Dubbing VS Subtitles

[3mnkids]

which do you prefer? I prefer Subtitles. English dubbing seems to take something away from the movie for me. A good example is Fritt vilt(cold prey). I hated it.  however, I found Fritt vilt II with subtitles and enjoyed it much more.

I can think of only one movie that is better with English dubbing and that is The machine Girl. Its hilarious with the dubbing, more so than what would have been with subtitles.

Unless of course they mangle the subtitles like they did with let the right one in    

so, do you have a preference?  What movies are made better with the dubbing?

[Doggett]

Subtitles every time.

Dubbing is very distracting because you know it's fake and the voices don't seem right.

[Jack]

I'll take dubbing.  Usually it's bad, but sometimes it's okay.  I don't like to read the script as I'm trying to watch a movie - reading words while people speak unintelligible sentences just destroys the emotion of it.

[The Burgomaster]

Most of the time I prefer subtitles.  However, if a DVD has both dubbing and subtitles, I'll probably watch it subtitled first and then the next time I watch it I'll watch the dubbed version to see how it compares.

[Neville]

I try to watch as many films as I can with subtitles. It's a question of principles. You can't make a fair trial of any movie when all the acting has been tampered.

But I have to admit that if the film is in some language I can't speak or understand (say French, or Chinese) it can get a bit unnerving, specially when there's lots of dialogue.

[Kester Pelagius]

It really depends on the quality of the dubbing/subs.

Most of those old sword-and-sandal imports were horribly dubbed.  Yet that's pretty much the only way most of us have gotten to see them.  Maybe the movies are good in their original language but the dubbing certainly didn't help any.  Same holds true for subtitles.

My first exposure to BEAST IN SPACE was through an Nth gen fansub.  The subtitles were pretty well done, much better in certain places when compared to those on the official release.  I've often noticed the same thing with anime.  Fansubs seemed to be a lot better most of the time.

But if I have a choice between one or the other I'll always go with whichever one seems better done.

[Javakoala]

Subtitles most of the time. I've learned how to pick up the subtitles while watching the actors, so I don't have the situation where you have to pause or back up to re-read the subtitles. I did know one girl who moved her mouth while reading, and she complained foreign films wore her out.

Dubbing on old imported horror and muscleman movies are most of the charm for me. I've actually saw one in original language with subtitles and it just wasn't fun.

[metalmonster]

I Prefer Dubbing Because Subtitles Can Distract You From What's Going On In The Movie , And Sometimes The Subtitles Go Too Fast To Read


.....And Besides I Always Get A Few Laughs Out Of Old Movies That Are Poorly Dubbed Over

[Paquita]

I agree that subtitles are superior, but I always get excited when I get the dubbed option.  Sometimes I like to multitask when watching a movie and that's kind of tough when there's subtitles.. and sometimes I'm just lazy. 

[Rev. Powell]

Dubbing on old imported horror and muscleman movies are most of the charm for me. I've actually saw one in original language with subtitles and it just wasn't fun.

I'll second that, and add kung fu flicks.  I don't think I could watch a Shaw Bros. movie with subtitles.

As a general rule, I'd say bad movies should be dubbed, good movies subtitled.

[Joe]

subtitles. i like to watch foreign movies how they are supposed to be viewed. if they have a dub its almost like s**tting all over the actors acting ability haha.

[Torgo]

The only movies that I like watching dubbed are old cheesy kung-fu flicks.  Other than that I stick with sub-titles with everything else.

[meQal]

Like many here, for me it depends on the type of movie I am watching. If the film is a piece of crap or has about as much cheese as your average pizza, I want it dubbed. If it's a good foreign film, I would rather have the subtitles. Why? for me a film that has been dubbed comes across as cheesy no matter how good a film it might be. The only exception to this for me is anime.
And I do love to mess with the language output on English speaking films. I find it hillarious to hear the Spanish or French translations for some films when the voice sounds nothing like the actors.

[Jim H]

Dubbing on old imported horror and muscleman movies are most of the charm for me. I've actually saw one in original language with subtitles and it just wasn't fun.

I'll second that, and add kung fu flicks.  I don't think I could watch a Shaw Bros. movie with subtitles.

As a general rule, I'd say bad movies should be dubbed, good movies subtitled.

I think your general rule is good, but I'd like to add SOME of the Shaw Bros. films actually qualify as good.  Come Drink With Me, for instance, or One-Armed Swordsman.  Both have some legitimately good acting and stories to tell, ones good enough to stand on their own without the martial arts bloodshed.  Of course, once you get to the mid 70s and on, Shaw Bros. didn't put out too many films like that anymore.

Some dubbed tracks are hilarious though.  I was sad my exquisite quality DVD of Five Element Ninja (AKA Chinese Super Ninjas) didn't have the ludicrous english dub when I got it. 

In general though, I do not think dubbing can be a good approximation of the original film, which subtitling can be.  Watching a dubbed version of a film is like watching a 4:3 cropped version of the film, only in many cases even worse.  At best, you're seeing a highly distorted version of the original film.

Any translation will lose a little something, but in my mind at least you're losing a lot more with dubbing.  In particular, you're losing a large chunk of the original acting performance.  Granted, you can't understand the performance perfectly, but some qualities of voice are more-or-less universal. 

I do feel *some* people who prefer dubbing haven't quite gotten the knack for it.  It takes a good while before you can really process subtitling well, in my experience.  I barely see the letters, I almost process it simultaneously with the spoken words on a properly done subtitle job.  But, I've been watching lots of subtitled films regularly for more than a decade, so...

[dean]

Subtitles all the way, unless it's anime, in which case it's either or [sometimes its just easier, since there's alot of anime that is quite fast paced and you miss a bit with subtitles.]

That being said, what do you think of audio tracks for the vision-impaired, which talks about what is happening.  Why are they always in a British voice? Hilarious!

I watched I think Spiderman with that and it was quite tedious but fun.