View Full Version : Dumbing down film titles for yanks
With the impending release of Harry Potter I have been reminded reading this month's Empire mag that the film is marketed as 'Harry Potter and the Sourcerer's Stone' in the US, as the word 'philosopher' is likely to scare audiences off. This even required some scenes to be filmed twice for both US and non-US audiences.
I seem to recall The Madness of King George was supposed to be King George III, but changed because it was thought Americans would wonder what happened to parts I and II.
Are there any other examples of this 'dumbing-down' that anyone else knows of?
"When Saturday Comes" was changed from "A Pint O' Bitter"
...Powell & Pressburger's "A Matter Of Life And Death" was changed to "Stairway To Heaven"...
...oh, and by the way, it's "HP And The Sorcerer's [not 'Sourcerer's!] Stone"...
. . . :o . . .
I seem to remember that the Bond film Licence to Kill, was originally called Licence Revoked, but a survey in the States revealed that no Yanks knew what revoked meant.
Charlie
Confucius
01-11-2001, 21:17
Licence to Kill was to have been called Licence Revoked
'cept a survey was done and very few Americans knew what Revoked meant.
Actually, the real reason for the title change for The Madness of George III was certainly not because of American stupidity. US audiences there are probably more familiar with the title character than most Britons, since they get taught about him in school - he was monarch during the Wars of Independence and is therefore a key part of the history syllabus. Only they call him plain ole' King George, hence the name change.
Confucius
01-11-2001, 21:18
Snap.
My connections a bit slow :( 2nite as I'm downloading drivers for XP
Cornelius
01-11-2001, 21:42
Is there some sort of inferiority complex going on here? Do you feel the need to make yourselves feel better by thinking yourselves more intellectually superior to the American cinema going public?
Shakey21
01-11-2001, 21:52
Originally posted by Cornelius
Is there some sort of inferiority complex going on here? Do you feel the need to make yourselves feel better by thinking yourselves more intellectually superior to the American cinema going public?
We are better than those yanks! Well I am.
:D
dangermouse
01-11-2001, 23:27
Not dumbing down as such, but its always interesting to look out for the clapper boards when watching behind-the-scenes footage. A few I notcied was:
GATTACA - 'The 8th Day'
TEXAS CHAINSAW 1 - 'Leatherface'
PEARL HARBOR - 'A waste of everyones time'
(I made the last one up :D )
Davester
02-11-2001, 01:42
Originally posted by Cornelius
Is there some sort of inferiority complex going on here? Do you feel the need to make yourselves feel better by thinking yourselves more intellectually superior to the American cinema going public?
Small man syndrome!
wide_inside
02-11-2001, 06:16
It's all down to the difference in population sizes. If 49% of population is below average intelligence, then that's much fewer thick Brits than backward Yanks.:D
wide
Is there some sort of inferiority complex going on here? Do you feel the need to make yourselves feel better by thinking yourselves more intellectually superior to the American cinema going public?
Look at the mess they made of Bladerunner until the director's cut!
They also put a man on the moon.
A recent movie from New Zealand - <i>The Irrefutable Truth About Demons</i> - was re-titled simply <i>The Truth About Demons</i> in the US... and also in the UK if I'm not mistaken, so they obviously don't rate our intelligence too highly either... :rolleyes:
Originally posted by Cornelius
Is there some sort of inferiority complex going on here? Do you feel the need to make yourselves feel better by thinking yourselves more intellectually superior to the American cinema going public?
I don't think that was the original intention at all - I hope the point being made is that it's scary how western audiences are being *treated* as if they're un-intelligent by the media's marketing departments. Unfortunately it seems that it's their job to maximise revenue by appealing to the lowest common denominator in any potential audience...
This also works the other way.
The Michael J Fox Film 'The Concierge'(sp) was renamed for the UK 'For Love and Money' as we don't know what a Concierge is.
So i'd be a little careful accusing the Americans of not knowing anything:)
Originally posted by wide_inside
It's all down to the difference in population sizes. If 49% of population is below average intelligence, then that's much fewer thick Brits than backward Yanks.:D
wide
this one made my day ;-) THe simple ones are always the best!
