Completely Different Title / Polish

In general, as university studies have shown, there are few simple rules of how titles work in Poland. If the directly translated title doesn't carry a genre connection in Polish, a completely new title will be invented. And if there is already a pre-existing title (directly translated or not) within the genre that can be referenced, the new, referencing title will be created instead. Anything that sounds funny or silly while it shouldn't will be also changed. Sequels always stick to the Polish title of the first movie, which leads to entire slew of Artifact Titles. And finally, as long as producers don't intervene, remakes and reboots are always released under different title than the original, to avoid confusion.

Speaking of producers, nowadays each foreign release is given handful of pitch titles, which the producers of the original pick from, so it's not always the fault of the Polish distributor the film ends up with a silly title.

Oh, and since 2015, the Polish anti-award, Snake (essentially Polish Razzies), has had a category for the worst title translation of that specific year. It is usually awarded for downright nonsensical title changes.

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Anime and Manga

• Captain Tsubasa, at least the anime version, was released under three different titles: Kapitan Tsubasa, Kapitan Hawk i Kapitan Jastrząb (jastrząb being Polish word for hawk), all thanks to extremely low effort, low quality translation that was changing almost from episode to episode.
• Destiny of the Shrine Maiden became Kapłanki przeklętych dni (Priestesses of the Cursed Days).
• Drifting Dragons manga was less creatively renamed as Łowcy Smoków (Dragon Hunters).
• Food Wars! was released as Kulinarne pojedynki (Culinary duels).
• Grenadier was renamed Rushuna - wystrzałowa wojowniczka (Rushuna - The Amazing Warrior). It is a pun, as the word "wystrzałowa" means "amazing" or "beautiful", but it has its root in the word "wystrzał", "a shot" (the titular character is a firearms expert). It also means "snappy", fitting Rushuna's personality.
• Kaiju Girl Caramelise was published as Potworna Słodycz (Monster Sweetness).
• Kamisama Kiss is known as Jak zostałam bóstwem?! (most literally How I became a deity?!, but goddess works too).
• Lady!! is called Mała Dama (Little Lady).
• Magic Knight Rayearth went through extensive translation complications, starting right from the title: Wojowniczki z Krainy Marzeń (Warriors from the Dream Land).
• The manga adaptation of Psycho-Pass was changed to Inspector Akane Tsunemori. Weirdly enough, the manga adaptation of the second season retains its original title.
• "My Hero Academia" got changed to "Akademia Bohaterów" ("Academy of Heroes").
• The Quintessential Quintuplets was sold in Poland as Sposób na pięcioraczki (A way to deal with quintuplets).
• As in many countries, Saint Seiya became Rycerze Zodiaku (Knights of the Zodiac).
• Science Ninja Team Gatchaman got released as the memetic Załoga G (The G Crew), but with an English pronunciation of G, not the Polish one. Ironically, the release predates the G-Force: Guardians of Space, making the source of G even more puzzling.
• Slayers was released as Magiczni wojownicy (Magic Warriors). The manga sticks to the original title, but uses the "Magiczni wojownicy" as a subtitle.
• Sailor Moon is known under the title Czarodziejka z Księżyca (Sorceress from the Moon).
• The Way of the Househusband became Yakuza w fartuszku. Kodeks perfekcyjnego pana domu (Yakuza in an apron. The Rules of a Perfect House Husband).
• Pom Poko has been titled Szopy w natarciu (Raccoons in advance/assault), in yet another case or raccoon-tanuki confusion. Oddly enough, the animal tanuki (or, more accurately, another subspecies of the same species) lives in the wild in Poland (technically speaking it's an invasive species; the Polish name is jenot), while raccoons don't. Still, you'd have to be a wildlife specialist to know and care, while to be familiar with a raccoon, you only need to watch American television programs. Meanwhile, the proper animal doesn't ring any bells, save perhaps for having something to do with fur industry.
• Urusei Yatsura was published as Urusei Yatsura - Ci kosmiczni natręci (Urusei Yatsura - Those cosmic pests), with the added part being a Homage the translated pun of the original title - "Those Obnoxious Aliens".

Comic Books

• Very common with translations of Disney Mouse and Duck Comics. In particular, while the Italian stories are often titled something along the lines of "[Character Name] and [general subject]", their Polish translations change the titles to something more succinct and punchy, often a pun or a Shout-Out. One of countless examples: the Italian story "Paperino e il tesoro del signor Smith" (literally, "Donald Duck and Mr. Smith's treasure"), about the search for a missing person, was retitled in Polish as "Poszukiwany, poszukiwany" (literally, "Wanted, wanted"), which is a shout-out to the 1972 Polish film Poszukiwany, poszukiwana.
• The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise is known in Poland as "Wojownicze Żółwie Ninja" ("Combative Ninja Turtles"), which keeps the same number of syllables; a literal translation of "teenage mutant" ("nastoletnie zmutowane") would be impractically long.

Films — Animation

• All-Star Superman became The Undefeated Superman.
• A Bug's Life became Dawno temu w trawie (Once upon a time in the grass).
• The Bad Guys (2022) became Pan Wilk i spółka (Mr. Wolf and company).
• Barnyard was given Punny Title Krowy na wypasie (literally Cows on grazing), but "na wypasie" is also a slang term for something cool or exciting, befitting a movie about farm animals who like to throw parties.
• Brother Bear became Mój brat niedźwiedź (My brother bear).
• Brave became Merida Waleczna (Merida the Brave, or more literally, Merida the Gallant).
• Amusingly, despite having three separate publishers in Poland, three Cartoon Saloon movies ended with titles seemingly designed to evoke each other
  • The Secret of Kells became Sekrety Księgi z Kells (The Secrets of Book of Kells)
  • Song of the Sea became Sekrety Morza (Secrets of the Sea)
  • Wolfwalkers became Sekret wilczej gromady (The Secret of the Wolf Pack).
• Despicable Me became Jak Ukraść Księżyc (How to Steal the Moon)^note a reference to 1962 Polish movie O dwóch takich, co ukradli księżyc (The Two Who Stole the Moon) famous for the fact that Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński, the twin child actors playing the titular pair, later became Poland's prime minister and president respectively. The sequel was named Minionki Rozrabiają (Minions Go Wild), in reference to Gremlins, which had the title Gremliny Rozrabiają in Poland. The threequel was named Gru, Dru i Minionki (Gru, Dru and the Minions). The fourquel was named Gru i Minionki: Pod Przykrywką (Gru and Minions: Undercover).
• Elemental became Między nami żywiołami (Between us the Elements).
• Epic (2013) was renamed as Tajemnica Zielonego Królestwa (translatable to Mystery of the Green Kingdom). Understandable as the word epic, if translated literally into Polish as epicki, would mean simply "of the epic poetry genre" (unless counting the slang meaning that is identical to English meaning, but would be outstanding in the kids' movie). And the Polish name describes much more. It's also a reference to the 90s Polish animated movie titled Królestwo Zielonej Polany (Kingdom of the Green Meadow), which included a shrinked human interacting with insects of the titular meadow.
• Free Birds became Skubani (The plural form of an adjective that can mean "cunning" or "nibbled", both of which work for a film about turkeys).
• Frozen became Kraina lodu (Land of ice).
• A Goofy Movie became Goofy na wakacjach (Goofy on Holidays).
  • An Extremely Goofy Movie became Goofy w collegu (Goofy in College).
    • Generally, until the late 2000's, if the movie's original title contained words The Movie, then its Polish title has that part skipped (f.e. The Spongebob Squarepants Movie's Polish title is just SpongeBob Kanciastoporty) or replaced entirely (applies, for instance, to all three Polish dubs of Tom and Jerry: The Movie - Tom i Jerry: Ale kino!, Z filmoteki Toma i Jerry’ego: Przygody małej Robin (From Tom and Jerry's Film Library: The Adventures of Little Robin) and Tom i Jerry: Wielka ucieczka (Tom and Jerry: The Great Escape)
• Home on the Range was translated as Rogate Ranczo (Horned Ranch).
• Hoodwinked! became Czerwony Kapturek: Prawdziwa Historia (Red Riding Hood: The True Story).
• The Incredibles turned into Iniemamocni, a Portmanteau of "I nie ma mocnych" made to sound like a surname. Literally it means "and there are no strong ones (on them)", but it's an idiom indicating someone invincible, unbeatable. All of this was done to keep with the title starting with a letter I and keep the Brought to You by the Letter "S" visual.
• Inside Out became W głowie się nie mieści (Literally, Head can't contain it, but it's also an idiom for "unbelievable" or "inconceivable").
• Kung Fu Panda has a very clever one on a Holiday special, Święta, święta i Po (Holiday, holiday and Po) which is a word-play on a saying "Święta, święta i po świętach" ("Holiday, Holiday and it's over"), on how Christmas is a very short-lived event, albeit a happy one.
• Lucky Luke: The Daltons on the Run (a Compilation Movie made of three episodes from the 1983 TV series) became Dzielny szeryf Lucky Luke (Brave sheriff Lucky Luke).
• Minuscule - La vallée des fourmis perdues was released as Robaczki z Zaginionej Doliny (Bugs from the Lost Valley).
• The Nightmare Before Christmas became Miasteczko Halloween (Halloween Town).
• Open Season became Sezon na misia (Season for a bear). It was done deliberately, since Sezon łowiecki (the literal translation) is rather unfortunate title for a kid-aimed animation.
• Planet Hulk got a much lamer name of Hulk na obcej planecie (Hulk on a alien planet).
• As in some other countries, The Rescuers became Bernard i Bianka.
  • Similarly, the title of The Rescuers Down Under translates to Bernard and Bianca in the Land of Kangaroos. The "in the Land of Kangaroos" is a reference to the first book of a well-known (in Poland) adventuring series, Tomek in the Land of Kangaroos.
• Robot Dreams became a more straightforward Pies i Robot (Dog and Robot).
• Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken got changed to Miss Kraken. Ruby Gillman. It's probably because a more literal translation, "nastoletnia kraken" sounds off in Polish, due the word "kraken" being a masculine noun and in this context, "teenage" would be used as a feminine adjective.
• The Secret of NIMH has two titles. The first one is directly translated from the original, the second is Dzielna pani Brisby (Brave Mrs. Brisby).
• Shark Tale became Rybki z ferajny (Fishes from the pack) - itself a play on Polish title of GoodFellas - Chłopcy z ferajny.
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has the subtitle changed to simple Universe.
  • The sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse also changes it a bit to Poprzez Multiversum (Across the Multiverse).
• Soul became Co w duszy gra which means What's in your soul.
• Turning Red became To nie wypanda. Keeping with the original title, it's a word-play on "to nie wypada" ("it's not proper behavior") and, well, a panda.
• Up was translated to Odlot (Departure), which has a rather similiar meaning.

