I found the double-feature DVD today that has both El Mariachi and Desperado on one disk. I was almost going to buy it until I noticed that El Mariachi was only in Spanish, French and Portuguese. It only had English subtitles.

I've never seen El Mariachi, but I HATE having to read an entire movie. So, I didn't buy it.

lol... can't wait until everyone starts having a field day w/ this one.

What??

Why would you want to see a dubbed version? The dubbing on most movies is really horrible. (Though not all, I'll admit.) Haven't you ever seen a Godzilla movie??? The lip movements don't match up, and the voice actors are usually very poor. I'd much rather see a movie as the director intended it to be seen and read subtitles than hear some lifeless hack read a script with no emotion or feeling.

Just my $0.02.

-Videophile

*grabs a tub of popcorn and pulls up a comfortable chair*

This should be a hell of a show. Ok, boys - let 'er rip!

You like fullscreen too, don't you.

And so it begins...

rip them all down!!!

I'll admit that I preffer subtitled to dubbing, but I can understand why a person would rather see a movie dubbed. Not everyone can read as fast as everyone. You should be watching the film, not scanning a line of words.

What's wrong with watching crtain films dubbed? If I recall correctly, El Marachi is mostly an action film. What naunces from the original actors voice is going to add to your primary enjoyment of the film?

One of my favorite filmmakers is Fellini. In most of his films he was dealing with actors speaking three or four different languages, so half of the movie is dubbed. Would it have ben better if he had the Italian's speak Italian, and then just dub everyone else?

Infact, I may have to say that the dubbed version of
8 1/2 was funnier to me than the subtitled. It was better to hear the 'jokes' than to read them.

I understand this may be a highly controversial topic for a lot of the film purists, but there are pros to dubbing as well as cons.

The English dubbed version was my first exposure to El Mariachi, and to be honest the dubbing isn't that bad. Of course, I prefer subtitles, but it is a little strange that the English dubtrack wasn't on the DVD (it does exist on VHS though).

And for reasons that I've stated in previous El Mariachi threads, I think this film is more "correctly" shown in fullscreen as opposed to matted. Just my opinion.

Subtitles, no subtitles...as long as it has an insert, it's a must buy!

Seriously though...dubbing sucks ass.

Right, and El Mariachi has so much long and complicated dialogue...

I have to say I prefer subs to dubs, but I think dubs should be an option. My brother hates reading. He can read fine, but has always had trouble with it so I can sympathize. Expesially when the dialog is fast and quickly disappearing off the screen. I would get frustrated too if reading wasn't my strong suit, it wouldn't be worth it. That means he and many others miss out on some great movies. So dubs should be offered, it isn't like you would have to listen to that track if you don't want to. Just $.02 cents.

My brother has a PhD from Cornell in aerospace engineering and works for Lockheed Martin. Needless to say, he's a smart guy. However, he hates subtitles. He refused to watch Returner last week when he was here visiting because of the subtitles.

Also, although he sees the benefit of widescreen, he doesn't really like widescreen movies on his 4:3 set because of the black bars. I told him if he bought the Indiana Jones Trilogy in foolscreen, I'd come out to California from Atlanta and personally smash it to bits.

That said, I will watch an animated film with dubs if they are done well. Princess Monoke is one that sounds fine to me due to the effort to match the mouths and the quality of the actors. For anything other than an animated film though, I insist on subtitles vs. dubs.

Instead of "El Mariachi", maybe you should type "The Musician" into Amazon's search function and see if it's there.

Might aswell ask if there is a fullscreen edited down version of LOTR cause you really can't sit still for 3 hours.

As someone who reads foreign films aloud to her kids, I will say that there are times when I wish subtitled films had English tracks.

tasha

Pleeeeeeeease pleeeeeease do not ask for such a horrible sin. El Mariachi is a very good movie, do not kill it like that.

No offense to your brother, but the words "lowest common denominator" spring to mind. When movies are dumbed down so that the slowest members of the audience can keep up, well we wind up with a lot of crap movies.

gah

All right, I'll say it . . .

The laserdisc has a dub track as well as subs.

I agree. They shouldn't even bother making subtitles, either. I mean, if you're not going to bother to learn Spanish, you have no right to see this movie. Let's start a petition.

On the other hand, my brother is not slow. He has no trouble reading. Like I said, he's got a PhD from Cornell. He just hates reading movies. I think in that regard, your statement rings true.

In addition, my brother would probably not give a damn to hear that more than a few Asian movies are butchered (primarily by MiraAxe) for American cinema. Needless to say, he's not a big movie fan. "Lowest common denominator" indeed.

I realize that you're being sarcastic, but I can't help wishing that Americans were more like other countries in regards to language. Many people in foreign countries speak more than their native language. In fact, I read recently (sorry, no reference) that a lot of Koreans learn English by watching Korean movies with English subtitles. Sure, it's the reverse of what you're saying, but the principle still applies.

Take this with a grain of salt since I don't have kids yet, but I'd like to think you're bonding better with your kids than just all of you sitting there in silence. This is one of the times I think I'd like to hear talking during a movie.

As for El Mariachi, the dialogue isn't super important, and I don't remember there being that much anyways.


Now, whoever said they prefer the dub for Mononoke has got to be smokin' somethin'. There are a few examples of the English dub in the featurette, and I wondered how this film wasn't rounded up by the masses with pitchforks and torches and burned at the stake after being released with those atrocious voices.