Ol' Blue Eyes
02-11-2001, 07:46
Originally posted by Dave L
This also works the other way.
The Michael J Fox Film 'The Concierge'(sp) was renamed for the UK 'For Love and Money' as we don't know what a Concierge is.
So i'd be a little careful accusing the Americans of not knowing anything:)
I'm afraid you've got your facts mixed up here. It's the other way around - Barry Sonnenfeld filmed it as The Concierge and released it under that title internationally, including here, but in America the title was changed to For Love And Money.
I don't subscribe to the view that Americans are thick though, just that American marketing people, who tend to be from New York and Los Angeles, have a very patronising view of the rest of their country. This is common to many people from these cities.
Actually, the book was also published as 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' in the US, so the film is smply following that!
wide_inside
02-11-2001, 08:51
this one made my day ;-) THe simple ones are always the best!
are you saying I'm simple?
;)
wide
Mark Orme
02-11-2001, 09:33
US market - Reindeer Games
UK market - Deception
I know that our title makes alot more sense, but I kind of prefer the American title. Is this an example of an American title being "dumbed down" for us, or just a distributor making what they thought was a common-sense decision and renaming a film with an odd title. I think that I'd rather that they just left English language titles as they were, if only to avoid confusion.
Incidentally, if you get the R1 Reindeer Games disc, and reverse the cover, it has a French language cover. Never noticed this before, although I guess that it makes sense for Canada.
Originally posted by wide_inside
It's all down to the difference in population sizes. If 49% of population is below average intelligence, then that's much fewer thick Brits than backward Yanks.:D
wide
That would also mean there more intelligent Yanks than intelligent limeys ...right!!!
wide_inside
02-11-2001, 10:50
That would also mean there more intelligent Yanks than intelligent limeys ...right!!!
I wouldn't go that far. Every rule has an exception.
wide
Originally posted by pmdf
I don't think that was the original intention at all - I hope the point being made is that it's scary how western audiences are being *treated* as if they're un-intelligent by the media's marketing departments. Unfortunately it seems that it's their job to maximise revenue by appealing to the lowest common denominator in any potential audience...
Are you AntonB then? or are you their spokesperson??
Originally posted by TinTin
Are you AntonB then? or are you their spokesperson??
Excuse me? :confused: Just offering my take on things...
Arch Stanton
02-11-2001, 11:27
US market - Reindeer Games
UK market - Deception
This was actually changed for the U.K market because in the U.S it was a Christmas release. Complete with Ben Affleck in a santa suit poster. The U.K marketing folk obviously didn't want to confuse us when it was released in the spring.
Does any one know why the Cartoon Network has changed 'Batman Beyond' to 'Batman of the future'?
Creamstick
02-11-2001, 11:51
Originally posted by Arch Stanton
US market - Reindeer Games
UK market - Deception
This was actually changed for the U.K market because in the U.S it was a Christmas release. Complete with Ben Affleck in a santa suit poster. The U.K marketing folk obviously didn't want to confuse us when it was released in the spring.
That's wierd, I was about to post this earlier, when my computer crashed just before I hit the submit button....
SPOOKY! :D
Dear Mr Echo
02-11-2001, 12:00
Obvious one I can think of was Dangerous Liasons - retitled from Les Liasons Dangereuseseses ( I can't speak French very bon :))
Originally posted by Ol' Blue Eyes
I'm afraid you've got your facts mixed up here. It's the other way around - Barry Sonnenfeld filmed it as The Concierge and released it under that title internationally, including here, but in America the title was changed to For Love And Money.
I don't subscribe to the view that Americans are thick though, just that American marketing people, who tend to be from New York and Los Angeles, have a very patronising view of the rest of their country. This is common to many people from these cities.
If this is the case then why to The Beeb always list this film as 'For Love And Money' and not 'The Concierge' when it's on TV?
