Cushing1971

I have 3 different version of The Long Good Friday on DVD & all of them are unwatchable due to the dubbing of certain lines of text - I guess these are all taken from a master copy that was American.

Anytime I want to watch the film I have to dig out one of my video versions of this to get the complete film. I once spoke to John McKenzie about this, but he didn't know anything about this. What was once one of my favourite films is almost impossible to watch. I also had a run in with Anchor Bay, but again they didn't know anything about it.

Does this bother anyone else or am I alone in the world thinking that one of the greatest British films made should not be dubbed over on the UK release (which was obviously done for certain foreign markets). I don't have a problem with this for other countries, but a correct version should be released over here.

HELP!!!!!!!!

batman

Bob Hoskins voice was dubbed over by actor David Daker, for fear Americans wouldn't understand his London accent. After Hoskins threatened to sue Jack Gill and Lion Gate (the original producers before HandMade bought the rights) the dubbing was removed. I haven't seen or heard of any other dubbing that was made to the film. I have had it on both DVD and VHS and both versions have no dubbing that I can notice.

Cushing1971

Cheers for a quick reply, but the DVD's (Anchor Bay x 2, Criterion (Anchor Bay in disguise) x 1) are still dubbed over. It starts with slight dubbing over when Charlie is talking to Harris at the restaurant outside, then when Harold is talking about the chef, but the main dubbing is when he does his speech to Razors & Charlie at the swimming pool when talking about Colin - they have re-dubbed the whole speech, also Razors is dubbed later on whilst talking to Harold in the freezer where Colin is. To be honest, its all abit painful for me to remember, as it makes me wish video versions were better quality. Also, on the video version, at the beginning of the film they have the part about London slang, which is not before the titles on the DVD versions. A friend of mine finds my obsession with this hilarious, but I just want a copy of this on DVD quality that is complete - I'm thinking of getting the Aussie version on e-bay, but it could still be the same!

davidb

the worst offender for dubbing like this was the pre title sequence of get carter ,it was lousy .luckily the dvd put things right [ you can hear the dubbing if you switch the commentary on ] .my copy of the long good friday isnt dubbed as far as i can tell

Steve Crook

Well Anchor Bay & Criterion are American companies. Sometimes they can only get the American print.

As for any Australian DVD, we have quite a few Aussies on this forum. Have any of them see the Australian DVD? Do you know Bob Hoskins' voice? Is it dubbed?

Steve

MovieLover12

I had the Anchor Bay version years ago and the voices of Hoskins, Mirren and Brosnan all sounded okay.

MarcMorris

I asked director Mackenzie about this when we were working on the Anchor Bay DVD and he informed me that no dubbing ever took place.

Nucleus Films:
DVD Releasing + Extras Production

Cushing1971

If anyone has the original video version & the DVD versions & some time on their hands, please watch both in intervals. These are dubbed, it's probably only noticeable if you are of a certain age & lived off the video for years. It isn't necessarily easy to spot if you haven't seen the proper version, but please believe me that it is very, very wrong on DVD.

When I spoke to John McKenzie all those years ago, I meant to send him the DVD version & a video version & point out exactly the parts that are dubbed. I know its such a long time ago now, but I would like to think he would be concerned about his film being tinkered with. He did tell me that only one part was changed at the time (& this can be seen on the original video version). It relates to just before Harold glasses Jeff with the bottle & Jeff is talking about the British Army. Due to the troubles at the time, it seemed valid to change the line.

**By the way, please note that when I mentioned Charlie in earlier posts I meant Jeff, I'd had a couple of bevvys last night & was mixing my names up. It's pretty bad of me claiming to love the film & messing up the characters names!

Cushing1971

With regard to your message, I know it's such a long time even since the most recent DVD was released, but if you work with Anchor Bay & are curious about this, I would happily forward you a copy of the original video & DVD to show the differences. By the way, I do think Anchor Bay are great & being a horror fan, they have done great things with regards to getting horror films out on DVD in the UK, but it's sods law that one of my favourite films that actually isn't a horror, I am having so much trouble with.

Chevyman

My DVD copy is fine although the sound on the VHS copy (long since disposed of) was a little dodgy

"Well I said goodbye to Rosie Rook this morning"

Cushing1971

Here's the test .... When Harold is on deck at the beginning of the film, having a bloody mary & talking about the chef.

If he calls the chef a 'frog' instead of a 'geezer', then its dubbed. Also in the swimming pool talking about Colin, he says 'I did my army service with Colin, 6 months in the slammer' ... the original goes 'I did my national service with Colin, 6 months in the glasshouse' there's a few more changed things in that speech (balls instead of b*llocks etc...), but the whole speech has been re-recorded & added to the soundtrack.

vicflange

Despite the fact this may seem petty to some people, it appears to be right. Having checked my Anchor Bay copy today it is obvious that during the swimming pool speech Harold's lips mouth 'glasshouse' but the word 'slammer' is heard. Obviously pandering to the American market. It would be interesting to know if there is a DVD available without the dubbing.

Cushing1971

Many thanks, finally I'm not mad

Cushing1971

Hmmm, I may not be mad, but i still don't have a decent version of the film on DVD - not sure if i'm happy or sad