Pan's Labyrinth

[Pez]

Unfortunately I cant give a review as I was about to watch and low and behold its in Spanish (and hence subtitled). I was very disappointed because subtitles totally take me out of the movie experience. After all, I want to WATCH the movie, not read it (isnt that what books are for). The last movie I watched subtitled was a nightmare to get through and when I read the book I realized I missed so much that I was ruined for subtitles for life.

Now I am sure some will read this and think I am ignorant, closed minded, lazy, etc but that is so far from the truth and missing the point. In fact, I will pretty much give any movie a chance regardless of popular opinion or reviews because you never know when you will find a gem that most would pass over. It comes back to what I said, having to read an entire movie means I have to focus on the bottom of the screen and end up missing out as I feel I have to speed read and then feel like I didnt get all of it, try to read it again only to have the next line come up.

That being said I really want to see this movie and am going to suck it up and see how it goes. I am just worried that being focused on the bottom of the screen is going to make miss out on all the good things I have heard about it. There is nothing like being totally engrossed in a great movie or book but they are two very different activities to me.

End rant.

[WillyD]

Just suck it up. I am sure you're a quick enough reader.

When I saw it in the theater I didn't feel that I missed out because I had to read the subtitles. I got really good and reading them quickly and still focusing on the movie itself.

[Club1820]

It gets easier the more you watched subtitled movies. There are TOO MANY great foreign movies to let this stop you. I also had a hard time the 1st couple of times. Stay with it.

[Pez]

There are few movies that I have held off on because of subtitles. With any luck this will go smoother than the last one I watched (which was about 12 years ago).

I must say, WillyD and Club 1820 you are giving me some hope and I am going to be more open minded. I was fully expecting to get lambasted for my aversion to subtitles.

[sikoniko]

i watched this movie friday night. great movie. the subtitles didnt bother me a bit! it is kind of graphic, so be prepared, but worth it.

[David Meek]

Just an FYI, here's the thread we had going on Pan's Labyrinth in At The Movies.

[Nick M]

This was one of my favorite films of the year.
Amazing use of emotion - especially suspense and fear.

It was good enough for me to buy it - the first film I've purchased in a long time. I've watched it 4-5 times already.

:4: out of :5:

[Pez]

This was one of my favorite films of the year.
Amazing use of emotion - especially suspense and fear.

It was good enough for me to buy it - the first film I've purchased in a long time. I've watched it 4-5 times already.

:4: out of :5:

I fully agree. I watched it yesterday and I have to admit, all of my concerns about sub-titled movies went out the window. It was very easy to follow and never once did I find myself struggling to keep up with the subtitles.

One thing I noticed is that some elements were very basic that can be found in most other movies. For example - the notion of a girl and her mother going to live with someone new and emotions that go along with it. The conversations duing these scenes is similiar to what you see in other stories so when I would read the sub-titles I could breeze through them as the emotions that correspond to that would be the same no matter what language its in (hopefully that makes sense). With that in mind I plan to watch a lot more sub-titled movies. I would not want to miss another gem like this one!

[gross30]

Just got around to watching it last night. Great film. Subtitles were not a problem. Great storyline and visuals. Pleasure to watch. :4:

[DelRay]

I'd have to give this one a :T . Wasn't what I expected, but that was a good thing. Like everyone else, the subtitles were not a problem. After awhile, you don't even know you're reading them.

[wkhanna]

I saw this about two weeks ago (Netflix rental).
Just an incredible movie.
All aspects of this film hit the mark for me.

Four and one half Stars!

[Jack Gilvey]

Fantastic film, loved every minute. PQ is amazing, and not just "for SD". Subtitles are not a big deal, I don't even notice them as such. Only after I read the initial post did I even remember it was subtitled, so trivial is the fact to me.

[Jack Gilvey]

The last movie I watched subtitled was a nightmare to get through and when I read the book I realized I missed so much that I was ruined for subtitles for life.

That happens with every book/movie comparison I do, subtitled or not.

[greenhorn]

While I (hard to say enjoyed because I'm not really into movies with much violence) thought it was a good movie and a movie worth seeing, I think a single viewing will be my limit. No probelm with subtitles, picture was good, sound was good (the little thing buzzing around was fun sonically) little bit of a harsh, downer movie for my taste. Again, I think an important movie to see, but only once for me.

I hind sight I should clairify at bit. While I do enjoy some violent movies, I do not enjoy them where children - innocent people are generally involved. A bit to much sadness and life challenges for the child in the movie. That is the soft spot for me.

On the whole I do not care for gratuitous violent - graphic movies, although if it has historical context (Saving Private Ryan) or bad guys doing bad guys (Good Fellas) I'm Ok with it.

[Russ L]

Just saw the Faun's Labyrinth (the original title, the Greek Pan is not in the film). A great movie and a fairytale/myth full of meaning. And it has that special ingredient of all great movies-an evil Nazi! ...or in this case a Spanish fascist ally who models himself after his evil Nazi friends. Young Ivana Baquero's strong acting was central to the film's success. Academy Awards were well deserved.

[Ovation]

Just got around to viewing this last night (HD DVD rental from Zip.ca). Outstanding film. I'll be buying this very soon.

[chubby chaser]

I bow my head in shame. I rented pans labyrinth a few weeks ago from
http://www.redbox.com/home.aspx without reading it was spanish sub titles. I got it home popped it in dvd and made it through two minutes. I cant handle sub titles. Guess Ill have to read the english version of the book if you guys liked the story line. My hats off to those of you who enjoy subtitles.

[Jack Gilvey]

My hats off to those of you who enjoy subtitles.

It's not about "enjoying subtitles", of course, it's just that a little reading is not that big a price to pay for me. Certainly not as distracting as dubbing. Give it longer than two minutes, this movie is worth it.

[Ovation]

It's not about "enjoying subtitles", of course, it's just that a little reading is not that big a price to pay for me. Certainly not as distracting as dubbing. Give it longer than two minutes, this movie is worth it.

While the really bad dubbing of 70s era kung-fu movies does have its charms, in general, I could not agree more. When I was a young teen, I saw a dubbed version of a Dirty Harry movie on TV (Magnum Force, I think, though I won't swear to it) in French and Eastwood had a piercing, nasally voice--I stopped watching after fifteen minutes. I'll watch a dubbed film if it is unavoidable but if subtitles are an option, I will ALWAYS choose them.

[pichonCalavera]

I live in Mexico, and watching English spoken movies translated to spanish is almost always awful, so I always go for subtitles.

And one of the things that I can notice is that when the movie is translated to another language, sometimes the sound quality gets worse, so another reason for going to subtitles... not messing around with original audio quality.

And by the way, Pan's Labyrinth is a great movie, if you liked this one I recommend The Orphanage, another spanish speaking movie.

[Gump]

Intriguing and multi-faceted movie. Several dramatic storylines coinciding together. Couldn't help but be drawn into the plight of the 10 year old girl Ophelia as she deals with the challenges life thrust upon her both in the "real" world as well as the "fantasy" world. It all builds to a dark and violent climax.

Grade: A-