Netflix yanks Star Trek III film because of poor Klingon & Vulcan subtitle translations

Netflix has decided to remove access to Star Trek III: The Search for Spock due to a defect in the streaming version of the film.

More specifically, there are incorrect — or at least overly simplified — English subtitle translations during scenes where characters exchange dialog exclusively in their semi-fictitious languages of Vulcan and Klingon. (Note: Fans have actually created their own dictionary of Klingon words, so it’s kind of a real language now, even if it’s rooted in sci-fi TV and movies.)

I was able to access the movie earlier today to see what seemed like some pretty basic translations for the Klingon dialog spoken by Christopher Lloyd’s character Kruge and his crew. However, the film was taken offline shortly after VentureBeat contacted Netflix for confirmation.

While the company didn’t comment on this particular situation, it has in the past said that it’s constantly reviewing and evaluating its library of content to make sure it’s up to par. For instance, last week the company said it occasionally finds and replaces films that are incorrectly formatted (aka badly cropped).

Instead, of pulling Klingon and Vulcan subtitle translations from an older version of the film, Netflix is planning to translate the dialog itself, according to the RadioTimes, which first reported the news yesterday. Again, Netflix wouldn’t confirm this. But personally, I love the idea of a Netflix employee patiently flipping through Ben Grossblatt’s How to Speak Klingon: Essential Phrases for the Intergalactic Traveler in between frequent pausing/playing Star Trek III.