The Trimark (BLT) Dub of Dragon Ball

[MasenkoHA]

I think it was only Movie 2. Movie 3's sound and performance quality was better.

Ooh. I double checked and watched a bit of Mystical Adventure’s dub and you’re right it’s closer in performance and sound quality to Dragon Ball series dub and doesn’t have that “recorded in someone’s basement with discount equipment from circuit city” quality that movie 2 had.

My mistake.

[ABED]

I think it was only Movie 2. Movie 3's sound and performance quality was better.

Ooh. I double checked and watched a bit of Mystical Adventure’s dub and you’re right it’s closer in performance and sound quality to Dragon Ball series dub and doesn’t have that “recorded in someone’s basement with discount equipment from circuit city” quality that movie 2 had.

My mistake.

I get the test run idea, but who thought Movie 2 was releasable?

[MasenkoHA]

I think it was only Movie 2. Movie 3's sound and performance quality was better.

Ooh. I double checked and watched a bit of Mystical Adventure’s dub and you’re right it’s closer in performance and sound quality to Dragon Ball series dub and doesn’t have that “recorded in someone’s basement with discount equipment from circuit city” quality that movie 2 had.

My mistake.

I get the test run idea, but who thought Movie 2 was releasable?

The same company that thought Falcouner was a good idea.

I have no idea why they redubbed the first three Z movies, which were already uncut and made it worse with replacement music (and even the OST option lacked Head Cha La and Gohan Tenkaichi) but didn’t see fit to at least redub movie 2 for the boxset.

[ABED]

The answer, as I'm sure you understand, is to have all of DB dubbed with the in-house cast. The really weird part is the script changes (damn near none of them are for the better). Why, just why did they feel the need to change the scripts of those three movies at all?

Has anyone brought up how the Trimark dub edited in footage from the TV series?

[WittyUsername]

The answer, as I'm sure you understand, is to have all of DB dubbed with the in-house cast. The really weird part is the script changes (damn near none of them are for the better). Why, just why did they feel the need to change the scripts of those three movies at all?

Has anyone brought up how the Trimark dub edited in footage from the TV series?

In the case of Movie 3, they seemed to base a fair amount of the script on the old TV dub of the film. I have no idea why they chose to base so much of the script on the less accurate dub, though. If I recall, the in-house dubs of the first two movies were handled better, although they weren’t without their deviations as well.

[Robo4900]

The answer, as I'm sure you understand, is to have all of DB dubbed with the in-house cast. The really weird part is the script changes (damn near none of them are for the better). Why, just why did they feel the need to change the scripts of those three movies at all?

Has anyone brought up how the Trimark dub edited in footage from the TV series?

In the case of Movie 3, they seemed to base a fair amount of the script on the old TV dub of the film. I have no idea why they chose to base so much of the script on the less accurate dub, though. If I recall, the in-house dubs of the first two movies were handled better, although they weren’t without their deviations as well.

The in-house redubs of the first three Z movies were a downgrade across the board. First two, they added all their typical "punching up" of scripts, changing details, generally messing stuff around with none of that being in an effort to improve the accuracy.

The third had all that too, but as you say, instead of being based off the Pioneer script, it was based off the Saban TV edit script.

What I'm getting at is, "The first two movies were handled better, although they weren't without their deviations as well" is a bit of an understatement of the problems of both...

As for the BLT movie dub, which Abed touched on (and which kind of gets back on topic), one thing I will note about that while we're on this line of subject, is Funi's redub of DB movie 1 was a goddamn mess. Basically, as I'm given to understand it, they based it on, I believe, the BLT script, but tried to remove some of the added dialogue, yet also didn't try to make the remaining dialogue account for the removal of dialogue properly, so some information is missing, some lines end up not making all that much sense, etc., and yet despite all this, they still found time to add their own guff to the script.

Honestly, for dubbed viewing, it'd be a better, more consistent, and believe it or not more accurate, experience to watch the DB movie trilogy with BLT's dub of DB movie 1, and Funi's version of 2 and 3.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

The answer, as I'm sure you understand, is to have all of DB dubbed with the in-house cast. The really weird part is the script changes (damn near none of them are for the better). Why, just why did they feel the need to change the scripts of those three movies at all?

