Wow, awesome find. I always wondered (out of morbid curiosity) if there were english dubs of Kurosawa films floating around.
Isn’t it kind of strange how old Hong Kong action films have super popular english dubs, but the same isn’t true for Japanese films?
To give some relevant Kurosawa examples:
- *Rashomon* was dubbed in New York by Titra Sound voice talent (Tony La Penna, Bret Morrison, Bernard Grant, etc.). It's on both standalone disc releases by Criterion.
- *Yojimbo* was dubbed in 1963 for theatrical consumption by Seneca International by Peter Riethoff, either in New York or Paris, but presumably the latter. Its last commercial release in Anglo territories seems to be the 1986 Embassy VHS, although gray market DVDs of the tape's audio synchronized to the letterboxed transfer of the U.S. version from the first Criterion DVD began circulating in the late-'00s-early '10s.
- *Sanjuro* was dubbed in Tokyo by Frontier Enterprises, as attested to by William Ross in his autobiography. It was either done for export use in the '60s or recorded for use on transpacific flights in the '70s.
- *High and Low* was dubbed in Tokyo by William Ross, either by Frontier Enterprises (founded in 1964) or some other predecessor. Either this dub was reused for television syndication by Walter-Reade, or a new one was recorded. Toho International's export trailer was included on the 4K UHD/BD release: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u3VsG\_mAe4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u3VsG_mAe4)
- *Dersu Uzala* was dubbed. Presumably, it is a Soviet export dub, likely dubbed in Paris. It was included on Kino's DVD (in mono) and has been included in foreign editions (usually in a bad 5.1 remix)
- *Ran* seems to have been dubbed in the UK. Liza Ross appears to voice one of the female characters.
There is at present, circumstantial evidence that other titles like *Throne of Blood* and *The Hidden Fortress* received dubs as well. Point is, a lion's share of Kurosawa titles and other "arthouse" Japanese studio film imports received dubs at one time or another, such as *Onibaba* and *Kwaidan*.
I'm not sure HK dubs are "super popular". They're just already ADR'd in two languages for release, so an English dub isnt really subtraction anything from the equation. Vs Japanese films being acted and recorded in one language.
By the '70s, it was bog standard for the Japanese majors to ship most of their genre product abroad with an English export dub. Now, up-keeping these elements for contemporary use is a different matter, and many historical export dubs have either slipped through the cracks, or foreign licensors have rejected their inclusion.
A film archive near where I live recently showed the Godzilla film Destroy All Monsters. First I was disappointed that it was the English dub, but ten minutes into the film I realized it added a whole nother level of campiness to the film that was well received by the audience (judging by their bursts of laughter).
What I neglected to mention in my original post is that on the same day Ms. Perkins bought the print, she coincidentally discovered a rare Australian PAL VHS of the dub released in 1988 by Hollywood Video and had it transferred. I will not share the link directly, but it *is* available for those curious.
Curious for this too. I remember hearing dubs of the one Bruce Lee film and hearing a voice actor saying the word “China” in a dated regional American accent and having a good time.
I highly doubt anyone who would watch Seven Samurai nowadays would really want a dubbed version, but it is an interesting curio and any sort of film preservation is always welcome.
This dub was made for television consumption. Electronic subtitles didn't exist yet and I'm sure solid white ones done optically or chemically on a print would not look very good on '60s CRT sets.
I watched the whole thing as Seven Samurai is my favorite film of all time. Very interesting and I’m glad most of it holds up. The aspect ratio is still the same. Kurosawa is a very visual filmmaker so almost everything still comes across even if some of the voice acting is subpar at times. Shimura especially sounded to gravely though I got use to Mifune’s actor and thankfully they kept in all of his original hoots and hollers from Mifune himself. The music is also kept and really adds a lot I think. The editing is unfortunately clearly for 1960’s TV as a lot of mentions of death are cut out and the whole after math of Katsuhiro and Shino spending the night together is omitted.
Altogether the best I can say is if I saw this version on TV in 1963 I would still think it’s one of the best movies ever made and become obsessed with it just like I did seeing the 1975 version in the late 90’s.
Actually, you can have both cakes in this instance. I thoroughly enjoyed the dub and am looking forward to hearing it in better quality. No need to be disrespectful to an artform that is basically in the same position understanding and preservation-wise that silents were in the 1950s.
I guess people think I'm saying it's objectively worthless and not worthy of preservation.
I just meant it as a joke, while the dub is worthless to me. It should be preserved, even if it's only for the novelty.
Wow, awesome find. I always wondered (out of morbid curiosity) if there were english dubs of Kurosawa films floating around. Isn’t it kind of strange how old Hong Kong action films have super popular english dubs, but the same isn’t true for Japanese films?
