Germany:
"Airplane" = The Incredible Journey On A Crazy Airplane
Then there's The Incredible Journey On A Crazy Spaceship (original "Airplane II: The Sequel")
and The Outragious Journey On A Crazy Bus (original: "The Big Bus", in no way related to the other movies)
But one scene in the first movie is even funnier than the original in the German dubbed version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEkI0cH_rK4
(The 2 black guys speak a thick Bavarian dialect, which is the closest thing in Germany to Hillbilly slang. The subtitles say something completely different)
The airplane one drove me crazy for over a decade. I used to always stay up late and zapped through late night movies and tried to remember the ones that looked good. I asked everyone i knew about a movie with that crazy airplane, and no one knew what i meant.
Actually translated it literally. Except they always translate gun to "Kanone" which is a field gun, not a handgun. But the German word for handgun is "Handfeuerwaffe" so I kinda understand.
THELMA & LOUISE
in theaters in Mexico, back in the early 90s
was
(wait for it...)
UN FINAL INESPERADO (AN UNEXPECTED ENDING)
Seriously... how dumb do you think your audiences are if you feel the need to hold their hand and spoon-feed them like this? This is taken to a level that doesn't make sense anymore, the so-called "solution" is so much worse than the perceived "problem".
Swedish translators have largely stopped translating titles as the population nowadays are essentially all competent enough English speakers. But back in the day, there were some... let's say questionable choices. Sadly many of them are based on word play and translate poorly back to English. Superman III was translated into an absolutely atrocious Kryptonite pun, for example. I wish I could do it justice.
It Could Happen To You being translated as Cop gives waitress a $2 million tip is one of my other favourites - just a mundane summary of the plot with zero zest or punch.
It was also decided for some reason to name the entire Mel Brooks catalogue as Springtime for X after The Producers was first translated as Springtime for Hitler (which at least makes sense - that is part of the movie!). I think the worst offender is Springtime for the History of the World part 1 (History of the World part 1) - but they're all bad.
There was also a trend for a while to randomly add sub-titles to movies - such as Crocodile Dundee: a big game hunter in New York.
Finally, it amused me greatly that The Sound of Music was translated as Sound of Music - still in English, just dropping the article.
I have a friend who is Swedish, and my all time favorite isn't a movie, but a comic book. Batman translated into Läderlappen. So after some discussion about that period in time and how things were being translated I asked, well then what did Robin translate to, and he looked at me and said "Robin". I almost fell out of my chair. So he brought me a copy of Läderlappen and Robin. I love it.
I am not sure, but to tie this all back together, the whole conversation came up when we were talking about how, when you kill a bat in Valheim it drops leather.
So "läderlapp" is an old Swedish slang or colloquialism for bat. Back in the 50s when Batman was first brought to Sweden English literacy was a lot worse than it is now, and translating titles and names were much more common. A direct translation of Batman would be "fladdermusmannen" - which is a very unwieldy name - so they settled for a then-more-common slang for "the bat". It does sound a little better, though it would have been best to just do what finally happened from the 80s and let Batman remain untranslated.
Oh yeah the whole of Mel Brooks are being translated as "La folle histoire de..." (The crazy story of...) Because I guess the first one was Mel Brooks History of the world (the words for history and story are the same in french)
Which reminds me that Die Hard was translated as "Piège de Crystal" (Crystal Trap) which isn't per se a bad title, but then every movie that had a hero against people taking something over became "Piège ..." Literally dozens of Piège movie that have nothing to do with Die Hard
That's so funny, Sweden had a similar thing going with Goldie Hawn movies! After The Girl From Petrovka was translated literally ("Tjejen från Petrovka"), the next 8 out of 11 Goldie Hawn movies had their titles changed and translated as "Tjejen som..."(The girl who...) despite having nothing else in common apart from being comedies.
Book and Movie "To Kill a Mockingbird" is translated in German to "Wer die Nachtigall Stört" - "To disturb a Nightingale".
