DVD Subtitles

This is just a short blog, but I wanted to gloat!

I'm watching the film 'October Sky' (an anagram of 'Rocket Boys', the original title - neat!) and by the way this movie is fantastic. I'm really loving it - it's a rare thing to see an inspiring feel-good story that genuinely inspires you and makes you feel good. (I have a few complaints about its depiction of trade unions, and I just spotted a single 'aggressive negotiation' but...)

I like to watch films with the subtitles on (I'm not hard of hearing, I mean I like them anyway). I suppose it's a wierd habit, but I have lots of them. I like to read along so I can pay closer attention to the dialogue and picture the script... I dunno. But sometimes you notice oddities in the subtitles. Always there are lots of occasions where the subtitle-writer has shortened lines to make them quicker, and often random changes will be made. It must be a wierd job (I would LOVE to be a subtitle guy.) I used to have this amazing copy of 'First Blood' where almost every line in the movie was completely different to what was written down. The subtitles told an alternative, wildly stupid version of the story, and removed every single swear for some reason. Oh, and they even changed the title line! 'BUT THEY SHOT FIRST!!!'

And I'm loving the subtitles on my copy of 'October Sky'. They're very good, aside from occasionally shortening. But!
This film is set somewhere in the southern United States, but on my version the subtitles have been translated into British English. 'Math' is always pedantically changed to 'maths'... and this is the best part: 'ass' is changed to 'arse', every time! 'Imm'a kick your arse, boy!'

We need this on the DVD of every American film!

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Makes me damn proud. We may have bad teeth, we may all be football hooligans. We may now be governed by a strange coalition of the party who closed the mines and the party who nobody voted for.

But damnit.

We will correct your spellings with our last breath.