MovieChat Forums > 1941 (1979) Discussion > Subtitles

Subtitles

posted 8 years ago by chriskunselman
4 replies | jump to latest

I'm assuming there were subtitles for the German and Japanese in the film originally but Sony Movie channel is playing it now without and my close captioning just says "German being spoken" or "Japanese...". Were there originally subtitles? I was six when this came out and I've never seen it until now. For all I know they could be talking about bowel movements. It's funny, I wrote this right before Slim Pickens swallows the compass, so I guess they are discussing bowel movements, ha ha.

[–] uvl 8 years ago

I've noticed this as well. When I've seen it shown on other channels, there are indeed subtitle translations for the Japanese and the German dialogue. Odd that Sony has this particular print, unless subtitles are something that the broadcaster can actually turn on or off, and Sony just doesn't pay any attention.

[–] ripleylives 8 years ago

I saw it in a movie theater in 1981, watched it several times on cable TV and On Demand, and I own the DVD and Blu-ray, and I've never seen a version without subtitles translating everything said in Japanese and German (and even English at one point: when the soldier spots Backlinie's backside and lets out a heavily accented "Hollywood!" the subtitle reads "HOLLYWOOD!!!"). Odd, but I've seen similar oddities in television showings of theatrical films. The bowel movement comment made me laugh, so thanks for that. I need laughs these days.

[–] chriskunselman 8 years ago

No problem, just a humorous piece of synchronicity.

[–] Etherdave (175) 4 years ago

All translations salient to the film's narrative appear on the screen and are part of the film visual. There is much further dialogue in Japanese and German, but it was never subtitled where deemed unnecessary.