LolaRennt

Do you watch your movies in the original language (foreign) with english subtitles, or do you watch it with the dubbed english soundtrack?

I visited some friends the other day. We decided to watch Hero. They hit play with the dubbed, english soundtrack. I asked them "Why not the original language with english subtitles"?

Answer: "We want to watch the movie, not read it!" (with a slight arrogant tone).

This absolutely kills me. A dubbed movie - in my opinion - has nothing to do with the original movie anymore. You don't hear the actor's voice anymore, the atmosphere of the movie is ruined.

Is it maybe lazyness? Do people find it too fatiguing to quickly scan over the subtitles?

Your opinion please, because I don't get it!

Randy Miller III

I always watch the original language track (if it's available). It's a shame that more people can't realize how much a crappy dub takes away from a great movie, but you just can't change some people's minds. I'll admit this, though: when I first started choosing original language tracks over dubs (around the same time I discovered "widescreen"), the constant reading took a little getting used to. Now, I don't even notice.

BigDan

It can be difficult to get used to at first. So many of the foreign movies I've watched didn't have an English language track, so I didn't have a choice but to get used to it.

And I do sometimes wonder how accurate the subtitles really are with some movies.

supersonicx

I like dubbed films.

Eplicon

I can't stand dubbed films. The vocal inflections poorly match the on-screen actors and much of the humor or drama in the native tongue is lost, too. It works much better when it's read.

TomOpus

Sometimes I'll listen to the dub first to get a better feel for the movie before watching it in it's original language.

supersonicx

Some of the american actors embarass the characters, but still, I prefer dubbed films.

LikeMiamiVice

yea i totally prefer the original soundtrack.the dubbed soundtrack sometimes doesnt convey the emotion that the actor in the movie is trying to convey and the dubbed voice doesnt sound 'in the movie'..for example,it sounds like a commentary.like the other day i was watching ju-on with a friend of mine and she was like..put the dub on,i put it on cause i really wanted her to see the movie but i honestly couldnt really stand watching the movie without its original language.i sometimes dont even notice im reading the subtitles..but hey,to each his own

Draven99

Definitely original language with subs.

Shagrath

For films, I definately want the original language track with subs. For anime and the like, it really depends. If it's well done (The Ghibli stuff from Disney), then I'll probably listen to the dubbed track most of the time, or if it's something I originally saw in dubbed format (Akira). But most anime has horrible dubs from what I remember, and I try to stay far away from them whenever possible.

Ginwen

Original, unless there's no choice, I'll never even see the dubbed version (with subtitles, I basically forget that I'm reading unless they're obscured by background scenery). With animation, I don't mind dubbing too much if it's not crappily done

Eddie W

I rented Ju-On the other day & the clerk at Hollywood told me 'be sure & change the language to English'. She'd gotten a lot of complaints from people who didn't want to read a movie. Not to fault her for trying to be helpful, but I found it amazing that anyone that would rent a Japanese horror flick would be dumb enough to 1) prefer bad dubbing, 2) complain and 3) change the language to english.

Playitagainsam

Never, ever, watch dubbed movies.

People who complain about having to 'read" are dumb, and they probably don't like to read anyway.

Many countries in this world always use subtitles for foreign films and shows, and that's the way it should be, and how it should stay.

island007

Original soundtrack, with subtitles

Breakfast with Girls

Since my reading level is better than a third grader's, I have the amazing ability to both read the subtitles AND watch the action.

BizRodian

I hate dubbing. It alters the movie incredibly. The dub actors are terrible 9 times out of 10, and sound nothing like the original actors even more often. The people who write the script for the dub will almost always change the meanings of things for no apparent reason, or will to make the lips match up better.

In animation it's even worse, because the voice actors in animation are chosen soley for their voices. That's all gone when it's redubbed.

Subtitles, while far from perfect, are the best way to understand a movie in the language you don't speak. I don't even notice them. Sometimes I don't even remember if the film I watched the night before was in English or not.

Jackskeleton

Subtitles.

costanza

subtitles whenever possible. my sister works at a video store and she brought home the screener for brotherhood of the wolf for me and what do you know it english language only. i could barely pay attention to anything with how horrible the dub actors were. i still haven't seen the flick the right way.

pro-bassoonist

Considering the fact that my collection is 90% foreign cinema.....the answer is more than obvious.....subs. PERIOD!!

Furthermore, it is more likely that I would purchase a film that is not 16/9 but with an original soundtrack and subs...as opposed to a 16/9 and a dubbed sountrack.

Regards,
Pro-B

jaeufraser

When it comes to live action films, I cannot stand dubbing. It just looks and sounds ridiculous. The only live action films that I watch that are dubbed are Italian films, cause of their odd use of some English some Italian actors. But beyond that, always subtitles.

For animation though, I don't mind dubbing. I'm not a giant anime fan and tend to only really watch the more well popular films anyway like Studio Ghibli films or Akira, so I don't really have a problem there.

talemyn

Yeah . . . good point . . .

Fok

subs, doing otherwise is not watching the movie properly

DVDiano

Always original versions with subs if necessary. I'm spanish and I don't have problems viewing english language movies without subs, but if they're available, I usually use them "just in case" . For any other languages, english/spanish subs with original language ALWAYS.

I will never understand why people watch dubbed movies. The dubbing takes away about 50% of the the work of an actor (if not more) and I want to see the whole movie as it was intended. Not one half of it.
The worst part is that a lot of dubbing-lovers I know, actually think about the dubbing as an improvement over the original actors voices. How the hell they can improve anything if they're taking half of the movie in the process...

salamander2

this xan get to be a tricky issue with italian horror films, as most are shot without any language, and then are dubbed by studio voice over actors for each country, unless sometimes a well known american/british actor , then they keep their voice, I reember abit of controversy for FITZCARRALDO, which was shot in english language, but since everyone spoke terible english mnay preferred a dubbed foreign track.

of course when it is a obvious foreign film, then subtitle is the way to go. I am still miffed at home vision for using the french language version only of SWANN IN LOVE, when all the actors spoke English. the old VHS was in perfect english! shame on you Home vision!

nightshadebooks

I generally prefer subtitles myself, but recently I got to thinking about it. My wife, for some oddball reason, ALWAYS watches movies with subtitles on. Even movies in english, she'll still turn on the subtitle track. After watched a load of movies in english, with the english subtitle turned on, I noticed something.

Subtitles are terrible. For most movies, the subtitle track barely resembles the dialog actually being spoken by the actors. It's like whoever does the subtitling is working from an out-of-date copy of the script.

So if english subtitles are that bad, how do I know that foreign subtitles are any better? I just finished watching the first disc of The Yakuza Papers, which is in Japanese. Since I don't speak Japanese, how do I really know that the subtitles are actually reflecting what the actors are seeing?

I don't mind a dub track under the right circumstances. Italian cult flicks are fine with a dub track. I watched Crimson Rivers with the dub track, since it was the actors themselves doing the dub. So while the words didn't match the movement of Jean Reno's lips, at least it was still Reno's voice.