# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![\_LX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/67e7ee/32.png) [@\_LX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_LX)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/21 "2002-08-11T15:24:32Z")
In Germany: Die Hard -\> Die slowly Girl, Interrupted -\> Freaked out Miss Congeniality -\> Miss Undercover The Fugitive -\> While fleeing When I was younger I had a collection of bad translations but now I can only think of those few… well maybe I’ll remember more later. BTW: _Alien_ was kept here in Germany and lately they decided to keep most original titles. ---
**Author:** ![\_LX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/67e7ee/32.png) [@\_LX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_LX)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/22 "2002-08-11T15:55:37Z")
Ah, I remembered some more: Airplane -\> The unbelievable journey in a crazy airplane Hot Shots -\> Hot Shots - The Mother of all Movies Thin red Line -\> The sharp Edge Saving Private Ryan -\> Soldier James Ryan ---
**Author:** ![therealblaze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@therealblaze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/therealblaze)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/23 "2002-08-11T20:37:44Z")
Some Finnish ones: Unfaithful - The Fateful Affair Ocean’s Eleven - The High Stakes Me, Myself & Irene - The two of us & Irene Mimic - The Infinite Danger U-Turn - U-Turn to Hell Shallow Hal - Hal and the BIG Love Big Momma’s House - The Cop in drag Best Laid Plans - Infernal Plan Never Been Kissed - Have to Be In Hearts in Atlantis - Heart of the Beast Domestic Disturbance - The Athmospere of Fear Meet the Parents - Family Is a Nightmare Desperate Measures - Tormenting Moments Pitch Black - Threat of Darkness The Out-Of-Towners - Crazy from New York Some movies like Ocean’s Eleven have two part titles. First comes the English one and then the Finnish one -\> Ocean’s Eleven - Korkeat Panokset. More common is to give only the original title or the translated one. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/24 "2002-08-12T12:45:24Z")
This whole thing reminds me of an SNL sketch from about 1990. Mike Myers was a Japanese TV exec narrating a sitcom. “She is asking him why the hamburgers smell like a car that has crashed. He tries to think of a falsehood—but he cannot! So he throws fudge at her! If you like _The Nude House of Wacky People_, you will also like our other shows: _You Can’t Stop Him, He’s Too Insane!_; _Good Hitting Police_, and _Who Can Figure Out Such Devices?_” Don’t sweat; it wouldn’t make any more sense if you could see the visuals. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/25 "2002-08-12T13:01:17Z")
Forrest J. Ackerman’s magazine **Famous Monster of Filmland** used to run articles on this back in the 60s. In fact they turned it into a game – See if you can guess the original Movie Title from the name of the Translation. Sometimes you have to wonder about the translations. “Dr. Frankenstein” shows up surprisingly often in the titles of movies that have nothing to do with Frankenstein, apparently just signal that it’s a horror flick. ---
**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 12, 2002, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/26 "2002-08-12T17:52:15Z")
A few more from Mexico: Far and Away - A Distant Horizon Disclosure - Sexual Harassment Wall Street - Power and Greed Top Gun - Passion and Glory The Wraith - Turbocop Flawless - Nobody’s Perfect Minority Report - Prior Sentence Bull Durham - The Durham Bulls The Man With Two Brains - The Erotic Doctor Billy Madison - Dumb But Not That Dumb Galaxy Quest - Heroes Out of Orbit My Girl - My First Kiss Breakfast Club - Club of Five One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - Trapped with No Way Out Above the Law - Nico The Blues Brothers - Hard-Face Brothers Bedazzled - To the Devil with the Devil ---
**Author:** ![Ivar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ivar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ivar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/27 "2002-08-12T18:36:10Z")
In Norway, the Austin Powers subtitles have been translated as the following “International Man of mystery” becomes “The spy who came out of the freezer” and “The Spy who Shagged me” becomes literally “The Spy who Spermed Me”, though “Spermed” is idiomatic for “impregnated”. ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/28 "2002-08-12T19:59:23Z")
I was in Paris when the film “Analyze This!” came to theatres. (It was that one where Robert DeNiro is a mob boss who goes to the Psychiatrist played by Billy Crystal. Hilarity ensues (or so the producers hope). I can’t recall for certain whether it even had a French title, but I do remeber that there _was_ an english title on the poster. The English title being “Mafia Blues”. I assume that this was because the original title relied to much on idiom. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/29 "2002-08-12T22:43:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rilchiam \* > \*\*This whole thing reminds me of an SNL sketch from about 1990. Mike Myers was a Japanese TV exec narrating a sitcom. “She is asking him why the hamburgers smell like a car that has crashed. He tries to think of a falsehood—but he cannot! So he throws fudge at her! If you like _The Nude House of Wacky People_, you will also like our other shows: _You Can’t Stop Him, He’s Too Insane!_; _Good Hitting Police_, and _Who Can Figure Out Such Devices?_” > > Don’t sweat; it wouldn’t make any more sense if you could see the visuals. \*\* What? You have not finished your homework? Then you must fight the bear! ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/30 "2002-08-13T09:25:51Z")
English language movies released in Norway often keep the original title; I notice that our local cinema is currently listing (among other titles) _Men in Black II, A Beautiful Mind, Murder by Numbers,_ and _Panic Room_, for instance. But there have certainly been some memorable non-literal translations._Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me_, for instance, became _Austin Powers: The Spy Who Spermed Me_. The title was roundly criticized, both because “spermed” is no more of a word in Norwegian than it is in English, and because the spy in question was female… _Airplane!_ became _Help, We’re Flying!_ and _National Lampoon’s Vacation_ was translated as _Help, We’re On Vacation!_. So lots of absurd comedies now get names that start with “Help, We’re…” When the distributors had to come up with a title for _Miss Congeniality_, they knew that the average Norwegian was familiar with beauty contests and “Miss X” titles, but not the word “congeniality”. So they gave it a new title but in English: _Miss Undercover_. And one of my favorites: _Dead Poets’ Society_ became _The Day Is Yours_. ---
**Author:** ![Aurora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Aurora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aurora)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/31 "2002-08-13T14:22:50Z")
There’s an old movie called “Bringing up Baby” (“Baby” being the pet leopard in the movie.) The German title is “Leoparden küsst man nicht”, roughly “You shouldn’t kiss leopards”. _scratches head_ ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138/32 "2002-08-13T17:18:54Z")
I’ve noticed that title translations from German to English often make little sense. Our local art museum was having a German film festival and they translated \*Vormittagsspuke (= Late Morning Ghosts \*) as _Ghosts Before Breakfast_. I can understand the need to make some changes in translation, but that one makes absolutely no sense. One that is slightly more reasonable is _The Hobbit_, which was titled in German _The Little Hobbit_. Because _Hobbit_ is a very English word, even if Tolkien might have invented it, maybe the German publisher thought that the insertion of the adjective would make the title sound better. Unfortunately, though, it does give the title a more juvenile spin than it otherwise would have. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-title-translations-of-english-moviews/123138.md?page=1)