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Hollywood tailoring movies for overseas audiences

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still need a good story

"jumper" sucked coz they were just trying to pander to overseas audiences

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It's interesting that Shakespeare - very England centric - and Tennessee Williams - very US centric - endure without being 'Hollywoodized' for international consumption. I guess character-driven quality drama will survive whilst action-driven 'tailored' fluff will not.

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anything with clint eastwood are good american flicks

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The "Last Emperoe" was tailored for Japan - they cut out the part with the Japanese emperor for the Japanese release - same with Pearl Harbor where they added a scene where a Japaese pilot shouts at children to run and hide just before he drops his bombs (as if they could hear him from the cockpit)

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“Studios want to make movies that integrate international flavor and in genres that transcend cultures and language,”

Studios want to make movies they can sell to more people.

“It’s always done with the story in mind,” Ream says, “and not just for the sake of doing it.”

The story? I think she means the money.

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I'm all for a diverse cast, and worldwide appeal, but start making some original movies first. Enough with the Pirates, the Potters, and the sequels.

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shogun36: Couldn't agree more.

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Actually, tailoring Hollywood movies to foreign audiences is nothing new. It has happened since Hollywood was born in 1910s.

Hollywood now produce even Japanese movies, like Warner Brothers.

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hollywood movies are tailored to whatever market segment will provide the best monetary return to their owners and shareholders...

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Great American comedies such as "Animal House", or "Caddy Shack", do not translate well at all. Brainless action movies do.

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Great American comedies such as "Animal House", or "Caddy Shack", do not translate well at all

Comedies are always tough sells internationally as cultural references and differences can really change things from funny to "wtf?" in a different culture. Doesn't even need to be language based - just look at some of the UK/US differences in comedy!

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Doesn't even need to be language based - just look at some of the UK/US differences in comedy!

Too right. The U.S. has a history of butchering good British comedy TV shows too, and making them unfunny rubbish.

Stuff like Seinfeld was never very popular in the UK either, because it's not funny in the first place...

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They "shade" comedy to foreign audiences.

This is just plain sad. Good comedy is disappearing because it is all going local. Except for Eddie Murphy and Jack Black. Everyone likes them, right? Especially Eddie Murphy. Pretty well aside from them, you can't count on finding much in the comedy section. I have not seen ONE of those fat Eddie Murphy movies, but it seems as though he has made seven.

Anyone familiar with the physics concept of "heat death"? Well, this is what is happening with Hollywood. Movies were designed by committee, then picked apart by accountants and lawyers. Now international committees will change movies according to audience polls in Osaka.

Between this and the 3D trend, it means fewer movies in theaters, and more and more watered down and localized films. What will I have to do to see "American films" five years from now? Who will be "choosing" my culture? I suspect culture will be determined by region coding and IP address rather than one's mother tongue.

I do not like where this is heading one bit.

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It's worst when "tailor made" becomes the new word for "censorship"

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Whoever was in charge of casting for Memoirs of a Geisha obviously missed the bus.

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I think Bollywood movies need to stop focusing so much on that subcontinent and start to think about the rest of the world, maybe stop singing in such a high pitched tone for starters?

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More like "Hollywood dumbing-down movies for overseas audiences."

Not that foreigners are dumb, but they won't understand the subtleties of American films, which are lost in translation, so Hollywood cuts those. Bad writing and acting also get lost in translation. Big, loud movies do well overseas, at the cost of American audiences. Once you know this, you see it everywhere. It is why they waste screen time on dialogue explaining something that would be obvious to American audiences. Franchises also have a built-in audience and cater to the international crowd to maximize profits. So the next time you see another "Pirates of the Caribbean" piece-of-crap coming out and you wonder who held a gun to Johnny Depp's head, keep this in mind.

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A car crash is a car crash whatever language you understand. Hollywood relies on action and special effects at the expense of the script.

We have seen so many car crashes and special effects and so much blood that now they are just boring.

Hollywood movies may appeal to non-English speakers, but those who understand English demand better scripts.

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Well since I've been an anime/manga fan since I was 13 I've grown to understand Japanese ideals on humor, as well as my original growth of US styled humor. It does take a few hoops to jump through to make sure that a joke or situation translates well into another country.

For example I first saw Shrek 2 in Hong Kong and it had subtitles in Chinese. When we reached the scene where Puss n' boots was being arrested by the Knights and the "catnip" while Puss says "thats not mine" I was pretty surprised when the theater erupted with laughter because I didn't know if they would get the joke with American "drug" culture and the "Cops" TV show scenario but it seemed to go over well.

While I don't mind less US-centric films I'd prefer good storylines over-all. Just finished watching District 9 on DVD and the story was pretty good with a bit of dark humour but still it went over well with me even though it it has strong South African influences.

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HonestDictator.

Agree and not just for movies but also for books/novels, etc.

Seen many moves in multiple languages as well as read books in a few and there is a gap and that one is hard to breach.

Example: I love the Terry Pratchett books but they translated versions pale in comparison as many "one-line" jokes are lost.

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