Films — Live-Action

• Poland in general used to be really silly in this kind of thing. If you thought that Elektroniczny Morderca (Electronic Murderer) was silly enough, you haven't seen the proposed title of the Polish RoboCop (1987) release: Policyjny Gliniarz (roughly Police Cop). It ended up being released as Superglina (Super cop) though.
  • The Terminator case is justified by the fact that in the 80's the Polish word "terminator" was still used as a synonym to 'the apprentice', especially by older people. Nonetheless subsequent releases changed title to simply Terminator and nowadays Elektroniczny Morderca is just an amusing anecdote. (Mind you, the fact that the word already has a legitimate, mundane meaning has led to its share of silly jokes about supposed deadliness of apprentice cobblers or odd occupations of robots from future.)
  • When the second RoboCop movie was released, the plan was to translate it literally, as RoboGlina 2. Ultimately, the original title was kept unchanged and the first movie was re-titled to English version, too.
• To make sure the source material is recognisable, 10 Things I Hate About You became Zakochana złośnica (Shrew in Love). Good call, since this lead to school trips to cinema.
• 12 Years a Slave was released as Zniewolony (Enslaved).
• 976-EVIL became Telephone of Hell.
• Absurd (1981) became From Hell.
• Act of Vengeance became An Act of Violence.
• Adrift (2018) became 41 dni nadziei (41 days of hope).
• Airplane! is called Czy leci z nami pilot? (which roughly means Is there a pilot with us?) in Polish while its sequel is called Spokojnie, to tylko awaria (Don't worry, it's just a malfunction).
• All Hallows' Eve became Trick or Treat.
• Any Given Sunday became Męska gra (Manly game).
  • And thus, We Are Marshall became Męski sport ("Men's Sport"), simply because both are about American Football.
• Alien and Aliens had their titles extended because singular and plural forms of the word 'alien' in Polish are identical. So the movies become known as, respectively, Obcy: Ósmy pasażer Nostromo (Alien: Eighth Passenger of Nostromo) and Obcy: Decydujące starcie (Aliens: The Decisive Conflict). TV re-runs tend to simplify Aliens to Obcy 2, too.
• American History X became Więzień nienawiści (The Prisoner of Hate).
• Analyze This and Analyze That were released as Depresja gangstera (A gangster's depression) i Nawrót depresji gangstera (Relapse of the gangster's depression).
• Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy became Legenda telewizji (A Television Legend).
• As Good as It Gets is known as Lepiej być nie może (It can't get any better).
• Arrival became Nowy Początek (The New Beginning).
• Austin Powers: The International Man of Mystery became Austin Powers: Agent specjalnej troski (Austin Powers: Special Needs Agent). The sequel was called Austin Powers: Szpieg, który nie umiera nigdy (Austin Powers: The Spy Who Never Dies).
• Audition got the entire mileage of the fact Gra wstępna ("Foreplay", but literally also "Opening [moves in a] game") is a Double Entendre in Polish, allowing to lampshade the dramatic shift of tone half-way through.
• Baazigar was originally released as Gry miłosne ("Love games"), to be later re-issues as Ryzykant ("Dare-devil", literally "Risk-taker"). An unofficial bootleg release, translated from German subtitles, also bills it as "Kuglarz" (an archaic word for a street performer), which is the closest to the actual meaning of the original title - "Juggler".
• The Bank Job was turned into Angielska robota (The English Job), and obvious play on The Italian Job, befitting the whole "tie the new title to a pre-existing title" convention of Polish renames. Aside that, the literal Napad na bank would be the most non-descriptive title imaginable, which was even the official argument against it from the Polish distributor.
• Barb Wire was released as Żyleta (Razor, with an augmentative). It helps that żyleta is a slang word for a woman that's very confident and aware of her sex-appeal, but also temperamental, fitting the character, while barbed wire operates in Polish as "drut żyletkowy".
• Basic became Sekcja 8. (The 8th Section).
• A Bay of Blood became Bloody Camp.
• Bedeviled became Applic@tion.
• The Beyond was circulating in VHS bootleg circles as both Hotel siedmiu bram (Hotel of the Seven Gates) and Siedem bram piekieł (Seven gates of hell), depending on the source of the bootleg and thus the "original" title. The film never had proper release, so it's unknown what would be its official title.
• The Beguiled has rather confusing title of Oszukany ("Cheated" or "Deceived")
• Big Game was translated as Polowanie na prezydenta (Hunt for the president).
• Blackhat was simplified to Haker.
• Blade Runner was released as Łowca androidów (The Android Hunter) but the SF fans usually use its original title.
• Blank Check became Milioner w spodenkach (A millionaire in shorts).
• Blood Feast became Święto krwii ("Holiday of Blood").
• The Book of Eli became Księga ocalenia (The Book of Salvation).
• Boss Level was released as Poziom mistrza (Master's level) indicating difficulty, rather than a boss fight. This was done deliberately, as the concept of a video game boss is relatively obscure to general public, unlike high difficulty of a given task (and still carrying a connotation with video games).
• The original Le Bossu (1959) has a literal translation and is known as Garbus (The Hunchback). But the remake, still titled in French Le Bossu, was released in Poland as Na ostrzu szpady (On Blade of Foil), never mind the original being a well-recognisable swashbuckler movie.
  • It might have been because in the meantime "Garbus" became a widespread nickname for the VW Type 1 (just like "Beetle" in English-speaking countries), and the Polish distributor didn't want any associations with the Volkswagen. It also plays on Polish name for swashbucklers as a genre, namely "filmy płaszcza i szpady" ("cape and epee movies", borrowed from French "film de cape et d’épée").
• Boys Don't Cry became No Time For Tears. Coincidentally, there is a Polish comedy that came out soon after, also titled Boys Don't Cry.
• BrainDead became Brain Necrosis.
• Bride and Prejudice was simply released as regular Duma i Uprzedzenie (Pride and Prejudice), without any indicator whatsoever this is not a straightforward adaptation. This might have to do with the fact that its Polish release was severely delayed and it was pushed very close to the Pride & Prejudice (2005) release, mockbuster-style. As crafty as it was for marketing, it is now impossible to tell the two movies apart in Polish, creating all sorts of frustration when using internet search engines.
• Broken Arrow (1996) was released as Tajna Broń (Secret Weapon).
• Bringing Out The Dead was translated as Ciemna Strona Miasta (Dark Side of the City).
• The Burning became Flames.
• But I'm a Cheerleader became simply Cheerleader. And it was still alien, as chearleaders were and still are by and large unknown in Poland, along with any associations with them, making both the title and the joke in Title Drop scene completely lost. On top of it, the literal translation would have to be something like "Ale przecież jestem cheerleaderką!", which is a mouthful, while making it all that more confusing.
  • The original VHS release^note The film never had a theatrical release in Poland was done under Chłopak czy dziewczyna?, which means "Boyfriend or girlfriend?" (and literally - "Boy or girl?"), but any following release via home media or broadcast in the TV was under Cheerleaderka. Either way, both titles are official.
• Caddyshack became Golfers.
• Cannibal Holocaust became Naked and Torn Apart.
• Carriers are known under Zabójczy wirus (Deadly Virus). This comes from a 1998 TV movie, also titled Carriers, which thanks to particularly poor translation, was turned into Zabójczy wirus back then. Apparently whoever did those, never heard about the term Nosiciele (the direct translation).
• Castle Freak (1995) became Monster in the Castle.
• Child's Play (1988) is changed to Laleczka Chucky (Chucky the Doll). It is also known under titles Dziecięca zabawa (literal translation of the original title) and Grzeczny chłopiec (A Nice Boy).
  • As for the sequels, Child's Play 2 was renamed Powrót laleczki Chucky (The Return of Chucky the Doll), while Seed of Chucky had its title changed to Laleczka Chucky: Następne pokolenie (Chucky the Doll: The Next Generation).
• Chopping Mall became Death Robots.
• Cinderella Man became Człowiek ringu (Man of the ring).
• City Heat was released as Gorący towar (Hot stuff).
• City of Industry became Przeklęte ulice (Cursed streets).
• Cloverfield's title was changed to amusingly uninspired Projekt: Monster possibly because Polish audience was largely unfamiliar with film's ARG.
