Month: July 2016

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Foreign Films: Subtitles or Dubbing?

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The topic of subtitles vs dubbing is one that I’ve been wanting to cover for a while now.  I just haven’t really found a way to do it right.  Over the past 20 or so years, I’ve heard MANY arguments for audio dubbing on foreign films.  I’ve also heard arguments that subtitles should be used for foreign movies and that people should just get used to having subtitles.  Before I get into which side I actually fall on, I would like to go into some detail into what subtitles are and what they are used for and what dubbing is.  For those of you not in the know, subtitles are small that appears at the bottom of a movie or TV show that is essentially a transcript for what the characters are saying.  Most of the time, subtitles are used because some people are deaf and they can’t hear what’s being said, so it’s a legitimate thing for disabled people.  Subtitles are also used for movies that were made in another country where they don’t speak English, or whatever language that isn’t prevalent in that region.  When movies are released in certain regions, subtitles are generally used for people that don’t speak that particular language.  For instance, here in the states and in other English-speaking countries, subtitles are used for movies like Gojira, The Assassin or any movie from Hong Kong or Thailand.

There is a technique in post-processing called audio dubbing in which additional recordings are mixed with the original to create a more complete soundtrack.  In film-making, it happens all the time.  You can’t just use audio from the boom mic because it will pick up additional sounds from the environment or isn’t loud enough for the audiences to hear.  So, the actors have to go through a process called ADR, which is Additional Dialogue Replacement.  Actors go into a recording studio and they have to repeat their lines in almost the same kind of performance that they gave on the actual shoot, but in this case, the final audio is clearer and easier to hear.  Again, it’s the process of making a movie.  However, when it comes to foreign movies, a lot of companies end up using American actors to “dub” over the original actors lines.  This is used for people who are too lazy to read the subtitles.

When it comes to dubbing an English-language film, it’s not necessarily an issue for me.  My issue is that in a foreign film where a different language is spoken, things get lost in translation whenever the film is dubbed into English.  Truthfully, almost everything gets lost in translation with that.  When people complain about going to a foreign-language movie, some of them whine about horrible performances.  I have to ask the question:  Did you see it in it’s original language with subtitles or did you see the English-dubbed version.  If you saw the English-dubbed version, then yeah, you’re not going to get the same performances.  Let me tell you exactly why that is.  The English-speaking actors that are dubbing for the on-screen actors can’t match the performances on the screen, so the overall presentation feels extremely uneven and unintentionally hilarious at times.  What you are hearing isn’t necessarily matching what you are seeing.  Don’t believe me?  Check out some of the older kung fu movies or Godzilla movies.  Those are perfect examples of why English dubbing is bad.  To be fair, there are a select few foreign actors out there that will dub their own lines into English.  Jackie Chan is one of those people, and you know what?  It strangely works.  He can do it.  People who complain about having to read subtitles in their movies are inherently lazy.  Yeah, I’m going to piss some people off, but it’s the honest truth.  It only takes a second or two to read those subtitles, and while you’re reading them, you can still see what’s going on, so I don’t understand that complaint.  I get that people’s attention spans are at a record low, but you know what?  Deal with it.  You get a much more fulfilling experience with those subtitles then you ever will with dubbing.  Besides, the actors they get to do the dubbing are generally really lousy actors.  So…subtitles or dubbing for foreign movies?  There’s no comparison here.  Subtitles all the way.

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The Best Directors: Paul Verhoeven

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Born in Amsterdam in the Netherlands in 1938, Paul Verhoeven experienced the horror of war almost first-hand during World War II.  Living in a house near a German base with V-1 and V2 Rocke Launchers, the base was bombarded by Allied aircraft.  His parents were nearly killed when bombs fell on a street crossing.  The fact that he survived World War II, considering where he lived, was a minor miracle.  After the liberation of the Netherlands, Mr. Verhoeven and his father went and saw American movies on a regular basis.  While the man had majored in math and physics, he would devote his time and energy to film-making.  After making a bit of a splash during the late 60’s, Mr. Verhoeven moved to Hollywood during the 80’s for a variety of opportunities.  It was during this time that Paul Verhoeven would create some of the most memorable movies that are iconic, even by today’s standards, so I would like to celebrate the man and his career by talking about his best work.

