Ridiculous Movie Title Translations

[Cremildo]

We all know that a movie's original title often cannot be translated literally to another language because it'd sound strange or just wouldn't make sense, or because there are other movies that already have the same title.

That's how we end up getting outright weird, ridiculously improper or even surprisingly great title adaptations. I thought it would be fun to share some notable cases from our respective countries.

In Brazil:
The Funhouse ---> Pay to Enter, Pray to Leave (this one's actually ingenious)

Stuart Little ---> The Little Stuart Little (granted, his surname wasn't translated)

Memento ---> Amnesia (it's specifically stated in the movie that he does not suffer from amnesia)

Shanghai Knights ---> To Hit or To Run in London

Down by Law ---> Daunbailó (simply the written pronunciation of the English title!)

The Godfather ---> The Powerful Big Boss (it sounds awful in English, but it sounds much catchier in Portuguese than simply "the godfather")

The Hangover ---> If You Drink, Don't Get Married

Giant ---> That's How Mankind Walks (it actually sounds epic and poetic in Portuguese)

The Big Country ---> Of the Earth Men Are Born

Insidious ---> Supernatural

Rat Race ---> Everybody's Crazy! A Race for Million$

Shane ---> Brutes Love Too (again, it sounds awful in English but kind of poetic in Portuguese)

Annie Hall ---> Neurotic Groom, Nervous Bride (yep)

Taxi Driver ---> Taxi Driver - Taxi Driver (with the second part in Portuguese - I kid you not)

[aiman04]

My country stopped translating film titles about 20 years ago, we have since use the original title as is.

[SethRex]

LoL. "If you drink, don't get married." LoL.

[Foggy]

The Chinese title for Baby Driver is Extreme Bandit Car God

[Creed]

Originally Posted by Foggy

The Chinese title for Baby Driver is Extreme Bandit Car God

That actually sounds badass!

[esteban²]

In Belgium, there's the Flemish side and the French side. We, Flemish, get the Original titles. But for the French part, these are mostly translated or a re-interpretation. Really stupid at times. And sometimes for no reason ...

- Life as a House > La Maison sur 'l Océan (The House on the Ocean)
- Fun with Dick and Jane > Braqueurs Amateurs (Amateur Burglars)
- Step Up > Sexy Dance
- Me, Myself & Irene > Fous d'Irène (Mad about Irene)
- The Cable Guy > Disjoncté (Disgarded)

Some recent ones :

- xXx : The Return of Xander Cage > xXx : Reactivated
- A Cure for Wellness > A Cure for Life
- Patriots Day > Traque á Boston (Raid in Boston)
- The Eagle Huntress > La Jeune Fille et son Aigle (The Young Girl and her Eagle)
- Life > Origin Inconnue (Origin Uknown)
- Unlocked > Conspiracy
- Baywatch > Baywatch : Alerte á Malibu (Alert in Malibu)
- Gifted > Mary
- War for the Planet of the Apes > Planet of the Apes : Supremacy
- Baby Driver > The Driver
- The Emoji Movie > Le Monde Secret des Emojis (The Secret of World of the Emoji's)
- The Hitman's Bodyguard > Hitman & Bodyguard
- American Made > Barry Seal : American Traffic
- The Road to Mandalay > Goodbye Mandalay
- Happy Death Day > Happy Birthdead
- Daddy's Home 2 > Very Bad Dads 2
- Flatliners > The Forbidden Experience
- Bad Moms 2 > A Bad Moms Christmas
- ...

But it happens on the other side too. Where often I don't understand the American choices of translations.

- Le Fidéle (The Worshipper) > The Racer and the Jailbird
- Ballerina > Leap!
- De Verenkoning (King of the Feathers) > Beyond, Beyond
- De Zaak Alzheimer (The Alzheimer Case) > Memory of a Killer
- ...

And something that's just fun to know, the title for THE LION KING 2 : SIMBA'S PRIDE is misinterpreted in many countries. In the English version, 'pride' stands for 'a group of lions'. Not every language has a translation for that. So it's often translated in the other meaning of 'pride', being proud of something. So it's translated as Simba being proud of Kiara, his 'pride'.

[shinobipopcorn]

I like some of Japan's translations:

Up = Grampa Carl's Flying House (or whatever way you choose to translate "Carl-jiisan")
The Men Who Stare At Goats = Goat & Man & Man & Wall & (As strange a title as the movie, LOL!)
Army of Darkness = Captain Supermarket (and it even has a poster of Bruce Campbell on top of groceries. XD Thanks, Japan.)
Sister Act = Singing Love Songs to Angels (They showed the one where they go to the competition to the entire school when I taught in Japan. No idea why they picked it over all the great American movies that could have showcased US culture. Maybe Whoopi faking nunnery is just that popular overseas?)
The Wolverine = Wolverine Samurai (He's not a samurai, he doesn't accept Yashida's katana or even use it like all the publicity pics show him using it, and he actually spends most of the movie bumbling around reminding people though his actions that he is very much not Japanese. Comic Wolverine is crying. )

[ZeTi]

One that always stuck with me ...

