MovieChat Forums > Dog Soldiers (2002) Discussion > Some awful dialogue at parts.

Some awful dialogue at parts.

posted 10 years ago by cybopath
16 replies | jump to latest

I like this film. I like cheesy lines but sometimes they are badly written or not performed correctly. This film has a few instances of that.

"If little red riding hood should turn up with a bazooka and a bad attitude I expect you to chin the b*tch."

I can see Marshall thinking he's ever so clever making the Riding Hood - Wolf connection like only a dozen other werewolf films have done. But that line has no context and is so forced. Perhaps after they had seen a wolf it may have made some sense.

The way in which Maggie delivers the "Its that time of the month." is so off it takes me right out of the film.

[–] Wildstyle26 10 years ago

I guess my only issue was sometimes, I couldn't understand what was being said, with the accents. Subtitles would be great, but the DVD didn't have any. So, guess i'll never know lol

But, that line with with LRRH is corny.

[–] cybopath 10 years ago

What parts was it, the Geordie? lol.

Take it your from over seas? Think its a pity we're not all as exposed to accents and dialects. Really Boston or Red Necks speak no better English than Conkeys or Scousers we just are exposed to it more.

[–] Wildstyle26 10 years ago

I am from a small rural town in TN. That's all I reveal online.

I just know, there were times when I couldn't tell what was being said, or only got bits and pieces. May not have been accents really. I have heard different accents. Posh, which is what Megan was. And Cockney, which I heard a bit of-I think that's what it is. And I understood everything being said.

But some lines in this film...went over my head. But that can happen for any film.

Example. When the Sarge is fending off the wolf. I saw the quote on IMDB as

Get out of her ya bastards. How do ya like tomatoes, ya *beep* bastards?

When I listened, I here the first part, and last part-the bolded stuff. but I couldn't make out the middle stuff.

When he was getting his wounds patched up, he starts talking to Megan about Cooper, and again, I only caught a few things here and there, but no idea some other stuff he said. Obviously, I understood

I'll tell ya what, I love him. I LOVE YOU, like the mate that I---that I love!

lol

Sarge was the one who I had the hardest time understanding some of his lines. Like when he tries to get Cooper to leave him while he stays behind. I didn't catch some things there either. Spoon, Cooper, Megan, Terry, Ryan, and Hoe-sans one line, I understood with no problem.

When Terry pukes on Ryan. Ryan says

That's bloody charming, that is. You incompetent moron!

He goes at Terry, and Joe pushes him, and yells something, but I didn't catch it. That was the only line from Joe I didn't quite catch.

[–] cybopath 10 years ago

Cooper was Scottish, be it pretty polished.

'Tomato' is one of the classic differently pronounced words. You say Ta-may-tah and I say Toe-ma-to.

I'm Scottish so I actually say Tamatty lol.

As I say I think it's down to exposure. Living in Scotland I've grown up exposed to American and English media, and even Irish and Australian as well as my own. No Canadian that I'm aware of but most of their talent seems to go to the US. So I pick up accents, slangs, dialects, even cultural references that have no bearing on my day to day life. If an American says 'I'm gonna hit the hay' I know that doesn't mean he is going to punch some cattle feed. If an Englishman says 'Take a butchers at this.' I know it means Have a look at this.

The US does have quite an insular media culture. Not much manages to penetrate it. Even English sit-coms must be re-made. One of the most baffling practices. I can't imagine a Scottish TV company deciding that 'Friends' is too American for us and re-making it set in Glasgow.

But it's cool that there are a whole bunch of you guys that are open to films and TV from around the world and give it a go.

[–] Wildstyle26 10 years ago

I definitely knew Coop was Scottish. I could hear the accent when he argues with Ryan about not shooting the dog. lol But very proper. But a thick accent.

I think he only had 1 line I didn't make out.

And there's times when many, I am guilty of it, mistaking, or mixing up British and Australian. The accents. Like Friends. Joey has a roommate, Janine. Some have called her Brithish, and some have called her Australian. At first, I thought Australian.

