Subtitles or dubbed?
Will the DVD have subtitles or English subs? Or the option for both?
Because I REALLY like hearing the characters speak Japanese. Makes the whole mood, IMO...
I'm pretty sure it'll have both options.
"I love it when a plan comes together...
And I freaking HATE it when it doesn't!"
All hail English subs!
shareSome of the subtitles are absolutely horrible on the DVD though, and I think there is a DVD that comes out in the US with an english dub, but I bought the film in the UK and as far as I know there is no option for a dub
shareWhy on earth would you want the dub? I tell you what since we're all incapable of reading and watching at the same time, why don't we get Ben Affleck to perform the dub on Seven Samurai, or Ben Stiller in Oldboy, and hell whilst we're pushing the boat out why not get Arnold Schwarzenegger to voice "nameless" in Hero.
shareWhy on earth would you want the dub? I tell you what since we're all incapable of reading and watching at the same time, why don't we get Ben Affleck to perform the dub on Seven Samurai, or Ben Stiller in Oldboy, and hell whilst we're pushing the boat out why not get Arnold Schwarzenegger to voice "nameless" in Hero.
Some people just don't like to read for an hour and a half on a tv screen. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just one's preference. And I'd like to think that American dubbing has progressed A LOT since the old Godzilla movies.
READING INCREASES YOUR PENIS SIZE. SPREAD THE WORD.share
I just personally think it takes a great deal out of the film itself. The basis of the subs is that you can hear the characters in their native language and while maybe not understanding the words themselves, you gain a better feel for the emotional intensity of the characters. I appreciate that dubs "may" have improved, but for example, the American dub of "Hero" is nothing short of comic, and for all the "kung-fu" films which may benefit a comedic dub, Hero certainly isn't one of them. Also, the dub that sparked off all the controversy, which was the original '97 dub of Princess Mononoke, which we can all agree was nothing short of shambolic.
I'm saying by watching a dubbed film you're almost forgoing the identity of the film for an Americanised version. It's the same people that can't stand sitting through a subtitled film that give Hollywood the idea that it's ok to go and remakes out of every successful foreign film going. 13 Tzameti, process of being remade, Rec, The Lives Of Others these two in particular are being remade after each respectively only have been out on DVD for no more than a month. You may say that "well the American public deserves to see these high quality films" but they can, without the unnecessary schmaltzifying process that Hollywood puts these prime films through as they dilute them to non-recognisable proportions.
If you don't want to read for an hour and a half on a tv screen, stick to Michael Bay.
If you don't want to read for an hour and a half on a tv screen, stick to Michael Bay.
Ok....that was the most random comment on this thread. Since when were we talking about Michael Bay?
READING INCREASES YOUR PENIS SIZE. SPREAD THE WORD.share
I only watch dubs, I am usually doing something when watching tv. Meaning I won't be reading the show and i wouldn't really want to sorry.
punkismhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEkcBsj2x9E
DEPENDS ON THE SUB OR THE DUB
BUT
HONESTLY THE SUBTITLES ARE REALLY INACCURATE AT TIMES BUT ALL WAYS BEATEN BY THE INACCURACY OF DUBS
THING ABOUT DUBBING IS THEYRE LESS WILLING TO INCORPORATE THE CULTURE OF JAPAN INTO IT
THEY DONT START CALLING THEM WITH THEIR NAME AND A CHAN KUN SAN SAMA AT THE END AND YOU CAN EQUATE IT TO MISTER OR MISS AT THE BEGINNING BUT SAYING IT ALL THE TIME HONESTLY SOUNDS RETARDED IN ENGLISH
BUT MISTRANSLATING THINGS FOR NO REASON SOUNDS MORE RETARDED
SOMETIMES I WONDER IF ITS RETARDED DOWN TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR AN AMERICAN AUDIENCE TO FOLLOW
TAKE OUT DEEP COMPLEX CHARACTERS PLOT AND PERSONALITY
ADD PUNS POPULAR PHRASES AND STEREOTYPES
JUST LIKE ALL THE REST OF THE AMERICAN CARTOONS.