RoboCop

In 1984, James Cameron burst onto the scene with one of the greatest science fiction movies of all time, The Terminator.  There were a number of imitators that followed, but one of the films that really took the world by storm was Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop.  The trailer used the main music theme to The Terminator, so it felt like a rip-off, but the film was so much more than that.  It was a blatant commentary on certain social issues like rampant consumerism, as evidenced by the numerous faux commercials that would play during the movie.  This was also one of Peter Weller’s most memorable roles as Detective Alex Murphy, who gets killed in the line of duty, only to be brought back as the mechanical RoboCop.  It was violent, bloody and surprisingly funny at the same time.  It got hammered by critics because of it’s excessive violence, so much so, that the film had to be edited to take some of that out.  It was still really violent and that would become one of Paul Verhoeven’s trademarks.

Total Recall

Paul Verhoeven comes back with an astounding “adaptation” of Philip K. Dick’s We’ll Remember It For You Wholesale.  Featuring an all-star cast that includes Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside and Ronny Cox, Total Recall took the world by storm when it was released in 1990.  Like most of Verhoeven’s American-made movies, it featured gratuitous violence.  The visual effects were out of this world, in terms of puppetry and make-up effects.  It was a spectacular film.  Again, critics attacked the film for its ultra-violence, but it was so over-the-top, that you couldn’t take it seriously.  It had great action, memorable characters and a fairly decent story to back it all up.  I highly consider this to be one of my personal favorites.

Starship Troopers

This is the movie where things get….interesting.  Starship Troopers is LOOSELY based on Robert A. Heinlein’s book of the same name.  By loosely, I mean, almost not at all.  It has some elements from the book, but for the most part, Paul Verhoeven’s adaptation is essentially its own entity.  When I reviewed the movie, I mentioned that the audience was pretty divided into two groups:  The people that read the book before the movie came out and the people that read the book after the movie came out.  The people that read the book first, generally hated the picture because it deviated so far from the source material it was unrecognizable.  Where were the power suits?  Where were the bugs that shot lasers?  Where was the queen?  These elements were left on the floor, although a prototype suit was built for the movie, but was never used because the budget didn’t allow for it.  But the people who saw the film first actually really liked it.  I was one of those people.  It was visually spectacular, had an awesome cast and a fairly decent story.  It also had a bad-ass score by the late Basil Poledouris.  The visual effects and CGI in the film were ground-breaking.  I hadn’t seen anything like it, and the visuals still hold up after nearly 20 years.  Then, I read the book.  I understood why a lot of people didn’t like the movie.  A lot of the elements in the book were left out.  When it was discovered that Verhoeven didn’t actually like the book, that pissed people off even more.

Had the movie been called anything but Starship Troopers, I think it would’ve been better received by the majority of the audience.  As it stands, however, it’s still a very solid piece of science fiction and movie with a great visual effects and memorable characters, and that’s what Paul Verhoeven delivered.  As was the norm with Paul’s movies, there was a level of commentary throughout the entire film against blind patriotism and use of the military.  The use of propaganda in the film was particularly intelligent, because of Paul’s personal experience with the Nazi government.  He poked fun at a lot of things in the movie, and a lot of people didn’t get it.  It’s smarter than most people give it credit for.

While Verhoeven did other movies like Basic Instinct and Hollow Man, these ones were the ones that really stood out for me from Paul Verhoeven.  He’s crafted some of the most iconic and memorable movies that I’ve ever seen.  I think the man will be remembered as influential as well as controversial.

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The Best: Movie Speeches

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Whenever soldiers go into battle, whether it was the knights of Europe or today’s battle-hardened combat troops, there was always a commanding officer giving an incredibly moving and inspiring speech.  In the movie world, it’s no different, except it’s to get the audiences pumped for an upcoming battle of epic proportions.  For this reason, this episode of The Best will feature the greatest movie speeches ever.  Nothing gets the blood pumping like a bad-ass speech from a charismatic leader.  So, without further delay, here are The Best: Movie Speeches.

