50 Movie Titles That Got Lost In Translation

On their journey around the international film markets, films have a habit of changing names, as local distributors target the flicks at their audiences. Sometimes, however, as this list shows, a new title doesn’t always quite capture the meaning of the original when it’s translated back into English.

We’ve hunted round many corners of the Internet for this collection, and credited sources at the bottom. If you’ve got any more to add, do let us know. Meanwhile, we’ll start our tour in China, where they’ve got this little lot…

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CHINA

The Full Monty: Six Naked Pigs

The Blair Witch Project: Night In The Cramped Forest

As Good As It Gets: Mr Cat Poop

Boogie Nights: His Great Device Makes Him Famous (Genius. Just genius)

Leon: This Hit Man Is Not as Cold as He Thought

Fargo: Mysterious Murder in Snowy Cream

Austin Powers: Trump Card Big Liar

Deep Impact: Earth And Comet Collide

Knocked Up: One Night, Big Belly

Nixon: The Big Liar

Risky Business: Just Send Him To University Unqualified

Free Willy: A Very Powerful Whale Runs To Heaven

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GERMANY

Airplane: The Unbelievable Trip In A Wacky Aeroplane or The Incredible Journey In A Crazy Airplane (depending on which translation you believe)

K9: My Partner with the cold Snout

Dragnet : Floppy Coppers Don’t Bite, or Yellow Coppers Don’t Bite (again, depending on which translation you go with)

The Parent Trap: A Twin Seldom Comes Alone

Die Hard: Die Slowly

Die Hard With A Vengeance: Die Slowly, Now More Than Ever

Dodgeball : Full Of The Nuts

Girl, Interrupted: Cuckoo (Succinct and to the point…)

Annie Hall: The Urban Neurotic

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ISRAEL:

Knocked Up: The Date That Screwed Me

Superbad: Super Horny

The Naked Gun: The Gun Died Laughing

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ITALY:

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind: If You Leave Me, I Delete You

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FRANCE:

Fried Green Tomatoes: The Secret Is In The Sauce

Dirty Harry: Inspector Harry

Home Alone: Mom, I Missed The Plane

The Matrix: The Young People Who Traverse Dimensions While Wearing Sunglasses

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SPAIN:

The Dark Knight: Night Of The Knight (we really like this one…)

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PERU:

Knocked Up: Slightly Pregnant

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MEXICO:

Juno: Juno: Grow, Run and Stumble.

Snatch: Pigs And Diamonds

Thelma and Louise: An Unexpected End

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DENMARK:

Die Hard With A Vengeance: Die Hard: Mega Hard (That’s just awesome, to be fair)

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HONG KONG

American Pie : American Virgin Man

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ARGENTINA:

Grease: Vaseline

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PORTUGAL:

Lost In Translation: Meetings and Failures in Meetings

Die Hard: Skyscraper Attack

Die Hard 2: Airport Attack

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CZECH REPUBLIC

Bad Santa: Santa Is A Pervert

Hot Shots! : Warm Shots

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FINLAND

Big Momma’s House: The Cop In Drag

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JAPAN:

Army Of Darkness: Captain Supermarket (WTF?)

The Horse Whisperer: Held by Wind in Montana

Being John Malkovich : The Hole Of Malkovich

Mr Holland’s Opus: The Sunny Classroom

Jersey Girl: I Love My Dad The Best In The World

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TAIWAIN:

Get Smart: Is The Spy Capable Or Not

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LATIN AMERICA:

Rain Man: When Brother’s Meet

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We’re indebted to, and recommend, the following articles:

www.azcentral.com/ent/movies/articles/2008/08/01/20080801movienames.htmlhttp://cinemascopian.com/2008/03/13/how-do-you-say-lost-in-translation/www.madmind.de//2007/11/20/stupid-german-movie-titles/http://mrjam.typepad.com/diary/2008/03/dont-ask-who-i.htmlhttp://jam.canoe.ca/Movies/2008/11/14/7414821-sun.htmlhttp://bluffcharging.wordpress.com/2008/04/24/the-10-worst-translated-movie-titles/ http://www.myfoxwausau.com/myfox/pages/Entertainment/Detail?contentId=7121798&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=7.2.1http://www.geocities.com/smvgrey/Titlefun.html

And if you’re looking for a good spoof of all of these, click here.

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