Best / worst titles in media

[Kato]

I have been wondering about the importance of titles in media a bit recently.
While a lot of stuff settles for 'main character's name' or 'important McGuffin' or 'vague plot description' (or 'setting') I've been thinking about the few cases where this doesn't apply. And where it works especially well or poorly.
But.. I had a hard time coming up with a list of examples.

So since I thought I'd ask you what are examples you can think of where the title of any work is especially good or bad, relating to what actually goes on in the work.

[BWR]

Up to a few decades ago pretty much every non-Norwegian piece of media that was translated was given a Norwegian name, and often not just a literal translation of the original title. While this makes sense for titles that are idioms, puns, etc. it was done pretty indiscriminately and with little care for (and often little understanding of) the work in question.
This gave us things like (literal translation to English for those not fortunate enough to understand Norwegian) "Shark summer" (Jaws), "Worm summer" (Tremors), "Picnic with death" (Deliverence) , "Help, we're in the pop business" (This is Spinal Tap), "Girl with male courage" (True Grit, though this one sounds marginally less bad in Norwegian), and "Pumpkin in distress" (Seven Year Itch), to name a few.
In a case of both good and bad translations, SW: TPM had both. Norwegian is the only language I know with two official versions of the same language (minor dialectal differences and geography determine which the first one you learn is). In one the translation was "The Hidden Menace" and in the other it was "The Phantom/Wraith/Apparition Menace".

In English media, the use of the name "John Carter" for the adaptation of the first of ERB's Barsoom stories a few years ago was an example of how not to do it. With merely a name, especially one that is so average, what can one expect from the movie?
Sure, if you're like me, a Barsoom story was the first thing I though of but for those unfamiliar with it....A comedy? Drama? Horror? Documentary? Had they just called it "John Carter of Mars" it would give at least a vague hint of the content.

[Misereor]

Up to a few decades ago pretty much every non-Norwegian piece of media that was translated was given a Norwegian name, and often not just a literal translation of the original title. While this makes sense for titles that are idioms, puns, etc. it was done pretty indiscriminately and with little care for (and often little understanding of) the work in question.

Same in Denmark.
I fondly recall "Monkey boy kills indigenous life forms and wants to get it on with hot socialite girl" (Tarzan).
Or "Christmas dinner to be thinks it is Doctor Phil" (Babe).
And my favorite. "Lesbian Nazi Hookers abducted by UFO and forced into weight loss program" (Jerry Springer).

[Jaros]

Die Hard 2: Die Harder, has to be one of the best named sequels I can think of

Building off of that, An Evening With Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder

For another humorous eye-catcher of a title, while I haven't read it, I do know there's a YA book called Hold Me Closer, Necromancer

[Eldan]

Well, I mean, sequel titles are an entire genre on their own. But I'd like to nominate any movie with "Revolution", "Vengeance" or "The Return" as a title.

[Hunter Noventa]

Some anime have really nonsensical titles. What does Bleach have to do with...whatever supernatural shenanigans that show/manga is about anyway?

[Prime32]

Some anime have really nonsensical titles. What does Bleach have to do with...whatever supernatural shenanigans that show/manga is about anyway?

It whitens things. Lots of things in Bleach turn white, literally or metaphorically. And the protagonist is frequently mistaken for having bleached hair.

But mainly music references.

[Magic_Hat]

Do acronyms of a title count? Like I don't like Uncle Grampa, I don't have a problem with the title (or rather I don't have a problem with naming a show after its protagonist), but the initials are "UG." And they acknowledge it in the show. UG - it's like an onomatopoeia for what you feel like when watching it.

Also Game of Thrones. I like the early seasons, am fine with the title, but the acronym is "GOT," (and they acknowledge it in the show) which seems kind of silly for this dark, serious, medieval fantasy drama.

I don't know. The acronym for whatever the series/media is doesn't bother me. Just trying to get people to say the title as an acronym when it doesn't work kind of bugs me. Like when the last Harry Potter films came out: HP7 pt1 or pt2. Sometimes an acronym works, and sometimes its weird to say or think about.

Am I making any sense? Am I alone in this?

