# Great movies that need better titles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 28, 2020, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751 "2020-04-28T17:12:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751/1 "2020-04-28T17:12:56Z")
Lots of movies have terrible titles, but this thread is specifically about really good movies which have terrible titles. So, for example, _The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-up Zombies_ is a terrible title, but it’s also a terrible movie, so it doesn’t belong in this thread. Your job is to nominate a great movie with a terrible title, **and** propose a better title. My nomination is _It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World_. Indisputably a great movie, but a title that requires you to mentally count to four while saying it is a loser. It’s also a bland, generic title that could be applied to almost any goofy comedy. Here’s what it should have been called: _The Big W_. It’s an intriguing title that draws you in and makes you wonder what it means. The term is introduced in first 5 minutes of the movie, and since the whole movie is about the quest for the Big W, it’s totally appropriate. What other great movie needs a better title? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751/2 "2020-04-28T17:24:51Z")
No Country for Old Men Im not sure what would be better…maybe ‘Greed’ or ‘Vengeance’? ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751/3 "2020-04-28T17:46:44Z")
“Edge of Tomorrow” is probably the poster child for bad titles. It sounds like a cross-over between “Edge of Night” and “Search for Tomorrow”. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751/4 "2020-04-28T17:53:21Z")
[Martha Marcy May Marlene](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1441326/reference) is a pretty good psychological horror movie but its title sticks in no-one’s memory. Features the always excellent Elizabeth Olsen. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751/5 "2020-04-28T17:58:08Z")
North by Northwest needs a better title. I understand that one of the working titles was The Man in Lincoln’s Nose. I like that one better. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751/6 "2020-04-28T18:06:08Z")
Naked Lunch > [@Nelson Muntz](#): > > I can think of at least two things wrong with that title. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751/7 "2020-04-28T18:16:11Z")
- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly\*. What the hell does it even mean? It isn’t a particularly accurate description of the three leads. They could have chosen a title that fits the pattern of the first two. A Grave Full Of Dollars. A Coffin Full of Dollars. A Tomb Full Of Dollars. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751/8 "2020-04-28T18:18:36Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > No Country for Old Men > > Im not sure what would be better…maybe ‘Greed’ or ‘Vengeance’? > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly\*. What the hell does it even mean? It isn’t a particularly accurate description of the three leads. So is this supposed to be like a joke topic? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751/9 "2020-04-28T18:20:49Z")
There were four movies that came out in the late 1980s that are all good to excellent, but they have such bland, generic, and vaguely similar sounding titles that I have trouble remembering which title goes with which movie: _Stand by Me_ (1986) should have been called _The Body_ like the novella is was based on. _Stand and Deliver_ (1988) should have been called _The Calculus Teacher_ or _The Math Teacher_, or maybe taken its name from the nonfiction book it was based on, either the title _Escalante_ or the subtitle _The Best Teacher in America_. _Do the Right Thing_ (1989) probably should have been called _Bed-Stuy_ or _Bedford-Stuyvesant_ after its setting. _Lean on Me_ (1989) probably should have been called _The Principal_. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751/10 "2020-04-28T18:22:22Z")
Why do you think I’m joking? I’m serious. It’s a great film, but a terrible title. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751/11 "2020-04-28T18:26:10Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > My nomination is _It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World_. Indisputably a great movie, but a title that requires you to mentally count to four while saying it is a loser. It’s also a bland, generic title that could be applied to almost any goofy comedy. Here’s what it should have been called: _The Big W_. It’s an intriguing title that draws you in and makes you wonder what it means. The term is introduced in first 5 minutes of the movie, and since the whole movie is about the quest for the Big W, it’s totally appropriate. > > What other great movie needs a better title? It doesn’t require any mental counting. It has a natural rhythm that trips on the tongue like song lyrics, in a way that fewer or more “mads” wouldn’t. The opening number of _The Mad Show_ [(“It’s a World, World, World, World, Mad”)](https://youtu.be/Sb7WTU5Xc0s?t=36) illustrates this pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751/12 "2020-04-28T18:34:30Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > North by Northwest needs a better title. I understand that one of the working titles was The Man in Lincoln’s Nose. I like that one better. In Spain it was titled Con La Muerte En Los Talones, meaning With Death At His Heels. Not the worst choice. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751/13 "2020-04-28T18:39:32Z")
I hear it’s a good movie, but I’ve never watched it because the title is so bad. _Being John Malkovich_ ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751/14 "2020-04-28T18:44:47Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I hear it’s a good movie, but I’ve never watched it because the title is so bad. > > _Being John Malkovich_ What’s wrong with the title? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751/15 "2020-04-28T18:48:12Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > What’s wrong with the title? Maybe it just went over my head. I don’t get it. And when it came out, I had no idea who John Malkovich was. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751/16 "2020-04-28T18:59:01Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly\*. What the hell does it even mean? It isn’t a particularly accurate description of the three leads. I think it’s one of the best titles of all time. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751/17 "2020-04-28T19:02:53Z")
I think that a good title doesn’t need to explain what the whole thing is about, but at least fit the tone of the story and make sense withing the narrative. Except when the author purposefully writes a paradoxical title for contrast, like calling your horribly depressing movie “Happiness”. For instance, I love the movie Baby Driver. And there’s certainly a character named Baby who is a getaway driver, so it’s quite explicit… but it kinda makes it sound like a silly comedy for children. Doesn’t fit the noir tone. I think that something like “Roll in the Dirt” would have made it more successful. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751/18 "2020-04-28T19:04:19Z")
Have you seen it, or even read a description? It should be perfectly obvious what the title means. It’s about some people that discover a portal that leads into the mind of John Malkovich. People can spend a few minutes experiencing life as JM, seeing though his eyes, feeling whatever he feels. JM is not happy when he finds out. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751/19 "2020-04-28T19:08:54Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I think it’s one of the best titles of all time. I’m with Peter Morris here. I think it follows a certain Italian tradition of just putting a bunch of nice sounding words together, frankly. And even then Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo, that would have been more accurately translated as The Good One, the Ugly One, The Bad One has got a bit more of a simplistic charm. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751/20 "2020-04-28T19:13:27Z")
_Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-that-need-better-titles/852751.md?page=2)