There and Back Again (Translating Star Wars)

Apparently, it is possible to get boot-legged English-language DVDs of Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith that were created in the following manner:

1. Somebody (illegally) copied the original movie and dubbed it into Chinese.


2. Somebody else took the Chinese version and translated the dialogue back into English to create English subtitles.

The translation process seemed a little error-prone. Here are some sample results:

• [Opening title (the scroll at the beginning is mistranslated even though the words are right there on the screen)]: "Star War: The backstroke of the west."


• [Chancellor Palpatine (warning Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi about Count Dooku)]: "You two careful. He is a big."


• [Obi Wan Kenobi (reassuring the Chancellor)]: "Mr. Speaker, we are for the big."


• [Count Dooku (talking tough)] "You are a sacrifice article that I cut up rough now."

Check out the rest with screenshots from winterson.com