I don’t think a movie can be “really bad” only because of a voicing, so it also can’t be elevated to good with just a voice. There are too many other factors into what makes - or for me goes into - a good or bad or really bad movie. Even when a voicing can ruin a good or very good movie.
They do have significant influence, though. Germany has a very strong dubbing industry, but I still prefer EN original voicing. And for JP anime, I much prefer original JP voicing. It makes a big difference.
I can’t say I have seen and heard many in both forms, but only very rarely do I like/find equally good or prefer the dub. There are good ones. But in the wide industry, I find them largely sub-par.
Maybe there’s more difference between different languages and societies compared to what you were asking. But I think they go into the same theme/aspect.
Historical fun fact:
Back in Ye Olde Days, movies didn’t have sound. But it had some amazing moviestars, since it takes a LOT of skill to make a convincing character with no sound.
But then, they invented “Talkies” (as in, movies where people talk). And suddenly, people like Pola Negri, a polish actress with a VERY heavy accent had some major issues. Same for Karl Dane, who had (humorously) a heavy Danish accent. They both went from top-of-the-line, A-list actors to basically nobody. Karl Dane ended up comitting suicide over it.
Other actors, like Charlie Chaplin, just really didn’t do many Talkies, except for a few VERY famous ones, his speach in the Great Dictator is famous for a reason.
There are clips floating around of Darth Vader before they dubbed his voice, it completely changes the character, and he just wouldn’t have been as intimidating without it.
Yes, it makes a huge difference.
It might change how much people like it. But I don’t think you should confuse good with popularity.
Not sure if Bad->Good is possible, but the other way around certainly is.
Imagine BBC nature documentaries being voiced by Gilbert Gottfried instead of David Attenborough.
I would watch the hell out of that haha. American Dad has a joke about the audio book of Plato’s Republic read by Gilbert Gottfried.
Hard agree. Somehow this sounds amazing.
EDIT: I think I should start a GoFundMe to make this happen.
I mean imagine the documentary initially with Gottfried and then swap in Attenborough… Bad to good right? I think there’s a point here about good films being easy to ruin in many different ways, while bad films are probably already ruined in several ways so fixing one thing like a voice is unlikely to save it.
I agree. It’s rarely going to turn something abjectly terrible into a masterpiece, but it’s much easier for it to ruin something. Watch the clips of Darth Vader with David Prowse’s voice and ask yourself if that version of Star Wars would have been as iconic.
I have to say I don’t think you can save a movie with casting, but you can definitely ruin a movie with casting. The only example of casting improving a movie are the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and Johnny Depp. Without his take on Jack Sparrow I don’t think they would have been able to make a franchise of movies out of an aging theme park ride.
For me its just hard to gauge voice. I was thinking about, what if some of these movies I watch the voice is the thing that helps me connect to the character and I dont even realize it. Some times I watch movies that are of a genre I like, are structured like other movies I like, dialog is fine, but still I’m not getting into it. It could just be me but I’ll go back to them, I have a bad habit of stopping and restarting, and I still dont get into it. So not really bad movie and making it good but taking an ok movie and making it great.
I dont know.
I mean it’s entirely possible to be put off by certain actors and actresses in movies. There are some people I know who cannot stand any movie that Keanu Reeves is in because they think he’s got no range and is basically like warm plain oatmeal when it comes to like his spice level. And while I disagree with those people that’s entirely their right to feel that sort of way about what they’re watching. Like for me I can’t stand to watch anything that’s got Kristen Stewart or Zendaya in it because they both know how to only act like a block of wood.
Would we remember Batman the Animated a series without Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill? Maybe.
No
I want to respond but youre not really giving much.
Let me ask this. Would Darth Vadar be Darth Vadar if he wasn’t voiced by James Earl Jones
Another one.
What if in the movie Her the AI wasn’t Scarlet Johanson but was Fran Drescher?
I don’t know if it would ruin the entire movie per se but if you’ve heard Darth Vader (David Prowse’s voice) pre James Earl Jones dub, its definitely a character ruiner.
I can’t think of many movies where voice work is detrimental to everything except documentaries, but I know some games have annoying protagonists and it absolutely harms the whole experience.
That’s the problem Im thinking about. Could a subtle change like changing the voice of an actor really have a huge impact, for me. So maybe its not a movie that is universally disliked, just one I dont personally like.
I dont know but it is interesting to think about.
Maybe with AI this is something I could explore more.
Voice acting can be a good part of a movie, it could even turn a good movie into a great movie, or a terrible movie into a slightly less terrible movie, but I don’t think it’s enough on its own.
If Drescher had starred in AI we would have been violently freed of tech bros
If it had been Fran Drescher I think it would have been a better film.
Have you heard David Prowse’s voice? Not wanting to be mean to him, but replacing his voice was a genius move.
Sean Connery could have been Gandalf.
And Nicolas Cage Aragorn
To me, not very important. Quality of writing ranks higher for me.
I don’t think a different voice can fix a bad movie. That being said, I can’t think of any actors whose voices I can’t stand.
OTOH, Brotherhood of the Wolf does come to mind here. It’s a French movie; I’ve watched both with subtitles and dubbed. The voice actor for the English dub doesn’t quite fit the character.
Bad acting can ruin good writing though. Just like bad writing can ruin good acting.
Yeah, that’s true. Writing alone isn’t enough for a good movie – I’m really just saying that it’s the most important element for me.
I am annoyed as fuck because Billy Goddamn Crystal was a voice in Miyazaki’s “Howl’s Moving Castle”. Cringed every time he spoke, breaking the experience