[Rynjin]

Well, I mean, sequel titles are an entire genre on their own. But I'd like to nominate any movie with "Revolution", "Vengeance" or "The Return" as a title.

You must really like Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

As we all should, it's great.

[Kato]

I don't feel like many shows make a point of acronym titles, unless it's very blatant... Or I'm just ignorant. Then again, many shows have such short names shortening them is kind of pointless (?)

Same in Denmark.
I fondly recall "Monkey boy kills indigenous life forms and wants to get it on with hot socialite girl" (Tarzan).
Or "Christmas dinner to be thinks it is Doctor Phil" (Babe).
And my favorite. "Lesbian Nazi Hookers abducted by UFO and forced into weight loss program" (Jerry Springer).

Well, I wasn't specifically thinking of translations, but I guess they qualify. Germany also had its fair share (they mostly stopped translating by now)
(a German comedian claimed that the Spanish (?) title for Psycho was 'the man who was his mother' but I can't find any proof of that)

Well, I mean, sequel titles are an entire genre on their own. But I'd like to nominate any movie with "Revolution", "Vengeance" or "The Return" as a title.

Yes, those are always gems.

It whitens things. Lots of things in Bleach turn white, literally or metaphorically. And the protagonist is frequently mistaken for having bleached hair.

But mainly music references.

Ah, I've always wondered about that. Mystery solved.

[Celestia]

One of my favorite titles ever is Ghost in the Shell. If you know nothing about the movie, it is a bizarre title that intruiges you, and then after you watch it, you realize the deeper meaning it holds. The name spoils the ending of the movie, but you'll never know until after you watch it. I love names with hidden secrets like that. Kubo and the Two Strings does something similar.

[factotum]

Some anime have really nonsensical titles. What does Bleach have to do with...whatever supernatural shenanigans that show/manga is about anyway?

I find that the original Japanese episode titles for anime are often just a description of what happens in the episode, which is quite odd to Western ears. They generally get renamed for Western consumption.

Willing to bet that both the best and worst titles of all time come from the James Bond movies. Best: Diamonds are Forever, The Man with the Golden Gun, The World is Not Enough. Worst: Quantum of Solace (what the heck does that even mean?), Octopussy, Thunderball (sounds like a lottery machine).

[Eldan]

You must really like Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

As we all should, it's great.

Oh, that one absolutely loops back around to greatness, even if I have never played a Metal Gear game.

[Celestia]

I find that the original Japanese episode titles for anime are often just a description of what happens in the episode, which is quite odd to Western ears. They generally get renamed for Western consumption.

Willing to bet that both the best and worst titles of all time come from the James Bond movies. Best: Diamonds are Forever, The Man with the Golden Gun, The World is Not Enough. Worst: Quantum of Solace (what the heck does that even mean?), Octopussy, Thunderball (sounds like a lottery machine).

I can't possibly consider as great a title that is a blatant lie. At normal pressures, diamonds are thermodynamically unstable and decay into graphite over the course of billions of years.

[snowblizz]

Worst: Quantum of Solace (what the heck does that even mean?),

A very tiny piece of peace of mind, basically. IIRC it had some meaning in the film, Bond getting some closure on some things. Maybe. A lot of those, especially the Craig oens start to flwo together in my mind.

[BWR]

One of my favorite titles ever is Ghost in the Shell. If you know nothing about the movie, it is a bizarre title that intruiges you, and then after you watch it, you realize the deeper meaning it holds. The name spoils the ending of the movie, but you'll never know until after you watch it. I love names with hidden secrets like that. Kubo and the Two Strings does something similar.

Good choices. "Ghost in the Shell" is so much more descriptive, appropriate and evocative than "Mobile Armored Riot Police."

[Spore]

Well, I mean, sequel titles are an entire genre on their own. But I'd like to nominate any movie with "Revolution", "Vengeance" or "The Return" as a title.

You must really like Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

As we all should, it's great.

And I love its status as a quasi-serious game that jokes about its tropes.

I really like "Star Wars" and its subsequent subtitles. You can say about the movies what you will but the subtitles always hit its content.