Pacific Rim

This one falls into the “short-but-sweet” category.  After a resounding success by the humans against the alien Kaiju monsters, Idris Elba’s Stacker Pentecost delivers a powerful speech that gets the survivors ready for the final battle.  I don’t think anybody could have done this as well as Mr. Elba.  He’s got that gruff and confident bravado that comes with experience and he proves that he’s the leader that they need.  It’s pretty bad-ass.

Braveheart

Is there anybody who has NOT seen this movie yet?  Well, let me tell you why you should:  Just for this speech.  It’s powerful, affecting, and combined with James Horner’s fantastic score, this is the kind of speech that makes you want to pick up a Scottish claymore and stand in defiance.  This is Mel Gibson at his finest, both directing and starring in.  Braveheart is one of the greatest epics ever put on the silver screen.  This has to be seen.

Patton

This is another historical figure, General George S. Patton, who delivered this rousing speech to the Third Army during World War II.  Now, granted: the film’s version of the speech was truncated quite a bit, but it still had the effect that the movie-makers were going for.  George C. Scott was the only choice to play the legendary 4-Star General.  While I don’t personally think his rhetoric would sit well in today’s world, but I have to admit, he got the men moving during World War II.

Independence Day

What can I say about this one?  This one is definitely a personal favorite.  Yeah, it’s science fiction, but Independence Day is still one of the funnest blockbusters ever released.  This speech by Bill Pullman’s President Whitmore sends chills down my spine every time I watch it.  Why?  Because it’s a good goddamn speech, that’s why.  While the film may come across as cheesy at times, you can’t ignore the star power in the film.  Nobody could have delivered this speech the way Bill Pullman did.

Gladiator

For Gladiator, you get two for the price of one.  Russell Crowe plays General Maximus Decimus Meridius, the commander of the armies of the north.  Betrayed and left for dead by “Emperor” Commodus, Maximus returns to unleash his vengeance on the man who murdered his family.  The opening speech is as amusing as it is inspiring: “What we do in life echoes in eternity.”  The second was more of a threat than an actual speech, but it still counts as far as I’m concerned.  It’s VERY powerful.  Nobody else but Russell Crowe could have pulled it off.

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Aragorn’s speech at the Battle of the Black Gate is one for the history books.  Viggo Mortensen delivers one of the most iconic battle speeches in cinema history as the new king of Gondor.  Return of the King?  Oh, yes.  That is a definite yes.  This is one of the most impassioned speeches I’ve seen in years, and still hasn’t been matched to this day.  It’s a great movie and a great conclusion to a great film series, so it has to be big.

Those are my picks for some of The Best: Movie Speeches ever.  So, feel free to add any of your own down below and I will talk to you next time on The Best.

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The Best: Extended Cuts

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I’ve made several posts already about extended editions and directors cuts of films.  I’ve made the comparisons between each kind and how much they supplement the original theatrical if at all.  There are a great deal of movies out there that claim to be “unrated” but don’t really add anything significant to the picture.  1 or 2 minutes of extra footage just isn’t worth it.  9-10 minutes is worth taking a look.  Any extended version that has 15 minutes of footage or more added back into the film need to be seen.  I held off on doing this particular list until I saw the extended version of Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice.  Because of that movie, I will be discussing the best extended versions of movies.  The Star Wars Trilogy Special Editions will not be on this list, because they are very controversial and some of the stuff that George Lucas added really took AWAY from the films instead of adding to them.  Neither will the extended editions of The Hobbit.  Again, nothing significant was added.  While the majority of extended cuts that I’m listing won’t change the film significantly as far as story goes, there are a handful that really improve upon the original film in every way.  With that in mind, let us begin.  This is The Best: Extended Cuts

Batman V. Superman: The Ultimate Cut

This one is the most recent.  The Blu-Ray will be available in two weeks, but you can nab the digital version on Amazon right now.  When I said that some extended cuts dramatically improve the original film, this is one of those movies.  The theatrical release, while I though was fun, was riddled with plot-holes and questionable character motivations.  The extended cut of Batman V. Superman fixes most of those issues.  Lex Luthor’s plan to get Batman and Superman to fight each other is fleshed out even and makes a bit of sense.  In fact, Clark Kent gets to be a reporter in the extended version.  Most of the stuff that was added, was mostly exposition, character development and story development.  Taken by themselves, they might not necessarily change the overall story, but when you put all of that together, you have 30 minutes of extra footage that really needed to be in there in the first place.  The other thing you will notice is that the extended version is rated R.  It’s a tad more violent with a little bit more blood and an f-bomb dropped for good measure.  Overall, character motivations actually make sense and Superman actually gets to be Superman.  While the extended cut does not fix certain script issues, it is definitely a better movie than what was released back in March.

