{{Short description|2005 bootleg of Revenge of the Sith}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox film | name = Star War: The Third Gathers – The Backstroke of the West | image = File:Do_not_want.jpg | native_name = {{Infobox Chinese/Chinese|child=yes|hide=no|header=none | title = Chinese title | s = 星球大战：第三集 - 西斯的反击 | p = xīngqiú dàzhàn: dì sān jí - xīsī de fǎnjī }} | alt = [[Darth Vader]] and [[Emperor Palpatine]] in a dark room with timecodes at the top. The subtitle at the bottom reads "Do not want". | caption = Screenshot from the bootleg showing the machine-translated subtitle "Do not want", a rendering of [[Darth Vader]]'s "Nooooooo!" line | based_on = ''[[Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith]]''<br />by [[George Lucas]] | director = [[George Lucas]] {{small|(original)}} | writer = [[George Lucas]] {{small|(original)}} | music = [[John Williams]] {{small|(original)}} | released = {{Film date|2005}} | country = {{ubl|China {{small|(bootleg)}}|United States {{small|(fandub)}}}} | language = [[Chinglish]] {{small|(machine-translated subtitles from Chinese)}}<br />English {{small|(fandub)}} | runtime = 140 minutes }}
'''''Star War: The Third Gathers – The Backstroke of the West''''',{{efn|The full title as it appears in the bootleg's machine-translated subtitles}} more commonly known as '''''Backstroke of the West''''', is a 2005 Chinese [[Bootleg recording|bootleg]] DVD of the film ''[[Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith]]'' that became an [[internet meme]] for its poor [[Machine translation|machine-translated]] English subtitles. The bootleg first gained attention in June 2005 shortly after its release, when American blogger Jeremy Winterson purchased a copy at a [[Shanghai]] market and shared [[screenshot]]s on his personal blog.
The [[Literal translation|literal]] machine translation from Chinese to English resulted in bizarre mistranslations, most notably renaming [[Anakin Skywalker]] to "Allah Gold", [[Obi-Wan Kenobi]] to "Ratio Tile", and the [[Jedi]] to "Hopeless Situation Warriors". Additionally, the resulting subtitles introduce random profanity and instances of [[Chinglish]]. A full-length English [[fandub]] of the film was produced for [[YouTube]].
The bootleg is most famous for its translation of [[Darth Vader]]'s climactic scream of "Nooooooo!", which was rendered in the subtitles as "Do not want". Following the fandub's wider circulation in early 2017, the bootleg received renewed attention from [[Entertainment journalism|entertainment journalists]], several of whom praised the quality of the voice acting and its unintentional comedic reworking of the film.
== History == === Origin === [[File:Shanghai (Xiangyang Market) 014.jpg|thumb|[[Xiangyang Market]], pictured in 2006, and shut down that year]]
{{Quote | quote = i saw revenge of the sith last weekend at a local theater with my friend joe who was in town on business. it was much better than the first two movies and a fitting end (err.. middle) to the star wars saga.<br><br> the next day i was walking past my friendly dvd salesperson and decided to check out revenge of the sith. i was assured the quality was good and for 7rmb{{efn|7 [[RMB]] was roughly equivalent to [[United States dollar|US$]]0.85 in June 2005.<ref>{{harvnb|FRED}}, "Chinese Yuan Renminbi to One U.S. Dollar"; "2005-06-01 8.2765"</ref>}} why not give it a shot. | source = Jeremy Winterson, June 7, 2005<ref>{{harvnb|Winterson|2005}}</ref> }}
American blogger Jeremy Winterson lived in [[Shanghai]], China, as an [[expat]] for work in 2005, and purchased a [[Bootleg recording|bootleg]] DVD of ''[[Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith]]'' as part of a batch from a local [[Hawker (trade)|street vendor]] along his commute.<ref>{{harvnb|Glennon|2020}}, "In 2005, a fellow by the name of Jeremy Winterson bought a bootleg of the movie in Shanghai and noticed something amiss with the English subtitles."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Winterson|2009}}, "a couple of years ago when i was living in shanghai i bought a revenge of the sith dvd off the street."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|MendicantECT|2020|loc=1:42–2:35}}</ref> Having shelved the DVD shortly after purchase, Winterson later credited his sister with rediscovering it and sparking his interest.<ref>{{harvnb|MendicantECT|2020|loc=16:09–16:59}}</ref>