Has anyone brought up how the Trimark dub edited in footage from the TV series?

In the case of Movie 3, they seemed to base a fair amount of the script on the old TV dub of the film. I have no idea why they chose to base so much of the script on the less accurate dub, though. If I recall, the in-house dubs of the first two movies were handled better, although they weren’t without their deviations as well.

The in-house redubs of the first three Z movies were a downgrade across the board. First two, they added all their typical "punching up" of scripts, changing details, generally messing stuff around with none of that being in an effort to improve the accuracy.

The third had all that too, but as you say, instead of being based off the Pioneer script, it was based off the Saban TV edit script.

What I'm getting at is, "The first two movies were handled better, although they weren't without their deviations as well" is a bit of an understatement of the problems of both...

As for the BLT movie dub, which Abed touched on (and which kind of gets back on topic), one thing I will note about that while we're on this line of subject, is Funi's redub of DB movie 1 was a goddamn mess. Basically, as I'm given to understand it, they based it on, I believe, the BLT script, but tried to remove some of the added dialogue, yet also didn't try to make the remaining dialogue account for the removal of dialogue properly, so some information is missing, some lines end up not making all that much sense, etc., and yet despite all this, they still found time to add their own guff to the script.

Honestly, for dubbed viewing, it'd be a better, more consistent, and believe it or not more accurate, experience to watch the DB movie trilogy with BLT's dub of DB movie 1, and Funi's version of 2 and 3.

Yeah FUNi's mucking around with the scripts for Dead Zone, World's Strongest and Tree of Might for the later re releases under the Ultimate Uncut line in 2005 has always baffled me because the dubs they did with Pioneer and the Ocean Studios cast back in 1997/1998 were damn near close if not 100% accurate to the Japanese versions, so the redubs of those feel altogether pointless and redundant to me because from a dub standpoint the former stand as some of the best work by that cast. It's certainly much better than the main series production because of said fact not to mention being uncut unlike the latter. Now if FUNi had just kept the scripts mostly the same with just minor tweaking and left Tenkaichi Gohan and the I Love Piccolo song intact then the redubs wouldn't have been quite as big of a step down, but then again this is back when they changed things for ridiculous reasons beyond just mere localization and adaptation, they have all the hallmarks of their "reversioning" practices of the time in the early to mid 2000's which finally mostly went away with the Kai dub.

As for the original three DB movies i just watch them subbed for the most part because yeah the dubs are definitely so so and show their age especially in the case of Sleeping Princess, being that it was the very first thing they did in house after parting ways with Saban following season 2's end in syndication and before starting work on the Freeza episodes for Toonami.

[ABED]

I'm not sure why anyone has any issue with them redubbing. I don't think there are monetary or contractual issues involved, but I figure why not redub the old movies with the in house cast? I only take issue with the changes to the script because that feels pointless and it adds work that I don't think would bring in any money, whereas I think a good argument can be made that by re-releasing older movies with the cast the audience is familiar with is a sound decision, changing the script seems pointless other than to say "See, we contributed." At least DB movie 1 being redubbed makes all the sense in the world. FUNi's treatment of the franchise is baffling.

Anyway, I like the Trimark dub. The actors may not have the best material to work with, but the dub is well cast, and the actors are seasoned.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I think redubbing DB movie 1 and DBZ movies 1-3 with the inhouse cast was a great idea, the US and Australian fanbases particularly had been well accustomed to the cast by that point, but I don't think it was a good idea to scrap the Pioneer dubs from being an option on every release of DBZ movies 1-3 since because it synced with the other two audio tracks. Thankfully the BLT dub of movie 1 is still in print and available from Manga UK's first banana brick, and presumably Madman's Saga sets.

The rewritten scripts, I agree were unnecessary and hurt the later dubs more than they benefited them.

[MasenkoHA]

I think redubbing DB movie 1 and DBZ movies 1-3 with the inhouse cast was a great idea,

DB movie 1? Sure. It was heavily edited, had a replacement score, and inserted a whole scene from episode 2 that wasn’t in the unedited version.

