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TIL my neighbor's old bootleg of The Thing with ancient Chinese subs is somehow the best version I've ever seen
He told me the rip came from a VCD he bought in a Shenzhen market back in 2002, and the subtitles are so hilariously wrong they add a whole new layer to the movie. Has anyone else ever found a trashy copy of a film that actually made it better?
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logan7053mo ago
And that exact energy is why my busted old VHS of Big Trouble in Little China is still my favorite way to watch it.
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margaret_jackson733mo ago
Oh man, that "hilariously wrong" part hits home. I had a similar thing happen with a bootleg of The Fifth Element from a flea market in the late 90s. The subtitles kept calling Leeloo "the big woman" and everytime someone said "multipass" it came up as "many cheese." It sounds dumb but it actually made the movie more fun to watch with friends. Its like how sometimes a cheap vinyl pressing or a worn out book from a library has this extra character you dont get from the crisp digital version. There is something about those imperfect copies that feel more alive, more human, you know? They remind me of how a handwritten letter can feel more real than a typed email even if the spelling is all wrong.
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