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I got the blu-ray of Triumph of the Will the other day, but there is a problem with the way the disk is encoded. The subtitles are all messed up. The English subtitles aren't removable, even if you select "none" in the subtitle menu. And the spoken dialogue in the short doesn't have subtitles at all. Even though the subtitle menu offers several language choices, I suspect the English subtitles show up anyway. This film is all about visuals. I just want to turn off the text on the screen and just look at the pictures, but that isn't possible. I really don't need to know what Hitler is saying and who is standing next to him at all. Is there any word about a disk replacement program on this yet?

Do you really want to know what Hitler is saying?

Maybe the subtitles are on the film print

Ray, I agree with you---I wouldn't doubt that the subtitles are on the film print that was transferred to DVD, so the subtitles weren't digitally added as in most current releases. This particular film saw several re-issues in the English-speaking countries with the English subtitles.

There appear to be two types of subtitles... Translation of dialogue which is available in several languages, and can be turned off in the subtitle menu, and newly created descriptive subtitles all through the picture (not just when people are speaking) that are burned into the video permanently and can't be removed. Even worse, if you select Japanese in the subtitles menu, the dialogue subs are in Japanese, and the descriptive subs are still in English. There is a credit at the beginning of the film for the descriptive subtitles (over the overture no less!) They were created just for this particular release and they are clearly digitally created. The film element itself didn't have subtitles at all.

I haven't confirmed it yet, but I'm told there are logo bugs that pop up in the corner of the film throughout the movie. That is a total deal breaker for me. I expect stuff like that from fly-by-night dollar store DVDs, but not $35 "ultimate edition" blu-rays. I've written Synapse to ask them if these are mistakes and if they plan to correct them. If not, the disk is going back to Amazon.

wingate wrote:Do you really want to know what Hitler is saying?

for historical reasons, yes it would be nice to know what he is saying.

To be honest, the main purpose of this film for me is the visuals and all the words get in the way.

He is actually singing "If I ruled the world",but not in the same key as Harry Secombe

Robert Harris, who restored Triumph of the Will for this release has said that the primary purpose of all of the burned in subtitles and logo bugs was to claim copyright over this release, even though the film is public domain. I honestly can't watch it with the barrage of superfluous subtitles over the beautiful compositions and lighting, so I am returning the disk to Amazon for a refund.

wingate wrote:He is actually singing "If I ruled the world",but not in the same key as Harry Secombe

Just look out for those brown-shirted Seagoons.

This is actually a pretty good to excellent blu ray presentation. Yes, the ID tags and brief intermittent logo bugs are there, but the image is spectacular. Excellent restoration. I didn't find the tags and bugs that big of a deal and actually found them to be much less of a deal breaker than some reviews lead me to believe..........just my opinion.

Here's the trailer for when this played in Lambeth.




Bob

Some people don't mind bugs in the corner of movies on cable tv, or squashed end credits with voice over, or text scrolls advertising upcoming programs I suppose. But that sort of thing is what drove me away from cable tv. One or two transparent bugs in the entire run of a film might not be an issue. But the subtitles pop up every minute or two throughout the entire film. That is just too many interruptions for me.

bigshot wrote:...But the subtitles pop up every minute or two throughout the entire film. That is just too many interruptions for me.

And me, too. I don't have to suffer from them in films (because the only cable channel on which I watch motion pictures is TCM), but they're a constant & infuriating irritant on History Channel, Nat Geo, etc, and they've even crept into some PBS programs like Nature, Nova, etc.