Redubbing Z movie 1-3? Hell no. It was a downgrade in every which way from the replacement cast to being more censored. Funimation’s constant nostalgic revisionism is pretty tiresome.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

My primary issues with the 2005 redubs of Z movies 1-3 lie with the previously mentioned alterations made to the scripts that were already done very well in the Pioneer versions and also removing the insert songs for some reason which makes Gohan's inebriated scene as Nikki chases him around Garlic Jr's place very awkward which was especially the case with the Ultimate Uncut release, then when the Double Features started coming out a few years later they sort of fixed that on the dub with Japanese music track but for some reason put a very synth sounding instrumental of the tune rather than leaving the full song's lyrics in as the 1997 release had done, and same with I Love Piccolo which also has Masako Nozawa's vocals intact on the old version then stripped out in the UUE release then put on the '08 release but again with bizarre instrumental that sounds almost nothing like it, those are indeed the most notable problems. Now the dubs weren't exactly bad per se certainly not to Z season 3 levels, but it still definitely felt like a step below what the Ocean cast had done with Pioneer's amazingly accurate scripts, and i get that they were wanting it to be the same cast for everything franchise wise but the least they could have done was leave the latter as close if not exactly as previously done.

They aren't exactly bad dubs and are about on par with their other output circa 2005, but still it really feels like a definite drop from what Pioneer had done less than a decade before.

[MasenkoHA]

The in-house redubs of the first three Z movies were a downgrade across the board. First two, they added all their typical "punching up" of scripts, changing details, generally messing stuff around with none of that being in an effort to improve the accuracy.

The fact they labeled the redub as The ultimate uncut version” while making it more censored is of course goddamn hilarious though.

What I'm getting at is, "The first two movies were handled better, although they weren't without their deviations as well" is a bit of an understatement of the problems of both...

Mike Mcfarland was a better Roshi than whoever Ocean was using when they dubbed the movies.

That’s their one and only improvement and it’s obviously not a good justification for their existence.

As for the BLT movie dub, which Abed touched on (and which kind of gets back on topic), one thing I will note about that while we're on this line of subject, is Funi's redub of DB movie 1 was a goddamn mess. Basically, as I'm given to understand it, they based it on, I believe, the BLT script, but tried to remove some of the added dialogue, yet also didn't try to make the remaining dialogue account for the removal of dialogue properly, so some information is missing, some lines end up not making all that much sense, etc., and yet despite all this, they still found time to add their own guff to the script.

And it’s still easily the best of the four Dragon Ball movie dubs as far as acting and sound mixing.

I don’t mind it existing nearly as much since it is actually uncut for the first time and unlike the series dub of Dragon Ball they don’t shy away from the perversion which is something the series did all the time whenever they could get away with it.

It could have been a lot better in terms of accuracy, as is it’s in that weird middle ground of being better than redub/remastered era Funi but worse than Kai Funi.

Honestly, for dubbed viewing, it'd be a better, more consistent, and believe it or not more accurate, experience to watch the DB movie trilogy with BLT's dub of DB movie 1, and Funi's version of 2 and 3.

Funi’s 95 dub was heavily censored and had a replacement score it’s hardly more accurate than the 2010 dub

And there’s zero reason any one should watch movie 2 dubbed unless they want to get plastered and have a laugh at a company that was in over their heads and had no idea what they were doing.

There’s of course never gonna be any consistency. You’ll either jump from Saffron Henderson or Colleen Clinkenbeard to Ceyli Delgadillo and either Monica Rial or Maggie Blue O’hara to British middle aged librarian to Tiffany Vollmer.

[LostTimeLord]

Funi's redub of DB movie 1 was a goddamn mess. Basically, as I'm given to understand it, they based it on, I believe, the BLT script, but tried to remove some of the added dialogue, yet also didn't try to make the remaining dialogue account for the removal of dialogue properly, so some information is missing, some lines end up not making all that much sense, etc., and yet despite all this, they still found time to add their own guff to the script.

