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Great idea for a thread...off the top of my head, I have never understood a single word Robin Williams says in Popeye or Gary Oldman says in Air Force One.
Accents where you needed the subtitles?
I understood about two thirds of Popeye but had to turn on subtitles for the other third. One movie I saw with no subtitles at a film festival was the British movie Kill List (2011).
I am Canadian and speak English, but in the movie, the British people had such think accents, and spoke in all this British slang, since they were gangster characters, that I literally could not understand over half of what they were saying. I know it's in English, and it's been shown in a theater in an English speaking country, but when you have foreign slang, and think accents, subtitles are still needed!
I am Canadian and speak English, but in the movie, the British people had such think accents, and spoke in all this British slang, since they were gangster characters, that I literally could not understand over half of what they were saying. I know it's in English, and it's been shown in a theater in an English speaking country, but when you have foreign slang, and think accents, subtitles are still needed!
With American English or Queen's English (whether from Wales, Scotland, Ireland or England), I have never needed subtitles.
I have spoken to a lot of people in real life that have broken English and rarely ever have to ask them to repeat.
I have spoken to a lot of people in real life that have broken English and rarely ever have to ask them to repeat.
This question was actually prompted by seeing a bit of Jodie Whittaker last night on The Graham Norton Show. She was sat alongside Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga and Ryan Gosling, promoting A Star Is Born and First Man respectively.
Whittaker related a story about learning to milk a cow for Tess of the D'Urbervilles (2008) and said it wasn't that pleasant as the cow had "warty teats". Her Yorkshire accent is quite broad and at first it sounded like she said "water". For clarity she quickly had to affect an American accent until everyone cottoned on to the meaning. I was really surprised, only being from Lancashire, to be as mystified as they were
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Whittaker related a story about learning to milk a cow for Tess of the D'Urbervilles (2008) and said it wasn't that pleasant as the cow had "warty teats". Her Yorkshire accent is quite broad and at first it sounded like she said "water". For clarity she quickly had to affect an American accent until everyone cottoned on to the meaning. I was really surprised, only being from Lancashire, to be as mystified as they were
.OH is from Derbyshire and she said exactly the same - weird
this guy in Naked. Can't understand a single word so I put the subtitles and I like the movie.
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this guy in Naked. Can't understand a single word so I put the subtitles and I like the movie.
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Ogden Hebblethwaite perhaps?
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It made me laugh that there could be Doctor Who fans out there who coped with a Glasgow accent but might struggle with Yorkshire .
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Then again, Mr. Tennant hardly employed a strong Glaswegian accent in the show did he, so perhaps not
Attack the Block maybe.
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Well to be fair there probably are some Dr Who fans in/from Glasgae and I think that scenario might be easily understandable for them Then again, Mr. Tennant hardly employed a strong Glaswegian accent in the show did he, so perhaps not
Then again, Mr. Tennant hardly employed a strong Glaswegian accent in the show did he, so perhaps not 
. They did allow him to use his own accent briefly, early on in his era in Tooth and Claw, which was set in Scotland.And then there's my Doctor, Sylvester McCoy, who's from Argyll and Bute.
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Attack the Block maybe.
. And funnily enough Jodie Whittaker was in it.
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I will not watch anything without subtitles.
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Never had difficulty understanding accents, so no on that point. But sometimes had to turn them on because what the actors were saying was so low in a hushed voice, that I missed the whole sentence. Even increasing the volume doesn't help. So subs! This happens especially with old male actors.
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A lot of times when I watch British movies, I cannot understand half of what they are saying even though I speak English. It's not the accents so much as the slang talk they have. However, James Bond doesn't use a lot of British slang, so I can understand those movies just fine.