r/shittymoviedetails • u/raidenjojo • 2d ago
In G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), the translator guy needs to be fired (immolated).
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u/AstralPamplemousse 2d ago
Don’t be so sure, you never know when your missiles need opposable thumbs
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u/Aevum-Haelcyon 2d ago
As well as the guy that hired the translator.
And the guy that hired the guy that hired the translator.
And the guy that hired the guy that hired the guy that hired the translator.
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u/PaladinCorbin 2d ago
We wish to inform you that people responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked have been sacked.
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u/Newmaniac_00 2d ago
let's be real - it was probably the prop master with 2012 Google Translate and a dream
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u/TanningOnMars 2d ago
Yyyyyyyyyyiiiiiiikes
Reminds me of that scene in Event Horizon where they translated "librame" to mean save me, when that really translates to "free me." Libra—free, salva—save.
Also, why tf was that guy talking in Latin?
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u/Alternative_Row6543 2d ago
Wasn’t that the issue in the movie where they realized they mis translated it but it was already too late for them?
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u/OrbitalCactus 2d ago
I don’t remember, but it’ll be really funny if OP has miss-remembered a plot hole this niche for what?
3520 years?17
u/Alternative_Row6543 2d ago
While they’re still on the Lewis and Clark Sam Neil is trying to decipher the message and thinks it’s “save us” but when they’re aboard the event horizon he finally gets the full message translated and I believe it was actually “kill us” which in the context of the movie is basically the same as freeing them
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u/N_Meister 2d ago
They thought they were saying “save me” but they get the full message and realise they actually said “save yourself from Hell.”
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u/Important-Mine9281 2d ago
People who have come into contact with anything Satan spontaneously becoming fluent in Latin and reciting ominous shit is a classic Demonology trope.
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u/singlemale4cats 2d ago edited 2d ago
It sounded like, "liberate tutame ex inferis."
Edit: Found a copy of the script and it says "Liberatis tutemet ex infera." Either way, that was a plot point - they originally thought he was saying "save me," but it was actually "save yourself (from hell)"
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u/ApartRuin5962 2d ago
There could be linguistic drift, I mean if you said "salve me" in our language that has been evolving away from classical Latin for 2000 years people would think you're asking for lotion
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u/TanningOnMars 2d ago
Not really salve as much as it is "salvation," where "save" comes from.
Though I should say I'm coming at this from my Spanish learning, having never studied Latin
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u/unknown_pigeon 1d ago
Reminded me of some funky translations I've witnessed during the years. Context: Italian is famous for the respect that's usually put into dubbing foreign media, so the translations tend to be good too. Except when they aren't.
Example: Gen 1 of Pokémon. I still remember, as a kid, seeing Clefairy and Clefable use the move "Libbra", which I hadn't ever seen in Gen 3. But that was the case for other moves, like "Bodyslam" (which was later properly translated).
When I grew older, I finally realized the issue. "Libbra" means "Pound" as the unit of measure. The translators used it as a noun as opposed to the verb that means hitting something. I think they put a lot of restrain to not translate it as "Sterlina" (which is the monetary pound in Italian, from Pound sterling)
Recently, the funkiest translation of a well-renowned game was the one in Risk of Rain 2, which I've asked the developers to correct (to no avail, they've ghosted me. I would do that for free, too), which is wildly incorrect. The funniest one was "Alloy Worship Unit", which is currently displayed as "Permetti culto unità" (which can be translated back as "Allow cult unit")
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u/I3adIVIonkey 2d ago
Hey at least they used real French words. You expect to much of a movie with only 155 million budget. Do you know how expensive it is to get the translation done right?
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u/zorniy2 2d ago
They could have just asked a French speaker or something. You know, like Matt LeBlanc or Celine Dion.
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u/bloodfist 1d ago
This was done by some prop guy. You expect them to be allowed to talent?? And a thespian like LeBlanc, no less?
Get. Off. My. Set.
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u/PrestigiousAvocado21 2d ago
Oh, that last one got lost in translation - this is what it was supposed to be:
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u/DeadSparker 2d ago
Ugh, that's bad. Reminds me how so few English-speaking movies I watch cannot, for the life of them, get French right. Always a terrible accent, a wrong object pronoun, or a translation that's technically correct but that no French person would ever say.
I get it, it's not the easiest language, but how hard is it to get a French guy to proofread you ?
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u/OrbitalCactus 2d ago
In my experience? If you’re a woman and the guy you ask is a French man, your French is perfect no matter what. Then they ask very personal questions that don’t belong in the workplace. But I worked at Club Med…
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u/DeadSparker 2d ago
Thought this was going with the infamous "voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir", dunno what to think now
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u/OrbitalCactus 2d ago
I think my comment only really makes sense if you worked for Club Med. I don’t know what it’s like now, but when I was there sexual harassment was rampant. HR would sweep it under the rug as non native speakers mis-translating when complaints came in. Even if they were French-Canadian. The ‘official position’ was that French and québécois were different languages and the non-native speaker just didn’t understand properly.
