“Star Wars, Episode 3: Backstroke of the West” (cont’d)

Do you remember this:

As a result of (A) a guy named Jeremy who (B) had some free time on his hands and © a pirated Chinese DVD of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, (D) the miracle of the “Internets,” and (E) my son Will who somehow found this site, you are now witness to one of the funniest damn things you’ll ever see. Allow Jeremy to explain:

a couple of years ago when i was living in shanghai i bought a revenge of the sith dvd off the street. it came with hilariously mangled subtitles that ranged from somewhat close to what the actors were saying to far, far away….

i’ve been meaning to update the blog post I wrote ages ago to add in more scenes and upgrade the quality of the photos (they were digital camera pics and in some pics you can see my old tv) but of course you know how it goes- one never has the time.

so now that it’s chinese new year and i have a few days off work, i finally present to you as a new year’s present…

Key phrase here: hilariously mangled subtitles. How badly mangled? Here’s a taste:

the beginning scroll is mistranslated, even though the words are right up there on the screen.

star war (just one).

yup.

I was so blown away by the hilarity as well as the fact that Jeremy had taken the time to create this lengthy post, I ended the OP with this:

You can go through the whole thing here. But to honor Jeremy — who I think we all agree should be sainted for his efforts — we’ll be doing a weekly Sunday post of Star Wars: Episode III: Backstroke of the West for the next several weeks.

Well, Jeremy has responded:

I hereby accept my nomination for sainthood and declare every September 5th henceforth to be Saint Backstroke Day, to be celebrated by speaking in gibberish and consuming copious amounts of Mello Yello.

Seems like an excellent opportunity to delve more deeply into the spectacular annals of “Star Wars, Episode 3: Backstroke of the West”!

the translator liked elephants.

he liked elephants a lot.

oh no, anything but that!

we gonna rock down to, lemon avenue.

anakin is fed up with politicseses.

anakin: “that’s wonderful” (in reply to padme saying she is pregnant)

padme the homemaker.

hallelujah!

yoda: “premonitions? premonitions?”

that sounds like something yoda might actually say.

anakin is haunted by dreamses.

Okay, okay. I think I’ve found my favorite one yet: “Worry to lose is to lead to the evil augury.” That actually sort of sounds like Yoda… on mushrooms.

Which mistranslation is your favorite.

Thanks again, Jeremy.

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