  • Confusingly 10 Cloverfield Lane was released under basically unaltered title Cloverfield Lane 10 ^note In Polish address format the street comes before the number and The Cloverfield Paradox got straight translation Paradoks Cloverfield.
• The Code (2009) was also released as Thick as Thieves. Which resulted in amalgamation of both into Złodziejski kodeks (The Code of Thieves).
• Collateral became Zakładnik (Hostage).
• Collateral Damage became Na własną rękę - and idiom meaning On My Own. The concept of collateral damage simply doesn't exist in Polish language and the loan-word for it - introduced few years after the film release - never took off either.
• Coming to America is Książe w Nowym Jorku (Prince in New York).
• The Conjuring became Obecność (Presence). The marketing significantly played up the supernatural meaning of the title, to avoid any sort of confusion - otherwise, the default meaning of the word is "attendance" (for work or school).
• The Contender became Ukryta prawda (Hidden Truth).
• Cookie's Fortune became Kto zabił ciotkę Cookie? (Who killed aunt Cookie?) - and deliberately so, to get across the board this is a mystery plot, rather than an adventure movie.
• The Cottage became Slaughtered Alive.
• The Craft became Szkoła czarownic ("The school of witches") due to Polish language lacking any connection with magic as a craft (it's an art, instead) and not having grammatical articles at all to indicate any special craft or art. Thus facing the choice between releasing the movie under literal "Rękodzieło"^note "Hand-Made" and non-descriptive "Sztuka"^note "(An) Art", but also "A stage play" and, even more confusingly, "A single piece of something", the distributor had to get creative.
• The Crazies (1973) go under very literal Szaleńcy (indicating mental illness). However, the remake, The Crazies (2010), inexplicitly became Opętani ("Possessed").
• The Crying Game became Gra pozorów (literally Game of Sham, which is an idiom describing a ploy or a decoy, sort of English "smoke and mirrors"), hinting in the title there is some twist awaiting. And apparently, Dark Blue was also released as Gra pozorów.
• Dangerous Minds became Młodzi Gniewni (literally "young wrathful", a coloquial term for rebelious youth).
• The Dark (2005) became Life for Death.
• Dark Asylum became The House of the Insane.
• Dazed and Confused was renamed "Uczniowska Balanga" ("Student Party"), likely because of the song's relative obscurity in Poland.
• Dead and Deader was simplified to just Zombie.
• The Deadly Spawn became Limb of the Devil.
• Death Becomes Her was translated as Ze śmiercią jej do twarzy (Death suits her, but more literally Death suits her face).
• Deathstalker got turned into a bizarre Łowca śmierci (Hunter of death). Both sequels kept the format, while translating the sub-titles literally.
• The Demonologist became Demon Slayer.
• Die Hard's title was changed to Szklana Pułapka (The Glass Trap) for its Polish release (similarly to the French version, Le Piege Du Cristal). Strangely enough, sequels retain this increasingly inappropriate title.
  • Good thing the fourth one is called Die Hard 4.0 in Europe. Or else it would be Live Free of Glass Trap in Polish.
  • Spy Hard was released in Poland as "Szklanką po łapkach". This is a borderline Word Salad Title, as it roughly means "To hit somebody's hands with a (drinking) glass", and the title was chosen only because it sounds similar to "Szklana pułapka".
• Possibly the most infamous example: the official translation of Dirty Dancing's title is' Wirujący Seks, which translates back into Whirling Sex. However, the original title is used far more often.
• The Disappearance of Alice Creed turned into Uprowadzenie Alice Creed (The Abduction of Alice Creed). Spoiler Title aside, this also made the twist ending completely lost in translation, to the point where people fluent in English tend to laugh and clap at the ending, while those not understanding the original title miss the twist entirely.
• The distributor for Disenchanted (2022) wanted to be funny and translated it as Rozczarowana - which can work as a pun on disenchanting, but literally means Disappointed (with female inflect). It became darkly fitting, given all the panning the movie received.
• The Distinguished Gentleman was released as Fałszywy senator (The Fake Senator).
• Doctor in the House (1954) became House Doctor.
• Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood became Chłopaczki z sąsiedztwa (the Polish title of Boyz n the Hood, but with the diminuitive form of the word "boys").
• Don't Kill It became Pogromca demonów (Demon Slayer, or more literally, Demon Vanquisher).
• Double Team was turned into Ryzykanci (literally Risk takers, but works as Dare-devils).
• Since Dragnet is completely unknown in Poland, the film spoof of the series was titled Dziennik sierżanta Fridaya (Diaries of Sgt. Friday).
• Drive Angry became Piekielna zemsta ("Hellish Revenge").
• The Dungeonmaster became (the) Ruler of the underworld (no, not the capitalised Underworld). This comes from the fact the world "loch" (direct translation of dungeon) has a very narrow meaning in Polish. Not to mention the movie came out years before tabletop RPG or wide access to PCs became a thing in Poland, so the original context would be lost anyway.
• End of Days became I stanie się koniec ("And Then The End Will Come"), while the grammatical structure is evoking the dominant Polish translation of the Bible.
• End of Watch became Bogowie ulicy (Double-Meaning Title for either The Street Gods or Gods of the Street). This was done as a reference to David Ayer's previous, similarly themed film, Street Kings, which received a direct translation of the title.
• Enemy Mine is known as Mój własny wróg (My own ^note As in - personal, private enemy), losing the original meaning in the process, for it has no equivalent in Polish.
• Eraser was bafflingly titled Egzekutor (Enforcer or Executioner). This was probably done both because the more accurate title Wymazywacz would sound a bit silly and to capitalize similarity to titles like Terminator or Predator.
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, being long, complicated and simply nonsensical in Polish, was changed into Zakochany bez pamięci (Lover without memory)^note The Polish title is also an idiom and can be translated as "lovestruck beyond reason" so it's a Double-Meaning Title.
• Event Horizon got the often ridiculed title Ukryty wymiar (Hidden dimension).
• Exit Wounds became Mroczna Dzielnica (Dark District).
• The Expendables became Niezniszczalni (The Indestructibles). This turns the meaning on its head, but a literal translation would not work as a single-word group name; a translation shorter than a dictionary entry would either lose the subtextual meaning, or sound utterly silly.
• Extraction and its sequel are known under Protagonist Title Tyler Rake (and Tyler Rake 2). Similarly to The Expendables, it was done due to the sheer impossibility to make the translated title shorter than a full sentence.
• The Faculty became Oni (They). Literal translation (Kadra) relates to HR context and nothing else. And since there was already a small movie about certain alien invasion known in Poland as Oni Żyją...
• A Few Good Men became Ludzie honoru (Men of Honour), since literal Polish translation (Kilku dobrych ludzi) sounds silly. Couple years later a movie actually titled Men of Honor was released as Siła i honor (Strength and Honor). And an Irish film titled Strength and Honour with Michael Madsen and Vinnie Jones wasn't released at all.
• Fight Club became Podziemny krąg (The Underground Circle or The Underground Ring).
• Final Destination became Oszukać Przeznaczenie (To Cheat Destiny).
• The Final Girls became Girls of Death.
• Finding Neverland became Marzyciel (The Dreamer).
• Firewalker became Słoneczny wojownik (Sun warrior^note The lack of capitalization is important, as it changed a given name into a regular descriptive), which is even less indicative than the original. At least the dialogue with the Title Drop got changed accordingly.
• In a rare case of renaming reducing confusion First Blood is known in Poland as Rambo: Pierwsza Krew (Rambo: First Blood) with its sequels titled simply Rambo II and Rambo III.
• Freeway became A Murderer's Gaze.
• Both versions of Fright Night became Postrach nocy (Terror of the Night).
• The Full Monty was turned into Goło i wesoło. Literally it means "naked and cheery", but it's also an idiom meaning a completely broke person, fitting both the theme and the plot of the movie.
• Galaxy Quest became Kosmiczna załoga (Space Crew), but the in-universe series' title remained unchanged.
• George and the Dragon became Smokiem i mieczem ("With Dragon and Sword"), a pun on Ogniem i mieczem ("With Fire and Sword").
• Ghost (1990) was expanded into Uwierz w ducha (Believe in the ghost).
