# Strange title translations of English moviews **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2002, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138 "2002-08-09T12:45:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/1 "2002-08-09T12:45:21Z")
I just found out the other day that in Hungarian, Alien is not simply called “Alien” or any of a number of equivalent words in Hungarian. Instead it is called (translated back into English of course): The Eighth Passenger: Death or Death, the eighth passenger WTF? Now, of course certain movie titles include a play on words that don’t work in the target language. For example, Legally Blonde went by the title “Doctor Susie” in Hungary. Then again, “Chasing Amy” somehow got the moniker “Comic Strip.” Maybe I could understand that. “The Sweetest Thing” becomes “Sweet little nothing.” (It works better colloquially that way.) “Snatch” becomes “Bluff,” etc… But the “Alien” translation really boggles my mind. Any other examples you foreign dopers got? Or odd translations of foreign movies into English? We can even make a game out of it. You provide the translated title, we guess the original English title. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/2 "2002-08-09T13:14:22Z")
There is a list of fake ones on the internet. Here are some real ones: Fargo": “Ice Blood Cruel and Sudden” “The Grapes of Wrath”: “Angry Flowers” “Frankenstein”: “The Silent Strange Man” “Gone With the Wind”: “The Confused World of a Beautiful Woman” “Trainspotting”: “Dreaming of Trains” “Clueless”: “Clever Women’s Power Manager” “Boogie Nights”: “Fanatical Dance Night” “Hamlet”: “The Story of the King’s Son Who Kills for Revenge” “Scream”: “Deprive Life Crazy Shout” “Psycho”: Literally, “Sight Fear Touch Heart,” which, Allanson writes, idiomatically means “see it and become scared.” I can’t believe this guy thought some of these were real though some are probably right: [http://www.geocities.com/smvgrey/Titlefun.html](http://www.geocities.com/smvgrey/Titlefun.html) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/3 "2002-08-09T13:23:46Z")
Interesting that the Polish translation of Alien, “The Eighth Passenger of the Nostromo,” is similar to the Hungarian. Must be some sort of connection there. ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Vampire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Space\_Vampire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Vampire)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/4 "2002-08-09T17:41:00Z")
Actually, I think that title for Alien is pretty cool. Better than “Alien.” I looked at the fake list, I know some of the Chinese ones are right (English Patient, As Good as it Gets) but the ones that are wrong… Borderline offensive, in addition to being totally transparent, how gullible is this guy? ---
**Author:** ![No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/no_me_ayudes_compadre/32/5224_2.png) [@No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Me_Ayudes_Compadre)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/5 "2002-08-09T18:56:21Z")
Some from Mexico: Airplane! - So Where’s the Pilot? – Thereafter all Leslie Nielsen spoof movies were entitled “So Where’s The…” Police, Exorcist, Spy, Fugitive, etc. Smokey & the Bandit - Two Lucky Scoundrels Weekend at Bernie’s - Dead Guy But (who died) Laughing Scrooged - The Ghosts Strike Back (ref to Ghostbusters) Home Alone - My Poor Little Angel – Thereafter all Macauley Culkin movies were entitled something-something Angel (The Good Son=Evil Angel) Wedding Singer - My Best Wedding Rugrats - Adventures in Diapers Waiting to Exhale - Labyrinth of Passions Leprechaun - The Evil Elf Pulp Fiction - Violent Times And the reverse… “Solo con tu pareja” (only with your partner) became Love in the Time of Hysteria in English. ---
**Author:** ![lothos2002](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/df788c/32.png) [@lothos2002](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lothos2002)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/6 "2002-08-10T00:06:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by El Mariachi Loco \* > \*\*Some from Mexico: > > Airplane! - So Where’s the Pilot? – Thereafter all Leslie Nielsen spoof movies were entitled “So Where’s The…” Police, Exorcist, Spy, Fugitive, etc. > > Smokey & the Bandit - Two Lucky Scoundrels > > Weekend at Bernie’s - Dead Guy But (who died) Laughing > > Scrooged - The Ghosts Strike Back (ref to Ghostbusters) > > Home Alone - My Poor Little Angel – Thereafter all Macauley Culkin movies were entitled something-something Angel (The Good Son=Evil Angel) > > Wedding Singer - My Best Wedding > > Rugrats - Adventures in Diapers > > Waiting to Exhale - Labyrinth of Passions > > Leprechaun - The Evil Elf > > Pulp Fiction - Violent Times > And the reverse… “Solo con tu pareja” (only with your partner) became Love in the Time of Hysteria in English. \*\* also from Mexico: Alien: the eight passenger Snatch: Pigs and diamonds Police Academy: Crazy Police Academy After that, any “police academy” tipe of movie became Crazy Academy of …, for example: Hot Shots: Crazy Police Academy of Pilots Top Secret: Crazy Police Academy of Spies and so it goes. Very rearly do they give them a title that is a translation of the original title. It is VEERY annoying when trying to locate a movie at blockbuster, since I know the original title, and they only have the listings by the title in spanish. I think they also do this in France. In Paris I walked into “Leon” thinking it would be a french flick, but it turned out to be the “directors cut” version of “The Professional” which I had already seen (big dissapointment) ---
**Author:** ![lothos2002](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/df788c/32.png) [@lothos2002](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lothos2002)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/7 "2002-08-10T00:08:46Z")
Sorry, make that “Crazy Academy of Pilots” and “Crazy Academy of Spies”, delete the Police part. It still makes absolutely no sense at all. ---
**Author:** ![zephonith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@zephonith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zephonith)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/8 "2002-08-10T00:27:52Z")
Apparently “Keeping the Faith” became “Our Anna Banana” in Japanese. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![zephonith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@zephonith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zephonith)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/9 "2002-08-10T00:35:55Z")