They were like "something, something with a bird- close enough."
This bothered me even before reading the book, but after reading the scene in the backyard where Miss Maudie explains to the kids that you never shoot at a mockingbird because they do no harm to anyone or anything ever, a metaphor the whole book is build on, this translation drives me crazy.
I wish someone would re-publish it with a more fitting german title.
This stuff never bothered me when i was younger, now it kinda does. I always imagine some guy trying to put his own spin on things. "Oh i can do better." But it's just a title at least.
What bothered me even as a child was when they advertised for a movie like Antz in germany as: starring Sylvester Stallone. No he's not, it has a german voice actor who pretends to be Sylvester Stallone.
I wish they'd market the names of the voice actors a lot more.
Some voice actors dub for an impressive number of famous actors, and I hate for them to be mentioned (if at all) as "Sylvester Stallone's voice actor" instead of their real name.
Possibly as a consolation, the French film “Une hirondelle à fait le printemps” (A swallow that made the spring) was called “The Girl From Paris” in English.
ゴジラ (go・ji・ra) somehow got turned into "Godzilla".
(I'm a native English speaker living long-term in Japan, so I'm not sure which "your language" goes here, but English names of Japanese movies seems like the better bet).
I see Very Bad Trip as a example of a good translation tbh. It's a trip as in "a trip to Vegas" as well as a "bad trip" which is commonly used in french although not exactly a synonym for hangover
One I don't like much is The Purge as American Nightmare, seems pretty gratuitous
44 Comments
superkret@feddit.org · 25 pts · 1y
Germany:
"Airplane" = The Incredible Journey On A Crazy Airplane
Then there's The Incredible Journey On A Crazy Spaceship (original "Airplane II: The Sequel")
and The Outragious Journey On A Crazy Bus (original: "The Big Bus", in no way related to the other movies)
But one scene in the first movie is even funnier than the original in the German dubbed version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEkI0cH_rK4
(The 2 black guys speak a thick Bavarian dialect, which is the closest thing in Germany to Hillbilly slang. The subtitles say something completely different)
radix@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 1y
I remember in a high school german class we watched the dubbed version of The Karate Kid.
The teacher warned us not to take notes from Mr. Miyagi's dialogue. "His German is terrible."
BruceTwarzen@lemm.ee · 7 pts · 1y
The airplane one drove me crazy for over a decade. I used to always stay up late and zapped through late night movies and tried to remember the ones that looked good. I asked everyone i knew about a movie with that crazy airplane, and no one knew what i meant.
OlinOfTheHillPeople@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y
All the "German Jive" sounds like Arnold Schwarzenegger!
superkret@feddit.org · 7 pts · 1y
Good ear. Schwarzenegger's birthplace is so far into Hillbilly territory, he's a mountain goat.
Hadriscus@lemm.ee · 2 pts · 1y
In french it's Y a-t-il un pilote dans l'avion ? or Is there a pilot on the plane?
JackbyDev@programming.dev · 1 pts · 1y
Oh shit, what did they do with Naked Gun 33⅓?
superkret@feddit.org · 1 pts · 1y
Actually translated it literally. Except they always translate gun to "Kanone" which is a field gun, not a handgun. But the German word for handgun is "Handfeuerwaffe" so I kinda understand.
lvxferre@mander.xyz · 23 pts · 1y
JackbyDev@programming.dev · 2 pts · 1y
Is Poderoso Chefão used to mean the leader of a gang/crime family in Portuguese?
lvxferre@mander.xyz · 1 pts · 1y
owsei@programming.dev · 2 pts · 1y
Mas "O Poderoso Chefão" > "O Padrinho"
lvxferre@mander.xyz · 2 pts · 1y
neidu2@feddit.nl · 18 pts · 1y
Not that bad, but there was a serious lack of creativity:
The Shining - Hotel of Evil
House on the Haunted Hill - House of Evil
tiredofsametab@fedia.io · 13 pts · 1y
Does Evil Dead become Cabin of Evil? Also, any Tent(s) of Evil?
