Why can't they dub this film in english? - Taxi 4 (2007) Discussion

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] irquim 16 years ago

What's the problem with reading subtitles?

Dubbing movies are a waste of good movies in my opinion. Most countries get by reading them, why can't you? There's not even one example of a movie that's been acceptably dubbed. Fact is that even remake of movies are better than dubbing them.

I will never watch the Taxi movies in other languages than French. That's the language spoken in the original, and therefore the best one.

And no, I don't speak French; I only know how to order coffee, say thank you, good night and a few other things like that. But that doesn't stop me from loving the movies :)

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[–] gargnob 16 years ago

But Hercules in New York (1970) was pretty good dubbed... Does English to English dubbing count?

But seriously, I agree. Most of the rest of the world read subtitles and many of us learned to read reading subtitles...

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[–] fleshreaper 16 years ago

Nothing except kids shows should ever be dubbed! :)

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[–] m_wonderful 16 years ago

Gimme a break, you wannabe film elitists.

Dubbing just gives people another option. If you want to listen to the original language and read subtitles you still can. What smart film distributor doesn't want to increase his market, which dubbing would?

Here's why I, too, like the dubbed films. Sometimes I like to watch when I am not sitting right in front of the TV. I don't mind watching the movies and reading the subtitles, but when I'm at home I am many times running around the house at times and don't have the time to devote exclusively to reading subtitles.

And, no, I'm not a lazy American, because I am in the process of learning French and Spanish.

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[–] Billygoat 16 years ago

They actually dubbed the original Mad Max film from the original Australian accented English to American accented English...completely rediculous and unfortunate.

Personally when I watch a foreign language film I prefer to listen to the original language and read the subtitles. The tone of voice, the rythm of the words, can all communicate things which are not done as well when dubbed.

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[–] janmanden 16 years ago

I think you should take a break from all the running and just sit down, relax and enjoy the movie to the fullest extend, which is among other things, being amused of the french and reading the subtitles (if you have to). If you don't have the time, then make time or skip it entirely.

I think it's pretty sick to keep the tv running at all times, just shut it down (and shoot a big hole in it) when you are not ready to watch, the planet is going to love you if you save the power..

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[–] Xsplizzle 8 years ago

Not about being a film elitists, the reason this film and MOST films are not dubbed into english anymore is because there is no market for it, people dont want to watch dubbed films, most people vastly prefer subtitles, or in the case of the american market, to just remake the movie.
Dubbing still seems to be popular in some countries, in english speaking countries it is not

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[–] PPMartin 16 years ago

I fully agree with @irquim that dubbed movies are no fun, with the voice of the actors being replaced by the voice of a limited range of professional dubbers. Dubbed movies sound fake, rob you from hearing the original actor's tone of voice, and don't give people an opportunity to train their ears to the variety of sounds in this world.

For cartoons, this is less of an issue, although great artists have contributed their voice to some excellent animated films, and here again, replacing their voices by the more limited spectrum of professional dubbers implies some "degradation" of the original art.

Having said that, having the option (in DVDs, for instance) of listening to a dubbed version, might be useful either for blind people (who "listen to movie") or for people who have difficulties following the movie and the subtitles at the same time.

It is very unfortunate that in France itself (where the Taxi 4 movie comes from - movie which is probably the worst or the second worse of this series), foreign movies are shown dubbed in most cinemas. Only in the largest cities can you have a choice of dubbed vs original soundtrack. If the french population was more used to see movies that are not dubbed but with sub-titles only, as is done in northern europe, but shown in their original language and accent... that could make our students better speakers of foreign languages.

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[–] kadajawi 12 years ago

At least in Germany there are some excellent voice actors. The voice of Bruce Willis (dubbed) sounds so much cooler than his real voice. Still I prefer the original voices, but it can be done properly. Also it is a matter of being used to it. If you are used to dubbed movies, you won't be annoyed by the lack of lip sync, but you will be by subtitles. Someone who is used to subtitles will hardly notice that they are there.

That is why it is so hard to change habits. Switching Germany or France to subtitled movies only would annoy many (despite the advantages through showing subtitled movies... people who watch them generally are better in English). On the other hand suddenly dubbing movies in Scandinavian countries would irritate those living there. Unfortunately for the US though people aren't used to either, because most (popular) movies come from there.

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[–] Hazzer_99 16 years ago

The rest of the world who want to watch English movies either read subs, or learn English. You find one movie you like in another language and you complain it hasn't been dubbed into your mother toungue? I see you've made the point of how the could make more money, but in truth most people prefer subs and so they actually might not make money. Dubbing a whole movie can actually be quite expensive, especially if you want big names. Besides, French sounds funny and these movies are hilarious - I reckon it totally adds to the whole humour factor!

Go to the loo, 'cause all the *beep*'s coming out your mouth instead of your a-hole...

