I believe that Saving Private Ryan was released in Germany as Der Soldat James Ryan, which is far from a literal translation.
I suspect that the reason was something along the lines of what’s been discussed, but I can’t fathom exactly what it might have been. Does somebody who speaks German see what the problem might have been with a more direct translation?
I think the problem with a literal translation of “Saving Private Ryan” into German is mainly that the verb forms (are those gerunds? I can’t remember) like ‘saving’ aren’t really used in German.
So you couldn’t say ‘Saving’. To incorporate that, you’d need a title like “Die (Er)rettung des Soldat Ryans” which would be “The Rescue of Private Ryan”. While it is a better translation, it’s certainly not a better title; it’s a little bit clumsy, it seems, it lacks the snappiness that is often looked for in movie titles.
I think ‘Der Soldat James Ryan’ is a good title for the movie. It makes it clear that this particular soldier is the primary focus of the story. Using the full name also accomplishes the task of making it clear that he is an American soldier without having to say “Der amerikanische Soldat …”
A pretty good effort, especially if you compare it some others (like the one I mentioned above).
In any case, the Japanese likely think that we’re bizarre for referring to our loved ones as food items. (Sugar? Sugarplum? Honey?)
Actually, AkashJ, many Japanese have adopted American terms of endearment, at least on TV. “Honey” and, more frequently, “Darling” are well understood with the same meaning as in the US. They appear a lot in commercials or in film titles, but I don’t recall ever hearing someone actually say it IRL unless they were intentionally trying to overdose on ‘cuteness’.
Bakc to the OP, I’ve seen a lot of changed titles in Japan. Some I understand, some I don’t.
quoted titles are my (probably bad) translations, unquoted are written phonetically or in roman characters.
Understandable: Stripes -> Paradise Army; Raising Arizona -> “The Baby is Stolen”; Bewitched -> “Wife is a Witch”
Don’t really understand: My Room -> Marvin’s Room; Stepmother -> Goodnight Moon. (although there really isn’t a common term in Japanese for ‘step-’ anything)
Really don’t understand: Karate Kid -> Best Kid. Why was a Japanese term changed to an English one for the Japan release? 
Thanks, panamajack, that makes a lot of sense. That’s really pretty slick - I hadn’t thought about sticking in his first name to emphasize that he’s American.
I was in Israel when Speed was released there. The title was actually pronounced “Speed” but written in Hebrew.
I know this is the exact opposite of the examples given, but if you don’t like it, you can go bite the wax tadpole.
Peter Jacksons gem Brain Dead was released as Dead Alive in the US. Why?
The often discussed Dutch movie Spoorloos (literally “trackless”, but actually meaning “gone without a trace”) was re-filmed (and brutally raped) as The Vanishing in the US. But I do know that the original Dutch version was also brought out in the US. Is it called The Vanishing as well?
The book on which the film is based is called Het Gouden Ei (“The Golden Egg”), which was also translated into The Vanishing. Go figure.
Sometimes, as has been mentioned, you’re stuck with an untranslatable pun or a cultural reference that just do not register. WTF is “Groundhog Day” ??
Interestingly, plenty of movies are released under their original name in Denmark - “Saving Private Ryan” and “Seven” comes to mind.
S. Norman
Well, ALL movies with English titles are released under their English name in the Netherlands. A few exceptions: kids movies like “The Beauty and the Beast” are dubbed over in Dutch, and the title is also translated. Very literaly, usually.
When I saw box office posters for Die Nakte Kanone Zwei-und-Halb in Germany a few years ago, I nearly crashed my car laughing 
Where is Encino?
I guess that’s why we had California Man in the UK, instead of Encino Man
RussellM
Coldie - give up non-polyglots a hand.
Is my seriously miniscule knowledge of German serving me properly when I come to the conclusion that that would be ‘Naked Gun 2 1/2’?
Damn straight, Tengu 
Now try this: Der Postbeambte klingelt immer zwei Mahl
According to babelfish, this should be The Postbeambte always rings to two meal, which sounds more interesting than anything postal.
I know we’ve done silly translation threads before, but taking this into Italian gives us Il Postbeambte squilla sempre due al pasto and then back into German gives us Squilla immer zwei Postbeambte zur Mahlzeit, which seems to suggest that the postman always comes round at dinner time.
RussellM
Hmmm… maybe “zweimahl” is written as one word
I certainly don’t know of any movie named At dinner time, two Postmen will arrive at your door!
Hmmmm. In musical theatre, they usually leave the title alone. CATS is CATS, even if it’s about KATZ, NEKO, LES CHATS, GATO, whatever. And Jesus Christ Superstar is totally untranslatable.
Phantom of the Opera was translated to Das Phantom der Oper in Germany, and Het Spook van der Oper in Holland.
I’ve always wondered how anyone could translate the lyrics into another language and make them fit the idea and the music for the show. Those people must make big bucks.
Sometimes the title just doesn’t translate. The James Bond movie “The Living Daylights” relies on an english saying that doesn’t have a counterpart in other languages, so the foreign titles are completely different.
The French comedy that was titled “Pardon Mon Affaire” in the US had sme equally untranslatable title in France, I understand.
Forrest J. Ackerman’s “Famous Monsters of Filmland” magazine (which I used to read every month as a kid) used to run articles on foreign titles all the time. You’d find the name “Frankenstein” being injected into titles that had nothing at all to do with Frankenstein, for instance.
As far as “Harry Potter and the Philospher’s/Sorceror’s Stone” goes, that burns me up. Heck, I knew what the Philosopher’s Stone was as a kid. I seriously doubt if British kids are better educated about alchemy than American kids – we aren’t talking about real history or science here. I think they just “dumbed it down”, ASSUMING that American kids wouldn’t know, or might be scared off by the word “Philosopher” in the title. That’s more than a little annoying. “Philosopher’s Stone” has meaning and resonance beyond the book – it was a real alchemical belief. “Sorceror’s Stone” was made up for the American version. I understand that they changed the text, as well, and that really rankles. Nobody had to “translate” “The Hobbit” into American!
“Het Spook van de Opera”, actually - but it does indeed mean the same.
Oh, and Annie? Thanks for leaving the enter key alone - I appreciate it 
In Japan, the original Star Trek TV show was called “Sulu, Master of Navigation”. :D:D
Just wait
Cartooniverse
I was in Israel when “Raiders of the Lost Ark” came out.
There are two different Hebrew words, both of which translate into English as “Ark”. The first is “tayvah”, as in “Noah’s Ark”. The other is “aron”, as in “Ark of the Covenant”. Guess which word they used when they chose to translate the title literally: “Shovavei Tayvah Haavudah”.
So I figured to myself, “Echh, another flick about people who think they found Mt. Ararat.” and I passed on it. It was several years later that I discovered the error and watched the video.
Great movie, wish I had seen it in the theater!
100% Hijack: I was taken by my German grandmother, Nani, to see “In Search of Noah’s Ark” as a child. Okay, it was decades ago. DID ANYONE FIND ANYTHING on Mt. Ararat???
I wanna belieeeeeeeeve.
Cartooniverse
<<End of Hijack, we now return you to your previous thread, already in progress.>>