MovieChat Forums > Le fatiche di Ercole (1959) Discussion > English translation/dubbing ?

English translation/dubbing ?

posted 17 years ago by Molly-31
2 replies | jump to latest

There seem to be two versions of the English translation and dubbing. The older one is the one now in public domain and available at archive.org, and is what you're all used to hearing in the MST3k version. Another is shown on AMC occasionally. It has a somewhat better translation (for the most part), although many of the voice actors aren't quite as satisfying (the one playing the old guy sounds about 30). Can someone give me some background on these different versions?

[–] josephbrando 13 years ago

From what I understand, one is American dubbing (the full-screen public domain prints) and the other available in all the widescreen prints is the English version. I prefer the American version, by far, it makes Steve Reeves sound much more Herculian, the English one makes him sound like he drinks tea with his pinky finger sticking out.

[–] life4all 13 years ago

I have an old VHS copy where you can tell that it is Steve dubbing the English version (just as Clint Eastwood did in his early films). In the DVD versions of Hercules, the old soundtrack must have been lost or damaged because someone else is dubbing Steve until the last 10 minutes of the film. The dialog is also slightly altered.