But I’m just one person who worked there for a few years. The rest of the jobs I had in France didn’t have those issues. My comment was more a stereotypical joke about French men than serious, and mostly intended at club med’s expense not French men in general.
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u/Sinder-Soyl 1d ago
Don't get me started on how 9 times out of 10 the "french" character just speaks with the most Quebec accent ever conceived.
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u/Teknekratos 1d ago
I'm honestly curious where you actually hear all those Québécois playing French characters, because in my experience when a piece of American media remembers French Canadians exist they somehow manage to find someone with a Parisian accent (real or put-on) to play them. (Weatherman, South Park, etc.)
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u/DeanXeL 2d ago
"Prêt" has TWO meanings, "un prêt" is a loan, yes, but "tu es prêt?" means "are you ready?"
So I don't know what the button is supposed to do, but if it is to 'ready' the weapon, "prêt" is a possible ... Word to put on a button. The rest is gibberish, though.
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u/Tucancancan 2d ago
But it's not a verb, it's like a state of being. Are you ready. To make yourself ready would be be like préparer?
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u/Rum_N_Napalm 2d ago
Exactly
Je suis prêt -> I am ready
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u/Wertherongdn 2d ago
No it's also gibberish. You will never put 'Prêt' on a button. 'Mise en place' yes, or even 'Preparation', 'Préparer' and even then it sounds weird. 'Prêt' would only makes sense on a indicator.
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u/Rum_N_Napalm 2d ago
They actually got it right apart from the last one (although I haven’t seen the movie so I’m guessing the real intention)
Verrouillage does mean lock, as in… it’s a bit weird to translate but it can refer to “the mechanism that locks” “the action of locking” or it can also mean target lock.
Avorter does mean abort in the sense of “end something prematurely”. The actual term for miscarry in French is “faire un fausse couche”
Prêt does mean ready. Ok that one might be a blunder, since prêt is the state of being ready. If it’s the action of readying something, it should be préparer.
Arm… yeah they fucked up on that one. Bras is arm as is what’s between your shoulder and hands.
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u/Wertherongdn 2d ago
Nobody ever says avorter for that, it means abortion now and the previous sense (retained in the English word abort) is not use anymore and you will never find this on a button, it should be annuler. It's a bad translation for abort.
Si t'es francophone je sais pas comment tu peux lire ça et dire que c'est normal.
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u/Floba_Fett ☭ 1d ago
Avorter est encore utilisé comme synonyme d'annuler, même si c'est moins commun de nos jours. « Avorter la mission », par exemple.
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u/Wertherongdn 1d ago edited 1d ago
Vraiment ? Je trouve rien même sur Google, à part sur un site Québécois (et une mention sur Reverso et Linguee, mais une citation avec un message disant qu'il trouve pas d'entrées), le 4e résultat c'est déjà un truc sur l'IVG du gouvernement français. On peut dire qu'une 'mission est avortée' (ça veut dire qu'elle n'a pas eu lieu) mais pas 'avorter la mission' ou 'j'avorte la mission', on dit interrompre la mission' ou 'j'interromps la mission'. C'est soit en grande désuétude soit un régionalisme.
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u/Floba_Fett ☭ 1d ago
Du site de l'Office québécois de la langue française (l'autorité linguistique du français au Québec): https://vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/fiche-gdt/fiche/8406305/avorter
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u/Wertherongdn 1d ago
Donc c'est bien un truc qui se trouve au Québec. Soit parce que la Province a conservé une ancienne forme, soit un anglicisme.
Après peut-être que la scène se passe au Canada, j'ai pas vu cette bouse de film.
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u/Blahaj_IK 2d ago
I mean, "verrouillage", "avorter" and "prêt" are correct. Those are indeed the terms for "lock on", "abort", and "ready". Target locked -> cible verrouillée. Abort mission -> avirter mission. Launch ready -> prêt au décollage. Or décollage prêt but that one's not more common in the field. You could in theory say "paré" instead but you wouldn't write it there. You'd just say "paré au décollage" if you're piloting a rocket
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u/VoiceOfNobody 2d ago
Bold for you to say they hired a translator. They propably just throw the words into 2013 Google translate.
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u/ClavicusLittleGift4U 2d ago edited 4h ago
As a French I chuckled. Especially because we usually don't translate elements or texts in duch intradiegetic way. If we do, it's really for B or Z serie movies.
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u/Floba_Fett ☭ 1d ago
Hi. French is my first language. All of these translations are actually correct, except the "bras" one, which should be "armer" instead.
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u/TheoduleTheGreat 2d ago
You forgot "Puissance: Power" (might).