• Since Ginger Snaps doesn't carry the triple meaning in Polish, it ultimately became most literal and confusing Zdjęcia Ginger (Photos of Ginger). Became an Artifact Title in the sequel, as it has zero bearing with the plot at that point. And gets really silly with Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning, which was released as Zdjęcia Ginger III: Początek (Photos of Ginger III: The Beginning). You know, the one that's set before the invention of photography.
• Girl, Interrupted was translated to Przerwana lekcja muzyki (An Interrupted Music Lesson).
• The Girl With All the Gifts became bizarre Wszechstronna dziewczyna (All-Talented Girl, but also works as Multitool Girl). Ironically, the official Polish subtitles make a (translated) Title Drop of the original in one of the dialogues.
• Go Figure received a confusing I bądź tu mądra retitle. It's an idiom equivalent for "go figure" phase (literally meaning "And [try to] be the smart one here"), but it obviously loses the figure skating connection.
• GoodFellas are known as Chłopcy z ferajny (Literally "Boys from the pack", but meaning "Guys from the mob").
• Good Will Hunting became Buntownik z wyboru (Rebel Out Of Choice). And thus, it is ever since confused with Buntownik bez powodu (Rebel Without a Cause).
• Grabbers became Sober Monsters.
• Green Room became Sala strachu (The Room of Fear).
• The Grey was translated as Przetrwanie (Survival).
• Grosse Pointe Blank is known as "Zabijanie na śniadanie'' (Killing for breakfast).
• Since there are no groundhogs in Poland or Polish language, Groundhog Day is known as Dzień świstaka (Marmot Day). While the two species are very closely related, the cultural connotations are completely different.
• The Hangover became Kac Vegas, which literally means Hangover Vegas, but is also a pun on "Las Vegas". Funny as it was with the original...
  • ... this caused trouble when the sequel's action moved to Bangkok. It ended up being named Kac Vegas w Bangkoku (Hangover Vegas in Bangkok).
• Happy Death Day became Śmierć nadejdzie dziś (Death will come today). It's obviously a play on Polish title for Die Another Day, which was released as Śmierć nadejdzie jutro (Death will come tomorrow). The sequel simply had a numeral added to the title.
• Hard Candy became Trap.
• Hawk the Slayer became Vengeful hawk. Not only it's not capitalised (despite being a given name), but translates into a bird species, while keeping Hawk's name in-story unchanged and untranslated, making people puzzled where are any birds in the story.
  • To make things even weirder, the title itself falls straight into Polish habit of referencing previous titles. In this case, it's Air Force, the WW2-era war film, which was released as, you've guessed it, Vengeful hawk.
• Haywire became Ścigana (which can either be translated back as Chased or Fugitive, with female inflect). It was most likely done intentionally to connect with The Fugitive (released in Poland as Ścigany), despite Haywire being completely different genre. And story.
• Heathers became Śmiertelne Zauroczenie (Deadly Attraction).
• Hell or High Water became Aż do piekła (Till Hell). The dialogue in which the Title Drop happens was translated accordingly, so it makes much more sense.
• High Plains Drifter became simply Mściciel (The Avenger).
  • And keeping the theme, Pale Rider became Niesamowity jeździec (Amazing/Phenomenal/Supernatural/Eerie Rider). Justified, since to keep the Biblical reference, the Polish title would have to be "Trupio blady jeździec" (White As Death Rider), which sounds just silly in contemporary Polish and would sound even more ridiculous if reduced to "Blady jeździec" (suggesting lack of tan).
• Highlander became Nieśmiertelny (Immortal). Deliberately so, because Góral (direct translation) has a highly specific connotations with even more specific ethnographic group in Poland.
• The Hole in the Ground became Impostor - that despite Polish language having an entire slew of terms for a changeling.
• Home Alone is known as Kevin sam w domu (Kevin alone at home). Its sequel was aptly titled Kevin sam w Nowym Jorku (Kevin alone in New York) and the third movie Alex sam w domu (Alex alone at home).
• Hoosiers became Mistrzowski rzut ("A Masterful Throw").
• Hot Tub Time Machine became Jutro będzie futro. It's an idiom meaning lack of faith in obviously empty promises. No known relations with time travel recorded.
• House of Usher became Zagłada domu Usherów (The destruction of the house of Ushers, after the original story Polish title.
• The Hunger became Zagadka nieśmiertelności (The Mystery of Immortality).
• The Hurt Locker became W pułapce wojny, i.e. In the Trap of War.
• The Hustler (1961) became simply Bilardzista (Billiard Player), as this type of con doesn't have specific name in Polish.
• The Imitation Game became A Game of Mysteries.
• In Bruges became Najpierw Strzelaj, Potem Zwiedzaj (Shoot First, Sightsee Later), leading to people assuming it was a different kind of a comedy.
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is known as simply Indiana Jones. Keep in mind that the first film in the series was released as Raiders of the Lost Ark (receiving a direct translation of the title in Poland) and the franchising didn't start until later. While the home media releases eventually switched to the full title by late 00s, whenever it is broadcast in the TV, it still goes under the shortened title.
• Innocent Blood was screened as Krwawa Maria (Bloody Mary), but when released for home media and broadcasted in TV, the title is always translated literally, as Niewinna krew. Nobody really knows why, but both titles are registered as official.
• Inside Man became Plan doskonały (The Perfect Plan), highlighting the heist aspect of the story, while simultaneously removing the pretty big spoiler.
• The Insider was released as Informator (The Informant).
• Into the Wild became Wszystko za życie (Everything for life). This is carried over from the book version, which in turn had a battle over literal translation (W dzicz) and what ultimately became the Polish title.
• Jawbreaker is Cukiereczek (Tiny Candy, with a diminutive). Jaw-breakers are unknown in Poland.
• Jennifer's Body became Double Meaning Zabójcze ciało. Literally it means Deadly Body, but "zabójcze" has also a colloquial meaning of "hot, attractive". And both apply to the plot of the film.
• Kabhi Kushi Kabhie Gham was released as Czasem słońce, czasem deszcz ("Sometimes sun, sometimes rain") and became a Memetic Mutation ever since, up to the point of entering colloquial Polish.
• Kagemusha became Sobowtór ([Body] Double).
• Kelly's Heroes became Złoto dla zuchwałych (Gold For the Audacious) and a minor Memetic Mutation, used in various other translations and for Shout Outs.
• The Killing Fields are Pola śmierci (Fields of death or Fields of dying).
• Kind Hearts and Coronets became Szlachectwo zobowiązuje ("Noblesse Oblige").
• Kite (2014) was translated as Na Uwięzi (On A Leash).
• Knights of Badassdom went straight to DVD in Poland as Rycerz (nie) na niby ("(Not) A make-believe knight").
• Knockaround Guys became Synowie mafii (Sons of Mafia), to further highlight the "Well Done, Son" Guy aspect of it. On top of that, the original meaning of the title has no equivalent in neither formal nor slang Polish.
• Ladyhawke was turned into much more descriptive Zaklęta w sokoła (Enchanted into a hawk, with female inflect).
• Land of the Blind was renamed Rewolta (The Revolt), most likely because the phrase the original title was referencing isn't as well known in Poland.
• The Lawnmower Man was released as the highly memetic Kosiarz umysłów (literally "Mower of the Minds", but "kosiarz" is also a slang term for a highly-effective killer).
• Last Action Hero is somewhat ambiguous when put into Polish, as it can be translated two ways and still make sense within the context of the movie. Ultimately it became Bohater ostatniej akcji (Hero of the Final Action), since the distributor decided Ostatni Bohater Akcji (the literal translation) would be a grammar mistake and wouldn't make much sense to Poles anyway due to different naming conventions for stock characters. Today it's often aggressively lambasted by younger generation for "improper" translation.
• Leprechaun became Dwarf - or more specifically, Midget.
• Limitless was translated as Jesteś Bogiem (You Are A God) - confusingly enough, a biopic about a local rapper titled Jestem Bogiem ("I Am A God", after one of his songs) came out around the release of Limitless.
• The original Little Shop of Horrors was translated almost directly as Sklepik z horrorami (Little shop with horrors), meanwhile the 1986 version is known as Krwiożercza roślina (Bloodthirsty plant).
• The Living Daylights had two titles. Originally it was under more literal Światło dnia (Daylight), but by the time Brosnan era started, it was re-titled to W obliczu śmierci (Facing the Death).
