Well to be honest (and Im not really defending Magnolia here as I think they didnt do a very good job on this DVD and I for one wouldnt pay more than $3 for this DVD.) you should just be thankful this got a theatrical release from Magnolia in the first place. MOst other studios would have just slapped this straight to DVD with the flawed subtitles on in the first place.

The flaw with the implied argument that Trevor is making is that this isn't Independence Day or something. magnolia is a specialty label that primarily releases indie movies for film fans, and film fans is exactly who they pissed off. I imagine the percentage of people who bought the disc who are annoyed by this is higher than you'd expect, because the overall number of people who bought it is low, and they're the kind of people who do care.

Most other studios? Who might I ask?

Christ, most other studios probably would've released it with the theatrical subtitles. That includes both the larger DVD labels and the smaller DVD labels like Anchor Bay, Dark Sky, Blue Underground, Mya Distribution, etc. And if they fucked up; I'm sure those studios (big or small) would've done a recall or a trade-in program.

Go back to bitching about films not being rated R and being shorter than 120 minutes.

I'm not taking a stand on the issue, consider myself firmly in the middle.

I see their side, I see the other side. I do completely feel that the extreme of the anti-Magnolia side is severely over reacting.

I noticed a couple of the hitches in the subtitles, and just shrugged my shoulders. No foreign film will ever be perfect in the English subtitle department, as, by it's very nature, it is an interpretation. Someone will always think that it could have been better.

The "Eli/I'm trapped" thing is a total non issue. Who even needs subtitles in that scene? The other supposed problems are similar. I look at the comparison shots with the "corrected" subtitles, remember that scene, and don't feel that I was at a loss by having seen it the incorrect way. Most of those problems were obvious in the character's facial expressions and actions. Again, while watching it before all this was discussed, I noticed a few obvious hiccups, but feel like I knew the intent.

I'm pretty sure that very few, if any, people here would have noticed it enough to post if they didn't see the bloggers go at it first.

In a perfect world and economy, Magnolia should offer to swap out discs for those concerned. Just random speculation, but Magnolia's fear may be that if they cave, news of the free exchange may explode, and the cost involved in pressing total replacement discs and several dollars shipping (both ways) per request, may be enough to cost the company a job or a future title. Times are tight, companies are going out of business all over. They must feel that the bad will they earn from a few hundred people is not worse than the cost of a full exchange. Just idle speculation.

Again, personally, I feel like I can follow and fully enjoy the movie with either set of subtitles.

Trevor, I'm totally with you. Bravo.

Yes, times are tough and the economy is horrible, but if all these other small studios could re-issue and offer exchange programs, sometimes for even smaller titles, then Magnolia should be able to. Elite, Anchor Bay, Dark Sky, Blue Underground. It's not like the sole comparison is larger studios.

I will NOT be purchasing this until the Blu-ray release is corrected.

If you haven't, please email Magnolia to let them know. The marketing knows that for every complaint they get, there are at least several other people who will take the same action but not write. If they anticipate losing enough sales, they will take action.

OR ... you could wait until Criterion picks up the title and does a proper release.

I have Charter for cable and they have Let The Right One In available for $3.99 on demand, does anyone know if this has the theatrical subtitles like the Netflix on demand does?
I may try it this weekend if I have time, but would like to know for sure first before I spend the money. If no one knows, I'll post the results when I get a chance to check it out myself.

For what it's worth, Vudu uses the DVD subtitles. So it seems to be hit or miss which set were distributed to which outlets.

Charter not only has the incorrect subtitles, but it is fullscreen as well.
I was still able to enjoy the movie, but I look forward to some day seeing it in widescreen and the theatrical subs. I just read the book so I didn't want to wait too long before watching.

I'm really glad I saw this movie in the theater at the last minute, I was planning on waiting for DVD. Now I'm waiting out for a re-release because I've already tasted the forbidden fruit of the "good" subtitles, these new one's look horrible in the screen caps.

so....still nothing on the new DVD re-issue? Any dates maybe?

Its going to be a while. Its a running change, so they need to sell out before they fix it and remanufacture.

Balls

Ah well, maybe by the time it gets to that, we get a better edition (porting over that Swedish commentary with subs would be nice)

Looking deeper, it looks like its actually sold very well for an independent Blu-Ray. But unfortunately we have no idea how many they manufactured and shipped - let alone what they still have in inventory.

And they are being anything but forthcoming with info.

I've been told that the theatrical subtitles are an exact match for the English dub, which screams to me that they're actually dubtitles (a transcription of the dub script, not a real translation of the original dialogue). Can anyone confirm that? If so, that pretty much throws any claims that the theatrical subs are more accurate out the window.

I've mellowed a bit on the subject, having watched the BD twice. It would be nice if Magnolia would offer a swap once the new version is released, but I just can't stay this worked up over the subject for that long. Yes, I was irritated when I first learned of the sub issue, but it has really fallen off my radar in recent weeks.

Even knowing the differences hasn't spoiled my enjoyment of the LTROI, and I still give it a strong recommendation. It's a terrific vampire film.

For all the hoopla here, nobody who speaks and reads both languages has offered any information as to whether or not the new subtitles are actually more accurate or not. Disregarding all preference for one set or the other of subtitles, I am very interested to know which are actually more accurate, because I also suspect that some of the theatrical subtitles are expanding on the actual dialog a little (or a lot in places).

The new subtitles on the DVD/BD versions don't match the dub. The dub uses the dialogue from the theatrical subtitles, which caused a lot of additional anger: you can watch it the way it was, if you suffer through an insipid dub.

A couple of commentors on the original article here:
And here:

Thanks for posting those, I've been waiting to hear from someone like that. Has there been anything said about this by either the director or the author? I would be interested in hearing from them, their opinions and thoughts on the subtitle issue would be nice to have.

I have yet to see the movie (aside from a few clips and the trailer) so I obviously can't say anything with absolute certainty, but just looking at the theatrical vs. literal subtitles it seems that the theatrical stays way closer to the source.
The flow I remember from what snippets I've seen, combined with the typical way I'd expect the dialouge to carry out makes the literal subs feel lacking.
Descriptive yes, but they seem to have no "soul".

If all goes well I should have the Swedish DVD tomorrow so I'll revisit this topic when I've actually seen the movie.

Regardless of literal or literary translations, the scene in the bar with the locals confronting Eli's "dad" is completely maligned, and you don't have to know Swedish to figure that out. When the actors are speaking lines of dialogue and all you get on the screen is "In that case...", there's something wrong.

Well, I just saw this comment on Icons of Fright. Those that were holding off on buying the current pressing might not like this.

It isn't clear if they were talking about when the disks will appear in stores, or when they will start pressing the new disks. If it's the latter, that makes me a sad panda.