MovieChat Forums > Wo hu cang long (2001) Discussion > Do you perfer the English dub or English...

Do you perfer the English dub or English Subtitles?


This is just a poll. I don't care what you say.

Personally, I perfer the English dub. By not having to read subtitles, I can focus more on the film's visuals.

What about you?

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I have not seen the dubbed version because I was listening to Michelle Yeoh's voice. Personally, I think the actors original voices make things so much better, the nuances that go with the facial expressions.

Of course, at the moment, my DVD player decided to take a dive, so I couldn't watch the dub if I wanted to...

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I prefer English Subtitles. I like watching movies in the language they were filmed in. its so much better. Plus, dubbing usually sucks, and it looks retarded when characters mouths move differently then what they are actually saying. Even though you do miss things once in a while, hearing the characters voices in the language it was filmed in is just so much better.

"I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing."

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ACK DUBS DUBS DUBS!!!

i REFUSE to watch CTHD, HERO or house of flying daggers for example in dubs.. (well, dont know if HOFD does.... but if it did i wouldnt!!!)

It really just puts me off and personally i prefer to listen to mandarin... such a beautiful language which i hope to learn soon. And when you watch the movies enough times you dont even need the subtitles :)

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I have watched movies with subtitles my entire life, so I don't mind them. Once you get the hang of it, you hardly notice them. And also dubbes movies are rarely done nicely, so I usually switch to subtitles, even if the dub is a language I understand

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I agree, subtitles are better than dubbed movies.
The only dubbed movie that was sone well, was The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

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Is there any other way to watch The Good, the Bad and the Ugly?

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Normally I'd agree, but the subtitles in this movie are unreadable most of the time. They're yellow subtitles in front of what is usually either sand or light-colored clothing. Only in the nighttime scenes can you actually make out anything without getting a headache. Apparently, some people don't know the meaning of "adequate contrast". I'd like to find a dubbed version; maybe then I could figure out what they're saying.

I'd also like to note that dubs only appear "retarded" in movies like this. If the movie was originally in a language that's reasonably close to English, it's not even noticeable (I've seen a few Italian movies like that).

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if you watch it on your computer, change it to closed captions instead. they're MUCh easier to read! oh, and i prefer subtitles. otherwise it's almost comical. you know, the actor's mouth moves hundreds of time, but all they're saying is hello? please!

Wolverine: Hey hey, it's me.
Cyclops: Prove it.
Wolverine: You're a dick.
Cyclops: Ok.

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[deleted]

<<<Personally, I think the actors original voices make things so much better, <<<the nuances that go with the facial expressions In the majority of cases, you are NOT hearing the voices of the original actors in Asian movies, either. Until VERY VERY VERY recently, MOST Asian movies were recorded in a way where DIFFERNT Asian actors than you see on the screen recorded the dialogue of the characters you see on the screen. so in the majority of cases, even the original movie in its original version is dubbed.

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I saw many good dubbed film. This film's translation was terrible. I saw the film with translation and original sound. I recommend to see it in original for your own good. Actually, I never saw good english dub. They have no practice on that job. Hungarian translations was (and sometimes they are) even better that the original, so I know, it is possible to make a good translation. But in that film they made it terrible.

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I speak Mandarin, and I have to confirm James Schamus comments on the dialogue (which he wrote), to the effect that "it is weird that I although I know the English script so well, I will never understand all the nuances of the Mandarin dialogue". And that is the reason why that some non-Mandarin speakers get confused by the plots and relationships the first time they watch it, when Mandarin speakers thought the plotting was extremely clear and simple.

That being the case, the dub and sub-title is equally helpful (or unhelpful) in understanding the movie. The dub is surprisingly good in that it approximates the accents of FLUENT Chinese (non-native) speakers of English and sounds very much like the voices of the actors. But if you can get used to the Mandarin track (i.e. watch it enough times to know substance of the dialogue), you may realise that the actors deliver the lines even more subtlely than the dubbers...

... and that question in Michelle Yeoh's dub might just be meant as half a question when Michelle Yeoh says it.

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Ugh, subtitles all the way! Sometimes when they dub it, they completely change the translation. I never watch films in its dub form because it also doesn't sound as natural as when you listen to it in its original language.

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<Sometimes when they dub it, they completely change the translation the same thing frequently also happens with subtitles.

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Subtitles. I read very quickly so focusing on what happens is never an issue. Usually I can read the subtitles and see the action at the same time. I get more distracted if what is being sad differs from the mouth movements. I find it ugly and it makes me feel uncomfortable.

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[deleted]

Definitely prefer the subtitles. Watching a cultural piece like this in its original language adds a lot more to the realism for me. Watching them speak American English just sort of makes the movie seem false to me. Plus the subtitles are much more beautiful than what they dubbed with.