• Lone Survivor became a bizzare Ocalony (Rescued/Saved One), instead of more literal Jedyny ocalały. While they are similar, the difference in meaning between those two words is pretty significant.
• The Longest Yard is a curious case. The original with Burt Reynolds has a literal translation. Remake with Adam Sandler was released as Wykiwać klawisza (To feint a screw^note As in - the prison guard. Could be also translated back as "To screw the screw") - wykiwać both means a feint in sport, but also to con or dupe someone. And the British version of the film, Mean Machine, was released as Mecz ostatniej szansy (Last chance match).
• The Losers (1970) became Executioners.
• Lost in Translation wasn't thankfully completely lost, becoming Między słowami (literally "Between words", but also a play on "between lines").
• Lucky Number Slevin has a pun-based translation of Zabójczy numer. Literally translated back it means Lethal Number (itself meaning a very good joke or a "killer" punchline), but it can also mean Lethal Con - and the marketing made sure everyone understood it that way.
• Madhouse (1974) became In the Circle of Madness.
• Manhunter is an interesting case. In Poland it's titled Czerwony smok (Red dragon) after the book. This unfortunately means that it's easily confused with more well known 2002 adaptation.
• "Marvel Cinematic Universe" has a few examples:
  • "Captain America: The First Avenger" has it's subtitle changed to "Pierwsze starcie" ("The First Clash"). What's odd is that Captain America's isn't translated to "Kapitan Ameryka", which does happen for later titles of movies.
  • Captain America: Civil War was translated as Kapitan Ameryka: Wojna Bohaterów (Captain America: War of the Heroes).
  • "Ant-Man and the Wasp" has an odd one, where Ant-Man is retained, but Wasp is translated to Polish as "Ant-Man i Osa". What's odd is that in previous Marvel projects in which Wasp appeared, her original name was retained.
  • "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" got it's subtitle changed to "Wakanda w moim sercu" ("Wakanda in my heart").
  • "Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special" was translated to "Strażnicy Galaktyki: Coraz bliżej święta" ("Guardians of the Galaxy: Holidays Are Coming").
• The Matador was translated as Kumple Na Zabój (Buddies to Kill For).
• Midnight Run became Zdążyć przed północą (Make It Before Midnight).
• Million Dollar Baby is known as Za wszelką cenę ("Whatever it takes", more literally "For any (given) price").
• In the inversion of the trope and despite being named after a place (thus not qualifying for title change), Miracle Mile received a new title, becoming Cudowna mila (The Wonderful Mile).
• Mr. Jones (2019) got released as Obywatel Jones. Literally, it means Citizen Jones, but "obywatel" was part of Polish communist Insistent Terminology for addressing people instead of using "pan" ("mister", but also meaning "sir", "master" and even "owner (of someone)"), as that was seen as a remnant of the bourgeois past and noble titles (from which the word "pan" originates).
• The Most Dangerous Game became Count Zaroff.
• Nam Angels became Moto Devils.
• Nazi Overlord became The Nazi Experimentarium.
• Next Of Kin became Prawo Krwi ("Law of Blood")
• Night of the Scarecrow became simply Scarecrow.
• Nightbreed became Nocne plemię (Night Tribe). In Polish, the second meaning of word "plemię" (tribe) is that of race (itself interchangeable in Polish between "breed" and "race"), so it's not as disconnected as it might seem.
• Nightcrawler became Wolny Strzelec (Freelancer), but in Polish, the term "wolny strzelec" also has an association with someone you hire to do your dirty work, giving it a slightly more ambiguous vibe.
• Nowhere to Run got a highly-memetic rename as Uciec, ale dokąd? ("To run away, but where [to]?"), creating an entire line-up of "Verb, but Question Word?". Works better in Polish.
• The Old Man & the Gun became Dżentelmen z rewolwerem (Gentleman with a revolver).
• Olympus Has Fallen became Olimp w ogniu (Olympus on Fire). Sequels kept the format, with London being on fire, too, but Angel Has Fallen became Świat w ogniu (World on Fire).
• Ocean's 11 was distributed under either the original title or as Ryzykowna gra (A Risky Game). The remake combined both and was named Ocean's Eleven: Ryzykowna gra (Ocean's Eleven: A Risky Game). The sequel kept the idea of the a mix of an original and local title, and was called Ocean's Twelve: Dogrywka (Ocean's Twelve: The Play-Off). However, later Ocean films were only distributed under the original title.
• One Man's Justice became There was a tought guy. Which is a reference to Il Était Une Fois... franchise out of all things, which was released in Poland under "There was/were...".
• One Night at McCool's is known as O czym marzą faceci (What Men Are Dreaming of).
• One Night at McCoy's is known as Czego pragną kobiety (What Women Want).
• Open Range became Bezprawie (Lawlessness).
• The Other Guys is known as Policja zastępcza (literally Replacement Police), a two-layered pun: on term rodzina zastępcza (foster family) and a popular sitcom under the title Rodzina zastępcza. Nobody said the pun was good.
• Ouija was expanded to Diabelska plansza ouija (The Demonic Ouija Board). Ouija board is generally unknown in Poland, and most definitely not under its name.
• Out of Africa became Pożegnanie z Afryką (Farewell to Africa), carrying the title over from the book translation.
• The already infamous Knife Horse Dawn gets a long, elaborate title of Kaczka po pekińsku, czyli strzały w operze (Peking Duck, or Shots In the Opera).
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower is simply called Charlie.
• Phantasm became Mordercze kuleczki (The Murderous Balls). It sounds especially ridiculous in Polish because "kuleczki" is a childish-sounding diminutive.
• Pieces became Szczątki (Remains), but in Polish the word has a very close connotation with remains of a dead body.
• The Place Beyond the Pines was translated as Drugie Oblicze (Second Face).
• "Planet of the Apes" got a few:
  • "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was made into "Geneza Planety Małp" ("Origin of the Planet of the Apes").
  • "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" was turned into "Ewolucja Planety Małp" ("Evolution of the Planet of the Apes").
• Point Break (1991) is known as Na fali (On the wave). The remake goes under Point break - na fali, which became infamous due to the revelation of Warner Bros. enforcing such title to deliberately confuse search engines.
• Poltergeist became simply Spirit/Ghost, due to lack of equivalent in folklore.
• The Postman became Wysłannik przyszłości (Envoy of the Future). Expect everyone to mistakenly call it Wysłannik przeszłości (Envoy of the Past), since it makes much more sense in the context of the story, delivering old mail and old ideas and all that.
  • Meanwhile, the source material lost it Double-Meaning Title, becoming literal Listonosz (so as if the book was titled Mailman).
• Practical Magic was released as Totalna magia (Total Magic). This is a result of consultation with producers. Original pitch title was Czarna magia - an idiom meaning something completely incomprehensible, but also literally black magic. Obviously Village Roadshow Pictures weren't pleased, so it was turned into a slang version of the idiom, which doesn't carry any sort of bad connotations.
• Punch-Drunk Love is known as Lewy Sercowy. It's an untranslatable pun on lewy sierpowy - a left hook in boxing. Sercowy would mean "from heart", so the general idea of the title is being dazzled by love as if hit with a boxing hook.
• Quigley Down Under, due to the "down under" part being untranslatable to Polish, was released as Quigley na Antypodach ("Quigley in the Antipodes"). And one of the pitch titles send to MGM-Pathé was Quigley w krainie kangurów ("Quigley in the land of kangaroos"), a reference to a well-known Polish adventure book, Tomek w krainie kangurów.
• Ravenous (1999), being untranslatable directly, was relased as Drapieżcy - itself an untranslatable word between Predators and Reavers.
• Ravenous (2017) was meanwhile released as Wygłodniali (Starved, but with the implication of savage hunger, rather than famine).
• Raw Deal (1986) is known as Jak to się robi w Chicago (How it's done in Chicago). Since Chicago has the world's highest concentration of ethnic Poles outside of Poland and Arnie plays a guy from the Polish stock...
• Rawhead Rex became Król Trupiogłowy (literally The Death-Headed King, but also works as The Skull-Headed King).
• Ready or Not (2019) has a pun-based title: Zabawa w pochowanego. "Zabawa w chowanego" being "(to play) hide-and-seek", while "pochować" means "to put into a grave". Literal translation (with feminine inflect), Gotowa lub nie was a second pitch to the producers.