If you can't recall the character, here's a clip with her. The girl with Joey, of course lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shJehbHg93Y

But exposure definitely isn't good where I am. But I like to learn. Some British slang I am familiar with. it's used in media
Bugger
Wanker
Fags = For Americans that means something totally different than what I have heard British using it for lol

Few things here and there. But America seems to stereotype alot. If you have British in a film, the character and actor will be posh.

[–] cybopath 10 years ago

Yea I've heard the Aussie English mix up thing happens a lot over there. When I was in Canada people asked me quite often if I was Irish or sometimes South African.

A couple of English sit-coms I'd suggest (Which you should be able to find online through various ahem means) 'Only Fools and Horses' & 'Red Dwarf'
Those aren't your typical 'Middle Class Englander' comedies that usually sell better over seas.

I wouldn't even attempt to share Scottish sit-coms with you as even my English friends can't follow them.

[–] michele-132 10 years ago

You were right about Joey's roomate. She was played by Australian supermodel Elle Mcpherson.

[–] liverpool26 9 years ago

Funny you say you got the posh and cockney but not Sarge he's from london(cockney). This film wasn't too bad for accents in my opinion, have you ever watched "lock, stock and two smoking barrels" or "mean machine" they have many accents from across Britain and should have subtitles as they where big films compared to dog soldiers.

Lock stock is like snatch made by same director and same actors but snatch had some americans and bigger budget. Mean machine is UK version of longest yard but instead of American football player its football (soccer) player.

[–] Kawada_Kira 9 years ago

I guess my only issue was sometimes, I couldn't understand what was being said, with the accents. Subtitles would be great, but the DVD didn't have any. So, guess i'll never know lol

Some TVs have a way to turn on subtitles even if the DVD doesn't have them. When I saw the DVD doesn't have subtitles, I turned on the subtitles on my TV and they worked for this movie, so I could understand everything. Depends on the TV though. The TV in my bedroom (where I watched the movie) has that option, while the TV in my living room doesn't. You could check and see if your TV has a way to do it.

Normally I don't have much trouble with British movies, but when the characters use a lot of slang and the like it can be hard for me to grasp some of it sometimes.

[–] ubcool 10 years ago

americans are not used to filling in the blanks. they dont understand or use slang or abbreviation so when people cut a word short they are lost. The need everything spelt out for them..

[–] ReelRocknRolla 10 years ago

I'm American and understand accents and slangs from all nationalities.

[–] CathodeRayTubesRock 9 years ago

That's rather ironic since you're using "cool" in your handle, which is American slang so popular it has become practically an international word. Those bloody colonists have practically taken over the English language!

Fancy a fag, guvn'r?

Sig, you want a sig, here's a SIG-sauer!

[–] ttaskmaster 9 years ago

I can see Marshall thinking he's ever so clever making the Riding Hood - Wolf connection like only a dozen other werewolf films have done. But that line has no context and is so forced.

Where are they at the time?
Where would you expect to see Little Red Riding Hood?

There's your context... and it's *exactly* the sort of thing our Corporals and the Platoon Sergeant would say. The Captain had slightly better line delivery, but that's the officer's education for you!

A fair bit of the dialogue was more squaddie-centric than anything else, which is probably why it worked so well.

[–] t-a-fasano87 9 years ago

Maggie's whole speech and "plot twist" are completely incoherent. She speaks exclusively in trailer-fodder aphorisms throughout that scene, and her turn makes everything she's done up to that point illogical. How did she expect them to "save" her? No matter where she goes, she'd still be a werewolf. Why would she actively betray them when there was still a lingering chance of their escape? And if there were no chance, then why the hell did she bother in the first place?

That said, there are a few very good scenes - Sarge's speech in the woods immediately comes to mind. Reminds me of Predator, which did a much more consistent job with a similar style.

[–] Snake_MacReady82 9 years ago

The Red Riding Hood line was one of my favorites. They may not have seen the wolves yet, but they were in the woods. Why wouldn't LRRH or some other scary woods story come to mind in a situation like that, what with all the mauled bodies?

The "period" line was delivered just right to me. She was aware of the double-meaning, that it was a bad joke, and full of self-loathing.

The dialogue in this movie is awesome.

Thit and thpin!

[–] chuggliams 9 years ago

I took the Little Red comment to mean 'lost in the woods' as well as being strangely prescient...