Dubbed or Subbed?

[Talysia]

I think I can guess what the answer to this question is going to be, but I thought I'd ask it anyway. When watching a film in its native language, do you prefer to watch it with subtitles or would you rather see it dubbed into English/a language you understand?

For me, it has to be subtitled, every time.

Also, can anyone think of examples where the dub is better than the original?

 

[jackokent]

Subtitles for me every time too. The only exception is when dubbing is done particularly badly with hilarious results.

 

[philoSCIFI]

Subtitled. For all that is good in the world, SUBTITLED! Dubbed takes away from the experience more so than subtitles.

If dubbed, I agree with jackokent. It has to be intentional within reason and for comedic reasons/results. And even in this case, I'm not too fond of dubbed.

 

[jackokent]

It has to be intentional within reason

I much prefer it when it's unintentionally aweful. I remember seeing a film many years ago called something like Zombie's at Manchester Mortuary. Yes I know I shouldn't have expected much. It was foreign and dubbed but the great thing was they used every single different accent they could think of. So you had broad Irish, Scotish, Yorkshire, Jordie etc etc all working in this one ward. It was so hilarious we were in fits even before the rubbish zombies made an appearance. A truely brilliant example of an unintentional comedy.

 

[philoSCIFI]

I much prefer it when it's unintentionally aweful. I remember seeing a film many years ago called something like Zombie's at Manchester Mortuary. Yes I know I shouldn't have expected much. It was foreign and dubbed but the great thing was they used every single different accent they could think of. So you had broad Irish, Scotish, Yorkshire, Jordie etc etc all working in this one ward. It was so hilarious we were in fits even before the rubbish zombies made an appearance. A truely brilliant example of an unintentional comedy.

I can see your point. Though I can't bring myself to enjoy a film if I had to pay for it and am expecting something other than what it is in actuality? Umm... wait. No... what did I say?

I think I have to be in the mood for it. If it is unintentional comedy where the movie is making fun of the movie, then possibly yes. If it is unintentional comedy because the viewers are appauled(sp?) by how terrible the movie is then... sometimes yes and sometimes no.

Yeah... have to be in the mood and with some friends.

 

[jackokent]

I think it helped being very very drunk

 

[philoSCIFI]

I think it helped being very very drunk

LOL. That could also be a big factor when choosing subtitles or dubbed versions.

 

[Talysia]

Lol - it certainly could! I've heard quite a lot of bad dubs in my time - mostly in anime, but there were a few in foreign cinema. I can quite safely say that I much prefer subtitles!

 

[j d worthington]

I much prefer subtitles. While there are bad jobs done with this, it has improved considerably over the years, and they seem able to better capture the subtleties and nuances of the original, which can entirely alter the emotional impact of a scene (or an entire film); whereas dubbing seems to go for the lowest common denominator and just try to convey the general gist, missing all the coloring that makes for precise emotional effect.

A good example for me is what's been happening lately with some of the gialo films. We're finally getting them over here without all the heavy editing, but also in versions where you can view them either dubbed or using subtitles. It completely changes the complexion of many of these films, and the actual artistry emerges... they become much better films (still very gory and violent, but at least it not only makes sense within the film, but it often allows them to develop atmosphere much, much more fully). Or the Japanese supernatural films we've been seeing so much of the last few years ... or even the anime. (I'm thinking of Spirited Away in particular here, where I watched both versions... the subtitled captured so much more of the flavor and had so much more delicacy and eerie enchantment to it that they were virtually different films!) Watched with the dubbing, they lose enormously their ability to evoke that frisson, becoming much more flat and tame.

And, no, this doesn't apply when it's that sort of broad, idiotic kind of dubbing which seems actually intended to dumb a movie down. That's a different kettle of fish entirely!

 

[BookStop]

Generally I owuld say I'm a subtitle loving kind of girl, however there are exceptions. Cowboy Bebop I've seen both Sub and Dub, and dub is so well done that I think of the characters as speaking English with those particular voices. It's just weird otherwise.

The movie The Returner with Takeshi Kaneshiro (great fun sf flick -family fun) is dubbed very well so I don't mind it at all. The kids love the movie too, and I don't think they would get as much out of it if we only had the sub version.(Jackie Chan movies are just fine dubbed as well - they are not necessarily of such a caliber as to need to be exact with every nuance of every word.)

Run Lola, Run is another one I've seen both version, and dub can't even come close to the brilliance of the subtitles. It's not all just getting the original meaning fully, there is something that is so natural(duh) about the original voices and inflection of words that you cannot get in dubbed movies.

