I hate dubbing, being italian - where everything is dubbed - thanks to DVD's I have stopped to go to see foreign movies in theaters.
As for animation or films having only a dubbed audio track - all Italian films before the 80's - it is a matter of choice, in those cases dubbing is legitimate though - as a fact - you lose flavour. As an example: Miyazaki's film dubbed into Italian sound stupid.

nightshadebooks

the best way to enjoy a text - be it a book or a screenplay - is being able to master that text in the language the author wrote it.

subs or dubbing makes no difference, both cases offer a translated and/or edited text.
Most of the times it is impossible to translate respecting the text even similar languages - like French, Italian and Spanish. The trouble is worse when the language difference comes with cultural difference and this is true when Westerners confront themselves with asian films.
As for your argument regarding the poor subs of english language films it can't be a general rule since their quality depends more on the good will of the authors of the subs that in the subs themselves beong capable of respecting the text.

:up: See Brotherhood of the Wolf for more details. Terrible dub job. My wife wouldn't watch the French DTS track so I tried the English track. I shut it off 10 minutes in.

Hi supersonicx,

I am happy to hear from somebody who prefers the dubbed film. Sorry for me asking, but why? Do you (as some have suggested in this thread) trust the english translation better when it is spoken? Or, even more simply, do you just not want to read while watching a movie? But, then again, don't you mind the fact to image and sound don't match, and that the voice feels "out of place" (hearing english from an obviously foreign speaker)?

I find it very distracting to watch a dubbed movie, and find myself staring incredulously at the mouth and lips of the actor, and hearing a voice that starts too soon, or continues after the actor clearly has stopped to talk.

True, often the subtitles do not reflect 100% of what was originally spoken, but for many foreign movies (French, Spanish, German, Turkish, Dutch), I understand enough of the language to pick up differences between what is said and what is subtitled. Always makes me laugh when there are obvious translation errors.

I also find subtitles a great tool to expand vocabulary in foreign languages, especially if you have a dictionary next to you when you watch the movie. And yes, at that point all the extra work does distract from the movie, but at that time, I am using the movie as a learning tool, not as entertainment.

Thank you to everybody who has replied. I am happy that most of us prefer the subtitles. Then again though, the public that writes on this board is probalby more a movie afficionado than the average person. What do you think the percentage would be if you were to ask people on the street for their opinion? Would it be 50/50, or would there be a clear inclination to one or the other side?

Subs only. I tried watching the dubbed version of the original La Femme Nikita DVD since some idiot at MGM decided to put the 5.1 track only on the English dub and left the original French track in DPL. After about 10 minutes of horrible paraphrasing and laughable voice acting, I settled back for the French Pro Logic track.

I watch them dubbed,but i watch VERY few foreign movies anyways.

Subs where possible. With some specific films it gets complicated, however. For example, what about Polanski's <b>Repulsion</b>? Froom what I can tell, some of the actors spoke in English, and some in French, and depending on which language track you choose, you're gonna have some of the dialogue dubbed whether you like it or not.

And don't get me started with Italian films, where <i>everyone</i> was dubbed in afterwards...

There are some different things about the folks who participate in this forum and the "Average" film watcher. This is one of them.

Dubbed all the way.

Never understood wanting to listen to something you don't understand. How does listening to essentially jibberish enhance your viewing of a movie? People say that dubs might not be accurate. How does that make subs any more accurate? You have to trust that the subs are accurate just as you hope dubs are. How do you really know if the actors are not talking about the trip to the local mall? They might be totally mispronuncing all the words and you don't know.


As for the "its the director's vision" argument; I'm betting that 99% of the time, the director didn't say "I'm making this on purpose in this language." The movie is made in whatever the movie is intended for or what the director/crew speaks. If you speak English, you will probably make a movie in your own language. Japanese directors speak Japanese so naturally their movie will be in Japanese.

Why do people listen to jibberish, aka foreign languages? Because they sound nice, because it sounds authentic?

Exactly! I totally agree with you. So, is this not an argument to listen to it in the original language, especially because you say "The movie is made in whatever the movie is intended for"?

Does the movie not feel "forced" or "unnatural" to you when you see a Japanese (or other nationality) person speaking, but you hear an English voice? For me, it ruins the movie, the soul of the movie is gone.

If it's a live action movie I watch it in the original language because the lips not matching up is a distraction. For animation I usually go with the dubbed track so I can pay more attention to the details.

I read the subtitles for RINGU, I forgot about Brotherhood of the Wolf though, may have been dubbed. Those are the only two recent subtitle DVD's I have watched

Dubs are teh suck... Useless disc space.

Good to see the poll numbers and most of the responses so far.

