Entertainment desk
< February 11	<< Jan \| February \| Mar >>	February 13 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Entertainment Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

February 12

two different versions of a French film

I used to browse around at Blockbuster Video from time to time. In the Foreign film section, there were two different versions of the French film Three Men and a Cradle. One was dubbed, the other was subtitled. What's the difference between the two?142.255.72.126 (talk) 04:44, 12 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The dubbed version would have had the French-language audio replaced with English-speaking voice actors speaking a translation of the film's dialogue. The subtitled version would have kept the original French-language audio, but an English translation of the dialogue would have been printed on screen as the French dialogue was spoken. See Dubbing (filmmaking)#United States and English-speaking Canada and Subtitles. --Metropolitan90 (talk) 04:57, 12 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

For U.S. Audiences, Foreign Cinema’s ‘One-Inch’ Wall of Subtitles Seen a Mile High.

In the UK, I'm not sure that non-English language films are any more popular, but they are almost never dubbed. In eastern Europe, they just have a man reading out a translation of the script over the top of the original dialogue, which is barely audible. Alansplodge (talk) 12:09, 12 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

...which is called voice-over translation. Double sharp (talk) 14:38, 19 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks Double sharp, it seems to me to be the worst possible solution, but I expect it's cheaper. Alansplodge (talk) 16:34, 19 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I once channel-surfed onto a Russian newscast overdubbed in Vietnamese, or so I believed at the time. —Tamfang (talk) 01:55, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]