My opinion on the various Serenity DVD versions by ayrad

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My opinion on the various Serenity DVD versions

POSTED BY: AYRAD
UPDATED: Wednesday, May 10, 2006 08:57
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Friday, February 24, 2006 1:44 AM

Hello,

I'm an Italian Browncoat.

I've received the US Serenity DVD as a Christmas gift. I then purchased the Australian Double Disc edition (with the shiny slip case signed by Joss!) and yesterday I've bought the Italian DVD version.

As you might know, in some European countries movies and tv shows are dubbed in the language of the country. In Italy everything we see in movie theaters or television gets dubbed in Italian. Usually, we have the original audio version in DVDs, if they are not too unknown or direct-to-video...

It goes without saying that the original version plus English subtitles are very useful for non English speaking viewers who wants to avoid the very often awful dubbing...or just want to fully understand dialogues.

The Italian dubbing of Serenity is the most repellent thing I've ever heard in my entire life! Just know that the "Browncoats" became Giubbe Nere(Blackcoats)in our version! Not to mention the voices that are all plain wrong (Kaylee's in top of them all).

Now I've just knew that the Italian dubbed version of Firefly will be an abominium:

You wouldn't believe this, but THEY HAVE ELIMINATED ALL THE CHINESE EXPRESSIONS!!!!
Every single line was traslated in Italian.
How stupid, unrespectful and unforgivable is that???

At least in Serenity they kept the Chinese, but it is also true that the movie was dubbed by different people. (Yep movie and tv series have different voices! Plus Serenity arrived here BEFORE Firefly and stayed in movie theaters for just one week, wonder why!!!).

This just to let you understand why I've decided to get 3 different DVD versions of Serenity.
(FYI my Firefly DVD Box Set is from UK, there is no Italian version of it, thanks God...)

This is my opinion on the US, Australian and Italian DVDs:

US version: 7

The ugliest.
It has that horrible cover (poor French people got that one too!) and it's the one with less extra features.

The audio is very good, but gorrammit! couldn't they made smaller subtitles???
They are so big, they're way too distracting.

Australian version: 9

It has the most extra features being a special edition (lucky Browncoats from Germany, The Netherlands and Luxembourg have the same edition!) and a very nice cover, especially love the Serenity logo. Not to mention the blue slip cover (or tin box).

However what keeps me from giving it a 10 is the audio. Yes, the voices sounds high pitched and a bit weird. Dialogues are a bit clearer, though to understand for a foreign listener.
Subtitles are in a nice size.

Italian version: 8 1/2

Yep, actually we have a very nice cover!
It is like the UK DVD cover, but it has warmer tones of color (more reddish than blueish):

Plus it is iridescent!
Very nice.

The audio (original version is like the US, so it's good, not altered like the Australian one)
The subtitles size is good, too.

We've got the same extra features as the UK DVD.

Less than the Australian DVD but more than the US one. (The extra feature in plus is "A Filmaker's Journey" that is not included in the US DVD).

Negative things: well of course the Italian audio track (that I will never option, unless I have to show the movie to friends or parents that are not able to follow the movie in original language).

And the Italian disc menu: it is identical to all the other foreign DVD versions, except it is written in Italian and writings don't turn from Chinese to Italian.

Luckily the DVD contains also the English menu!
(that I will always option) because it has the Chinese characters turning into English.

Of course I've bought the Italian DVD also to help with sellings!

Well, I just wanted to share my impressions with all of you and I would like to know opinions from other European Browncoats on their DVD versions of Serenity.

Anyway, I must say that in all versions Jayne looks like the fine piece of hunk that he is.

I'll be in my bunk (or his, much better!)

Darya

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Friday, February 24, 2006 2:21 AM

BITTERBIERCE

"As you might know, in some European countries movies and tv shows are dubbed in the language of the country."

I always wanted to do an American-Old Etonian dub for British fans: "I say old chap, dashed rummy thing, those Reavers. What say we give them the old what for?", etc. Then we could dub Cletuses voice from Dukes of Hazard for Mark Sheppard- "Says right cheah Rogue Vessel, calsification firefly was eyeballed smackin' some ol' der-I-lict"

Hey, I was wondering since you're Italian: do they have any different features on the DVD? I would like to get ahold of any extras they might have.

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Friday, February 24, 2006 2:27 AM

DONCOAT

Hi, Darya.

Thanks for your report.

Do you happen to know whether Italian TV uses the PAL system? Or does it use NTSC as in North America? (The UK and most of the rest of the world use PAL.)

The reason I ask is your comment about the Italian DVD: that it doesn't have the high-pitched voices of the Australian version. If that's true, and if you're referring to the English dialog rather than the dubbed Italian, then either one of two things must be true:
1. Italy uses NTSC rather than PAL/SECAM, or
2. Special digital processing was used during the transfer to keep the sound track at normal pitch. (I'd be surprised if this is the case, though. That wasn't done for the Aussie DVD, as you know.)