Away from her --> "An Ihrer Seite" (which translates to: At her side)

[Cremildo]

Coco is gonna be called "Live: Life is a Party" here. Jeez.

[Visionist]

Oh lord, in Italy it's awful. I especially hate how every film which keeps its English title has to have an inane, often nonsensical caption underneath in Italian.

Not only do they mangle simple titles like Under Siege, which becomes "Trappola In Alto Mare"- "Trap On The High Seas" (WTF) whereas a simple, literal "Sotto Assedio" would sound great and work fine, but they also fail to take advantage of the Italian language where a literal translation would actually sound better in Italian than English, a classic example being Kingdom Of Heaven, which instead of being translated literally and fittingly as "Regno Del Cielo" (the final line of the Christian lord's prayer, very fittingly) they simply call it "Le Crociate"- "The Crusades". Pfft.

TLDR: Italian titles stink

[esteban²]

The French side of Belgium did it again. Not going to type all the French, but I'll stick to the translation.

- 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri /// The Billboards of Revenge
- The Commuter /// The Passenger
- The Post /// Pentagon Papers
- Den of Thieves /// Criminal Squad
- The Mercy /// The Day of My Return
- The Hurricane Heist /// Cagegory 5
- God's Own Country /// Only the Earth
- Rampage: Big Meets Bigger /// Rampage: Out of Control
- Lean on Pete /// The Wild Return
- A Quiet Place /// Without a Sound
- Blockers /// Parental Control
- The First Purge /// American Nightmare 4 : The Origins
- The Meg /// In Turbid Water
- ...

To be continued.

[RCRochester]

In Canada we have a lot of bilingual English / French blu-ray covers. Here are some of the more amusing ones:

Jaws = The teeth of the sea

Home Alone = Mom, I missed the plane

Smokey and the Bandit =- Come after me, sheriff

The Karate Kid = The moment of truth

Ghostbusters = S.O.S. ghosts

Airplane = Is there finally a pilot on the plane?

Rooster Cogburn = A bible and a rifle

Grease = Brillantine (which amounts to the same thing, though Brillantine is an actual brand name pomade product)

I noticed above that someone said in Belgium "Baby Driver" in French is just "The Driver". In Canada, it's "Baby le Chauffer" or "Baby the Driver".

[esteban²]

Lol @ "Mom, I missed the Plane".

[Michael24]

I always thought Die Hard's Spanish title, Crystal Jungle, sounded pretty cool.

[Wildcat2000]

I love weird translations. These are great.

Come after me sheriff sounds like Come at me bro

[TajSamKojiJesam]

I believe The Sixth Sense's Chinese translation means He's a Ghost!, while Kindergarten Cop's title translation in Chinese means Devil Arnold King of Children.

American Beauty was for some reason translated as Vrtlog života in Croatian, which means The Vortex of Life.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is known as Zwei glorreiche Halunken in German, meaning Two Magnificent Bastards.

[steve_dave]

I’m not sure what the problem is but...

Solo: A Star Wars Story is Han Solo: A Star Wars Story in Thailand.

[Leslie Dame]

A blast from the past from Germany:

Airplane! (1980) -> Die unglaubliche Reise in einem verrückten Flugzeug -> The Unbelievable travel in a crazy Airplane
Sixteen Candles (1984) -> Das darf man nur als Erwachsener -> Only grown ups can do that
National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) -> Die schrillen Vier auf Achse -> The Offbeat Four on the Road
National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985) -> Hilfe, die Amis kommen -> Help, the Amis are coming (Ami is derived from Amerikaner, but it specifically refers to people from the United States)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) -> Ich glaub’, ich steh’ im Wald -> I believe I'm standing in a Forest
Stripes (1981) -> Ich glaub’, mich knutscht ein Elch! -> I believe a Moose is french kissing me!
Revenge of the Nerds (1984) -> Die Rache der Eierköpfe -> The Revenge of the Eggheads (Egghead/Eierkopf. Condescending term for Intellectual)
Creepshow (1982) -> Die unheimlich verrückte Geisterstunde -> The creepy crazy Haunting Hour

[Cremildo]

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is called "The Woman Makes the Man" here.

[JEDGAR1000]

Some amusing Chinese ones I've come across

Ratatouille - Mouse king of cooking

War for the Planet of the Apes - Ape Star Emergence: Final Fight

Logan - Diamond Wolf 3: Final Fight

And Japan got

Furious 7 - Wild Speed: Sky Mission