As for vaguely confusing I'd like to nominate "Iron Sky". From the trailer I thought it was a piloting film much less about hammy Space Nazis. but in retrospect, Udo Kier should have given it away.

Fun fact: When he doesn't play Yuri in C&C Red Alert 2 or Wolfgang Kortzfleisch (what a surname... Mr Pukemeat likes his Arian name I think) in Iron Sky, he often plays villains in German crime thrillers or kid's shows. Have you ever seen the light-heartedness of kid or early teen live-action series meet something so hammy as Udo Kier's villainous acting? It is delightful.

[Iruka]

As for vaguely confusing I'd like to nominate "Iron Sky". From the trailer I thought it was a piloting film much less about hammy Space Nazis. but in retrospect, Udo Kier should have given it away.

Fun fact: When he doesn't play Yuri in C&C Red Alert 2 or Wolfgang Kortzfleisch (what a surname... Mr Pukemeat likes his Arian name I think) in Iron Sky, he often plays villains in German crime thrillers or kid's shows. Have you ever seen the light-heartedness of kid or early teen live-action series meet something so hammy as Udo Kier's villainous acting? It is delightful.

Kortzfleisch was acctually the name of a real german noble house, one of them a general in the Wehrmacht. I had assumed the name had its origins in something translating to 'short meat', but apparently the name was originally written as Kotfleisch ... no wonder they changed it.

Boy does Kier do a lot of stuff

[The Fury]

Up to a few decades ago pretty much every non-Norwegian piece of media that was translated was given a Norwegian name, and often not just a literal translation of the original title. While this makes sense for titles that are idioms, puns, etc. it was done pretty indiscriminately and with little care for (and often little understanding of) the work in question.
This gave us things like (literal translation to English for those not fortunate enough to understand Norwegian) "Shark summer" (Jaws), "Worm summer" (Tremors), "Picnic with death" (Deliverence) , "Help, we're in the pop business" (This is Spinal Tap), "Girl with male courage" (True Grit, though this one sounds marginally less bad in Norwegian), and "Pumpkin in distress" (Seven Year Itch), to name a few.

I actually like some of those. "Worm Summer" ...I'd see that.

As much as it pains me to say it, "Eternal Darkness" isn't that great of a title. The game itself is awesome sure, but the title doesn't give a very good impression of what you're in for and even comes off as kind of generic. I was actually going to pass on it until a friend insisted that I give it a shot.

[Eldan]

Sanity's Requiem isn't a bad title, though.

[McNum]

Same in Denmark.
I fondly recall "Monkey boy kills indigenous life forms and wants to get it on with hot socialite girl" (Tarzan).
Or "Christmas dinner to be thinks it is Doctor Phil" (Babe).
And my favorite. "Lesbian Nazi Hookers abducted by UFO and forced into weight loss program" (Jerry Springer).

I'm from Denmark and I don't quite recognize those. Babe was "Babe the Spunky Pig" if I remember right.

I do remember "Maw of Death" (Jaws), "Dad's Awesome Vacation" (National Lampoon's Vacation), and "Driving with Crazy People!" (Cannonball Run). Others get a more literal translation, like A Fistful of Dollars is exactly that, but in Danish. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly became "The Good, The Bad, and the Cruel", though.

Of course, none can hold a candle to the best worst one. Die Hard with a Vengeance became "Die Hard, MEGA HARD" in Danish. Yes, localized to a different English title.

Spoiler: The Titles in Danish

Show

Dødens Gab (Jaws)
Babe den kække gris (Babe)
Fars Fede Ferie (National Lampoon's Vacation)
Ud at køre med de skøre! (Cannonball Run)
En nævefuld dollars (A Fistful of Dollars)
Den gode, den onde, og den grusomme (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly)

[Velaryon]

I second John Carter as a truly awful title. Just having a person's name isn't a great choice for a movie title to begin with, but if your film is sci fi, fantasy, or some flavor thereof, you need to put something in the title that suggests that.

Some anime have really nonsensical titles. What does Bleach have to do with...whatever supernatural shenanigans that show/manga is about anyway?

