GAIA blu ray - 2021 eco-horror - forced subs?

[DaylightsEnd]

Gaia is an effective and handsomely-filmed 2021 eco/body-horror set in the jungles of South Africa, and involves a variety of fungi that are able to destroy human tissue, as well as literally "devolving" or morphing other organisms into fungus.

The German blu ray disc has no English subtitle option, but has an English audio track option. The film itself has a significant amount of dialogue where the characters appear to be speaking in some South African dialect, perhaps Afrikaans. On the USA dvd, the Afrikaans portions of the dialogue are all translated by forced English subs, so that the English viewer can follow along.

My question is this, for anyone that owns the new German blu ray. On the German blu ray, WHEN the English audio is selected, are the Afrikaans dialect portions of the dialogue still translated with forced English subs for the English viewer? Or are they now forced German subs? Or are the forced subs completely absent?

I ask this because I want the blu ray, but will need to use the English audio. And if the Afrikaans dialogue is not translated to English, quite a bit of useful and important information is lost on the viewer. I'd hate to be forced to stick with the USA dvd on this release. It should be quite the looker in hi-def.

[DaylightsEnd]

Wow, really? Not one single person bought this blu ray? I went ahead and bought it anyway. Guess I'll find out the hard way what the situation is with the subs.


Update 10-14-2021 - The German blu ray DOES in fact have a thankful English "subtitle option", but only and specifically for the Afrikaans dialogue portions of the script, while watching the film in English, making the disc fully English-friendly. They are not forced subs, and can be turned on and off. Note, however, that there are no English subs for the main film content, just for the Afrikaans dialogue sections.

[cmpeym]

Originally Posted by DaylightsEnd

Wow, really? Not one single person bought this blu ray? I went ahead and bought it anyway. Guess I'll find out the hard way what the situation is with the subs.


Update 10-14-2021 - The German blu ray DOES in fact have a thankful English "subtitle option", but only and specifically for the Afrikaans dialogue portions of the script, while watching the film in English, making the disc fully English-friendly. They are not forced subs, and can be turned on and off. Note, however, that there are no English subs for the main film content, just for the Afrikaans dialogue sections.

Thank you for posting the details regarding the English subtitles. I've not yet seen the film but am considering a blind buy and was wondering if you might be able to answer another question I have: Can you speak to the aspect ratio of this release? It's listed as 1.78:1 here, but IMDb has 1.55, 1.78, 2, and 1.33 listed for the film. Does GAIA utilize several aspect ratios, or have the compositions been modified/cropped for different release formats?

Thanks a lot!

[DaylightsEnd]

Originally Posted by cmpeym

Thank you for posting the details regarding the English subtitles. I've not yet seen the film but am considering a blind buy and was wondering if you might be able to answer another question I have: Can you speak to the aspect ratio of this release? It's listed as 1.78:1 here, but IMDb has 1.55, 1.78, 2, and 1.33 listed for the film. Does GAIA utilize several aspect ratios, or have the compositions been modified/cropped for different release formats?

Thanks a lot!

The film does utilize different aspect ratios. Primarily 1.78:1, but it is in fact variable for certain scenes, including early scenes in the forest with drone footage. The PQ is very good across the board.

I'm surprised a German label hasn't put this title out in 4k uhd yet. It's a pretty enjoyable eco-horror. Cool remote location, good acting, great cinematography, solid score with creepy sound effects, and decent special effects. It doesn't seem to have gotten much advertising or marketing, and feels like it slipped under the radar, unfortunately. Like many digitally shot newer horror films, it would get a nice lift from the benefits of the 4k uhd format, such as wcg, improved contrast, and an hdr pass. I can only assume it's not selling enough blu ray copies to warrant the cost and effort. Folks that are region-free/region b compatible might want to grab the blu ray copy now and check it out, before it slips into obscurity.

[cmpeym]

Originally Posted by DaylightsEnd

The film does utilize different aspect ratios. Primarily 1.78:1, but it is in fact variable for certain scenes, including early scenes in the forest with drone footage. The PQ is very good across the board.

I'm surprised a German label hasn't put this title out in 4k uhd yet. It's a pretty enjoyable eco-horror. Cool remote location, good acting, great cinematography, solid score with creepy sound effects, and decent special effects. It doesn't seem to have gotten much advertising or marketing, and feels like it slipped under the radar, unfortunately. Like many digitally shot newer horror films, it would get a nice lift from the benefits of the 4k uhd format, such as wcg, improved contrast, and an hdr pass. I can only assume it's not selling enough blu ray copies to warrant the cost and effort. Folks that are region-free/region b compatible might want to grab the blu ray copy now and check it out, before it slips into obscurity.

Thanks for the reply! I'm somehow just now seeing it. I just added GAIA to an order from Rarewaves. Looking forward to checking it out.