sounds like he managed to get in touch directly with DW rather than just their marketing people (like the earlier email / reply)... perhaps they can claw back some reputation from this cackness...

not only is there masses of discussion on this at the official sites forum, but also at IGs official site... no one is that impressed, particularly as (at this point in time) it looks like a sweeping of the issue under the carpet is happening...

I agree with all that. But...

If it was just the CC, maybe. But the size of the subtitles, the placement, and the CC, all combine for one long distraction. It hurts to shy people away from this DVD, because the movie itself is wonderful. But what Dreamworks did was not fair to domestic anime fans....frankly, it was inconsiderate. It would be great if they said it was a mistake, and offered a better DVD. But the bottom line rules, and I'm not sure enough people will pass on the DVD to hurt it.

Don't hold your breath.

Sounds like the GitS SE is just going to be good for slight picture improvment, and sound quality. I'll probably skip it then.

Not only do I want them to remove the text in [brackets], but I DEMAND the same dialog from the theatrical release! I've heard several reports that, on top of this fiasco, the dialog has been dumbed down as well, and some of the complexity has been completely removed from the incredible movie I watched in September!

This masterpiece is the one DVD I've been looking forward to the most over the past 6 months. How could DW treat it so poorly!!!? I'm guessing the first reply from them was by the management in charge of the error, trying to cover it up. The second reply, from the ANN editor, was probably from someone more internal/higher up the chain.

My copy is already in the mail and I can't return it. I should have gone with my instincts when I first saw the generic-1980's-action-movie cover art several months back, and waited for a future release/special edition.

Is there anything legal we can do, (like the Japanese legal system when their Spirited Away had a red tint), to get them to deliver on their promise from the back of the box? ...that is, if Dreamworks are going to be mean and not issue a recall/reprint like they should...

You can always sue for just about anything. Look at the class action widescreen lawsuit.

I'd wait on gathering your team of lawyers until you give Dreamworks a chance to make things right. Write letters, emails and make phone calls. Even an online petition might work. Also maybe write to some of the entertainment magazines to write a little blurb about the snafu. That might get the attention to the right people.

I've decided not to buy it and writing to DW to let them know why. Just trying to do my little part -smile-

I watched this last night, and the close-caption subs are annoying to the point of serious distraction. They do seem to get somewhat less frequent toward the end (or maybe I just came to accept them more), but here's my favorite unnecessary caption:

"[silence]"

I have a 57 inch sony widescreen television with a progressive scan dvd player. This is the set up I just finished watching this movie with and i must say early on the subtitles were distracting but throughout the film things got better. I rented this title first and now i am looking to buy it. Just my dos centavos.

Are the people who are bothered by the captions, people who normally watch anime dubbed? Just a question. It seems to me that I've watched a lot of anime with captions...

I normally watch anime subbed (though I enjoy dubs a lot too), and I don't ever recall watching a DVD with captions like this. I can think of a few odd examples, but it's not common by any stretch of the imagination - as shown by the people at Anime on DVD getting up in arms about the subtitles on this DVD.

I saw this movie at a film festival a couple of months ago, and really enjoyed it, but I won't be getting the R1 DVD. I hope an R2 release comes out with proper subtitles.

From what I remember, I think all Universal DVDs have the [crappy] subtitles, which sorta explains the email they sent back

Hmm, interesting.

Heck, I'll ALWAYS choose Japanese language with captions, and, what, 90 percent of the time the captions are on the picture, so that's not the problem I had. The problem was how freakin' HUGE the subtitles were, and how high they were. That combined with the CC was what made it bad.

Here, animeonDVD, ghost2.com, Dreamworks' Go Fish forum.....everyone and their mother is complaining about this.

Whenever given the option, I will watch original language. I was in on the whole Mononoke debacle and have sent a written letter to DW.
The issue here isn't the choice between dub and sub, it's the non-choice between sub and CC. Read back in the thread a bit. The text obscures the picture at crucial points in the story.

If this movie means as much to you as "You've Got Mail" or some other piece of fluff, that shouldn't raise your ire.

Problem with me is: This was my favorite movie in a long, long time and this is the only treatment available to region one. I think it's a pretty big deal.

(had to add) They already had bitchin' reddish orange subs done for the theatrical release. What the fuck happened to those?

I have read the whole thread. This was my favourite movie in a long time too. However, the captions just don't bother me that much, and I could swear I have seen them on other titles. While I dislike them, I am not greatly affected by them...

I was just curious if perhaps the captions were bugging people who prefered dubs anyways, because they find reading the subtitles distracting (this is something I hear often from people who want to watch dubs.) This would make the CC subtiles very distracting to them.

Looks like I was probably wrong though. I've actually rewatched a few older titles to see if they had CC subtitles, and they didn't, so I don't know where I got the idea that lots of anime has captions.

having now watched the disc and having continued to follow discussion online, the major issue for me now is the talk that the subtitles have been dumbed down and obviously dont match those used at the cinema screenings of the film in the USA recently...

My roommate told me he heard there's going to be a 2 disc SE of GITS2 - no idea where he got this info, but has anyone else heard anything? Apologies if it's been mentioned - I didn't read the entire thread.

so has anyone found a better copy of this disc yet?? i dont care what region it is .... judt need english 5.1 track or a NON cc subs in english ??

china??
uk??
hk??
anywhere ?????

IGN Review indicates that GoFish acknowledged the problem and apparently there were check discs with the proper subtitles -eek-

Maybe GoFish would correct the problem after all.

I got mine today and of course I immediatly checked out the french sub(sorry I'm french..) and It's not as bad as I thought.They just could have been a little bit lower on the screen...
My disappointment comes from the DD5.1 soundtrack which seems clearly less "heavy" than in theater...Did anybody notice this lack of bass(.1 LFE)? Usualy, I don't change the level of this channel, but I'll try to put it 2 or 3 dB higher...

PS:Hope my english is "readable".

^ don't worry eric, your english is light-years beyond my french.

And, yeah, the .1 seemed lacking on the dvd, since I remember it thumping in the theater. But that could just be due to the theater's settings.

In the theater, the music gave me beats in the stomach(every beat on the "BIG drum"), and I almost feel nothing with the dvd...I will try with a couple of dB added...

It's better for Bass with +3dB on the .1

http://img137.exs.cx/img137/2958/gits22pv.th.jpg

I'took this picture and as you can see, sub are not that big but really, they could have put them 5cm lower!!!

A little update;
Saw this on dvdfile.com forum:
Well here is some good news everyone. Over on the IGN boards there is a thread talking about the disc and the CC being used instead of realy subtitles. Well the main reviewer ANDY has been in contact with the company GO FISH (who produced the dvd with Dreamworks) and this is what he has to say from them

Quote:Spoke to Go Fish. They are gonna run new discs, so future releases will have proper subs. They are debating how to best handle letting customers with the disc in hand trade it in for the new one. I'll have a story tonight, hopefully.

That was yesturday with no new update on the main page yet or on the boards, but i shall try to keep everyone updated
Cool!

IGN mentioned it in thier review

I dunno if it was posted already so chill with the Re-posting Nazi-ism

Exchanges shouldn't be big issue since Dreamworks distributes the discs and they (and Universal) have 3rd party company handling these sorts of thing.

Finding the new discs in stores can be tricky. Unless they put a sticker or "V.2" somewhere, it's hard to distinguish the old and the new.