I can't speak to Bleach specifically, but there do seem to be a significant number of manga and anime whose creators chose the title by sticking their fingers in a random dictionary page and picking whatever word they end up pointing to.

[Yora]

Why name a movie "John Carter" when the character's days of fame were almost a century ago and only a few fans of obscure early sci-fi know it? Especially when you could use the more recognizable version of his name that is "John Carter of Mars". Now that's a title that is already much more interesting.

Or you could just use the title of the novel you are adapting, which has the awesome name "A Princess of Mars". Seriously! You're first thought is probably "what does a princess do on Mars?" and then "Wait, she's a princess of Mars? How is that possible?!" Already you are curious, and even if it turns out to be something you're absolutely not interested in, you have been thinking about it for a few seconds.
"John Carter" does not mean anything to anyone, and it doesn't have any even mildly interesting associations.

I think Bleach refers to the main character being a Japanese guy with blond hair, which makes people percieve him as a troublemaker who wants to stand out and get attention. Which I believe isn't actually fair as he just happens to be that one japanese person who is naturally blond.
But it's still really not important at all, considering the subject of the series.

Good choices. "Ghost in the Shell" is so much more descriptive, appropriate and evocative than "Mobile Armored Riot Police."

Though before that, he also wrote "Tokyo Tank Police". Now that's a cool title.

While I'm a fan of his third near-future cyborg-police with heavy armor series (almost like that guy's an engineer or something), "Appleseed" is also a terrible title.

[BWR]

"Dad's Awesome Vacation" (National Lampoon's Vacation),

That was 'Help, we're on vacation', here. Norway went through a period of 'Help, X' as a go to translation for several comedies, such as
'Help, it's Christmas vacation', which can almost be excused for being a sequel.
'Help, we're flying' (Airplane)
'Help, we're filming' (Loose shoes)

And lest you think only foreign movies got this treatment, several Norwegian movies suffered this as well. I will give 'Help, we're in the movie business' a pass since it was a deliberate jab at that unfortunate period in our cinematographical history and poked fun at the state of Norwegian film in general.

Though before that, he also wrote "Tokyo Tank Police". Now that's a cool title.

Is that the same as 'Dominion'/'Dominion Tank Police'? Because that's the name of the manga and anime we have, respectively. And it was a fun title and fun little story.

[Pendulous]

Some anime have really nonsensical titles. What does Bleach have to do with...whatever supernatural shenanigans that show/manga is about anyway?

Oh, we're going anime here?

"Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren't They?"

"A Place Further than the Universe" (amazing beautiful show, but still)

"Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?"

"Is this a Zombie?" (mentioned for the trifecta of shows that love to be a question)

"When Supernatural battles Become Commonplace"

And for an upcoming one, "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ".

[Berserk Mecha]

Anime inspired video games tend to be horrendous at this, especially when the people coming up with this stuff have no idea how any language other than Japanese works.

Examples:

Fate / Stay Night
Unlimited Blade Works
Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R
Melty Blood Re-ACT Final Tuned
Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code

That last one deserves special mention just to try and figure out what in the hell it is supposed to mean.

[SirKazum]

Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code

That last one deserves special mention just to try and figure out what in the hell it is supposed to mean.

That one's easy - it's about a former actress whose blood has a particularly low fusion temperature (she lives in a really cold place, okay) who returns to the job after making sure her studio is compliant with the newest version of local building safety laws. Did I get that right?

[Kantaki]

Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?"

What's the problem with that one?
Other than the answer being painfully obvious I mean.
By the way, it's „YES!.

"Is this a Zombie?" (mentioned for the trifecta of shows that love to be a question).

Sounds like a good title for a picture book that prepares little kids for the zombie-apocalypse.
Hey, the brats need to know when it's time to shoot daddy in the face

[Joran]

The Kingdom Hearts game on the 3DS has the worst subtitle ever: Dream Drop Distance (get it?! 3Ds!)

Another game in the series is called 358/2 which makes me think of a math problem...

Chain of Memories, however is an awesome title.

[Knaight]

On the good side - A Hundred Years of Solitude is just a rock solid title, and I have to give credit where it's due to In Search of Lost Time, for all that the actual writing is not my thing.