If you're not sure about which TV system is used in Italy, you can tell by the run time of the movie. An NTSC transfer of Serenity should be 119 minutes. A PAL transfer is 114 minutes.

Edited to add: I looked it up -- Italy does use PAL. Are you sure that the original English soundtrack has normal pitch?

By the way -- I watched the BDM with the French subtitles on. That's the only language other than English that I have any skills in. I was disappointed (though not really surprised) at how much was lost in the translation. There's really no hint of the movie's Western dialect and other language quirks. The French is just "plain vanilla". (Not even French vanilla -- hee!)

I'm not saying I could do better -- far from it! -- but it reinforces what others have pointed out: Firefly and Serenity just don't make the transition to other languages very well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don't disagree on any particular point.

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Friday, February 24, 2006 2:35 AM

BITTERBIERCE

By the by, as a side issue I want to say that dubbing Firefly has to be listed among the Crimes Agaisnt Humanity listings in the Hague.

If you ever try to recruit any of your friends, please make sure you use subtitles, because half the character of the entire show and movie are in the subtle linguistic tics and anomolies of the actors and their dialogue: Firefly is NOT translatable to another language. Hell, I don't even think it's translatable to other memebers of the anglosphere, much less other European languages. Make sure your friends get their first introduction with the original sound and subtitles, please.

And as I was aksing earlier- is there any way US users can get ahold of the DVD extras of the other versions?

Also, welcome here, Darya. This is a good group of coats, quirky and smart. And if you're good, you can become part of my harem.

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Friday, February 24, 2006 2:41 AM

BITTERBIERCE

It's not surprising at all- the whole dialogue is a creative mixed takeoff of

1. a specific Western American patios,

2. Southern speech affectations, mannerisms and metaphors, and

3. Northern linguistic accents.

It's SPECIFICALLY AMERICAN in its conception and excecution. I don't think there's a possible way dubbing could ever convey the show. How do you creatively play off a mixed American linguistic heritage and then offhandedly throw it into another language? It's impossible.

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Friday, February 24, 2006 3:17 AM

AYRAD

Ciao Bitter Bierce, Doncoat,

QUESTION: Hey, I was wondering since you're Italian: do they have any different features on the DVD? I would like to get ahold of any extras they might have

ANSWER: The Italian DVD contains the same extra features as the UK version.
Our extra are:

- Joss Whedon Introduction
- Feature Commentary
- Deleted Scenes With Optional Commentary By Director Joss Whedon
-Outtakes
-Future History The Story Of Earth That Was
-Whats In A Firefly
-ReLighting The Firefly
-A Filmmakers Journey
-Fruity Oaty Bar Easter Egg

Languages: Italian, English
Subtitles: Italian, English, Croatian
(Extra Features are all subtitled in Italian and English)

DVD is REGION 2 PAL.

I can play all regions on both my PC and table DVD Player.

QUESTION: The reason I ask is your comment about the Italian DVD: that it doesn't have the high-pitched voices of the Australian version. If that's true, and if you're referring to the English dialog rather than the dubbed Italian, then either one of two things must be true:
1. Italy uses NTSC rather than PAL/SECAM.

ANSWER: I believe that's it.
But the DVD running time is 114 min, like the Australian one. At movie theaters it was 159 min.

QUESTION: Edited to add: I looked it up -- Italy does use PAL. Are you sure that the original English soundtrack has normal pitch?.

ANSWER: Yep, more than sure! It's not high pitched!

QUESTION: Make sure your friends get their first introduction with the original sound and subtitles, please.

ANSWER: Most of my friends watch movies in original language and even my Dad, who has watched all Firefly in V.O. with English subtitles.

QUESTION: Also, welcome here, Darya. This is a good group of coats, quirky and smart. And if you're good, you can become part of my harem.

ANSWER: Thanks so much!
It's not the first time I post here anyway.
I love this place, and reading fanfictions.
They kept me from drowning in desperation.
I'm an addicted Firefly/Serenity fan...
And...if you look like Jayne I'll gladly jump on your harem! I've been told I'm pretty...pretty.

QUESTION: It's SPECIFICALLY AMERICAN in its conception and excecution. I don't think there's a possible way dubbing could ever convey the show. How do you creatively play off a mixed American linguistic heritage and then offhandedly throw it into another language? It's impossible.

ANSWER: I absolutely agree with you!
But it wasn't soooo difficult keeping those Chinese expressions! They kept Chinese in the dubbed movie.
In my opinion Italian dubbers where too lazy to learn how to pronounce those lines!
Anyway SHAME!!!!