One of the Harmony Gold copies floating around includes the opening narration extremely quietly and with bits missing*, but enough is salvageable to hear how much both Funimation dubs take after Harmony Gold with details like the Dragon Balls being forged in the fiery centre of the earth where Shenlong lives and (I think, this part would be indecipherable if I didn't know what phrase to expect) "another brave or foolish soul" gathering the Dragon Balls. This is, of course, despite 2010 Funi knowing about Kami and whatnot.

*I'm not aware if anyone else has attempted to salvage the HG narration. I assume: probably?

[WittyUsername]

Funi's redub of DB movie 1 was a goddamn mess. Basically, as I'm given to understand it, they based it on, I believe, the BLT script, but tried to remove some of the added dialogue, yet also didn't try to make the remaining dialogue account for the removal of dialogue properly, so some information is missing, some lines end up not making all that much sense, etc., and yet despite all this, they still found time to add their own guff to the script.

One of the Harmony Gold copies floating around includes the opening narration extremely quietly and with bits missing*, but enough is salvageable to hear how much both Funimation dubs take after Harmony Gold with details like the Dragon Balls being forged in the fiery centre of the earth where Shenlong lives and (I think, this part would be indecipherable if I didn't know what phrase to expect) "another brave or foolish soul" gathering the Dragon Balls. This is, of course, despite 2010 Funi knowing about Kami and whatnot.

In fairness, there was never any indication that Kami was even a thing in the continuity of the DB movies.

[MyVisionity]

One of the Harmony Gold copies floating around includes the opening narration extremely quietly and with bits missing*, but enough is salvageable to hear how much both Funimation dubs take after Harmony Gold with details like the Dragon Balls being forged in the fiery centre of the earth where Shenlong lives and (I think, this part would be indecipherable if I didn't know what phrase to expect) "another brave or foolish soul" gathering the Dragon Balls. This is, of course, despite 2010 Funi knowing about Kami and whatnot.

In fairness, there was never any indication that Kami was even a thing in the continuity of the DB movies.

It wouldn't matter anyhow, as the earlier legends of Shenlong don't really contradict much from the post-Kami years.

[ABED]

It wouldn't matter if they did, they're legends.

[Robo4900]

What I'm getting at is, "The first two movies were handled better, although they weren't without their deviations as well" is a bit of an understatement of the problems of both...

Mike Mcfarland was a better Roshi than whoever Ocean was using when they dubbed the movies.

That’s their one and only improvement and it’s obviously not a good justification for their existence.

Fair.

For the record, Don Brown voiced Roshi in those movies. I don't believe he ever voiced Roshi before or since then.

And it’s still easily the best of the four Dragon Ball movie dubs as far as acting and sound mixing.

Sound mixing, sure.
Acting?... BLT's and HG's both had solid acting, so I'd argue all three are good in that regard, and trying to compare the acting will only lead you to personal preferences. All were basically solid.

Funi’s 95 dub was heavily censored and had a replacement score it’s hardly more accurate than the 2010 dub

Replacement score, yes. Though that has no bearing on accuracy.
Heavily censored? That's kind of a myth.

The '95 dub was censored, but the censorship was very light. Same kind of changes Funi would force into the dialogue when they did their "Uncut" dub, just with 2 or 3 scenes where they'd edit the video slightly too.
And in 2010, Funi really didn't reverse the censorship, or otherwise fix any deviations from the translation for their 2010 script. They did, however, insert some new guff of their own. While they were at it, they also tried some nominal fix to the original by removing sections of dialogue where there previously wasnt any...
However, they didn't account for the fact that originally-present translated lines would often be spread out beyond their original speaking point in the Japanese, or for the fact other dialogue would follow on from the missing lines. And their own circa 2010 guff only muddied the waters further.

So, Funi's 2010 dub screwed up bad, didn't really fix anything about the '95 dub, and is wildly inconsistent with their other movie dubs. The '95 dub really is the superior experience...

