How important is a movie title? Do you decide whether or not you want to see one purely based on it? Once a movie is made and you know its title it is very strange to see it changed, but when movies are marketed in different countries sometimes the title doesn’t stay the same. Sometimes the new name is just as good, but sometimes they are weird or even funny. A list of examples from various countries after the break.
I’ve read about some strange translations in Israel and China, but since I couldn’t confirm this I stuck to the ones I could check myself:
These are quite normal:
 |
Original title: Once Upon a Time in the West Translated title: Play me the song of death (Germany) |
 |
Original title: Raiders of the Lost Ark Translated title: Hunter of the Lost Treasure (Germany) |
 |
Original title: Sunset Blvd. Translated title: The twilight of a life (Argentina/Mexico/Uruguay) Which I think sounds very beautiful |
 |
Original title: Jaws Translated title: The White Shark (Germany) |
 |
Original title: The Long Kiss Goodnight Translated title: Deadly Christmas (Germany) |
Descriptive:
 |
Original title: Coming to America Translated title: The Prince of Zamunda (Searching for the Ideal Woman) (Spain) |
 |
I was really surprised at this one as it basically spoils a bit of the movie:
Original title: |
And then there are funny ones:
 |
Original title: Die Hard Translated title: Die slowly (Germany) |
 |
Original title: Die Hard with a Vengeance Translated title: Die Hard Mega Hard (Denmark) Personally I think this one is awesome! |
 |
Original title: Dodgeball Translated title: Straight on the nuts (Germany) |
 |
Original title: Step Up Translated title: Sexy Dance (France) |
 |
Original title: No Strings Attached Translated title: Sex Friends (France) |
 |
Original title: John Tucker Must Die Translated title: Revenge is Sexy (Germany) |
 |
Original title: Cruel Intentions Translated title: Sex Games (Denmark) |
 |
Original title: Annie Hall Translated title: The City Neurotic (Germany) |
 |
Original title: Army of Darkness Translated title: Captain Supermarket (Japan) Couldn’t check this, but looking at the box it must be correct |
What are your favorites/do you know any others?
Die Hard Mega Hard is probably my favorite of these. Deliciously corny.
I made a blog post on the same subject a while ago, focusing on Swedish ones. Might be of interest.
http://aswedetalksmovies.wordpress.com/2011/07/21/odd-english-to-swedish-movie-title-translations/
All the Die Hard movies should have something like that, it makes it sound even more awesome!
Great article which others should also check out!
Die Hard Mega Hard! Fantastic. I still refer to The Incredibles as The Unbelieveables, as that is the German translation. It was released while I lived in Berlin, so the posters were everywhere. I also own a copy of Das Imperium Schlagt Zuruck on video; pretty much exactly as it sounds. It’s a cool title, but the video quality is horrendous!
Hahaha, Unbelievables sounds very weird. It’s obvious what the second one is and it’s a pretty literal translation….
Brilliant. Captain Supermarket – can’t wait to catch that one, especially after seeing that poster!
Well, I assume that they won’t have altered the movie itself 😉
Ha ha, just been laughing quite hard at some of these. Brilliant idea. I love “Sex Friends” and of course the excellent Die Hard titles :).
Top work you made my afternoon.
Having watch No Strings Attached yesterday I should check and see how that was translated.
You are welcome, it was fun making it…
This is pretty awesome. Like others have said, Die Hard Mega Hard is a great title. Die Slowly doesn’t really make any sense. The Shawshank one seems really lazy and odd. i will say that the one that made me laugh the most is the Dodgeball translation. It’s crude and ridiculous, but is very literal about a certain scene I guess.
Good stuff!
It’s amazing how some stuff gets translated. Wish it was possible to track down a translator that did one of these and get an explanation 😉
Ha! Great post. Some are funny while others translated almost melodious and some just weird. I’m always fascinated by “foreign” posters and poster art. Love to see how cinema is “translated” in different countries. Also, I’ll stop now as I seem to be using to many quote/unquotes in the reply 😉
Yeah, I remember Cracked.com ran an article about foreign movie poster, which resulted in some very strange ones…
Hilarious stuff. I love when film titles get lost in translation. This has actually given me an idea…
Can’t wait to find out what it is….I’ll keep my eyes open for a new article that is related to this 😉
Rita Hayworth – Key To Escape, haha! That’s hilarious.
Thanks for posting this, have often been baffled when seeing titles in foreign countries.
You are welcome and nice for you to visit my blog. Checked out your blog, which looked quite interesting as well!
Hahaha, this post is still making me laugh! ‘Die Hard Mega Hard’ is fantastic! 😀
Nice it was able to do that. I’ll probably try to compile another one in the future.
Ahahaha, this is a great post and I almost missed it! Too funny! Sometimes I laugh at the Indonesian translations of Hollywood movies, too. I often joke about it with my hubby.
Could you do a post on them? Would be really interested to find out how they are translated!
Pingback: Let’s Get Translatin’! Using Google Translator to Mess Up Famous Film Quotes « Southern Vision
Pingback: Why do movie titles change in other countries? « Lincoln bLogs