Although Guardians of the Galaxy was one of the most successful movies this summer, early reports on the film’s release in China are decidedly less optimistic. That’s because Guardians, which Chinese distributors translated to ‘Interplanetary Unusual Attacking Team,’ hired a second-rate translation company to do the translation – resulting in disaster.
Over eighty mistakes were recorded in the subtitles. From Gudabaihua, a Chinese social media who watched the film (via THR):
“Aside from a lot of mistranslations, the subtitles failed to show the original feel of the movie, such as jokes, puns and homophones. We cannot help but doubt the professionalism of the translator.”
Guardians opened to $30 million opening weekend in China, which isn’t exactly pocket change, but expectations for its future are mixed. Viewers are annoyed by the lackluster subtitling, even for a movie that is 90% “I am Groot.” HuaXia, the Chinese distributor behind the poorly translated Pacific Rim, is also responsible for Guardians. I’m not sure what could potentially lost from The Pacific Rim screenplay, but still. ‘Interplanetary Unusual Attacking Team.’
I was unable to find any of the flubs online, but If I find them I will stop every single thing I’m doing and report on it immediately.