Jesus Pimp

Why do american companies feel the need to bastardize foreign entertainment such as films, anime, video games etc.. i.e. bad translations, dubs, edited, dumbed down etc.. for american audiences? I'm sick of it. What about you?

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Eiresol

I would answer that but instead I'll bite my tongue.

Cynthetiq

same works going the other way.... watch a movie that's been redubbed for a foreign market...

cultures have differing philosophies and standards, what works in one culture doesn't work in another.

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meanSpleen

Money plays a good part in the conversion process.

A company is hired to translate a foreign movie so domestic audiences can enjoy it. I could use all the money to hire top-of-the-line actors and actresses for voice overs, and on primo translators for excellent dialogue. But whats the point? People are probably going to see the movie if they really want to, so why waste the time and money on getting the best of the best when Okay is good enough? You still get paid, costs are low, and people who wanted to see the film got to see it.

Another problem is space. Some languages can say more in less words and syllables than others. There is often a need to remove any extraneous verbage so the main point can be brought across.

This, of course, does not go for everything. Some movies do get the best of the best, and we are better off for it. Films like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Amelie" had great teams of translators for the subbed versions of these movies. In contrast, though, watch any Jackie Chan movie that was made in Hong Kong and was translated to English ("Rumble In the Bronx", "Supercop", "Operation Condor", "Half a Loaf of Kung Fu"). After you watch it, find a person who saw and understood the film in the original format and language. Everything will be different. Those are some of the worst 1 to 1 translation in a movie.

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CSflim

One thing that really bugs me is ilegible subtitles, it really drives me mad! When you have to squint really hard to attempt to make sense of the white writing, wirtten over a part of the scene which is very light! You would think that some effort would be put in!

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RedCometChar

A good point- a lot of companies used to use yellow subtitles, which made things easier to read, or in the case of a letterboxed film, put the subs in the lower black bar. You don't really see either much these days.

In the case of anime, at least, sometimes the loose translations make for a great show. Has anyone seen that show "Ultimate Muscle" on Fox Saturday mornings? You can tell that the dubbers don't stick too close too the original script (same applies for Ultraman Tiga), but the show is absolutely hilarious.

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Big Julie

Went to a screening of 'King of Hearts' some years ago. The movie is in English, German, and French, so it was subtitled. Odd thing about it, the English scenes were subtitled as well, and the titles didn't always match word for word. Go figger.

VirFighter

Most of America steers clear of most forms of foreign entertainment unless it is rebadged as American. Sad.. but true.

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Peetster

Bastardize? I'm not getting that. I wasn't aware we were bastardizing anything. Do you mean repackaging so it's in a language Americans understand? Then look to the studios. They want to sell in an affluent market. I can't blame them.

Gortexfogg

India does the same thing to most foriegn films they want to release in India. They claim they have to remake the film since Indian audiences wouldn't see if it it wasn't "Indianized" (i.e. having song and dances numbers). I haven't seen any Indian remakes, so I don't know if they do justice to the orignals or not...

Jay Francis

What is it with people who refuse to see a film if it is subtitled? Can't they read?

LittleOralAnnie

I was under the impression it had to do with the difference between cultures. It isn't so much dumbing down for us Americans to understand but more to put it into more Americanized terms that we understand.

If dished out exactly the way a movie is made in another country, I believe that it might be hard to comprehend the words or reasons for why certain things are done if I had no clue as to what the culture was like in that particular country.

hotzot

typical american way, trying to make a fast buck. sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. I don't care being the guinea pig though.

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Tyler90

To me, bastardization is taking a great film/show and "revising" it for American audiences. An excellent example is the British show "Coupling" on BBCA. That is one of the funniest shows I've ever seen on a television set, but NBC is now making their own version for the fall season. The previews I've seen are horrible, and I can't imagine why we need to mess with a show that had so much right to begin with. In the past we've seen awful revisions such as the Fawlty Towers version with Bea Arthur (I can't even remember the name, it was so bad). We should just enjoy the originals instead of messing with them. If they are bad to begin with we should just do something different anyway.

spanky spangler

Amanda's Place - never seen it , but as a Brit it is legendary (in certain circles) as the show where NBC(? i think) wanted to write out Basil's character as 'unsympathetic'!!

It always seems most distastrous when comedies are remade, since they seem to lose any edge. It works both ways, tho'. 'Who's the Boss' ended up on tv here as somthing or other and it, too, was diabolically awful.

The only recent example that has raised my ire is the Hollywood version of 'The Italian Job' ( A classic British caper movie starring 3 mini coopers, some Alfa-Romeos, and Michael Caine) - It's not set in italy, and it's not about a bank job - it should be called 'The'.