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Netflix, Streaming Videos & DVDs

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Pinback

(12,155 posts)
Fri Apr 23, 2021, 11:52 PM Apr 2021

What's up with Netflix dubbing every foreign-made series into English?? [View all]

Sorry if this topic has been rehashed here already, but if so I haven't seen the threads.

We recently watched "The Valhalla Murders," another dark snowy noir series with grim-faced characters and brutal killings to solve, this one set in Iceland. With "Default" set as the language of choice on our Apple TV, the damn thing was dubbed into English! We use subtitles even on English-language shows, because dialogue is often hard to pick up these days. With this series, we often encountered hilarious but maddening discrepancies between dubbed English and the subtitles, for example reading "Goddamn that motherfucker to hell!" and hearing the voiceover actor say "Man!" or vice versa.


We like hearing the dialogue as spoken by the performers, because you get the emotional impact of skilled actors speaking their lines as the writer and director intended, instead of somebody sitting in a room with headphones reading an English translation (that's possibly inadequate). So it was an annoyance throughout that series, which we decided to put up with. Whenever possible, we choose to hear the original dialogue, whatever the language, and read the English subtitles. But Netflix caters to lazy Americans who can't be bothered with subtitles.

Anybody else struggle with this issue and have suggestions?

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It is not just foreign films. sheshe2 Apr 2021 #1
Yep, we've gone to all subtitles all the time Pinback Apr 2021 #15
Change to the original language and English subs are added automatically. Do it all the time. cayugafalls Apr 2021 #2
When watching via the Apple TV Netflix app, Pinback Apr 2021 #16
Well, I thank you for your kind and extremely in depth reply. I see you took a lot in the thread. cayugafalls Apr 2021 #25
You bet! Pinback Apr 2021 #26
There's usually a way to get it in the original language intrepidity Apr 2021 #3
Yep -- this works for some things on the Apple TV Netflix app, but not for others. (nt) Pinback Apr 2021 #17
Ah, I see, it's a weird platform quirk intrepidity Apr 2021 #24
I use Roku and we have all sorts of options...I dislike subtitles myself. And some of the Demsrule86 Apr 2021 #29
There should be a heading called audio and subtitles madaboutharry Apr 2021 #4
Correct, not in the Netflix Apple TV app, but in the Apple TV settings. This has mixed results. (nt) Pinback Apr 2021 #18
I just find it amusing the difference between the dubbing and the subtitles Bev54 Apr 2021 #5
I have no idea what you are talking about. NoRethugFriends Apr 2021 #6
What you describe is correct for the Netflix iOS app and website, and possibly for other platforms. Pinback Apr 2021 #19
Are you sure? PoindexterOglethorpe Apr 2021 #7
Apparently it's just an issue with the Netflix app on the Apple TV. Pinback Apr 2021 #20
In Florence, Italy, I watched Gone With the Wind dubbed into Italian ... fierywoman Apr 2021 #8
LOL, sounds like fun. Pinback Apr 2021 #21
Heck even Friends the tv show is dubbed by the language spoken in a particular country jimfields33 Apr 2021 #9
Thanks for posting this. Ohiya Apr 2021 #10
Whether you can do this depends on the platform you're using, as I've learned. Pinback Apr 2021 #22
I most be the only person on this thread who likes dubbing and hates subtitles. Ah well takes Demsrule86 Apr 2021 #30
I also prefer subtitles to dubbing, but what aggravates me is when the subtitles are hard to dameatball Apr 2021 #11
Netflix lets you do big yellow letters in a black box soothsayer Apr 2021 #13
Cool. Thanks or the tip. dameatball Apr 2021 #14
I have the option to have it dubbed or in the original language with subtitles. Don't you? Scrivener7 Apr 2021 #12
When watching via the Apple TV Netflix app, the answer is "sometimes." Pinback Apr 2021 #23
IIRC, Netflix surveyed users once and found most preferred subtitles nuxvomica Apr 2021 #27
I imagine the captioning of song lyrics is for deaf viewers, Pinback Apr 2021 #28
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