BruceTwarzen@lemm.ee · 5 pts · 1y
Evil Dead was dance of the devil in German
niktemadur@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 1y
Oh, I have a doozy for ya. I've got a beauty!
THELMA & LOUISE
in theaters in Mexico, back in the early 90s
was
(wait for it...)
UN FINAL INESPERADO (AN UNEXPECTED ENDING)
Seriously... how dumb do you think your audiences are if you feel the need to hold their hand and spoon-feed them like this? This is taken to a level that doesn't make sense anymore, the so-called "solution" is so much worse than the perceived "problem".
Coelacanth@feddit.nu · 16 pts · 1y
Swedish translators have largely stopped translating titles as the population nowadays are essentially all competent enough English speakers. But back in the day, there were some... let's say questionable choices. Sadly many of them are based on word play and translate poorly back to English. Superman III was translated into an absolutely atrocious Kryptonite pun, for example. I wish I could do it justice.
It Could Happen To You being translated as Cop gives waitress a $2 million tip is one of my other favourites - just a mundane summary of the plot with zero zest or punch.
It was also decided for some reason to name the entire Mel Brooks catalogue as Springtime for X after The Producers was first translated as Springtime for Hitler (which at least makes sense - that is part of the movie!). I think the worst offender is Springtime for the History of the World part 1 (History of the World part 1) - but they're all bad.
There was also a trend for a while to randomly add sub-titles to movies - such as Crocodile Dundee: a big game hunter in New York.
Finally, it amused me greatly that The Sound of Music was translated as Sound of Music - still in English, just dropping the article.
FigMcLargeHuge@sh.itjust.works · 13 pts · 1y
I have a friend who is Swedish, and my all time favorite isn't a movie, but a comic book. Batman translated into Läderlappen. So after some discussion about that period in time and how things were being translated I asked, well then what did Robin translate to, and he looked at me and said "Robin". I almost fell out of my chair. So he brought me a copy of Läderlappen and Robin. I love it.
norimee@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 1y
That's so funny. I just though Läderlappen just sounds like german for "leather rag" and google does in fact translates it to "The Leather patch".
I wonder what their thought process was in coming up with leather patch for batman.
FigMcLargeHuge@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 1y
I am not sure, but to tie this all back together, the whole conversation came up when we were talking about how, when you kill a bat in Valheim it drops leather.
Coelacanth@feddit.nu · 2 pts · 1y
So "läderlapp" is an old Swedish slang or colloquialism for bat. Back in the 50s when Batman was first brought to Sweden English literacy was a lot worse than it is now, and translating titles and names were much more common. A direct translation of Batman would be "fladdermusmannen" - which is a very unwieldy name - so they settled for a then-more-common slang for "the bat". It does sound a little better, though it would have been best to just do what finally happened from the 80s and let Batman remain untranslated.
superkret@feddit.org · 2 pts · 1y
Läderlappen would be a great term for Harley riders.
Moah@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 1y
Oh yeah the whole of Mel Brooks are being translated as "La folle histoire de..." (The crazy story of...) Because I guess the first one was Mel Brooks History of the world (the words for history and story are the same in french)
Which reminds me that Die Hard was translated as "Piège de Crystal" (Crystal Trap) which isn't per se a bad title, but then every movie that had a hero against people taking something over became "Piège ..." Literally dozens of Piège movie that have nothing to do with Die Hard
Coelacanth@feddit.nu · 2 pts · 1y
That's so funny, Sweden had a similar thing going with Goldie Hawn movies! After The Girl From Petrovka was translated literally ("Tjejen från Petrovka"), the next 8 out of 11 Goldie Hawn movies had their titles changed and translated as "Tjejen som..."(The girl who...) despite having nothing else in common apart from being comedies.
norimee@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 1y
Book and Movie "To Kill a Mockingbird" is translated in German to "Wer die Nachtigall Stört" - "To disturb a Nightingale".
