The English Dubbing

[jetboy]

The thing is, if you're going to dub a film, you should at least pick actors with simlar voice. Eli is supposed to sound older, but in the dub version this get's totally trashed.

No, the thing is that people should just watch it, and other foreign movies, with the subtitles, period.

[sauvin]

The thing is, if you're going to dub a film, you should at least pick actors with simlar voice. Eli is supposed to sound older, but in the dub version this get's totally trashed.

No, the thing is that people should just watch it, and other foreign movies, with the subtitles, period.

You mean, like the Magnolia subtitles we all know and cherish?

[thestich]

I once hear someone call it the english drubbing.

I agree.

[S_Oceanus]

English dubbs on any foreign film is a big no no for me. Everytime i get out a foreign film and put in the player i automatically go to audio settings first and make sure that the Native language of the film is on audio with English subtitles. 95% of the time it is not. I learned this when i got out Hero. The English over dubbs of the film is atrocious. It made each characher sound something like a one dimensional cyborg suffering constipation and it completely undermines the actual character devolopment, dialogue and story telling of the film.

Sure, if your just some action nut who just wants to see them fly around and Kung Fu each other then yeah, knock ya self out with the English dubbs. But for me (like Crouching Tiger) its much more than a martial arts flick.

So i personally think English overdubbs does nothing but devalues the film experience. I havent seen it on LTROI yet,.. might not get around to doing it either

[Ash]

Everytime i get out a foreign film and put in the player i automatically go to audio settings first and make sure that the Native language of the film is on audio with English subtitles.

I usually do likewise Oceanus, even though some English dubs, particularly with amine series, are very well done.
Most of the Studio Ghibli anime are brilliantly dubbed and retain the the subtle nuances usually lost in translation. Azumanga Daioh, and more recently K-On! are some examples of how dubbing can be done really well. I think the key is to convey what is actually being said, rather than a textbook literal translation of dialogue.

[ofelia]

Most of the Studio Ghibli anime are brilliantly dubbed and retain the the subtle nuances usually lost in translation.

Really?! You think so? I find that they tend to go for something along the lines of what's being said in the original, with the main concern being that whatever the actor is saying matches up with the animation and can be said in the right amount of time. I've noticed that with Studio Ghibli they also use the English script as the subtitles if you watch it in the original Japanese. I know just enough Japanese to be aware when the subtitles obviously don't match the spoken dialogue, and it's frustrating and confusing. I recently watched Princess Mononoke online where a native speaker had redone the subs, and it was extremely helpful— there were things in the movie that had never made sense to me previously that were now much clearer. So that's a problem with the subs, as well as the dub. ( I can't stand to watch Studio Ghibli in a dub, but I have had to occasionally. They aren't awful, I just hate dubs on principle). And this is something you'd never be aware of unless you understand the original language at least a little.

[Nightrider]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2012 ... -subtitles

Here's a neat NPR article on the idiocy of subtitles. Check it out.

[Marlow]

And a LTROI reference! With a very complete link to the subtitling problems in LTROI! Nice find, Nightrider.