When Bootlegs Go Bad

These screen captures are from a bootleg copy of Red Dragon, purchased while abroad by someone I know. Whoever did the English subtitles seemed to have only a passing familiarity with the language, getting something like one word out of every 10 correct. Oftentimes, the subtitles have no relation at all to the dialogue.

WHAT WAS SAID: The Harvey Keitel character is explaining to Edward Norton's character about murders that took place in Birmingham and Atlanta.
SUBTITLE: Even we have to move from Bominghan to Atalanta

WHAT WAS SAID: Norton's character talks about how he "doesn't think about this stuff anymore."
SUBTITLE: I have got used to clam life
Norton's character doesn't use the word "calm," but the person doing the subtitles might have intended to use it to paraphrase what Norton said. If so, I like how the transposition of letters into "clam" life implies a similar sentiment, i.e., Norton's character's life being somewhat slow and of minor significance, like a clam's.

WHAT WAS SAID: It's Chromalux.
SUBTITLE: This is carmax

And you know how positive blurbs are always splashed across a movie's posters? I typically ignore them, but I noticed that this was the blurb on the cover of the bootleg DVD: "It includes the initial capture" (no period, in big red letters). It's attributed to "The New Youk BBC TV."

Filed in: Movies Oddities