Film title always gives audience a general impression about the genre of a movie, and so, is believed to be one of the most influential factors affecting the box office. That is why production houses always take film titling serious. Nowadays, the quality of film title translation is considered more significant as more movies are released internationally under the effect of globalization. This paper aims at discussing the merits and demerits of the translation of the film titles of 《大隻佬》and “I, Robot”, hence, attempt to give an alternative film title, and finally try to explain the differences between the translations studied above.
I regarded the translation, “Running on Karma” as quite satisfactory as it is closely related to the theme, “reason and the consequence”(因果). Considered the commercial concerns, the word “Karma” is believed to be attractive to target audience as many foreigners have a strong desire in knowing more about Chinese culture and its philosophy while Karma is a well-known concept in Buddhism.
Instead of the word-for-word translation, “Running on Karma” is believed to be more appropriate to be used in Hong Kong. Beyond doubt, “大隻佬 ” (“Big”) is a gimmick,
. . .
In order to survive, production houses tend to translate film titles in a creative way in order to maximize the box office. The translations used in China are believe to be more conservative as word-for-word translation is applied while the ones in Hong Kong are regarded more creative as the technique of free translation is adapted. Developed industry like film industry in Hong Kong, comes hand in hand with keen competitions. The phrases, “叛變”and “公敵”, are obviously come from the Human point of view. Besides, “智能” is a term commonly used in such kind of movies talking about dilemma between human beings and intelligent machines, like in the movie “AI人工智能 ”. As the local market size is considered huge, it is not very possible for a single group dominating the entire market. Because the title shows the public two major selling points of the movie, “high technological machines” and the idea of “betrayal”, directly. I believe that the story is talking about human beings should no longer be arrogant and ignorant, believing that we are the “king of the world”, so I suggest not to use《智能叛變》and 《機械公敵》. That is why a film title with Buddhist message is considered more appropriate. In the movie, machines are getting more intelligent, and hence, such an intelligence in return gains human’ reliance. 3 million Hong Kong dollars while the 《大塊頭有大智慧》in China hit $53 thousand Renmen, which shows that its movie industry is comparatively not well-developed as the figures is not that promoting even though the Mainland has a population 20 times as many as the one in Hong Kong. In the movie Will Smith, the leading character, is a man composed of high technological machine after he got injured in an accident. Indeed, I appreciate the titles because of its flexibility in modifying its working titles in order to meet the market demands .
Here I suggest 《機械．人．反 戰》as the translation in local market.
Approximate Word count =
1108
Approximate Pages =
4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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