Apparently “Keeping the Faith” became “Our Anna Banana” in Japanese. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/10 "2002-08-10T04:31:10Z")
Here’s some Israeli ones from the top of my head - “Love in the Sky” - Top Gun “Dying to Live” - Die Hard “The Gun Died of Laughter” - the Naked Gun (and of course, every subsequent Leslie Nielsen movei also “died of laughter”) “Cheap Literature” - Pulp Fiction “Winds of Desire” - Legends of the Fall “Fatal Memory” - Total Recall (about half of the lower-profile thrillers which show up in Israel somehow have either “Fatal” or “Lethal” added to them) And of course, “The Eighth Passenger”. Not to mention “The Return of the Eighth Passenger”. I just had a thought - how many of the languages mentioned above actually have a word for “alien”, as in extraterrestrial? As far as I can recall, I don’t think the Israeli term (_Chaizar_ - “strangelife”) even existed before the mid-80’s, a good five years after Ridley Scotts flick came out. Could “the Eighth Passenger” simply be the appointed word for languages that _couldn’t_ translate the name? ---
**Author:** ![lothos2002](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/df788c/32.png) [@lothos2002](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lothos2002)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/11 "2002-08-10T04:44:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alessan \* > \*\*Here’s some Israeli ones from the top of my head - > > I just had a thought - how many of the languages mentioned above actually have a word for “alien”, as in extraterrestrial? As far as I can recall, I don’t think the Israeli term (_Chaizar_ - “strangelife”) even existed before the mid-80’s, a good five years after Ridley Scotts flick came out. Could “the Eighth Passenger” simply be the appointed word for languages that _couldn’t_ translate the name? \*\* There is a word in spanish for extraterrestrial, namely “extraterrestre”, but they already used it for E.T., which in spanish was ET, El Extraterrestre, so I guess they went that way to avoid confusion. Some use “alienigena” but it is an anglicism. By the way, The Professional: The Perfect Murderer Not Another Teen Movie: “It Is Not Another American Movie” (I like that one) A Beautiful Mind: A Brilliant Mind (why they thought it is better to be brilliant than beautiful, I don’t know.) I am wondering where they come up with the translations? Is it done in the US or in the destination countries? Who comes up with these titles?? I think in Spain they use translations that are closer to the originals, but in Mexico they change things completely. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/12 "2002-08-10T15:19:45Z")
Most of the Japanese titles are just phonetic renderings of the English, but occasionally they get changed. Girl, Interrupted – 17-Year-Old Girl’s Medical Chart Dr. Strangelove – The Doctor’s Strange Love (somebody missed something there) Stripes – Paradise Army Dirty Harry – Dirty Harry Magnum Force, Sudden Impact, etc. – Dirty Harry 2,3,4… The one that always baffled me was _The Karate Kid_, which was renamed _Best Kid_. They took out the one word that was already in Japanese. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/13 "2002-08-10T15:25:14Z")
One case where maybe they should have changed the name in Japan was for _Bagger Vance_. Japanese doesn’t have the “_a_ as in b_a_g” sound, so every time the movie was mentioned on TV, it sounded like they were calling it _Bugger Vance_. You see, there’s a special kind of love that exists between a man and his caddy… ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/14 "2002-08-10T17:56:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Pulp Fiction - Violent Times In Spain, it’s just called Pulp Fiction – but Jimmie demands to know whether his garage has a sign saying “Warehouse of Dead Blacks.” Somehow that line loses something in translation. ---
**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:** [August 10, 2002, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/15 "2002-08-10T20:08:53Z")
Here’s a few on the i]cartelera de cine\* in Panama City tonight: Powerpuff Girls: _Las Chicas Superpoderosas_ (The Superpowerful Girls) The Mothman Prophecies: _Mesenjero de la Oscuridad_ (Messenger from the Darkness) Unfaithful: _Huesped Maldito_ (Cursed Guest) ---
**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/16 "2002-08-10T20:45:05Z")
I saw _ConAir_ for the first time in Spain; they called it _Criminals in the Sky_, or _Criminales en lo Cielo_. ---
**Author:** ![Jocke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dec6dc/32.png) [@Jocke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jocke)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/17 "2002-08-10T21:35:10Z")
Heh, my favorite title translation here in Sweden is of an old black and white monster movie. I can not recall the english title for it but it was about giant ants who attack the united states. Anyway in here in Sweden the title became (Literal translation) “Spiders attacking!” Now thats translation with style! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/18 "2002-08-10T22:46:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jocke \* > \*\*Heh, my favorite title translation here in Sweden is of an old black and white monster movie. I can not recall the english title for it but it was about giant ants who attack the united states. Anyway in here in Sweden the title became (Literal translation) “Spiders attacking!” > > Now thats translation with style! 😃 \*\* Was it “Them!”? [http://us.imdb.com/Title?0047573](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0047573) ---
**Author:** ![Jocke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dec6dc/32.png) [@Jocke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jocke)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/19 "2002-08-11T09:39:05Z")
Yeah thats the movie. ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/20 "2002-08-11T11:28:29Z")
“Problem Child” became “This Boy is a Demon” in Spain, according to a friend of mine. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138.md?page=2)