28-05-2003 05:15									#1
	Monkspider presents "Great Choices": Subtitles vs. Voice Dubs Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

Welcome to "Great Choices", a new series of polls taking a look at the hard questions, and using the great wisdom of our community to find the truth.
Which do you prefer on your foreign films, voice dubs or subtitles? Each obviously have strengths and weaknesses, voice dubs can be catastrophically bad if they are poorly executed, but watching a film with only subtitles seems to leave the viewer feeling detached.

Have your say! Speak your mind! Such is the beauty of "Great Choices".

	28-05-2003 05:17									#2
	Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

Subtitles. Subtitles can be poor if they have many mistakes but I like hearing the language as is. Dubbing is usually poor based on my experience.

	28-05-2003 05:44									#3
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

Might as well read a book as have subtitles.

	28-05-2003 05:45									#4
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

Subtitles, no doubt!

	28-05-2003 05:46									#5
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

OH MY GOD! IT IS GODZILLA!

(silent mouthing of various japanese phrases)

	28-05-2003 05:48									#6
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

Subtitles are great!
I wish they would subtitle programs/movies in Dutch too...

	28-05-2003 05:49									#7
	Remove this text

I watch subtitles even with english-speaking shows.

	28-05-2003 05:52									#8
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

That's because you are getting old and can't hear the TV, but your 3 inch thick glasses are working fine .

	28-05-2003 05:53									#9
	Increase the size of your Attachments

Since about 85% of the DVDs I watch lately were originally in a foreign language, I should probably chime in here...

Subtitles, for sure. Good dubs are very rare, and I will watch them if I find them, but again, they're very rare. I'm a very fast reader, and subtitles don't distract me from the movie, especially since I've started learning a little Japanese.

Excel Saga's VidNotes, on the other hand, can be quite distracting...

Wraith
"The bullet of justice will always demolish evil."
-- Good Excel (Excel Saga)

	28-05-2003 05:59									#10
	Inflate your Upload Space

Subtitles. I want to actually know what they're saying.

	28-05-2003 05:59									#11
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

The problem with dubs is that all too often the voice workers have voices that are too generic. Take my dvd of Metropolis, for example. I liked the English version dubbing of some of the characters in it, but not all, and the same with the French dub. I actually liked the French dub a bit better - more expressive voices. But the best was the Japanese voice. Reading subtitles is a subconscious thing for me. I don't even notice it, really.

	28-05-2003 06:03									#12
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

Subtitles are better then dubbed shows.

	28-05-2003 06:04									#13
	Remove this text

The original voice acting is generally better in all circumstances

	28-05-2003 06:08									#14
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

quote: Originally posted by DarthVeda The original voice acting is generally better in all circumstances

My reasoning also.

	28-05-2003 06:26									#15
	Inflate your Upload Space

Another vote for subtitles... but they can be done badly, too. There is nothing I hate more then subtitles you can't read due to a poor colour selection or layout.

quote: Originally posted by SlowwHand Might as well read a book as have subtitles.

I'd rather read a book then watch a movie anyways.

	28-05-2003 08:33									#16
	Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

Subtitles every time.
-
Except for porn, then the dubbing is just hilarious , isn't it Uber

	28-05-2003 08:35									#17
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

Subtitles. That's why Nicam on TV's are such a great idea. For those of you who don't know, Nicam allows to hear either the original or the dubbed version.

	28-05-2003 09:11									#18
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

Subtitles. Hearing the original really helps even if you can't understand a word they're saying.

	28-05-2003 09:18									#19
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

quote: Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui That's because you are getting old and can't hear the TV, but your 3 inch thick glasses are working fine .

What? I can't hear you!!!

Actually, we do it because it allows us to watch TV without having to turn it up whenever the dishwasher or other appliances are turned on (or when the baby is raising hell).

	28-05-2003 09:18									#20
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

Dubs, no doubt, are worse. It's even worse when there are both subtitles and voice dubs and they're not exactly the same.

	28-05-2003 09:58									#21
	Enter the AD-FREE zone

I have friends who do voice dubbing !!!

I voted for subtitles.

	28-05-2003 10:24									#22
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

Subtitles. They really aren't a distraction since all foreign shows on TV in Finland are subtitled, hence they are much more natural for me than voice acting. Dubs are only for children's shows.

	28-05-2003 10:32									#23
	Got spare money?

Subtitles, as usually it may happen that the dubbing horribly distorts the meaning/tone/intent of what's being said...at least with the subtitles you can try to relate to the original performance.

	28-05-2003 10:46									#24
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

You don't find it adds another dimension of enjoyment to watch Japanese people screaming English at Godzilla, for instance?

	28-05-2003 11:26									#25
	Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

subtitles. It gives me the feeling that I actually understand the language, as if I am watching the movie in my native tongue.

	28-05-2003 12:20									#26
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

Subtitles, but I like having plenty of options. I bought a copy of "We Were Soldiers" the other day at the video store for $10. I brought it home and watched it in French, with English subtitles to fill in the rather large gaps in my knowledge of la belle langue de la France.

	28-05-2003 13:44									#27
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

None of the above... (Where's the Banana? )

I only want subtitles, when the movie is originally in some weird language (i.e. French )... if I understand the language, there shouldn't be any subtitles (I always turn off subtitles when watching DVD's)

Dubbing shouldn't even be an option... who'd even want that?