Winterson stated he purchased the DVD at [[Xiangyang Market]],<ref>{{harvnb|Winterson|2005}}, "Time Bandit said... where can i find this dvd???"; "jeremy said... ... time bandit- i found this copy in the xiang yang market."</ref> an [[open-air market]] in Shanghai known as a major hub for [[Copyright infringement#"Piracy"|pirated]] and [[Counterfeit consumer good|counterfeit goods]].<ref>{{harvnb|SCMP|2006}}, "... about 80 per cent of Shanghai's piracy cases originated from the market."; "... the market would be closed after the failure of repeated crackdowns on sales of fake products."</ref> The following year, in 2006, the market was permanently closed as part of a crackdown to improve the city's image.<ref>{{harvnb|Taipei Times|2006}}, "The famous Xiangyang market closed for good yesterday, the victim of a crackdown by authorities on the rampant piracy of brand-name items"; "... as the city tries to spruce up its image."</ref>
Following positive feedback from friends and family on Winterson's blog post about the bootleg, one of his friends shared it through a work [[mailing list]], after which it became popular enough that Winterson's [[Domain name registrar|domain provider]] temporarily suspended his blog for [[Web traffic#Traffic overload|exceeding its bandwidth limits]].<ref>{{harvnb|Glennon|2020}}, "When he shared a bunch of screenshots online, Backstroke of the West became a viral phenomenon among Star Wars fans."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Winterson|2005}}, "Adam Edwards said... Wow. I am sending this to our Star Wars mailing list at the office."; "jeremy said... what can i say guys. this definitely got way past adam's office star wars mailing list."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|MendicantECT|2020|loc=2:53–4:15}}</ref> Winterson's blog post was briefly mentioned in an official ''starwars.com'' blog post on June 17, 2005.<ref>{{harvnb|Burton|2005}}, "In this site, one of our fans blogs about coming across a Chinese bootleg copy of the film with very, very misleading English subtitles. ... Check it out here.</ref>
=== Translation errors === [[File:Backstroke of the West conversation.jpg|thumb|right|In a poorly machine-translated exchange, "[[Anakin Skywalker|Allah Gold]]" (left) informs "[[Obi-Wan Kenobi|Ratio Tile]]" (right) that he was "made by the [[Jedi High Council|Presbyterian Church]]".]] Winterson theorized the film's [[subtitles]] were first transcribed by hand into Chinese and then [[Machine translation|machine-translated]] back into English.<ref>{{harvnb|Winterson|2009}}, "i figured out that a chinese pirate had originally tried to listen to the movie in english and wrote in chinese what he thought he heard- this was then translated back by machine into english."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Glennon|2020}}, "Essentially, the English dialogue had been ... translated to Chinese, then auto-translated ... back into English."</ref> The machine translation often ignored structural differences between English and Chinese and produced [[literal translation]]s of [[Chinese characters]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hall|2017}}, "(which don't account for the many, many differences between Mandarin and English)"</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Alexander|2017}}, "... the bad translations are the result of a "machine translation of the Chinese script to ROTS ..."</ref>
Notable character and faction name changes include: * [[Anakin Skywalker]] was translated to "'''Allah Gold'''".<ref>{{harvnb|Hall|2017}}, "... and Anakin Skywalker being called Allah Gold, ..."</ref> * [[Obi-Wan Kenobi]] was translated to "'''Ratio Tile'''".<ref>{{harvnb|Liberman|2017}}, ""Ratio tile, the wish power are together with you" (="Obi Wan, may the Force be with you")"</ref> * [[Chancellor Palpatine]] was translated to "'''Speaker D'''".<ref>{{harvnb|Hall|2017}}, "It's very silly to see Palpatine referred to as Speaker D ..."</ref> * The [[Jedi]] were translated to "'''Hopeless Situation Warriors'''".<ref>{{harvnb|Glennon|2020}}, "Anakin and Obi-Wan are referred to as a "hopeless situation warriors" instead of Jedi Knights."</ref> * The [[Jedi High Council|Jedi Council]] was translated to the "'''[[Presbyterian Church]]'''" or "'''Hopeless Situation Presbyterians'''".<ref>{{harvnb|Liberman|2017}}, "I was just made by the Presbyterian Church" (= Jedi Council)"</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Glennon|2020}}, "Weirdly, Backstroke of the West also occasionally refers to Jedi as "hopeless situation Presbyterians,""</ref>