DAMN SHAME
When the people putting in subs stop putting white letters on a white background making it pretty much impossible to read, I will maybe start watching with subtitles. However, since the people making the subtitles cannot take the time to make sure they are legible throughout the show, I choose to listen so I can actually follow what is going on instead of missing important information because of the lazy production staff.
shareSteve Harris makes a good point. It is easy to produce clear, legible subtitles - a translucent grey background works well - and there is no excuse for readability being based on the random chance of colour in each shot.
Personally I dislike dubbing. The translations are worse than subtitles as they try to synch the rhythm and duration of speech to the actor's mouth movements rather than go for an accurate interpretation of meaning. Also, I find the mismatch of sound and vision jarring or comical and a distraction from the drama.
I completely concur, many people on this thread have remarked about how they prefer dubbing because they can't multitask, some people even went so far as to say they had to pause the dvd while reading the subtitles. How slow minded must you be, how poor must your coordination be, that you cannot read and watch the film at the same time. Also, the way that the synchronisation between the lips and the "English" voices not matching is much more of a distraction and takes away from the experience. While there are some good dubbing actors and actresses, on the whole a re-dub never conveys the same sense of emotion that the initial actors were feeling when they filmed the scenes. You may not be able to understand them through their words, but the tones of their voice, stresses and just general onscreen abilities transcend language. Also, the meanings and text of the dubs are even more changed and inaccurate than the English subtitles, because of the necessity for the actors to have their words compressed into the time it takes their foreign counterpart to say something. In Japanese for example to alert someone to a danger may take up to 6 syllables of language, while in English a coherent sentence may stretch to double that, so text or presentation of the dialogue must be sacrificed to keep time with the lips of the initial actor.
If people wish to listen to dubs, that's fine, but personally I find them an irritant...the ONLY exception to the rule, even though I don't fully abide by it, is with animated films, simply because the differences aren't so notable. Like with the English dubbing of Death Note, occasionally they do have good voice actors fulfill the required roles, but even then I will err on the side of the subtitle initially.
On the whole, dubbings tend to lessen the impact of films. Hero, for one, I think is a highly enjoyable film, but the English dub is utterly comical and SO reminiscent of the 1980s Hong Kong dubs (think the Hard Boiled dub...uch) and early martial arts dubbings it takes away from the epic grandeur and overall seriousness of the film. I don't see how any of that could be disputed or justified by anyone on the "dubbing side" of the argument.
I personally find it incredibly easy to read and watch at the same time, just like I can eat and read, breathe and run, and walk and fart at the same time.
Dubbing is usually of a very poor acting standard, plus it almost always either A) has distractingly poor lip sync, or B) butchers the dialogue to match the lips.
Nobody is entitled to an opinion. Everyone is entitled to an informed opinion.
subs please
share[deleted]
a) Only pretentious people use the word "pretentious"
b) Only "pseudo intellects" use the term "pseudo intellect", which incidentally, you have used on more than one occasion.
c) There are no grammatical errors. It's called proper English.
d) Considering the fact that you are, and I quote "a huge fan of the anime", I'd say you are the anime nerd. This thread is for the movie.
e) Nobody was arguing before. There was some miscommunication, and then it was fine. "It's stupid to argue about this"? It's more stupid to come to a dead thread and start throwing tantrums, which brings me to f)
f) Phrases like "Guess what, you're not" and "stupid and lonely losers" are usually only used in the playground. As is name calling, which is another recurring habit of yours.
Your entire posts sounds like one made by an agitated teen trying to sound intelligent but ending up sounding like... well, an agitated teen. Thanks for coming though, its been fun :)
No doubt you'll take the bait.
Subtitles for me. Even though I dont understand a word they're saying, I still prefer listening to the actors in whatever language they speak cause its all part of the performance. The guy who plays L was great and even if the dubbed voice copies his exact mannerisms in his voice, I would still take original.
shareI like my live action subbed and I like my anime dubbed.
share> Since when were we talking about Michael Bay?