Ol' Blue Eyes
02-11-2001, 12:21
Originally posted by Dave L
If this is the case then why to The Beeb always list this film as 'For Love And Money' and not 'The Concierge' when it's on TV?
I confess I haven't seen it on TV but I promise you the cinema and video versions are called The Concierge here and For Love And Money in America. A quick browse through US and UK video sites will confirm this.
Probably the TV channel just played an American print. It's not such a well known film so the channel might not have known better. Another example - the Van Damme film Desert Heat plays on Sky as Inferno.
Lenny Nero
02-11-2001, 12:38
Originally posted by Ol' Blue Eyes
I'm afraid you've got your facts mixed up here. It's the other way around - Barry Sonnenfeld filmed it as The Concierge and released it under that title internationally, including here, but in America the title was changed to For Love And Money.
I don't subscribe to the view that Americans are thick though, just that American marketing people, who tend to be from New York and Los Angeles, have a very patronising view of the rest of their country. This is common to many people from these cities.
Oh yeah, definetly, I own an LD of that and it's titled For Love or Money.
And you're right about people from LA, we're all ignorant and full of ourselves. The rest of the world either doesn't exist for us, or exists the way we want to see it, and often misinterpret what people are actually like and... uhh actually like.
Creamstick
02-11-2001, 18:02
Originally posted by Ol' Blue Eyes
I confess I haven't seen it on TV but I promise you the cinema and video versions are called The Concierge here and For Love And Money in America. A quick browse through US and UK video sites will confirm this.
Probably the TV channel just played an American print. It's not such a well known film so the channel might not have known better. Another example - the Van Damme film Desert Heat plays on Sky as Inferno.
And "The Hunchback Hairball of LA" (UK title) usually plays on TV as "Big Man on Campus" (US Title).
Blade Runner
02-11-2001, 18:48
The 1990 film Fire Birds starring Nicolas Cage and Tommy Lee Jones was renamed Wings Of The Apache for UK release.
Creamstick
02-11-2001, 20:38
Wings of the Apache is a much better name...
"I AM THE GREATEST!!! I AM THE GREATEST!!!!!!" :)
Paul Bennison
02-11-2001, 21:05
The Pope Must Die was called The Pope Must Diet in the US due to the sensitivies toward the holy one.
dangermouse
02-11-2001, 21:17
Wasn't the Van Damme movie A.W.O.L. retitled 'Lionheart' in some territories (possibly the US) as I definately remember seeing a poster with that title.
And his movie Death Warrent was originally going to be released in the UK as 'Dusted', although they produced an advert piccy with that title, they obviously changed it at the last minute.
Gary Couzens
02-11-2001, 22:16
Originally posted by wide_inside
It's all down to the difference in population sizes. If 49% of population is below average intelligence, then that's much fewer thick Brits than backward Yanks.:D
Actually it doesn't work that way. The graph of intelligence across population is bell-shaped, with the MAJORITY of the population being of average intelligence (IQs approx 90 to 110), and the numbers tailing off sharply to the two extremes. MENSA level (about 148 upwards) is the top 2% of the population.
You'd be more accurate if you said that about 60%+ of the population is OF average intelligence.
Anybody remember the awful 80's teen movie 'Adventures in babysitting'? I've seen this played in the UK as 'A night on the town'
Still a dire film though.
wide_inside
06-11-2001, 06:25
Actually it doesn't work that way. The graph of intelligence across population is bell-shaped, with the MAJORITY of the population being of average intelligence (IQs approx 90 to 110), and the numbers tailing off sharply to the two extremes. MENSA level (about 148 upwards) is the top 2% of the population.
wow.
Little bit defensive there fella. Bad luck though, the concept still works.
wide
Ol' Blue Eyes
06-11-2001, 07:19
Foreign titles are often quite funny. My favourite is the Japanese title of Pretty Woman which translates as "She's A Cute Prostitute".
Summerisle
06-11-2001, 07:42
Originally posted by TinTin
They also put a man on the moon.
I think you'll find that was Germans.