• Reality Bites is infamous, since it became Orbitowanie bez cukru (Orbiting Without Sugar). The title was created thanks to a radio contest - callers were supposed to give a snappy title to the movie. Someone came up with "Orbitowanie bez cukru". It's a silly pun on the Orbit chewing gum (which was all in rage back then) and the bites from the original title. Without knowing the context it's probably the silliest Polish title ever. And with the context, too.
• Red Sun became Samurai and Cowboys.
• Renaissance Man became Inteligent w armii (Intellectual in the Army), despite Polish language having the exact same idiom for a polymath.
• Reservoir Dogs is known as Wściekłe Psy (Rabid Dogs).
• Road House (1989) is a nice tongue-twister for foreigners, since it was released as Wykidajło ("Bouncer").
• Robot Monster became You Come from Outer Space.
• The Rocketeer became Człowiek rakieta (Rocket Man, or, more specifically, Man-Rocket). This was done to both avoid being called Rakieciarz (which despite being literal translation, has as a first meaning Racketeer) and to make the scene with newspaper headlines fit within the Polish rules for neologisms.
• Role Models became a truly mangled attempt at pun: Wyrolowani (Finagled).
• Romancing the Stone became Miłość, szmaragd i krokodyl (Love, Emerald and a Crocodile).
• Savaged became Krwawa zemsta (Bloody Revenge).
• Scarecrows became The Living Dead.
• Safety Not Guaranteed was released as Na własne ryzyko (On your own risk), making the Title Drop scene completely redundant, as the ad is translated literally.
• Seeking a Friend for the End of the World became Przyjaciel do końca świata (Friend till the world's end), considerably changing the tone of the title.
• Seeking Justice was translated as delightfully Hong Kong-sounding Bóg Zemsty (God Of Vengeance).
• Serenity (2019) was turned into Przynęta (which works as both "Bait" and "Lure"). The more literal Ukojenie was rejected by the distributor, as it is as if titling it "Sedation".
• Serving Sara became Kto pierwszy, ten lepszy (First Come, First Serve, ironically it resembles the original title more when the idiom's retranslated).
• Shaun of the Dead became Wysyp żywych trupów (Overflow of the living dead). Done on purpose, since it's a comedy spoofing zombie cliches and both 28 Days Later and Dawn of the Dead (2004) were recently released in Poland, giving a feeling of over-saturation.
• Shane was released under the rather menacingly-sounding Jeździec znikąd (Rider from Nowhere). Ironically, this prevented Pale Rider to be released under such title and leading to the already mentioned issue with properly translating the Biblical reference without making it silly.
• The Shawshank Redemption was translated as Skazani na Shawshank (Sentenced to Shawshank).
• Smokey and the Bandit became Mistrz kierownicy ucieka (The Wheel Master Runs Away).
• Sneakers became much meaner-sounding Włamywacze (Burglars).
  • And another movie with Robert Redford playing a charming thief, The Sting, received a literal translation as Żądło (meaning a bee-sting).
• Despite Todd being declared obsolete, Soldier became Żołnierz przyszłości (Soldier of the Future).
  • It's also known under an incredibly cheesy title Galaktyczny wojownik (Galactic warrior).
• The notoriously bad Some Kind of Beautiful (2014) was, for reasons unknown, delivered to Poland via the Canadian distributor, under the Canadian title of How to Make Love Like an Englishman. Due to that and the fact it is starring Pierce Brosnan, the title was turned into Anglik, który mnie kochał (The Englishman Who Loved Me), an obvious reference to The Spy Who Loved Me (never mind it was a Roger Moore Bond movie).
• Some Like It Hot is known as Pół żartem, pół serio (Half-jokingly, half-serious), lampshading the semi-serious nature of the entire plot.
• Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) replaced "The Hedgehog" with a subtitle, becoming Sonic: Szybki jak błyskawica (Sonic: Fast as lightning). Interestingly, its sequel got the exact same subtitle while placing the numeral after the title character's name - Sonic 2: Szybki jak błyskawica.
• Sorcerer, which was sort of a cult-classic in the VHS era, was released as Cena strachu (The Price of Fear)... just like the French original. To avoid confusion, people usually just add "the French one" or "the American one" when talking about the film.
• Source Code was released as Kod Nieśmiertelności (Immortality Code).
• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is called Gwiezdne Wojny: Skywalker. Odrodzenie (Star Wars: Skywalker. Rebirth). It had to use the nominative to avoid revealing the gender of the Skywalker to rise.
• Stranger Than Fiction is known as Przypadek Harolda Cricka (The case of Harold Crick), as the original idiom has no analogue in Polish.
• Suicide Squad (2016) was released as Legion samobójców (Suicide Legion), following the title trademarked for virtually unknown and unheard publication of the comic book. Things only got weirder with the reboot, The Suicide Squad. Since Polish language lacks articles of any kind, such switcheroo was impossible to make, leading to a bizarre Legion Samobójców: The Suicide Squad.
• The Suckling became Revenge of the Embryo.
• Sunshine was turned into W stronę słońca (Toward the sun), to indicate the sci-fi nature rather than being another happy-go-lucky Dramedy from Danny Boyle.
• Super Fly became Odlot (High, the narcotic one).
• Swordfish is known as Kod Dostępu (Access Code).
• To tell it apart from the French original (which is a pretty popular film in Poland), Taxi (2004) (which got panned to the ground by critics and audiences hated it) was turned into New York Taxi.
• TerrorVision became Monster from Outer Space.
• Three Kings was translated into Złoto pustyni (Gold of the Desert). All while the celebration of the Biblical Magi is a landmark in the calendar and a national holiday in Poland. But this way, it serves as a reference to Kelly's Heroes (the Polish title of which is mentioned above), an older and well-liked film with a similar premise.
• Thoroughbreds faced a semantic obstacle. "Thoroughbred" in Polish not only is a mouthful ("koń pełnej krwi angielskiej"), but obviously refers strictly to horse breeds. As such, the movie was ultimately released as still longish Panny z dobrych domów - literally (Single) Ladies from good homes, but actually meaning Young ladies from good families. Interestingly, while word "panny" is not an augmentative, it sounds like one in such arrangement, making it sound rebellious and tough, particularly due to the double meaning in Polish.
• Thunderheart was released under downright bizarre Na rozkaz serca ("On heart's call", and more literally, "On heart's order"), making the eventual Title Drop Lost in Translation.
• Time After Time became Time Travel.
• The Tomorrow War became Wojna o jutro (War for the tomorrow). A more literal title, Wojna przyszłości (Future War), was deemed too generic.
• The Tooth Fairy (2006) became Bloody Fortune Teller.
• Total Recall and it's remake are known as Pamięć absolutna (Absolute memory).
• Toys became Zabaweczki (Little Toys). But more literally it's still Toys, just in a diminutive form (from neutral "zabawki"), indicating cute, rather than small things.
• Trading Places is known as Nieoczekiwana zamiana miejsc (Unexpected exchange of places).
• Train to Busan became Zombie Express. This was done deliberately, since Korean films have usually the connotation of being high-brow auteur stuff, rather than action-packed zombie smashers.
• UHF has an extended-shortened title of Ultrakrótkie, from "fale ultrakrótkie", the full extension of UHF in Polish.
• Since Valhalla Rising can't easily be translated into Polish it was released as Valhalla: Mroczny wojownik (Valhalla: the Dark warrior).
• Vlad Tepes became Prawdziwe życie Drakuli (The Real Life of Dracula).
• Wasabi was extended into Wasabi - Hubert zawodowiec and is often broadcasted simply as Hubert zawodowiec ("Hubert the professional"), skipping the wasabi part. That was obviously done to connect with the famous performance of Jean Reno in The Professional, released in Poland as Leon zawodowiec ("Leon the professional"). Plus back in the early 00s, wasabi itself was almost completely unknown in Poland and the film is credited with making it familiar to Poles.
• Weird Science became Dziewczyna z komputera (Girl from a computer). The much better-known series kept the title.
• What Keeps You Alive became Zabij i żyj (literally Kill and Live, but meaning Kill to survive).
• The Wicker Man (1973) became Cult. And unlike the typical Polish custom, the 2006 remake is also under Cult.
• The Whole Nine Yards became Jak Ugryźć 10 Milionów (How To Bite 10 Million).
• Witchboard became Devil Game.

