Can I just download the audio for a movie in theaters?
March 11, 2024 7:09 AM
I’m in a foreign country. They have us movies with non English subtitles AND dubbing. Is there a way to download just the audio for something like Kung Fu Panda 4 so I can enjoy it while I watch it on the big screen?
Is the plan to listen through headphones in the cinema?
I'm not sure you need audio-only. Just obtain the full film from your favourite source and set it going at the right time. I just set a downloaded film playing in VLC on my phone and locked my phone — it stopped displaying video but kept playing audio through my headphones. I could control playback through the headphone controls.
Probably need closed-ear headphones to have it loud enough to overcome the cinema audio without disturbing the people next to you.
posted by Klipspringer at 7:28 AM on March 11
I'm not sure you need audio-only. Just obtain the full film from your favourite source and set it going at the right time. I just set a downloaded film playing in VLC on my phone and locked my phone — it stopped displaying video but kept playing audio through my headphones. I could control playback through the headphone controls.
Probably need closed-ear headphones to have it loud enough to overcome the cinema audio without disturbing the people next to you.
posted by Klipspringer at 7:28 AM on March 11
Sometimes versions for different countries get edited a little - not much, but enough to make the audio not always be in sync. In those cases it's a pain when you want to mix audio from one version with video from another.
If you don't want to risk encountering the possible sync issue when you're in the theater, or deal with overcoming the loud theater sound, another option with its own set of tradeoffs would be watching a (probably crappy bootleg) version in English before you go to the theater. Then in the theater you'll already know what's going on, and can focus on the visuals (and maybe enjoy experiencing it in another language).
Also I don't know where you are but have you searched in maybe a larger area than usual to see if there aren't any showings anywhere in English? In some countries/cities that's sometimes a thing.
If you do go the route of downloading a pirated copy and would prefer to not have the entire movie on your phone/mp3 player, you can generally just extract the audio stream from a video using things like ffmpeg or vlc.
posted by trig at 8:06 AM on March 11
If you don't want to risk encountering the possible sync issue when you're in the theater, or deal with overcoming the loud theater sound, another option with its own set of tradeoffs would be watching a (probably crappy bootleg) version in English before you go to the theater. Then in the theater you'll already know what's going on, and can focus on the visuals (and maybe enjoy experiencing it in another language).
Also I don't know where you are but have you searched in maybe a larger area than usual to see if there aren't any showings anywhere in English? In some countries/cities that's sometimes a thing.
If you do go the route of downloading a pirated copy and would prefer to not have the entire movie on your phone/mp3 player, you can generally just extract the audio stream from a video using things like ffmpeg or vlc.
posted by trig at 8:06 AM on March 11
It might be worth asking at a couple local theaters (larger theaters are probably a better option) if this is something they offer directly. Now that movies are commonly delivered to theaters as a digital package, it's quite possible that an alternate language audio track may be available via the theater's assistive listening system. Or, perhaps the theater might offer screenings on certain days or at certain times, where they show the film with an alternate language track (English) as the primary house audio?
posted by xedrik at 9:02 AM on March 11
posted by xedrik at 9:02 AM on March 11
Rent the cheapest available (Lancer) seedbox from ultra.cc. Use the one-click installer in your seedbox's web control panel to bring up the Transmission BitTorrent peer on it. Install the Transmitter for Transmission extension into your browser, and configure it with the URL, username and password of your ultra.cc Transmission instance.
Search for the movie you want on The Pirate Bay, then click on its magnet link and your seedbox will collect it. Log into your seedbox via ssh and use its pre-installed version of ffmpeg to extract your movie's audio track.
Download the extracted audio track to your playback device of choice; this will take about a tenth of the time that downloading the whole movie would. You will need a device that lets you pause or skip the playback to maintain acceptable sync without lighting up in a way that deserves getting the stink-eye from other patrons.
Post back if you want to go this route but need more detailed instructions in order to complete any step.
posted by flabdablet at 9:05 AM on March 11
Search for the movie you want on The Pirate Bay, then click on its magnet link and your seedbox will collect it. Log into your seedbox via ssh and use its pre-installed version of ffmpeg to extract your movie's audio track.
Download the extracted audio track to your playback device of choice; this will take about a tenth of the time that downloading the whole movie would. You will need a device that lets you pause or skip the playback to maintain acceptable sync without lighting up in a way that deserves getting the stink-eye from other patrons.
Post back if you want to go this route but need more detailed instructions in order to complete any step.
posted by flabdablet at 9:05 AM on March 11
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Within about a week of release, big tentpole movies and kids' films will generally get bootlegged in CAM versions. (Literally, someone records the film off of a movie screen with a camcorder.) Those will have pretty ropey sound, generally, but you could look for one of those videos, put it on your phone, and play that and listen to the audio while you're in the theater. Very occasionally, there are TS (telesync) versions that may have direct sound. If you luck into one of those, it would be better.
I don't think you're going to run across it as audio-only, but simply not looking at the video (say, with your phone in your pocket) should work well enough.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:26 AM on March 11