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[–] jinson_cme 15 years ago

I believe that they have already dubbed the movie. I don't know about the previous three versions but the fourth part is dubbed, and not at all interesting with the distracting english, that takes away from the action and the comedy.

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[–] kenw929 16 years ago

Wasting potential? Its a French movie in French. You can't expect everyone to make films in English. Subtitles work, and if you don't want to use them, learn French.

PS. I'd rather have the French Taxi (1) rather than the American Taxi *beep*

http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?Shuffle

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[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 1bad180sx 16 years ago

I prefer my foreign films in the language they were intended for. I hate dubbing.

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[–] Bart_Decaux 16 years ago

I also prefer to see a subtitled movie than a dubbed one, but in this particular case you have to consider the market for the film. The fact that is the lowest performer of the franchise is almost certainly one of the reasons why there's no dubbed version.

As has been pointed out, dubbing costs a not-inconsiderable amount of money, whereas subtitling is much cheaper. This film hasn't even been officially released to the English-speaking world yet and if it ever does- judging by Taxi 3- it'll probably crawl out as an afterthought when no-one's looking.

It simply won't be worth it in returns to do a dubbed version. Besides, why should they, really? If I made a film, I sure as hell wouldn't make any concessions to dub it into other languages, whether it was commercially sound or not. It'd be my vision, just as these are the ones of their creators, and if you can't be bothered to read subtitles then you aren't interested enough in my work for me to care about, in my opinion.

Yeah, it's okay to watch chop-socky stuff that's been badly dubbed, but that's only because it adds kitsch value which is the only reason those things work in the first place.

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[–] jutuomin 16 years ago

"Nobody complains about dubbed kung fu."

Well..
I think you are finding yourself very alone with this post..
First of all there are many people who doesn't like dubbed kung fu and I am one of them..
Do you have any idea how difficult it even is the find a single 70s kung fu film that isn't ruined with dubbing? And I think that is solely because of lazy American people who don't want to read subtitle (because it causes head-aches and hurts your eyes??)..

So no..
I don't want this or any movie ever getting dubbed. Only exception are animated films that are meant for children..
And even with those there should be a option to watch it with original language..

And I know - with DVDs you usually have that option, but pointing again to those kung fu films.. Sometimes that choice have been already made for you and you (accidentally) buy a DVD that has no original audio at all..
And again - only because the Western copy originates from USA where people don't want to read subtitles..

(how difficult it can be??)

Fortunately I have heard that they don't dub that many movies any more.. They even released Hero (http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0299977/) in USA with subtitles..
I'd like to see that as a growing trend..

jutuomin

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[–] g_tonttu 16 years ago

My two cents:
A) It costs money...a lot of money,
and
B) Dubbing sounds flat (at least I feel as if the speech comes from "on top of the screen" not "from within the movie".

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[–] askep 16 years ago

Oh please. Would you suck it up?

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[–] cat-hoy 16 years ago

Hmm let me see. Why should they?

If you want to watch it, read the subtitles. I hate dubbing, it drives me mad. I agree with only ever dubbing animations or cartoons, I cannot be having real peoples' mouths moving at different times to what they're saying.

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[–] liz_morden 16 years ago

I have never in my life heard a successful dubbing. I've also never seen a dubbed film where the dubbing was vaguely necessary.

I watch a lot of world cinema, and my heart sinks when I discover that something has been dubbed. It's painfully distracting (far more so than reading subtitles, which I barely even notice within 3 minutes of a film starting), it's jarring and you lose so much of the performances that it makes the film unwatchable. Not to mention the fact that it's a ridiculous waste of time and money.

I accept that this is not exactly a performance piece, but it's still entirely unnecessary.

Please make the effort with the subs - I love them, because you get to enjoy every nuance of the original performance, and if a film is subtitled well you get very natural, relevant dialogue too. I also love the extra emphasis it places on the script - I pay close attention to every film I watch, but I become a lot more immersed and pick up a lot from the script when watched a subtitled film.

And as for the poster who states he prefers dubbing so that he can watch a film even when he's not looking at the TV or in the room, I suggest you start listening to radio plays. Films are for watching!

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[–] RParmly-3 15 years ago

"I have never in my life heard a successful dubbing."

I saw Broken Arrow in French after seeing it in English and was shocked by the quality of the dubbing. "Quality" being a relative term... it was obviously better in English, but it's unusual for them to do as good a job as they did. Air Force One, which came out the same year, is still the worst French dubbing of an English movie I have ever seen.

"I've also never seen a dubbed film where the dubbing was vaguely necessary."

Well, no arguments there...

"I ought to tell you something."
"Don't get sentimental now, Dad, save it for when we get out of here."
"The floor's on fire."

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[–] roostermeat 15 years ago

I just watched this and it was dubbed in English. It sounded quite horrible.

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[–] corek 15 years ago

You need to watch a film on DVD sold in Russia. The dubbing is truely awful, as they keep the original soundtrack as well.
Wait for the film to be released in Canada, where the subtitles will have to be in English (it is the law).

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