I've gone into this a bit in previous threads, but I'll repeat it here: You're going to get censorship and guff if you watch Dragon Ball dubbed. Going for the dub that's nominally less bad about this than the others will just lead you to lump yourself with some iffy half-measure that's ultimately a crap job.
The '95 dub has censorship and guff, but it's at least a functional dub that properly renders the original meaning, albeit with a little censorship, of the movie's script, and is as consistent as anything that switches casts can be with the two follow-up movies. The 2010 dub doesn't even do that right.

And there’s zero reason any one should watch movie 2 dubbed unless they want to get plastered and have a laugh at a company that was in over their heads and had no idea what they were doing.

Or if they're a viewer who always watches dubbed? These people do exist. They're quite common, in fact.

There’s of course never gonna be any consistency. You’ll either jump from Saffron Henderson or Colleen Clinkenbeard to Ceyli Delgadillo and either Monica Rial or Maggie Blue O’hara to British middle aged librarian to Tiffany Vollmer.

Sure, there will always be inconsistency. But at least the Funi 2&3 cast were doing impressions of the BLT cast, the general dubbing approach was trying to match the '95 work, the scripting was done in a similar style, etc. etc.

Think of it this way: It's much easier to jump from Saban Z 1-53 to Funi Z 54-276 than it is to jump from Funi Kai to Funi GT. Because at least the former generally follow on from each-other, and have a similar approach. The latter, not only are you taking a step down in basically every respect, but the two really weren't made to follow on, there was no effort at even nominal consistency, and you're not getting used to new castings, you're getting used to the same cast but when they were really bad at it.

[MasenkoHA]

For the record, Don Brown voiced Roshi in those movies. I don't believe he ever voiced Roshi before or since then.

Dude should stick to voicing Shenron

Sound mixing, sure.
Acting?... BLT's and HG's both had solid acting, so I'd argue all three are good in that regard, and trying to compare the acting will only lead you to personal preferences. All were basically solid.

I meant Curse of the Blood Rubies 2010 had better sound mixing and acting compared to other Funi movie dubs; SPiDC, MA, and PtP.

Replacement score, yes. Though that has no bearing on accuracy.

It kind of does though? The music is part of the show. Changing the background music is still a way of making the show different from the original version.

Not that original bgm=good dub (see Dragon Ball’s series dub) but it does go along way in making it retain the essence of the original that is lost when you completely change the music.

The '95 dub was censored, but the censorship was very light. Same kind of changes Funi would force into the dialogue when they did their "Uncut" dub, just with 2 or 3 scenes where they'd edit the video slightly too.

Completely removed the scene of Roshi asking to see Bulma’s tits and then Oolong changing into Bulma. And passing off Roshi’s inability to get on Kintoun as cheating at a game of cards.

2010 redub aint perfect but it is significantly more faithful and accurate than the 1995 dub.

And in 2010, Funi really didn't reverse the censorship, or otherwise fix any deviations from the translation for their 2010 script.

Except for when they did *shrug*

So, Funi's 2010 dub screwed up bad, didn't really fix anything about the '95 dub, and is wildly inconsistent with their other movie dubs. The '95 dub really is the superior experience...

You’re getting a somewhat better Goku in the 95 dub. (Though neither Henderson or Clinkenbeard are exactly amazing as Goku) that’s the extent of superior.
You’re getting a visually uncut and uncensored dub with the Kikuchi score in the 2010 dub. Personal preferences but I can’t fathom what is superior about the 95 dub with an inferior background score, inferior opening song, the insertion of a scene from episode 2 and a whole scene being removed and more dumb jokes and quips (mot that 2010 got rid of all of them)

Both the 95 dub and 2010 dub of Curse of the Blood Rubies are vastly superior to what came after for the Dragon Ball movie dubs.


.

Or if they're a viewer who always watches dubbed? These people do exist. They're quite common, in fact.

I am aware. I’m saying if you absolutely have to watch everything dubbed you might as well skip out on Sleeping Princess in Devil’s

Sure, there will always be inconsistency. But at least the Funi 2&3 cast were doing impressions of the BLT cast, the general dubbing approach was trying to match the '95 work

They sound nothing alike.
You’re getting a huge whiplash in quality going from the 95 dub or the 2010 dub of Blood Rubies to Sleeping Princess.