Damn I hate getting suckered.......
I read reviews about this movie and they were generally positive, although more of a kiddie flick then I normally like. But supposedly the video and audio was top notch, and able to wring out a Blu-Ray home theater system pretty well. So I figured if I ever saw it for sale at a decent price, I would pick up a copy. Which finally did happen.
So the other night, I broke open the wrapper and Connie and I sat down to watch it..... Hmm, I must have made the wrong selection in the setup because he vocals were in Spanish.......... Hmmmmmmmm, where the heck do I change it to English? WTH??? The vocals only COME in Spanish in this movie???
Yeppers......
So this is where the "suckered" feeling comes in. Tell me, if you picked up a movie and all the text was in English, front and back, would you think there was any reason at all to look closely at the very small print on the back where it says that the audio is "SPANISH 7.1 SURROUND SOUND"? Would you think that such a detail such as this SHOULD be indicated boldly on the front of the disk cover that this movie has the audio track entirely in SPANISH, with no English track at all?
So I went back and checked those reviews I had read. They STILL have rave reviews about the flick, and in only one instance at all do I see even a slight mention in passing about the Spanish audio track.
So, have I just lost my mind? The fact that the movie audio is in Spanish, and you have to read printed subtitles to know what is going on is OK for most people? Yeah, maybe the video is great but if you are busy reading the text, how would you know? Maybe the letters look great?
Well, no matter how cheaply I got this movie, it's a complete waste to me. I want a movie for entertainment, and this would not be entertaining at all. Matter of fact, it would be distracting and aggravating.
And I feel like I was purposely sucker punched by the people selling this movie in that they made no effort whatsoever to warn a prospective buyer that regardless of all the text being in English, the audio will be incomprehensible unless you understand Spanish. Heck, the blurb on the front stating "The Best Film of the Year" by Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly certainly doesn't give you any clue that Mr. King likes to watch movies with printed subtitles.
I dunno, but I hope this isn't something that is going to catch on. I've got enough to think about without having to scrutinize a movie with a magnifying glass to make certain that the sound track is in English, or some other "gotcha" is lurking to snag my wallet.
Anyway, if you have any sort of interest in this movie, BEWARE of this little snag that you most likely were not aware of.
Pan's Labyrinth
Linear Mode
