Bleddyn Williams

Absolutely. Rather than looking at buying another copy of the film from abroad, let's try and get Magnolia to do the right thing!

bunkaroo

In addition to the email I think anyone who has a way to return this disc as defective should. I just sent mine back to Amazon today. Maybe they'll get the message when retailers start sending back the defective copies for credit, which will probably cost them more per disc than just exchanging them.

Gizmo

Still got a sealed copy. May wait for the new one to appear on shelves and then swap it.

bunkaroo

I sent the below email:

bub

My email was sent...

Arthur Dent

Good email, bunkaroo.

Matthew Chmiel

Going back to the longer thread we have going in the DVD Talk forum, if you bought the disc on DVD or Blu-ray, I highly suggest you to shoot an email to Magnolia.

Other sites have picked up on our displeasure with Magnolia's decision to screw over the customers who bought this in the first two weeks: Consumerist, Slashfilm and NPR (amongst others) have mentioned the bad customer service and PR in Magnolia's decision.

As someone who saw this theatrically twice, I want the correct subtitles on the disc. If companies like VCI, Elite, Blue Underground or Anchor Bay can do proper exchanges; so can Magnolia. No exceptions (especially since Magnolia has a lot more money than said companies combined due to it's owner).

Mr. Salty

You can read the NPR story here.

Trevor

I prefer accuracy and am upset that the studio isn't at least offering an exchange. Personally, even if I spoke fluent Swedish and/or saw it in theaters, I don't think I'd be that upset over a few poorly chosen words.

But in allegiance with you all, I'll send a complaint email as well.

Pointyskull

Sent an inquiry to them yesterday, and heard back today.
It's Region B and they said they don't ship abroad.

dullboy

The link I posted for the one at Subdvd.com should be fine. The disc is confirmed region-free: http://bluray.liesinc.net/index.php?region=b

Supermallet

I sent an email, even more harsh than the one above. I said if they don't institute an exchange program, I will never purchase another one of their titles again.

musick

To those emailing Magnolia

please ask that they release the brilliant "Man On Wire" on BD in North America while you're at it

thank you

islandclaws

Mine wasn't terribly harsh, but I did say the exact same thing. I told them I'd import every title they put out here just to avoid giving them any more of my money. And I mean it.

asianxcore

Poorly chosen words is taking it lightly on Magnolia

Translating one word, a girl's name "Eli" to "I'm Trapped"...

Trevor

First off, And in the context of that scene, "I'm trapped" conveys the characters situation/anguish at that moment.

bunkaroo

Funny, I thought the character's acting conveyed that without words. No need for the improper translation.

Trevor

Exactly. I chuckled when I saw that silly (mis)translation. The scene was perfect without dialouge.

Supermallet

Maybe instead of "harsh" I should have said "drastic." I wasn't rude to them. I just informed them that if this is the way they're choosing to run their business, I won't be supporting them anymore. If they choose to institute an exchange program, then I will gladly continue supporting them by purchasing their future titles.

asianxcore

Fixed

I agree with both of you that the acting spoke volumes in that scene and there was no need for any translation. Just the idea of translating a name into something completely different (when it's clearly heard) is just silly to me (IMO).

Pointyskull

Here's a different perspective:

My wife is an interpreter in a deaf classroom. One of the concepts she has been taught is to interpret "implied" content rather than exact.

I had her look at the IconsOfFright page, and her thoughts were that with the exception of one particular moment the translations went for the implied meaning. Not necessarily accurate, but certainly implied.

For the record, she disagrees with signing "implied" meaning in the classroom, but in terms of a movie translation she can see how that might occur, considering it's pretty much the same genera thing. Implied. It gets the concept across, and there is a big movement that apparently would prefer that over literal translation, at least in the grade school academic deaf world.

Of course, that doesn't diminish the fact that we would like the original theatrical subs, but I just thought I'd share another angle.

And yes, she disagrees with the incorrect English subs vs theatrical subs. As do I. As do probably all of us in this thread. I'm just offering another way to look at it...

tylergfoster

This would be more relevant if the poor translation didn't also remove some of the artistic intent behind the writing of the lines, like the exchange about living in the jungle gym.

Pointyskull

Don't get me wrong - I'm not defending the subs, just offering another viewpoint. I agree the artistic intent has been altered.

Nate the Great

So, any word on when the new version will be released?

Richard Malloy

Assuming Magnolia is re-authoring and re-pressing these BDs, perhaps a bit less harshness here? I understand the calls for an exchange, but this isn't a product defect situation.

There are far worse subtitles on far too many DVDs, and sometime it's hard to recognize or remember that the second greatest improvement in film viewing over the last 20 years is greatly improved subtitles (I'd say proper aspect ratios is the greatest improvement). I applaud companies like Criterion who put great effort into this, occasionally going out on a limb with new translational approaches to old films (supported by scholarship, of course), and even the occasional offering of alternate subtitles. It's not a simple matter and is probably the most overlooked element of all foreign-language DVD releases, rarely reviewed or commented on (save for non-translational elements like font, color, timing), and requiring a certain degree of fluency in both languages.

But those of you who are going nuts over "Eli!/I'm trapped", and some of the other nuance-lacking, context-defying choices in this translation would have shot yourselves in the bad old days. It was depressing, a typical film often included long stretches of dialog not subbed at all as well as little interjections and asides that flew by without a textual counterpart. You watched a film with the constant, nagging sense that all detail and nuance was being lost (and usually was). The worst I've ever seen was a library print of Rohmer's "My Night at Maud's" where long stretches of conversation were subbed like this: "[philosophical discussion about Pascal]".

I'm very happy that attention is being paid to the very difficult work of translation, but I'm not sure that Magnolia is deserving of such negative attention. It's certainly not the worst I've seen recently. For example, if I was a bigger fan of the Edith Piaff bio-pic, "La Môme", a lavish, Oscar winning prestige production intended for a mass middlebrow audience, I'd be furious at the fact that not a single lyric in the entire film was subtitled on the domestic DVD. As those of you who don't speak French very well may not know, the screenwriter carefully worked those songs into the narrative, usually commenting very directly on the actions and people. The decision not to sub those lyrics makes watching that film a futile endeavor for non French speakers, a far worse situation than what we have here, and one that has not been rectified with the announcement of a new disc, fully subbed.