AB AMORE NON RECEDAM
www.cthomashowell.net

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Friday, February 24, 2006 7:21 AM

CBY

Funny noone seems to be bothered by the fact that Germany gets a two disc special edition with the Australian special features (god knows why - this is the one with the blue cover). I find this whole DVD policy most unusual, to say the least.

"There’s also a limited edition German version of the Australian 2-disc set, which includes all of the previous plus Question & Answer Session, extended Scenes, Take a walk on Serenity, and The Green Clan." (serenitystuff.com) ...which has been in the top ten of German Amazon all day today (for the first time).

°°°°°°°°°°°°
http://www.byond-trax.com - my selfmade ambient/lounge/chillout music
www.botttos.de/mphillips/mphillips_vol1.exe - mphillips 100 in 1 pack Vol.1

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Friday, February 24, 2006 7:39 AM

CHINDI

VERY interesting! Thanks for the comparisons.. I wonder what the US SE will be like.. (when not if there is one...)..

I agree that it is odd there are so many versions.. but it is also very interesting...

grazie Darya

Chindi

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Friday, February 24, 2006 8:35 AM

JAYRO

Quote:
Originally posted by ayrad:
Australian version: 9

It has the most extra features being a special edition (lucky Browncoats from Germany, The Netherlands and Luxembourg have the same edition!) and a very nice cover, especially love the Serenity logo. Not to mention the blue slip cover (or tin box).

However what keeps me from giving it a 10 is the audio. Yes, the voices sounds high pitched and a bit weird. Dialogues are a bit clearer, though to understand for a foreign listener.
Subtitles are in a nice size.

Now, I got my copy of the R2&4 DVD yesterday. I played it last night, and the first thing I noticed was that the voices sounded slightly higher than normal, Jayne and Zoe especially.

I put it down to production differences between the series and the movie, but now that someone else has noticed it too... Makes me wonder. I'll certainly be comparing the R2/R4 soundtrack with my UK R2 version on Monday.

Oh, and has anyone else had a problem with their 2-disc R2/4 versions? My second disc seems to be R4 only and won't play on my R2 machine. Be interested to know.

----------------------

"We're gonna explode? I don't wanna explode."

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Friday, February 24, 2006 8:53 AM

CBY

(lucky Browncoats from Germany, The Netherlands and Luxembourg have the same edition!)

Seems a bit arbitrary, don't it? I'd really like to know what the reasoning behind this particular decision is.

°°°°°°°°°°°°
http://www.byond-trax.com - my selfmade ambient/lounge/chillout music
www.botttos.de/mphillips/mphillips_vol1.exe - mphillips 100 in 1 pack Vol.1

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Friday, February 24, 2006 9:06 AM

AYRAD

QUESTION: Now, I got my copy of the R2&4 DVD yesterday. I played it last night, and the first thing I noticed was that the voices sounded slightly higher than normal, Jayne and Zoe especially.

ANSWER: Kaylee's and Simon's voices sounded the most different to me. Jayne's is less gruff.
Mal's too, sounds less "low".

QUESTION: Oh, and has anyone else had a problem with their 2-disc R2/4 versions? My second disc seems to be R4 only and won't play on my R2 machine. Be interested to know.

ANSWER: Yep, the second disc is only encoded region 4. But don't worry because region 2 DVD players can play region 4 DVDs as well. It's because they're both PAL, I think. I've never had troubles with my Aussie DVDs!

AB AMORE NON RECEDAM
www.cthomashowell.net

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Friday, February 24, 2006 10:18 AM

CHARLENE

Quote:
Make sure your friends get their first introduction with the original sound and subtitles, please.

I wish I could! But although it says german subtitles are available on the Firefly DVD set there NOT.

So I have to watch the german version with one of my friends, it is HORRIBLE, not just because Mal has the same voice SPIKE (one of the main characters in Buffy) but also because none of the voices really fits! Dialects are totally lost, some expressions are simply wrong...

Hmm, with my friends who actually are good in English I mostly watch with subtitles, because none of them really does watch a lot in English so it is easier...

I wish I could afford the Special Edition of our BDM... I will sooner or later... But I'd prefer sooner...

--------------------------------------------------

I am 94% Like River Tam

The Fugitive. You are clever and dangerous, which is a nasty combination.
The fact you are crazy too just adds to your charm.
They did bad things to you, but you know their secrets.
They will regret how they made you.

--------------------------------------------------

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Saturday, February 25, 2006 3:32 AM

JAYRO

Quote:
Originally posted by ayrad:
QUESTION: Now, I got my copy of the R2&4 DVD yesterday. I played it last night, and the first thing I noticed was that the voices sounded slightly higher than normal, Jayne and Zoe especially.

ANSWER: Kaylee's and Simon's voices sounded the most different to me. Jayne's is less gruff.
Mal's too, sounds less "low".