 

[Talysia]

I know what you mean about Cowboy Bebop. I've seen both versions, too, but the English dub just seems to fit. Most of the Jackie Chan films I've seen have been dubbed into English, and they weren't too badly done either.
Another thing that annoys me is when a dub is so obviously rewritten from the original language into something that a western audience will understand (although this happens more in anime), retaining only a few references to the original script. It feels like I'm watching two different versions of the same film sometimes. I'm glad this doesn't happen so much in cinema, though.

 

[Crymic]

Subtitled for me all way..

Another thing that annoys me is when a dub is so obviously rewritten from the original language into something that a western audience will understand (although this happens more in anime), retaining only a few references to the original script. It feels like I'm watching two different versions of the same film sometimes. I'm glad this doesn't happen so much in cinema, though.

I totally agree. I hate the ad-libbing/line changing they do in them. They will often change names of current pop culture icons so they can relate. But, then again the company paid the money to own the rights to do whatever they want to it.

Heck they don't even need to translate it right, they could just type lines of "blah blah blah blah blah blah" and still try to sell it. Was funny a couple of years ago I went to a comic/scifi con where they had the dub actors who did tenchi muyo. I remember I did hear some booing as they went on stage.


Alot of people claim "If I wanted to read a story, I'll read a book." when I ask if they'd like to watch subtitled anime. Often wonder what's wrong with these people or maybe they're just too judgemental,lazy or just don't want to try new things. Dubs work for them I suppose.

 

[Pyan]

Subbed, every time.
You understand a lot more of what people say to you by watching their lips than you might imagine, and dubbing sends the wrong message to the brain.

Have you noticed, by the way, that a lot of TV adverts are being dubbed these days? Presumably they make one generic ad, then just dub the thing to match the country it's being shown in.

 

[HoopyFrood]

I definitely prefer subtitles. I watches Howl's Moving Castle with subtitles and loved it, and then watched it again when dubbed and it kind of lost it's magic. Also, it seems more effort is being put into subtitles now. I watched Nightwatch last year and the subtitles in that were fantastic, like at the start there is a boy having a nosebleed in a swimming pool and the blood swirls around and forms the words being spoken. Tres cool.

 

[Jaggy Jai]

I watched afew of the vile American re-dubs of Jackie Chan and Jet Li films. More than the sickening dubbing was the new musical scores cut into the originally great films. The thing with re-dubbing is that details can be changed.....I think this may have been the case with Tsui Harks Once Upon A Time In China. In this film the Americans were shown for who they were slavers!!!! But this was altered I think?

 

[Frozeninja]

Subs all the way. A lot of dubbing quality is just generally bad from my experience. On some especially I find that they're more concerned with getting the lip synching right than what's actually said, resulting in some pretty terrible translations.

 

[Crymic]

Also there are some things that can't be dub'd. Men and women in the japanese language have 2 different words when referencing to things. A tomboy girl will tend to talk like a guy. Using "boku" instead of "atashi" when referening to ones self.

If any have played Onimusha dawn of dreams. If you played the dub version there's a line where Sosuke asks Jubei why she talks like a guy. In the dub it wouldn't make any sense. In the original japanese dialogue you can tell by the words she uses.

Jokes never make it correctly into dubs, they often use "nyari" (grin) or other verbal sound effects.
Also repsective honor titles as well don't get transfered correctly.. It really tells you about the person they are talking about.

 

[DARK_KNIGHT]

Subtitled or Dubbed???

they both have their drawbacks in my opinion...

I have the same probs as every1 else when it comes to dubbing.It doesnt feel natural,it can make the movie look farcical if done badly,you cant directly dub things because there are some words that dont translate directly or that dont exist in english ect.

On the other hand...

Everone on this thread seems to be in love with subtitles,but I dont find them much better than dubbing.When a movie is subtitled you spend most of your time staring at the bottom of the screen reading whilst the action plays above the point of your attention.Because of this I find that you miss the actors expressions or that you can miss things that flash up on screen very quickly whie you are busy reading.Also sometimes if a movie is badly subtitled the speed of the subbing can vary greatly.you can be stuggling to read one piece of subbing as it is only on the screen for about a mili-second and then other times the actor is talking for about fifteen minutes after you are done reading the words!

 

[Talysia]

The reason I like subtitles is probably because I'm a purist. I like to see an anime - or any type of film from another country - in its original language. That, and because I've been watching anime for quite a while now, there have been some shocking examples of dubbing over the years. It's improved a lot. And it's true that there are some bad examples of subtitling - I've seen a couple. Still, for the most part it's ok.

 

[Crymic]

Never buy HK rip anime dvds.. LOL they have the worst subbing ever and they often changes characters names.
Generally for subbing I tend to be picky about who I get my anime from. Yes there are alot of groups out there who will "mistranslate" stuff or use bad grammar. They tend to translate on the fly and alot of times english isn't their first language.