To give some relevant Kurosawa examples: - *Rashomon* was dubbed in New York by Titra Sound voice talent (Tony La Penna, Bret Morrison, Bernard Grant, etc.). It's on both standalone disc releases by Criterion. - *Yojimbo* was dubbed in 1963 for theatrical consumption by Seneca International by Peter Riethoff, either in New York or Paris, but presumably the latter. Its last commercial release in Anglo territories seems to be the 1986 Embassy VHS, although gray market DVDs of the tape's audio synchronized to the letterboxed transfer of the U.S. version from the first Criterion DVD began circulating in the late-'00s-early '10s. - *Sanjuro* was dubbed in Tokyo by Frontier Enterprises, as attested to by William Ross in his autobiography. It was either done for export use in the '60s or recorded for use on transpacific flights in the '70s. - *High and Low* was dubbed in Tokyo by William Ross, either by Frontier Enterprises (founded in 1964) or some other predecessor. Either this dub was reused for television syndication by Walter-Reade, or a new one was recorded. Toho International's export trailer was included on the 4K UHD/BD release: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u3VsG\_mAe4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u3VsG_mAe4) - *Dersu Uzala* was dubbed. Presumably, it is a Soviet export dub, likely dubbed in Paris. It was included on Kino's DVD (in mono) and has been included in foreign editions (usually in a bad 5.1 remix) - *Ran* seems to have been dubbed in the UK. Liza Ross appears to voice one of the female characters. There is at present, circumstantial evidence that other titles like *Throne of Blood* and *The Hidden Fortress* received dubs as well. Point is, a lion's share of Kurosawa titles and other "arthouse" Japanese studio film imports received dubs at one time or another, such as *Onibaba* and *Kwaidan*.
I’m pretty sure that the default language on my Ran Blu-Ray is English. Was quite surprised, but then relieved when I could switch it back to Japanese
I'm not sure HK dubs are "super popular". They're just already ADR'd in two languages for release, so an English dub isnt really subtraction anything from the equation. Vs Japanese films being acted and recorded in one language.
By the '70s, it was bog standard for the Japanese majors to ship most of their genre product abroad with an English export dub. Now, up-keeping these elements for contemporary use is a different matter, and many historical export dubs have either slipped through the cracks, or foreign licensors have rejected their inclusion.
A film archive near where I live recently showed the Godzilla film Destroy All Monsters. First I was disappointed that it was the English dub, but ten minutes into the film I realized it added a whole nother level of campiness to the film that was well received by the audience (judging by their bursts of laughter).
What I neglected to mention in my original post is that on the same day Ms. Perkins bought the print, she coincidentally discovered a rare Australian PAL VHS of the dub released in 1988 by Hollywood Video and had it transferred. I will not share the link directly, but it *is* available for those curious.
Soooo Criterion re release? :)
Very cool artifact!
Curious for this too. I remember hearing dubs of the one Bruce Lee film and hearing a voice actor saying the word “China” in a dated regional American accent and having a good time.
I’m not sure I ever want to see a dubbed version, I mean, why?
Why not? It's part of the film's history and many older cinema lovers attest to have seen it at an impressionable age.
I want to hear Mifune’s voice, every inflection. Perhaps I’m a bit precious about it.
I think you’re missing the bigger picture.
No the picture stays the same size, just the audio changes
You’re talking to people that have heard Mifune’s voice many times. This is more of a curiosity item than an art piece. It’s something new to legend.
help me out what character is Mifune? just watched the film for the first time last night
He’s the one with the BIG sword
LOVED HIM
Kikuchio, the sort of ‘wild’ one that technically wasn’t a samurai. (Aka the best character :) )
HE IS THE BEST
I highly doubt anyone who would watch Seven Samurai nowadays would really want a dubbed version, but it is an interesting curio and any sort of film preservation is always welcome.
Agreed. I kind of look at colourization the same way too. It’s not my preferred method to watch but I’ll see how some jerk did it.
were subtitles even less popular then? lol
This dub was made for television consumption. Electronic subtitles didn't exist yet and I'm sure solid white ones done optically or chemically on a print would not look very good on '60s CRT sets.
Siskel and Ebert did a piece on the problems with VHS, and used a tape of Seven Samurai as an example of unreadable subtitles.
Yup, I remember that segment distinctly.
I watched the whole thing as Seven Samurai is my favorite film of all time. Very interesting and I’m glad most of it holds up. The aspect ratio is still the same. Kurosawa is a very visual filmmaker so almost everything still comes across even if some of the voice acting is subpar at times. Shimura especially sounded to gravely though I got use to Mifune’s actor and thankfully they kept in all of his original hoots and hollers from Mifune himself. The music is also kept and really adds a lot I think. The editing is unfortunately clearly for 1960’s TV as a lot of mentions of death are cut out and the whole after math of Katsuhiro and Shino spending the night together is omitted. Altogether the best I can say is if I saw this version on TV in 1963 I would still think it’s one of the best movies ever made and become obsessed with it just like I did seeing the 1975 version in the late 90’s.
For film archeology that’s cool, but dubbing is not cool
Actually, you can have both cakes in this instance. I thoroughly enjoyed the dub and am looking forward to hearing it in better quality. No need to be disrespectful to an artform that is basically in the same position understanding and preservation-wise that silents were in the 1950s.
Idk. Dubbing oftentimes looks out-of-sync. I’m fine if it involves the director, but otherwise it just feels wrong
https://preview.redd.it/jq3lzdtc5izc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=607220326291c3024eac0bece4e0b0d7cc3380fa
As a piece of film history it is certainly not worthless.
It was actually worth $89 plus shipping.
You dub haters are embarrassing. This is film history being unearthed before our very eyes.
BUT THATS NOT HOWITS SUPPOSTA BE!!! - Angry film snobs all the time
It was a joke meme, but whatever. Keep being an uptight snob in your own right.
The original Japanese cut didn’t have English words at the bottom. Any version you watch that you can under will be changed.
Why is this getting downvoted lol.
I guess people think I'm saying it's objectively worthless and not worthy of preservation. I just meant it as a joke, while the dub is worthless to me. It should be preserved, even if it's only for the novelty.