I believe his point is that if you can't handle subtitles, stick to mindless (but fun) action pix like Bay's.
I tend to agree with that, but won't argue that hard in defense of it. I think it is kind of like colorizing films. While there are films it doesn't hurt, generally those by second-grade directors, colorizing something by, say, Hitchcock is a travesty. The use of light and dark in Hitch's films is a key element of them, and colorizing anything he did is pitifully destructive of the mood he intended.
For the most part, voice characterizations are important, too, so unless the director oversees the dubbing, and preferably by the original cast, you're losing something of value in the transition. That's not guaranteed, but much more is transmitted on that band than mere words.
A sideways example of this is to watch the TV series "Seinfeld" in close-captioning. Parts that are utterly hilarious in audio are just as utterly humorless in text -- you completely lose the verbal timing and the inflections, which that show's comedy absolutely depends on.
This is true of the dramatic tensions of most other film and TV. Rarely does a dubbing cast do as good a job as the original actors (if only because most dubbing casts are not as good actors as the originals -- or else they'd be acting instead of dubbing).
If you want a fairly good example of this in film, try "Run, Lola, Run" (excellent movie, BTW) -- the DVD has both English Audio Dub and German w/English subs. Watch them back to back (German first, I suggest).
The German/Esub is, by my lights, a better story on the whole, better told.
I appreciate you clarifying my point there CorumJJ
No one mentioned Michael Bay, and while his films may on one level be fun, on another they are utterly purile, so the point is if you can't multitask and want a diluted version of a film, then the dubs are apt for those that find it "difficult" to sit, watch and read at the same time. I don't want this to come across as condescending (although it may be too late for that) but as most people on this website, I'm severely opinionated, and as you rightly point out CorumJJ the inflections and timing and emotion are lost through a studio boothed dubbing.
And as for Run, Lola, Run, indeed it is a very good movie! On a similar point, and as I mentioned in my previous rant, the Princess Mononoke '97 dub and the Disney dub are immensely different from each other, with the latter being quite acceptable, although I initially and still prefer the Japanese dialogue with subtitles, purely to better gauge the characters. I may not understand Japanese, but we are all human and we can all understand emotion.
If you don't want to read for an hour and a half on a tv screen, stick to Michael Bay.Hey man, I love to read, I'm an English major bound for grad school, but I still enjoy watching dubs. While there's nothing wrong with reading from a TV screen, and you can still really enjoy the experience of watching the film/show, I do think it takes something away from the viewing experience to have to constantly fixate on the bottom of the screen in order to read the subtitles. You can't keep your eyes in one place, can't focus on the visuals of the film/show the way you would if you understood the language, can't quite relax the same way because you always have to be on the lookout for the subtitles. It's nice to have the option of watching a dub in addition to the option of watching the sub. I'm not advocating one over the other, in fact I think they're both great to have, and I think that both should be available. As for the the Death Note dub, I think it's good. I prefer the English voices of some characters, such as Misa and Near and *maybe* L, over the Japanese voices, and I don't think any of the English actors are bad. share
Also, since 25% of Americans can't read it'd be a problem to not atleast have that dubbed option.
share"And I'd like to think that American dubbing has progressed A LOT since the old Godzilla movies. [] "
Well, no, it hasnt.
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In this universe, there's only one absolute... everything freezes!
"And I'd like to think that American dubbing has progressed A LOT since the old Godzilla movies."
It hasn't. I had a chance to see Death Note in the theaters during a limited release. Unfortunately, it was dubbed and not subtitled. About fifteen minutes into the film, I walked out and got a refund. The dub was so godawful and the American voice "actors" (and I use the word "actor" EXTREMELY lightly) were so terrible that they absolutely ruined the performances of the very talented Japanese actors.
Since then, I've watched the subtitled version and absolutely loved it.
If the subtitles are horrible, what makes you think the dub will be any better? It'll be the same translation either way, except the dub will have the added defect of hiring no-talent voice actors to brutalize the performances of the real actors.
share