Nick dVl
06-11-2001, 08:14
From what I remember reading on the IMDB, Crocodile Dundee got called "Crocodile" Dundee for US audiences (i.e. the quotes added) to prevent the mistaken impression that it was about a crocodile!
What I hate is when they actually dub in different dialogue between the US and UK/international versions. When I first saw Demolition Man, something seemed off when Stallone kept saying "Pizza Hut" but mouthing "Taco Bell" (they're both Pepsico companies, but I don't think the Taco Bell brand is that well known outside the US). They also went as far as to re-film various visual product-placement scenes.
Creamstick
06-11-2001, 08:25
Originally posted by Lefty
Anybody remember the awful 80's teen movie 'Adventures in babysitting'? I've seen this played in the UK as 'A night on the town'
Still a dire film though.
If I remember correctly, A Night On the Town is the US title - I actually saw this pile in the cinema - it does have Elizabeth Shue in it though!
Ol' Blue Eyes
06-11-2001, 09:29
Originally posted by Creamstick
If I remember correctly, A Night On the Town is the US title - I actually saw this pile in the cinema - it does have Elizabeth Shue in it though!
A Night On The Town was the UK cinema title - hiring teenagers as babysitters is an American tradition and I guess it was assumed British audiences wouldn't be familiar with it. It was released on video here under its American title, Adventures In Babysitting.
Lex Luthor
06-11-2001, 11:12
Originally posted by TinTin
They also put a man on the moon. You actually believe they did that? :p
Thornastor
06-11-2001, 12:16
What about in america it was encino man and the uk it was called ? man ( can`t remember ) And another film Filofax with homeless (James belushi I think) man takes over a rich persons life (James grodlin ?) at the moment i cant remember the full UK title Down and out of a ..... or is that the US title. Can anyone remember the uk title for me ?
Im nearly sure the UK title was Filofax
Ol' Blue Eyes
06-11-2001, 12:28
Originally posted by Thornastor
What about in america it was encino man and the uk it was called ? man ( can`t remember ) And another film Filofax with homeless (James belushi I think) man takes over a rich persons life (James grodlin ?) at the moment i cant remember the full UK title Down and out of a ..... or is that the US title. Can anyone remember the uk title for me ?
1) The UK title of Encino Man was California Man. Where is Paulie Shore these days I wonder? ("Would you like fries with that, dude?")
2) Filofax was the UK title. In America, it was released as Taking Care Of Business.
Originally posted by TinTin
They also put a man on the moon.
We're living in a world where we can put a man on the moon but can't get one on K. D. Lang.
;)
Ol' Blue Eyes
06-11-2001, 14:02
Originally posted by JohnMac
We're living in a world where we can put a man on the moon but can't get one on K. D. Lang.
;)
How could you get the moon on KD Lang?
(You could get two or three on Anne Widdecombe though)
I don't know any real film titles that were changed so I'll just make one up:
John Carpenter's The Malevolent Biogenetic Polymorphic Extraterrestrial Colonising Life-form.
:)
Schindler's Ark to Schindler's List is the one that really bugs me. Surely everyone can get that reference?
StuBruise
07-11-2001, 22:10
Originally posted by JimboF
Schindler's Ark to Schindler's List is the one that really bugs me. Surely everyone can get that reference?
I preferred Raiders Of The Lost Schindler meself :o
~~stu
Blue jean cop with peter weller of robocop fames was called shakedown in the us don't know why?
Creamstick
07-11-2001, 23:42
Originally posted by mixalot
Blue jean cop with peter weller of robocop fames was called shakedown in the us don't know why?
Good movie! Someone nicked my VHS copy of this years ago - Good opening too : With the Red Hot Chili Peppers playing Subterraneanhomesickblues, and the guy goes "Turn that s@@@ off, I hate rap music!" Then later, the woman with Peter Weller says that she hates Heavy Metal, and Hendrix is playing... I like the music in this movie!!! :D :D :D
The 1972 film The Hot Rock with Robert Redford & George Segal was renamed How to Steal a Diamond in Four Uneasy Lessons for UK release.
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