MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Do you support subtitles or dubs?

Do you support subtitles or dubs?


I, like most of the world, prefer dubs. It seems like America is an outlier on yet another thing. Most Hollywood movies are dubbed into French and Spanish at a minimum. But most foreign movies are not dubbed into English. I think most Americans aren’t aware of this and assume subtitles are the norm. A lot of snobs act like dubs take something away from “the director’s vision”. But you don’t understand the inflections in someone’s voice if you don’t speak the language. I think it was Kurwasawa who said no American will ever see one of his movies the way a Japanese will, and vice versus. Something is necessarily lost by you not speaking the language, and you can’t get around that either way. This point of view makes dubbing seem like a much more accurate way of translating a movie experience, since it approximates the original, whereas subtitles are a completely artificial and abstract addition.

So dubs bother you because the lips don’t move right with the words. Yeah yeah yeah, I hear you. Get real. Subtitles cover half the screen and you can’t see the lips at all, even if they weren’t covered, because you’re busy reading. It’s a fundamentally lesser form of immersion. It also seems to give people an inaccurate perception of what the movie is supposed to be. People think dubs make movies seem silly. But usually those movies are supposed to be silly. Really, it’s the subtitles that make silly movies seem serious, and serious means important I guess.

I think it’s a conspiracy. Hollywood is big and powerful and knows that people hate subtitles no matter how convincingly they lie to themselves. So they make sure all their own Hollywood movies get dubbed, for foreign markets. And distributors resist allowing dubs for foreign movies. Keeps uncultured Americans locked in.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagrees? I am originally from India btw.

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Dubs are ridiculous. Not only because the dialogue doesn't fit the mouths, it just doesn't come across as natural. The voices clearly sound like a voice over rather than being recorded right on set and often don't fit the actors. And the acting is often worse. If you gonna dub, then why not do a complete remake?!

No, the idea that you can't see what's happening because you're busy reading is ridiculous. Loads of European countries (where I'm from) only use subtitles and people have no problem. Growing up with it, your brain just adapts to it. I don't know where you get the idea that the actors' lips are covered by subtitles. They're placed at the bottom of the screen and usually have a slim font.

Subtitles all the way! I only watch dubs to have a good laugh.

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If the movie is supposed to be ridiculous do the dubs work for you then? For instance older Chinese martial arts comedies. I am not sure they would be funnier in their original language with subtitles.

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It depends on the dub, I guess, but most of those don't work for me either. I do like to watch bad action movies on German tv, somehow they're more entertaining that way

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Subs. I don't understand how people can watch dubbed movies. Takes me right out of the film.

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[deleted]

Netflix does offer some audio options on some films/shows. The recent series Dark I believe can be watched in German or English.

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[deleted]

You know I hear that from few of people about not being able to find anything to watch. My list of streaming items is 100 + programs and a few times I lose stuff before I can watch it. There is definitely a lot of foreign shows and movies.

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Sorry to cut in

I have Netflix AND Amazon Prime...love them both but AP is way better for obscure and 'foreign' titles and there are hundreds of indies available all the time

Oh, and free shipping on tons of household items too for your conveniance!
Apologies if i sound like a shill...im just a user and a fan

Check out Amazon Prime MJF...its about $120 a year

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[deleted]

A fine plan too!
Whatever works

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[deleted]

Haha!!!
My how the world has changed😆

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Subtitles for live action, because it's too distracting having the words failing to match the mouths. I don't even notice that I'm reading subtitles once I'm into the movie.

For animation, dubbing is usually fine, since the mouth movement isn't a perfect match to the words in the first place.

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Most dubs (in English) are terrible, at least the ones I've tried.

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Dubs are terrible. I love subs, I love to hear the actors' own voices. I watch most programs with closed captions in my native US English, so as not to miss anything.

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I am surprised that people who anti-dub are sometimes in favor of them if it is a cartoon. I would think it should be the other way around. With the lack of a human actor onscreen, the voice becomes even more important. It’s literally what makes the character, especially with most animated shows that could easily be radio shows because the drawings aren’t good. Has anyone ever tried to watch Looney Tunes or Simpsons dubbed in another language? The characters bear no resemblance to their true selves.

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PS thank you everyone for sharing.

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