It really depends upon my mood and what else is going on. I don't mind reading subtitles but if I have the movie on as background noise (or usually in the case of anime since it doesn't really matter then) then I'll put it on the dub track.

I appreciate both... I'll almost always watch foreign dvds subbed, but occasionally I like to rewatch a visually interesting film with the subs so I don't miss details.

I didn't mind Dubs at first since I grew up with them via Kung Fu flicks, now I'm all about subtitles.
NEVER GOIN' BACK!!!

Always subs, never dubbed.

I even watch English language films with the English subs (for the hearing impaired) on , I have a hard time hearing certain words in films and this allows me to catch everything. Most subtitles of English Language films are done very accurately, although some do take liberties. For the ones that do, I turn off the subtitles.

The only movie where dubbing is acceptable is <b>What's Up, Tiger Lily</b>. -wink-

I always watch foreign language films with subtitles. I find dubbing really spoils the movie for me..most of the time the voice actors aren't very good and the original actors show more emotion. As well, dub tracks usually don't sound like they fits the movie and they takes me 'out of the movie'.

Although subtitles aren't perfect (and occasionally can be really really bad..(a classic case being "no pointy gun, boss" in a version of City on Fire), I feel that there are closest to original film the director made...this applies to anime too.

I don't understand people watching dubbed films unless they are very young children or have a learning disability (and can't read fast enough to keep uo with the subtitles).

I must admit I usually turn my captions on for everything; I have a slight hearing loss (15% in one ear) and otherwise I miss mumbled dialogue.

I have an example for a movie that actually uses the English language:

Having grown up on the dubbed version of Mad Max, I always liked it, but never thought it compared to The Road Warrior. Then when it was rereleased with its original Australian dialect, it was like seeing a whole new Mad Max movie for the first time. I finally knew why it had become such a cult film. It no longer seemed like a poorly acted, low-budget, B-movie. The experience was absolutely fantastic. I wish it hadn't taken 20 some years before I finally saw it like it was meant to be seen.

You can't go with dubbed - you lose the original performance. Ugggh. Plus dubbing always, ALWAYS makes the movie seem cheesier than it really is (or isn't).

I almost always watch the original language version with subs, but on some films, like the 60's GAMERA films, the dubbing adds to the fun. I'm still all for having BOTH options on the DVD though. Something like LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL would be horrible with dubbing.

Initially, I played around a bit going back and forth, which really screws up the entire experience of the film, so I don't do that anymore. I got for original language because the subtitles are closer (as far as I know anyway) to the original dialog. As someone mentioned, dubbed films change the dialog around to match the sound to the lips - and then it still looks lame IMO. As for animation, I tested a few of those also and found that I prefered the original there too. One strong example of dubbing really messing up the feel of a movie is Kiki's Delivery Service - As much as I admire and respect Phil Hartman, his depiction of the cat totally changed the character! I would blame the Director of Dubbing for that. Certain scenes with the original sound had a few moments of 'no talking', but it appears that someone thinks Americans need constant stimulation and filled the 'quiet' scenes with cat chatter. eh!

Subtitles all the way. Sure, it's a translation - just as a dub is - but you ALSO get the original vocal performance from the actors, and even if you don't understand the actual words, the emotions and intonation are there and definitely add depth to the film.

Plus, one of the things that's cool about watching a film made in another language is how it gives you a little tiny window into a different culture. I learned some Japanese words from watching Shogun ;)

One thing people haven't mentioned is whether subtitles are optional or not. I think they should ALWAYS be optional. I hate it when I'm watching a movie in a language I do understand (Spanish, or really simple French) and I'm stuck with English subtitles. Now that's *really* distracting as I have a hard time *not* looking at the subtitles, and it messes me up as my brain has to repeatedly switch back and forth between understanding Spanish and understanding English. If the movie is in a language that I don't understand, it's not a problem at all - in fact, I usually forget that I am reading subtitles at all, and just "understand" the film.

I wish more foreign films had accurate same-language subtitles. My French is shaky, so I can't watch more than a really simple movie without subtitles. If I could see the French subs on-screen though, I'd be able to understand it and even improve. I say "accurate" since they aren't always! When I was watching Amores Perros, I realized that since it used such a lot of Mexican slang and strong Mexican accents that I was missing a lot, so I wanted the Spanish subtitles on. But they were radically different from what was being said on-screen! I ended up having to use the English subtitles as the discrepancy was just too weird.

OL (Originail language) should be as important... if not more so...than OAR!

At another DVD forum, there is a thread on the action film Wasabi, in which a number of people thought the film was lousy, having seen (heard) it dubbed in English; however, when convinced to give the film another try on DVD with the original French/Japanese soundtrack, they really enjoy it.