Literature

• Isaac Asimov's The Caves of Steel was released as Pozytronowy detektyw (The Positron Detective).
• The Catcher in the Rye was translated as Buszujący w zbożu. "Buszujący" can be translated back into English as "rummager(s)" or "frolicker(s)". ^{A rather longish note on grammar...}Due to how the Polish language works, this can be read in various ways. The singular form is male (or more properly, masculine). The plural form can refer to an all-male or mixed-gender group, but not to an all-female group, while it kind of depends in case of grammatical neuters such as children or animals. So, there's some confusion, and the title is understood to refer to either (metaphorically) the protagonist (singular, male) or the implicitly mixed-gender protagonists of the poem he misremembers.
• Discworld books
  • Wyrd Sisters was translated as Trzy Wiedźmy (Three Witches).
  • Jingo, due to having no concise equivalent, was translated as Bogowie, Honor, Ankh-Morpork (Gods, Honor, Ankh-Morpork — a play on a popular jingoistic phrase "God, Honor, Fatherland").
  • Similarly, Hogfather was translated as Wiedźmikołaj, the closest equivalent of which would be "Witchy Claus".
• Fifty Shades of Grey was published as Pięćdziesiąt twarzy Greya (Fifty faces of Grey). Since the pun is based on a character's name, this couldn't have worked without making too many assumptions.
• The For Dummies series was originally published in Polish as "Dla Opornych" ("For Resistant Ones" — as in, resistant to knowledge). Later, the series was retitled to "Dla Bystrzaków" ("For Smart People"), presumably because the original title felt too insulting.
• Little Lord Fauntleroy was simplified to just Mały Lord (Little Lord), to ease on the pronunciation. The very first edition even had it extended to Mały Lord: powieść dla młodzieży ("a novel for the youth"), to ease the marketing.
• Due to complicated translational and publishing history, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring was first released simply as Wyprawa (Expedition). This was soon after revised by the same translator as Drużyna Pierścienia (in modern Polish literally Team of the Ring, but referencing Slavic druzhina; the title was carried over to the film adaptation). There is also another translation, which came out as Bractwo Pierścienia (Brotherhood of the Ring), infamous for very poor attempts at word-making and language stylization of dialogues, along with countless name-changes. It is widely derided as a hack job, up to creation of term "łozizm"^note After translator's surname, Łoziński to describe any translation needlessly changing established terms and given names.
• The Lost World (1912) is a curious example. While the title wasn't changed much, both the interwar and commie-era prints were consistently under Świat Zaginiony (ie "World Lost") and only by the 90s got turned into literal Zaginiony Świat.
• Inhabited Island was published as Przenicowany świat (Everted world).
• Neal Stephenson novels:
  • The first translation of Snow Crash was published under title Zamieć and the second as Śnieżyca (both words meaning Blizzard). The colloquial Polish name for what's on an old-timey TV set tuned to a dead channel is śnieg, "snow".
  • As the title of The Diamond Age cannot be translated without losing its double meaning the first translation chose Diamentowy wiek (analogous to "złoty wiek" (golden age)) while the second went for Epoka diamentu (analogous to "epoka kamienia" (stone age)).
• Secret Garden became Tajemniczy ogród (Mysterious Garden) and carried over to the countless adaptations. While the words are close in meaning, they aren't quite interchangeable in Polish.
• Shatter Me became Dotyk Julii ("Julia's Touch").

Live-Action TV

• The Avengers (1960s) are known as Rewolwer i melonik (Revolver and Bowler Hat). The film version was also under the changed title. Maybe for the better, as it avoids being confused with the other Avengers.
• Baywatch is known as Słoneczny patrol (Sunny patrol).
• Beforeigners was translated directly from Norwegian, where the word-play is different, and then simplified to Przybysze ([New]Comers).
• Better Call Saul was shortened to Zadzwoń do Saula (Call Saul).
• The Bold and the Beautiful is known under memetic Moda na sukces (Fashion For Success).
• Burn Notice was translated as Tożsamość Szpiega (A Spy's Identity).
• CSI was released as Kryminalne zagadki Las Vegas (Criminal mysteries of Las Vegas). It became so recognisable, each subsequent spin-off was aired with the city in the title switched, despite being aired by three different TV corporations.
• Charmed was turned into Czarodziejki (Sorceresses).
• Dinosaur Revolution was turned into Królestwo dinozaurów (The kingdom of dinosaurs or Dinosaur Kingdom).
• Early Edition, lacking any sort of equivalent in Polish, got translated as Zdarzyło się jutro ([It] Happened Tomorrow).
• Family Feud is known as Familiada (similar to "olimpiada" - Olympic Games).
• Hey Dude! was translated simply as Rancho while it was shown in Poland.
• Jake and the Fatman was translated as Gliniarz i Prokurator (The Cop and the Prosecutor).
• Keeping Up Appearances was aired as Co ludzie powiedzą? (literally "What the people will say?", a Stock Phrase in reaction to something that the neighbours might disapprove of).
• Knight Rider is known as Nieustraszony (Fearless).
• Leverage became Uczciwy Przekręt (An Honest Con).
• Malcolm in the Middle was released as Zwariowany świat Malcolma (Malcolm's Crazy World), which is a minor title reference to...
• Married... with Children was translated as Świat według Bundych (The World According to Bundys).
• Masked Rider aired under the title Gwiezdny Rycerz (Star Knight).
• Mayday is known as Katastrofa w przestworzach (Disaster in the sky).
• Parker Lewis Can't Lose was shortened to a Character Title, Parker Lewis.
• Perfect Strangers aired in the early nineties under the title Larry i Balki (Larry and Balki), due to the idiom being untranslatable.
• The Pretender was widely popular as Kameleon (The Chameleon).
• Instead of simple, literal translation, Prison Break was turned into Skazany na śmierć (Sentenced to death).
• Quantum Leap became Zagubiony w czasie (Lost in time).
• Relic Hunter got turned into Łowcy skarbów (Treasure hunters). The word "relic" can be translated to Polish in two ways: either a remnant or something that should already be extinct.
• Reno 911! became Posterunek w Reno (Reno Station). Justified in that 911 is the US emergency phone number (the equivalent in Poland would be 112).
• Since Scrubs have no additional meaning in Polish, the series was given the subtitle "Hoży doktorzy"—"hoży" is somewhat old-fashioned word for "healthy, good-looking" (often with slight erotic connotations) but also reads the same way as "chorzy"—"sick".
• Ship to Shore turned into Wyspa Przygód (Island Of Adventures).
• Spellbinder is a curious case. Despite being a Polish co-production, each of the two series comes with different, unrelated title. The first one is known as Dwa Światy (Two Worlds), while the second became W krainie Władcy Smoków (In the Land of the Dragon Lord).
• Supernatural is known as Nie z tego świata (Out of this world). People stick to the original title anyway.
• That '70s Show is known as Różowe lata siedemdziesiąte (The Rose[-tinted] Seventies). The direct translation makes absolutely no sense in Polish without making it into a multi-compound sentence, not to mention the reference it is making being lost anyway due to a completely different pop-culture bubble.
• Walker, Texas Ranger is known as Strażnik Teksasu (Guardian of Texas). The initial popularity of the series lead to the point where real life Texas Rangers (and agencies modeled after them or simply using word "ranger") receive a standarised translation in Polish under the same denominator of "strażnicy".
• The West Wing became Prezydencki poker (Presidential poker), given the complete obscurity in Poland of how the White House is build or how it operates. Reportedly, NBC execs insisted to keep the original title untranslated, which would further alienate any audiences it could get.
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is called simply Milionerzy (Millionaires).
• The Wire was translated as Prawo Ulicy (Law of the Street).
• The X-Files was translated as Z Archiwum X (From the X Archives). It's pretty good overall, but the word "archive" won't work as a term for a single case, so there can be no title drop when somebody brings up an old "file".

