that was in English to begin with; it's a phonetic pronunciation of something that was already translated (kind of like some error-filled Babelfish translation to one language and back again) instead of just the word itself.

DJ

 

[Dwayne]

Thank you for the explanation, Damin.

How is it displayed on Japanese media?

 

[Damin J Toell]

How is it displayed on Japanese media?

In katakana characters, of which there are 46. Each represents a phonetic sound. You can see a chart of what they look like here or here. Since katakana contains no perfect symbol for the G sound at the end of "ring," one of the other G sounds in katakana had to be used (ga, ge, gu, ge, go). The system obviously isn't perfect, as it's just designed to make non-Japanese words pronounceable to Japanese readers. As you can see on this chart, pronouncing katakana versions of English words doesn't make much sense for English readers. Would you otherwise know what an "intanetuto" or an "uebusaito" is?

DJ

 

[Dwayne]

Thanks for the links. It does seem inefficient, but I understand it's purpose.

Dreamworks is not the first one to identify the film as "Ringu". Google the word ringu and you will see that the word has been used by many. That doesn't justify it's use, but I haven't heard any arguments until now, the eve on which Dreamworks is actually going to deliver this film into our grubby hands.

 

[Damin J Toell]

That doesn't justify it's use, but I haven't heard any arguments until now, the eve on which Dreamworks is actually going to deliver this film into our grubby hands.

You haven't been paying enough attention! Jeff has been on about this for months.

It's worth noting that in English-speaking regions where it has already been released on DVD (e.g., the UK), the Japanese film has simply been titled Ring.

DJ

 

[Brendan Brown]

Actually they're giving us the EXACT romanization. It's not supposed to be a translation, but the exact word as said by every person in japan that goes up to the box office and asks for a ticket for RINGU "..o kudasai" because that's the name of the film.

There are three characters used: 'RI' 'N' (the only consonant not followed by a vowel in the alphabet) and 'GU'

Frankly, the way the Japanese adapt loanwords from other languages, it really means that it's now a (slighly unorthodox) Japanese word. Just like English is mostly made up of Loan Word from French, German, Et Al.

I can't believe people are complaining that Dreamworks is giving us the exact Japanese title as spelt by the filmmakers and original novelist converted directly into 'romanji' (roman alphabet)

I mean, if that's not acceptable then (as I stated above) we must call Karaoke 'KaraOrch" because 'oke' is a shortened form of the loanword 'Orchestra' (full title is 'Empty Orchestra')

*rolls eyes*

 

[Damin J Toell]

I mean, if that's not acceptable then (as I stated above) we must call Karaoke 'KaraOrch" because 'oke' is a shortened form of the loanword 'Orchestra' (full title is 'Empty Orchestra')

"Empty orchestra" is a phrase that does not evoke the meaning intended by the Japanese term. It makes perfect sense to me to romanize such otherwise untranslatable euphemisms. Further, saying "karaorch" would be nonsense, as well, since it would be translating half a word and leaving the other half untranslated. Are you saying that "ring" is similar to either of these situations?

DJ

 

[Brendan Brown]

I think we're talking about two seperate things here, you seem to be steamed that Dreamworks has not LOCALIZED the title, I'm perfectly satisified that it's a perfect TRANSLITERATION. Hence why I'm not up in arms that my Domestic R1 release of Amores Perros isn't called Love's a Bitch

What I'm saying is that just because a Japanese word had origins from another language (and believe me, when I was there, a significant amount of japanese speech contained such loanwords) doesn't mean that you're OBLIGATED to go back to the original source spelling. Just consider that the film's title was released here UNTRANSLATED but ROMANIZED for computer database purposes...how many clerks at Best Buy are going to bother to learn IME to look up one dvd title on their system?

Having a 'u' on the end of the title is not going to send anybody who would have been interested in picking it up, screaming out the door of the store, especially if it's further clarified that this is the inspiration for Verbinski's version.

If one is going to attack foreign film titles, why wasn't there a fuss about a certain film not being released with the title The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain? I consider that much more of a breach of intent.