"Hey Neighbor, you got about one f ucking second to live buddy" - Frank Booth

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". . . . subtitles are much more beautiful than what they dubbed with."

Nothing guarantees that the subtitles are better than the dubbing. Hear and see those in "House of Flying Daggers".

And the dubbed dialogue in "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" is different than the subtitles. So you tell me: which is the more accurate of the two?

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So you tell me: which is the more accurate of the two?

The subtitles. It was edited by the director himself ;)

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i started watching it dubbed but switched it to subtitles, it was better even though i think i missed out on a few things by having to read the words. i think it's better to see the film as it's actually meant to be.

xthe world forgetting, by the world forgot.. eternal sunshine of the spotless mind..x

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[deleted]

I DESPISE ENGLISH DUBBING!!!!I think it is very unprofessional to dubb a film because the original voices of the actors are part of their performance. No one can replace anoter's tone and style of speech without degenerate the movie Dubbing them equally means destroying part of their performance.

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I perfer english subtitles as long as they are as accurate as possible. As many others agree with me, I really enjoy watching movies in which ever language it filmed in.

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I prefer subtitles too, and anyway, im used to it, most of the movies I watch are in a diferent language than mine, and I agree, Its better to listen to the original voices of the characters, even though you dont understand, it gives you the real emotion that the actor/actress wanted to give the character...

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without dubs there would be no Wu Tang, so quit whining nerds and just turn the subs on in the dvd menu. Anyone that thinks Shogun Assassin is better without hearing the Liquid Swords samples is retarded. Subs are great for modern oscar arty movies like this, but i feel that words not matching mouth movement is one of the qualities of old school kungfu movies that makes them so great.

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<<<I think it is very unprofessional to dubb a film because the original voices of the actors are part of their performance. Thats just an excuse from people who prefer subtitles, because anyone who has actually studied film history knows that MOST Asian movies even in their original version, do NOT have the voices of the actual actors you are seeing on the screen. but insteead have different Asian actors you do not see on the screen doing the voices for the actors you do on screen.

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SUBTITLES definetly. I have no problem reading them so why not? The main resaon, however, is because hearing chinese people in epic stories speak with all american white middle class accents is just horrific and ruins the entire experience. Also it is not uncommon that the voices seldom match the looks of the characters (hearing Jet Li speak with a deep bass voice in "once upon a time in china" was one of the worst things I've ever heard/seen). Another thing is the translation, which off course suffers som damage no matter how you present it. But when the movie is 'adapted' to a western audience it's always a disaster (like for instance I was watching Drunken Master the other day and they acctually called Wong Fei-Hung (for those who do not know who he was, go look it up) Robert !).

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my advice : WATCH AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE MOVIE DUBBED IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE. I watched Gladiator the other day in spanish. not only were the voices out of time, but the timbre was totally different.
I also saw the OC in spanish. The character for "seth" in reality has a nasal voice but they give him a deep soft voice in spanish.

Treat foreign movies as you'd like ours to be treated, with respect, not ruined by subtitles.

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"Treat foreign movies as you'd like ours to be treated, with respect, not ruined by subtitles"

naaw man, subtitles are the best thing you give do to a movie with a foreign language, dubbing them is not showing them respect. I have seen movies dubbed from english, like for instance I visited germany last year and had to watch fresh prince and simpsons in german. Not that I understood a word, but it felt wierd, out of place somehow. Luckely they never dub anything in sweden exept cartoons for children. They tried to dub simpsons but the tvstation recieved so much hatemail that the changed it back to the original. All in all, dubbing have never made a movie better, in my opinion. And never will. Once you get used to subs they will work in you subconscious, you never even notice tham.

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"Once you get used to subs they will work in you subconscious, you never even notice tham."

It's a pretense.

Nothing guarantees the subtitles are any more accurate than the dubbing.

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<<<Nothing guarantees the subtitles are any more accurate than the dubbing Exactly. In SOME cases, its the opposite.

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I'm pleased with the English subtitles to the Asian (HK) release of "Lust, Caution". Also with those to "If You Are the One".

Though they distract me, I prefer subtitles to dubbing.

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i hate when tv shows do that. i was in germany once, and the family i was staying with was watching the nanny, and fran dreshers voice, which is of course famously nasaly, was just a normal voice. the family kept asking me if i understood all the jokes the characters would make about her voice, because for them it sounded fine. they could at least get voices somewhat like the actual actors if they have to dub a show.

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<<<I watched Gladiator the other day in spanish. not only were the voices out of time, but the timbre was totally different. I have to agree there. once I watched a few minutes of the sitcom Rea that way simply to hear what the other actors sounded like and the girl who played Kira in the spanish dub had a completely different emotional response than the actress who played Kira in the original English version, even though it was the same line.

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I prefer the Subtitles. I think a lot of the emotion and meaning is lost with the English dubbing.

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