Die Hard is one of the favorite movie franchises of the 90s. Especially the first three parts. They followed the adventures of John McClane and worried about him. They were waiting for him in new units. Although the further it went, the deeper the disappointment became. This is especially true for the fifth part, which took place in Russia. The film turned out to be very hacky. And this is upsetting, considering that we love both Bruce Willis and his character in Die Hard.
But things didn’t work out for McLane himself with Russia long before the fifth part. True, this is not his fault. More precisely, there is not much of it. All because of Russian translators. The fact is that every self-respecting action hero has a catchphrase. Arnold Schwarzenegger, for example, has this legendary I’ll be back.
John McClane from Die Hard has this line. From film to film he says Yippee ki-yay, motherfucker. And our translators from film to film do not understand what to do with it and how to adapt it.
True, unlike the phrase of iron Arnie, Yippee ki-yay looked organic only in the first “Die Hard”. Then the main villain called McClane a cowboy, to which he gave out his crown. The fact is that Yippee ki-yay is a slightly modified version of a line from the popular song I’m An Old Cowhand. There Johnny Mercer sang Yippee yi yo ki yay. And this song is a cowboy song. So such a reference in the first part is quite logical.
She got into the rest of the series of McClane’s adventures, rather by inertia – the public loved her so much.
But let’s get back to the translation. In the official television version, the phrase was translated as “yo-ho-ho, bastard.” And it’s just a failure. Yo-ho-ho says pirates, not cowboys. And the antagonist clearly called McClane a cowboy. Apparently, the translators decided that it would do just fine.
And there were all sorts of different versions on videotapes. “You’re wrong here, bitch,” translated the legendary Leonid Volodarsky. And other options:
“Okay, wait, motherfucker”
“Bye, bye, bastard”
“Ho-ho-hou, motherfucker” (Santa Claus reference?)
“Ublyuyudok”
“Son of a bitch”
“You’ll be surprised, son of a bitch”
And the version closest to the original: “Yupikaei, bastard.” Yes, our viewer hardly appreciated the full depth of this phrase and all the references. But this option is the most correct.
So if your language skills allow you, watch films in the originals. You can expect our dubbing actors to help you at the most crucial moment.
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