Kingdom Of Heaven

One of the most important aspects of film-making is the editing process.  It’s used to help make a coherent film, mostly, and to weed out stuff that may not be necessary to the final product.  It happens ALL the time.  It’s part of the job.  The problem is that with certain directors, the movie studios don’t necessarily trust the final product that the director wants to put out, so they step in and force certain cuts.  This is why we sometimes end up with extended versions of films.  Like Batman V. Superman, Kingdom Of Heaven suffered from having nearly an hour’s worth of material cut out, which includes an important subplot involving the queen’s son, who inherited leprosy from his father King Baldwin IV.  You can’t cut out that much material and expect to have a movie that’s respected by anybody.  This video by Film Radar goes into greater detail as to why editing is important.  My personal opinion about Kingdom Of Heaven is that you need to see the director’s cut of the film.  It’s infinitely better, it has more action, and it goes into greater detail with the characters.  I thought it was an okay movie to begin with, but the extended version makes it infinitely better.  If you’re a fan of Ridley Scott, you HAVE to see this version.

Aliens: Special Edition

This one is extremely interesting.  The theatrical release of Aliens is considered to be one of the greatest sci-fi sequels of all time.  James Cameron crafted an incredible follow-up to Ridley Scott’s masterpiece.  It was different, but it still respected the creature and what it was about.  In 1993, an extended version of the film was released on VHS.  It contained 17 minutes of additional footage that had more action and more character development.  The big part of this version was that Ellen Ripley was a mother, whose child had passed away of old age while she was in hyper-sleep.  So, when she finds Newt, the bond between the two characters is that of a mother and daughter and makes Aliens a more compelling film.  Was the additional footage necessary?  Not really, but it was the version that James Cameron wanted people to see.  It’s really good.

Alien 3: The Assembly Cut

While I really enjoyed the special edition of Aliens, it was the Alien 3 Assembly Cut that I found to be extremely compelling.  This is what happens when you don’t trust the film director that you hired.  Yeah, David Fincher was inexperienced, but he had a particular vision that he wanted audiences to see, and ultimately it was not to be.  Fox Studios had interfered with him almost every step of the way while ordering script changes and alternate shots.  The result was a hot mess of a film.  The Assembly Cut addresses most of those issues and actually ends being a much better film.  It’s not perfect, because of the massive script problems, but it was certainly closer to what David Fincher had intended.  Sigourney Weaver gives what I consider to be her strongest performance in the entire Alien saga.  Alien 3 is what I consider to be a misunderstood masterpiece.

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

Superman II is a very unusual situation.  When Superman was being filmed, most people didn’t realize that Richard Donner was also filming Superman II at the same time.  Somewhere along the way, Donner and the Salkinds got into some kind of disagreement and Donner was booted from the sequel, despite having filmed about 80 percent of the movie.  So, they brought in Richard Lester to re-shoot the entire sequel, and the result was a more campy sequel than what was initially intended.  Between 2003 and 2005, the footage that the Salkinds rejected had been found and edited into a new cut of the film.  It’s not perfect, as some of Lester’s footage was used to complete the film, and the use of some test-footage was integrated into the picture.  While it’s a little uneven, the final result was a completely different movie than what was released back in 1980.  It actually feels like a real sequel to Richard Donner’s first movie, which is a very good thing.  Yeah, there’s still some camp, but it’s a version that I feel is superior in every single way.

These are the extended cuts that I have seen that add a lot of significant new material to the films.  My personal opinion is that we really shouldn’t need extended cuts to enjoy the proper version of a movie, but movie studios are a fickle bunch and are more interested in getting butts in seats than actually telling a coherent story.  I get it, it’s a business, but some of these decisions ended up with movies that were in worse shape than they deserved to be.  So, that’s my list for The Best: Extended Cuts.