Music

• "Phineas and Ferb" got a few album releases, including songs from the show. The one that collects ones from 1st season is called "Phineas and Ferb", however in polish it was changed to Ferbastyczne Hity (Ferbastic Hits), as a reference to Smurf Hits, a series of albums that contain various popular songs, but in pitched up tone. Because of this change, an other album having songs from 2nd season and the movie "Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension" took the title and cover from the first album.

Tabletop Games

• Don't Rest Your Head was released in Poland as Kiedy Rozum Śpi (When Reason Sleeps). This title is a reference to the Polish name of the Francisco de Goya print The Sleep Of Reason Produces Monsters.
• Fading Suns were translated as Gasnące Słońca (literally "Waning Suns") as the closest thing. A literal translation of "fading" is particularly unfortunate, since it has very strong association with washed-out colour or faded-out photos.
• Talisman is known in Poland as Magia i Miecz (Magic and Sword). It is worth noting the first release of Talisman in Poland was unlicensed, and the title change was used to pretend it's a different game. This later led to the development of the Polish game Magiczny Miecz. When Talisman was finally released officially in Poland, it was titled Talisman: Magia i Miecz, referencing the older unlicensed release.
• Ticket to Ride is known as memetic Wsiąść do pociągu (literally "Get inside a train"), after the title and lyrics from a classic rock ballad. And to make things even more confusing, you are more likely to get people to play Pociągi ("Trains"), which is a popular nickname for the game, rather than by mentioning its actual, published title.
• Unfathomable has been published as Odmęty Grozy ("Depths of Dread"), likely due to direct translations not being very evocative of what kind of game it is.

Theater

• Stage adaptation of the 1973 French comedy L'Emmerdeur ("A Pain In The Ass") is titled Co Ja Panu Zrobiłem, Panie Pignon? ("What Did I Do To You, Mr Pignon?"), despite both of the film versions being translated much closer (the original is translated as Natręt, a synonym that can be translated as "Nuisance", the 2008 remake is translated literally, Upierdliwiec).
  • Although when play premiered in theater in Jelenia Góra, another title was used: Zakała ("The Bad Seed" or "The Scum").

Video Games

• Reign: Conflict of Nations, a Russian indie strategy game was released in Poland as Polskie Imperium: Od Krzyżaków do Potopu ("Polish Empire: From the Teutonic Knights to the Deluge"). The game was designed from the start for the Russian and Polish markets, as it is based on the history of the two nations, and thus, the title change was fully approved by the dev studio.

Western Animation

• Amphibia became Płazowyż, a wordplay on the words "płaz" (meaning "amphibian") and płaskowyż (meaning "plateau").
• The Angry Beavers was renamed to Bobry w akcji (Beavers in action), probably because a more direct translation Wściekłe bobry also means "rabid beavers".
• Batman Beyond was translated first as Batman: 20 lat później (Batman: 20 Years Later) and later Batman Przyszłości (Batman of the Future), because Polish translation of "beyond" is used to mean "outside" or "aside".
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold became Batman: Odważni i Bezwzględni (Batman: The Brave and the Ruthless, using plural forms of the words brave and ruthless).
• Back at the Barnyard became Zagroda według Otisa (The Croft According to Otis).
• The Backyardigans was changed to Przyjaciele z podwórka (Friends from the Backyard).
• Beast Wars got a misleading renaming to Kosmiczne Wojny (Cosmic Wars). Weirdly enough, the conflict is still referred to by the show's characters as "Wojna Bestii" (War of the Beasts or Beast's War).
• Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers became Chip i Dale: Brygada RR, with with the team's iconic RR logo becoming an acronym of "Ryzykownego Ratunku", with means "Risky Rescue", In short, the title was translated into Chip and Dale: Risky Rescue Brigade.
• Dinosaucers did a switch-up with the pun in the name and became Ufozaury (Ufosaurs).
• The Fairly OddParents! became Przygody Timmy'ego (Timmy's Adventures) when premiered on Disney Channel Polska. When Nickelodeon Polska was launched, it moved here, was renamed Wróżkowie Chrzestni, which means essentially the same thing as the original title.
• Family Guy became Głowa Rodziny (Head of Family, a common term to describe family patriarch or, less commonly, matriarch).
• Fillmore! was changed to Fillmore na tropie (Filmore on Trail).
• Fish Hooks became Akwalans (which roughly translates to Aqua-Swag).
• Futurama became Przygody Frya w kosmosie (Fry's Adventures in Space). For reasons only understood to the execs of the station airing it, they were trying to spin it as a teen-oriented cartoon, going in tandem with King of the Hill.
• Goof Troop became Goofy i inni (Goofy and the Others).
• Gravity Falls became Wodogrzmoty Małe (literally "Small Waterfalls", but written in a way that could pass for an average, small Polish town).
• Hailey's On It! became Hailey w akcji (Hailey in Action).
• Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats was turned into Łebski Harry ("Savvy Harry" or "Smartass Harry"). And obviously, Heathcliff's name was changed accordingly.
• Iznogoud became Wezyr Nic-po-nim (Vizier Good-for-nothing), a pun based on word "nicpoń", meaning, you've guessed, "is no good".
• Justice League became Liga Sprawiedliwych (League of the Just) and Teen Titans (2003) became Młodzi Tytani (Young Titans). Trying to apparently reference both of those, Young Justice was renamed Liga Młodych (League of the Young).
• Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil is known as Kick: Strach się bać (literally Kick: One is afraid to be scared, with the subtitle taken from an ironic idiom regarding something that inspires fear).
• King of the Hill gained the odd title of Bobby kontra wapniaki (Bobby vs. Old People, but "wapniaki" is specifically a term used toward your old parents). The station broadcasting it was trying to - along with Futurama - to sell it as a teen-oriented cartoon.
• Life with Louie: Following the trend set by Świat według Bundych, Louie was run as Świat według Ludwiczka (The World According to Louie).
• Looney Tunes became Zwariowane melodie (Crazy melodies).
• Miraculous Ladybug became Miraculous: Biedronka i Czarny Kot (Miraculous: Ladybug and Black Cat with "Czarny Kot" being a literal translation for Chat Noir).
• The New Adventures of Ocean Girl was changed to Nera, księżniczka Oceanii (Nera, princess of Oceania) removing the connection to live-action Ocean Girl which in turn was released as Dziewczyna z oceanu (Girl from the ocean).
• Oddballs was renamed to Przedziwne Przygody Jamesa (James' Very Weird Adventures).
• PB&J Otter was renamed I pies, i wydra (Both Dog and an Otter). It's based on the Polish saying ni pies, ni wydra (neither dog nor an otter), which is used when talking about something hard to describe.
• The Powerpuff Girls became Atomówki (Atomic Girls).
• Ready Jet Go! became Kosmiczny Jet (Cosmic Jet).
• Rugrats became Pełzaki. It can be translated to Crawlers, which can be related to original title.
• South Park became Miasteczko South Park (The Town of South Park).
• Spider-Man Unlimited became Niezwyciężony Spider-Man ("Invincible Spider-Man").
• TaleSpin became Super Baloo.
• Top Cat became Kocia Ferajna (The Cat Gang), although an older dub was named Kot Tip-Top, which was a literal translation of the title (and, like the original title, was the protagonist's name).
• T.U.F.F. Puppy became Turbo Dudley - psi agent (Turbo Dudley - dog agent).
• Ultimate Spider-Man (2012) became Mega Spider-Man (Mega being colloquially used to refer to something very big or very powerful, mostly by kids and young teenagers).
• Uncle Grandpa (and the name of the titular character) became Wujcio Dobra Rada (Uncle Good Advice), a reference to a downright memetic character from the 1980 Polish film Miś.

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