I just bought the DVD - and there is no menu and no subtitles available. Also, at the first of the movie, when Jack is speaking Russian to the guard just before he takes him out with the blow gun, isn't a subtitled translation of what they are saying in Russian supposed to be at the bottom of the screen? Was this just a bare bones DVD put out - or did they accidentally release defective discs? Anybody hear anything regarding this? Thanks -
shareThe lack of a menu isn't a defect, it's just a cheap DVD. As for the subtitles, I don't remember the movie well enough to recall if subtitles were ever there in the first place. Aside from no menu, I'm very pleased with the DVD.
shareI was horribly disappointed by the DVD release. _Cloak & Dagger_ has long been my favorite movie (despite what, I would argue, is one of the worst ending lines in American film--given the quality and complexity of the rest of the film), and I was really looking forward to director's commentary and other extras. Honestly, I feel really ripped off: anyone with a VHS copy of the film, a VCR, the right cables, and the correct software could have made this. I also thought it was really unfair (yes, unfair) of the DVD's distributors to include a picture of Henry Thomas looking through a movie camera lens on the back of the case if there wasn't going to be anything extra included.
As for the subtitles, I never saw _Cloak & Dagger_ in a theater (was too young when it was released), so I can't attest to that version, but the VHS copy I have of the movie does not have subtitles for that opening. I've always wondered what Jack Flack asks for and what the guard's response is. Truth be told, I always just assumed it wasn't a real language but something made up to sound exotic and foreign. I would love to find out what they're saying, though, if you know!
I, too, was very disappointed in the dvd. first of all, i looked for it everywhere and no one had it for sale. and i knew it was coming out in november so i went looking for it. i had to get my friend to order it off amazon and i must have paid about ten dollars for it which i thought was very cheap. at first i didnt see anything wrong with the dvd. my boyfriend and i didnt even notice that it started on its own and had no menu. we didnt realize till at the end the movie wouldnt stop when we pressed stop. i was disappointed that this was a low quality dvd. and i love the movie. i hadnt seen it in at least ten years until i saw it two weeks ago. i mean the movie is just as good as it was when i was a kid but the dvd could have been so much better.
of all the things i miss, i miss my mind the most.
What I never understand is they obviously have these deleted scenes so why don't they just add them onto the DVD. I also think no matter how cheap a DVD is, there is no excuse for lack of subtitles and menu.
shareActually, I know of no deleted scenes. There were two scenes which tended to
get chopped out in broadcast versions (the scene with Davey and his father at
night is chopped off after his father tells him it was just a wrong number. Davey
stands in the door of his rooming, staring at his father. The scene is continued
in the DVD. Also, Rice's description of what he's going to do to Davey when he
has him cornered was obviously deleted) which were present in the DVD version.
And hey, it's better than the Laserdisc version: digital transfer and widescreen!
We "Gothic" fans should've been so lucky.
We should feel lucky that they even released it on DVD, I'm still waiting for Howard The Duck to be released.
shareWhat do these people need menus for? I hate DVD menus, they are always crummy and they make me wait when all I want is to watch the movie. I especially hate the repetitive music. Here in Brazil, sometimes they play a movie at BlockBuster, the movie ends, goes into the menu and stays there, playing the same stupid 60 seconds of music for the rest of the night... everybody too busy to do anything...
I would say the lack of a menu is a plus. If the movie has subtitles or other "channels" you can always choose from them without crummy menus anyway.
This has always been one of my favorite flicks. This movie came out after E.t. Henry Thomas gives a good performance as Davy. I'm glad this movie is out on DVD-but I just don't nderstand why there isn't a menu. I see a lot of compaints on IMDB about DVDs put out by Disney-but they all have a menu, and most contains subtitles.
That being said, I'm just happy that this movie is on DVD.
Jay
I have several DVDs that don't have a menu, so that is nothing new to me.
As for subtitles, the conversation at the begining of the movie never had them.
Anyone else think this movie probably boosted sales for walkie-talkies in the mid-80s?
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I was really dissapointed with the DVD release myself. Universal usually puts out pretty good discs. Who knows, they could be planning on releasing a special edition in a year or so, so that way we'll have to buy it twice. A lot of studios are getting a lot cheaper with their DVDs. I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but the inserts with chapter selections, production notes, etc. are gone now. Two years ago, you'd never see a DVD without one. Anything to save a buck. . .
shareGood point...I've noticed that as well, even with the most expensive special edition DVDs. The only reason I can think of is that they are loosing money, but we know they're not. I think they're just tryin to make as much as they could, but in the end it doesn't please the customer..."like they care"
shareYou hit the nail on the head. A few years ago, DVD's were not as common as they are now. Back then, studios had to entice you by giving you all these extras and features so you would pay their steep prices. Now the prices are lower and so is the quility. I don't care too much about any special features this movie may have come with, but come on....chapter selection and menu should be a minimum on ANY dvd.
share[deleted]
It certainly does not hurt anything to have the menus to navigate. And it helps you as the viewer by doing just that: allowing you to navigate through the movie. Say you want to get to the point where Morris gets to one million one hundred thirty nine thousand on the Atari cartridge? With a scene selection you can do that. Without that (or the ability to fast forward) you have to just sit and wait. DVD distributors should offer a bare minimum. Sure we expect them to make it digital and transfer audio/video over. But we should also ask for a favor - menus!
shareI completely agree. Though I haven't experienced any DVD without a menu and scene selection (I don't have Cloak & Dagger yet), it would seem utterly ridiculous to not include these on ANY DVD. That's the advantage of digital media. What would a CD be if you couldn't "pick" the song you want to play from a 13-song disc?? Would the previous repliers to this post who support the "No-Menus, No-Scene Selection" support fast forwarding to the CD song they wanted to listen to??
shareOf all my DVDs of film made for the movie theater, the Cloak & Dagger disc is the only one without a menu! Once in a DVD player, it just plays its bare-bone contents continuously! Universal didn't have to be so stingy since even a $1 DVD sometimes sports menu, scene selection, AND featurette. [Btw, I actually have a couple of CDs that, to my aggravation, don't have the songs or comedy bits separated digitally. Whole contents are on just one track!]
shareMy old copy of this movie I watched a thousand times was taped off HBO in the 80s. There are subtitles at the beginning. I will put in the tape and then type here what the subtitles say.
This train will stop in Tucumcari.
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No, it's a good VIDEOTAPE that just gives you the movie. If a DVD just gives you the movie, it's only decent. DVDs should always have more options for the viewing experience than videotapes do.
shareI have a perfect DVD copy that I made myself from a VHS tape I've had for years. It's still VHS quality, but the movie is watchable and that's all that matters. Besides, from all I've read here...the commercial DVD isn't any better than a direct copy of the VHS tape.
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