Dubbed or subtitled? Your preference?

POSTED BY: lwaves
UPDATED: Friday, March 14, 2008 03:41
VIEWED: 6565
PAGE 2 of 4

PREV PAGE 1 2 3 4 NEXT PAGE

ZEROKIRYU

Tuesday, March 11, 2008 4:35 PM

It doesn't really matter to me.

I'll usually watch the dub first, then go back and watch the subs.

There are a couple of series where I actually prefer the dub, such as Hellsing Ultimate (Crispin Freeman IS Alucard IMO).

_________________________________________________
"Then... where is my dream?"
"It is the continuation of reality."
"Where is... my reality?"
"It is at the end of your dream."

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Tuesday, March 11, 2008 4:41 PM

Subtitled films are more difficult to understand then dubbed films. The subtitles can be difficult to read and comprehend before the next subtitle leading to an incomplete grasp of the scene. For this reason I typically don‘t watch a lot of subtitled films. I didn’t care much for “Sleeping Dragon Crouching Tiger.” I don’t even think I finished it. I will occasionally watch French films, but I speak French, well enough at least to follow with subtitles. The last subtitled film I watched was “Pan’s Labyrinth,” and it was probably one of the most difficult to watch, because it was so complex and there was this constant line between reality fantasy that you had to keep clear in order to understand what was going on. If not for the shear caliber of that film, I’m not sure I would have bothered trying to watch it again, but as it was, I ended up watching it over a dozens times (and actually ended up learning a quite a bit of Spanish in the process), scrutinizing over it. That’s the thing about subtitled films, particularly those with complex themes or plots, if they are not just really good I might not spend the time it takes to understand the film.

As far as dubbed films go, these are jokes. There’s no such thing as a dubbed film that is not just laughable. The typical example of a dubbed film, of course, is the quintessential “kung fu” movie, which in the US are typically jokes. We don’t take them seriously in the US and it’s not because some of them perhaps aren’t good enough to be taken seriously, it’s because the dubbed creates a comical effect that undermines any gravity in the film. This became crystal clear to me the first time that I watched the Karate Kid dubbed in French in my French class - absolutely nothing even remotely serious was left in this film. It was all a joke. And the whole class was in tears by the end of it.

So there’s really no comparison between subtitled and dubbed. Foreign language films will always be difficult to understand if you don’t know the language, but dubbing, in my opinion, is the lowest common denominator for dealing with problem.

Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum.

Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.

-- Cicero

MAL4PREZ

Tuesday, March 11, 2008 4:50 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SpaceAnJL:
'Curse of the Golden Flower' was a real feel-bad film. But so damn beautiful. That big battle, and then the even bigger army of servants who just cleared it away like nothing happened? Mad.

It's a Shakespearean tragedy is what it is - betrayal, incest, murder. Just crazy! I admit I couldn't watch the battle the 2nd time through. The buildup is gorgeous, but the slaughter? Awful.

One film that *requires* subtitles - Nightwatch. Watch it in Russian with subtitles on, and they do things. They work into the film visually, and in how they're timed. Sometimes the words reverberate or melt into red mist. It's so cool. Why don't more films do this?

-----------------------------------------------
hmm-burble-blah, blah-blah-blah, take a left

BLACKADDER7

Tuesday, March 11, 2008 5:00 PM

I greatly prefer subtitles for one reason: accuracy. When a dub is done correctly, the dialogue is morphed so that the length of the line fits the facial movements of the speaker. This results in mistranslations, loss of context, and many times, simple nonsense lines that have nothing to do with what is really being said. This problem simply doesn't exist with accurate subtitles and good timing (and I fansubbed anime for 4 years, so I have a little bit of experience in this area, but also some bias).

I've often heard the argument that the time it takes reading/comprehending subtitles detracts from the enjoyment of the medium. To that, my counterargument has always been - learn how to read better/faster. There are millions upon millions of people all over the world that watch subtitled media and have no problem comprehending and enjoying what they're watching.

Just my $0.02. [/rant]

-------------------------------------------------------------

DEADLOCKVICTIM

Tuesday, March 11, 2008 5:02 PM

...then there are always the problems with translations...
need i remind you of "All your base are belong to us...!"

DEADLOCKVICTIM

Tuesday, March 11, 2008 5:12 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by mal4prez:
One film that *requires* subtitles - Nightwatch. Watch it in Russian with subtitles on, and they do things.

An excellent example... Nightwatch and Day Watch are really incredible films - still waiting for the third film of the series... Dawn Watch..? I'm not sure if that is the correct title, or when it will be released in the U.S.

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Tuesday, March 11, 2008 5:38 PM

Inaccurate translations will always be a potential problem even with subtitles. Very few languages can be translated between each other without a loss of meaning. And languages that are very different, such as Chinese and English, you will likely never get a perfect translation and often a “bad” translation is a good as you can get. Regardless of whether a film is subtitled or dubbed there will always be a potential and sometimes a certainty for bad translations. On top of that, different cultures have different ways of expressing emotion and different gestures and different intonations. I can’t listen to Chinese and understand whether a question is being asked or a statement is being made based on the intonation alone, because I don’t understand the why Chinese is intoned. So often there is a conflict between what is being said and what is being read. Languages are enormously complex beasts and there are numerous ways in which meanings between the two languages can become obscured. But that problem is certainly exacerbated by dubbing in which words are selected as much for their comparison with lip movements then for meaning.

And I don’t like the attitude that some people have where they insinuate that people who may have difficulty comprehending subtitled films are stupid. Subtitled films will always propose a greater challenge to comprehension then watching films that aren’t subtitled, and making people aware that they are not alone in their struggles with subtitles is the best way to keep them motivated to watch subtitled films instead of falling onto the lowest common denominator.

Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum.

Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.

-- Cicero

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Tuesday, March 11, 2008 5:38 PM

Double post?

subtitle: What? I made a double post? That's just fools talk man. I don't make no damn double post. Damn. Go jive your turkey somewhere else, you honkey dog.

And how can this be? For he is the Kwisatz Haderach!

subtitle: Perhaps my quaint but novel quoting of the last line of Dune will destract people from my double posting.

DEADLOCKVICTIM

Tuesday, March 11, 2008 5:54 PM

I haven't seen this in a while...

take off every zig.... ha ha ha ha....?

BLACKADDER7

Tuesday, March 11, 2008 5:56 PM

I certainly didn't intend to imply that I believe that people who have difficulty with subtitles are 'stupid'. I rather use it as an opportunity to espouse the virtues of subtitled media as an art form and try to suggest potential avenues of personal improvement. I can't play golf. Doesn't mean I'm not a good athlete, just means I suck at golf. If I wanted to make myself more well-rounded athletically, I might try and learn how to play. Lousy metaphor, I know, but the best I could come up with on short notice.

In the end, everyone will have their own preference for their own reasons. It's fun to debate, but rather pointless. I'm not going to convince anyone to prefer subtitles, and no one will convince me to like dubs. But it's all good... :)

-------------------------------------------------------------

PREV PAGE 1 2 3 4 NEXT PAGE