They were like "something, something with a bird- close enough."
This bothered me even before reading the book, but after reading the scene in the backyard where Miss Maudie explains to the kids that you never shoot at a mockingbird because they do no harm to anyone or anything ever, a metaphor the whole book is build on, this translation drives me crazy.
I wish someone would re-publish it with a more fitting german title.
BruceTwarzen@lemm.ee · 8 pts · 1y
This stuff never bothered me when i was younger, now it kinda does. I always imagine some guy trying to put his own spin on things. "Oh i can do better." But it's just a title at least.
What bothered me even as a child was when they advertised for a movie like Antz in germany as: starring Sylvester Stallone. No he's not, it has a german voice actor who pretends to be Sylvester Stallone.
superkret@feddit.org · 3 pts · 1y
I wish they'd market the names of the voice actors a lot more.
Some voice actors dub for an impressive number of famous actors, and I hate for them to be mentioned (if at all) as "Sylvester Stallone's voice actor" instead of their real name.
Servais@discuss.tchncs.de · 16 pts · 1y
I'll start with a classic: in French "the Hangover"has been changed to "Very bad trip"
robolemmy@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 1y
Possibly as a consolation, the French film “Une hirondelle à fait le printemps” (A swallow that made the spring) was called “The Girl From Paris” in English.
Servais@discuss.tchncs.de · 2 pts · 1y
TIL!
lvxferre@mander.xyz · 6 pts · 1y
Phen@lemmy.eco.br · 4 pts · 1y
And Hot Tub Time Machine was titled The Hangover
owsei@programming.dev · 2 pts · 1y
Ok, but don't you prefer the brazilian name? I sure do, specially with the context of drinking and driving PSAs
lvxferre@mander.xyz · 1 pts · 1y
tiredofsametab@fedia.io · 15 pts · 1y
ゴジラ (go・ji・ra) somehow got turned into "Godzilla".
(I'm a native English speaker living long-term in Japan, so I'm not sure which "your language" goes here, but English names of Japanese movies seems like the better bet).
onebonestone@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 1y
The Shawshank Redemption in Finnish: Rita Hayworth - avain pakoon. (=key to freedom). Only a minor spoiler...
CyanideShotInjection@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y
You should see the French title...
superkret@feddit.org · 6 pts · 1y
If anyone is wondering:
::: spoiler Spoiler Les Évadés = The Escaped :::
CyanideShotInjection@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y
Thanks for that, wanted to do that little spoiler thing but was not able to do so hahaha
Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 1y
I think the original book title is: Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption. So not as crazy as it seems.
Moah@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 8 pts · 1y
"Wild Things" was translated to "Sex Crimes" in France "Body of Evidence" to "Body" "The Hangover" to "Very Bad Trip"
Hmm I can't think of others right now, but translating English title to other (Often bad) English titles was a mood in France at some point
cornshark@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y
Wow, watching Where The Wild Things Are in French must have been a surreal experience
Moah@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 1y
I was specifically talking about the movie "Wild Things"
Hadriscus@lemm.ee · 2 pts · 1y
I see Very Bad Trip as a example of a good translation tbh. It's a trip as in "a trip to Vegas" as well as a "bad trip" which is commonly used in french although not exactly a synonym for hangover
One I don't like much is The Purge as American Nightmare, seems pretty gratuitous
Moah@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 1y
I can see American Nightmare as a play on words with the American Dream, but yeah
Hadriscus@lemm.ee · 2 pts · 1y
ah good one it didn't even dawn on me
tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 1y
Japan tends to go for very descriptive titles in media. My favorite one of these is when Pixar's Up became Old Man Carl's Flying House.
shinigamiookamiryuu@lemm.ee · 3 pts · 1y
Most InuYasha episode titles sound like first draft fairy tale titles.