Yeah, Kaylee's almost squeaky! What's causing this difference, d'you think?

Quote:
QUESTION: Oh, and has anyone else had a problem with their 2-disc R2/4 versions? My second disc seems to be R4 only and won't play on my R2 machine. Be interested to know.

ANSWER: Yep, the second disc is only encoded region 4. But don't worry because region 2 DVD players can play region 4 DVDs as well. It's because they're both PAL, I think. I've never had troubles with my Aussie DVDs!

Neither my PC nor my DVD player will run this Region 4 disc, and they're both Region 2. I've also tried it on two other players without joy. If Region 2 players can play Region 4 DVDs, why am I having this problem?

It's hugely frustrating. I've got a replacement disc coming, but if the same thing's gonna happen with that, I'll have forked out 15.99 for a set that I can only play fifty percent of, and in which everyone sounds like they've been breathing helium.

Sorry to sound like such a whiner, but I just hate it when things go south.

---------------------

"Were there monkeys? Some terrifying space-monkeys maybe got loose?"

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Saturday, February 25, 2006 4:05 AM

JAYHAWK35

Jayro,

While both regions may be able to play PAL, they are still different regions, and unless you've hacked your DVD player to play different regions, you're out of luck.

I'd start by trying to find a region free hack for you current DVD player. Search for your player here: http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks

If you can't find a hack for your player, you'll probably want to buy a region free player, or one that can easily be hacked. I recommend the Philips DVP-642...it plays Divx movies, AVI's, and mpegs, and plays PAL and NTSC. If you're in Region 2(UK?), I'd look here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00029HBJM/qid%3D1140875724/2
02-2906835-8727866

That's the UK equivilent of the US DVP-642 ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000204SWE/sr=8-1/qid=1140875783/ref=
pd_bbs_1/102-9559509-0751322?%5Fencoding=UTF8)

For playing DVDs from other regions on your computer, you'll need to do 2 things:

1. You'll need to upgrade the firmware on your DVD-ROM (or burner) so it's RPC-1 compliant. I'd search for your DVD-ROM/burner model here: http://forum.rpc1.org/portal.php and follow the instructions for upgrading your firmware. Usually, upgrading also unlocks other features of your drive, so it IS worth it.

2. You'll need a program that will fool Windows into thinking it's a region free disc. I prefer a little program that sits in your system tray called DVD Region Killer, by elby software (they make Clone DVD and Clone CD). Download it here: http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/downloads/showsoftware_dvdrk_1.html

One you've done both of those, you're ready to play your dvd from any region on your computer with your desired DVD player software!

---
Zoë: "Preacher, don't the bible have some pretty specific things to say about killing?"

Book: "quite specific. It is however somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps"

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Saturday, February 25, 2006 4:38 AM

HAZE

I hate all the Serenity DVD covers.

--------------------------------------------------
Who do you suppose is in there?

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Saturday, February 25, 2006 5:01 AM

AYRAD

QUESTION: Neither my PC nor my DVD player will run this Region 4 disc, and they're both Region 2. I've also tried it on two other players without joy. If Region 2 players can play Region 4 DVDs, why am I having this problem?

ANSWER: Very weird. I can play all region 4 DVDs on the DVD player in the living room that can play ONLY Region 2 DVDs.

(the Pc DVD player and table DVD player in my bedroom can both play ALL regions instead).

But now I've tried to play the second Aussie Serenity disc on it and it doesn't read it!
Maybe most of the other Aussie DVDs I have at home are encoded Region 2 and 4.

Maybe they made the second disc Region 4 only on purpose because it's the one that contains the Exclusive Extra Features, while the first disc has the same features as our European DVD editions of Serenity.
But it's also true that the Special Edition was made for some countries here in Europe, too, so it's very very weird!

AB AMORE NON RECEDAM
www.cthomashowell.net

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Wednesday, May 10, 2006 8:02 AM

ITAMOON

So far, I've picked up the Serenity releases from France, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. The asian releases have been a real bust - Hong Kong - extras menu is disfunctional, Singapore - no menu at all and movie chopped and put on two disks.

So, I'm looking to get the Italian release - any recommendations for a particular site? What's the going price over there?

I'm also trying to find a Russian disc. The site I found says they cannot ship to the US. Anybody got any ideas?

-Holly

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Wednesday, May 10, 2006 8:57 AM

SIMONWHO

First up, regions 2 and 4 are actually different though they often end up being the same release. So it is possible there is one region 4 disc and on region 2 and 4 in the same box intended for region 4 consumption.

Next - high voices. NTSC versions of films are at 24 frames per second, PAL versions are at 25 frames per second. So the voices will sound a little higher.

Finally Joss has said that he wished he'd come up with a definitive image to market the film around. I think that's reflected in the covers too.

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