== Reception and legacy ==
A full-length [[fandub]] of the film was produced by the [[YouTube]] channel TheThirdGathers; the dub was later reposted, in full, by YouTube channel GratefulDeadpool on February 14, 2016.<ref>{{harvnb|GratefulDeadpool|2016}}, "February 14, 2016 ... Dubbed by TheThirdGathers ... I synced the subtitles and the dub to HD video of Revenge of the Sith."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Paur|2017}}, "Dubbed by TheThirdGathers"</ref>{{efn|''[[Gizmodo]]'' states the following: "Clarification: The video was reportedly first made in 2006, but was most recently put on YouTube in 2016."<ref>{{harvnb|Elderkin|2017}}</ref> The reason and source for the dating are unattributed.}} The English fandub received wider attention from [[Entertainment journalism|entertainment journalists]] in January 2017, with some viewing it as an unintentional and comedic improvement over the original film. ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' called the redub a "fan-made masterpiece" that did "the unthinkable" by making the film "cool",<ref>{{harvnb|Shanley|2017}}, "... Is a Fan-Made Masterpiece"; "... has done the unthinkable: He's made Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith cool."</ref> while ''[[Uproxx]]'' declared it a "vastly superior movie".<ref>{{harvnb|Reading|2017}}, "'Revenge Of The Sith' Dubbed With A Chinese Bootleg's Subtitles Is A Vastly Superior Movie"</ref> ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' described the "legendarily bad Chinese dub" as the "best version of the ''Star Wars'' prequels," writing that it made the film "watchable by making [it] even less sensible".<ref>{{harvnb|Purdom|2017}}, "The best version of the Star Wars prequels is still the legendarily bad Chinese dub"; "But one of their most legendary forms makes them watchable by making them even less sensible, ..."</ref>
[[File:Backstroke of the West swearing.jpg|thumb|right|The machine translation inadvertently introduces "[[fuck]]" and other profane words into the subtitles.]]
''[[SlashFilm]]'' described the machine-translated script as a "beautiful monstrosity" and "kind of magical", declaring it "the only version of this movie I ever want to watch".<ref>{{harvnb|Hall|2017}}, "... well, it's kind of magical."; "... now this is the only version of this movie I ever want to watch."; "... the machine-translated subtitles ... created a beautiful monstrosity."</ref> Noting its unintentional comedy and the mixed reception of the [[prequel trilogy]] films, ''[[Nerdist]]'' stated it allowed fans to enjoy the film as a "bizarre, sometimes incoherent comedy,"<ref>{{harvnb|Rossignol|2017}}, "Now fans can enjoy one of their least favorite Star Wars flicks as a bizarre, sometimes incoherent comedy."</ref> and ''[[Gizmodo]]'' declared it "gloriousness defined" and "basically the greatest thing on Earth."<ref>{{harvnb|Elderkin|2017}}, "It's basically the greatest thing on Earth."; "Seriously, nothing about that isn't gloriousness defined."</ref> Several journalists further noted the quality of the fandub cast's voice acting.<ref>{{harvnb|Purdom|2017}}, "As read by voice actors who do surprisingly accurate impression of Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, and the rest ..."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Glennon|2020}}, "The voice work is surprisingly bang-on, and even the characters who aren't an exact match are funny enough to let you roll with it."</ref>
Journalists highlighted specific bizarre mistranslations, such as [[General Grievous]] commanding troops to "batter to death them",<ref>{{harvnb|Reading|2017}}, "Among the ridiculous translations are General Grievous repeatedly commanding his underlings to "batter to death them!""</ref> and random use of the word "[[fuck]]" and other profanity, which ''[[Inverse (website)|Inverse]]'' stated made the otherwise "squeaky-clean" film "weird and enjoyable".<ref>{{harvnb|Glennon|2020}}, "... the Star Wars movies were pretty squeaky-clean ..."; "Even in the first few minutes, Obi-Wan's out here dropping F-bombs at random droids."; "There's not a ton of profanity in here, but it crops up in the oddest of places, ..."</ref> The bootleg is best known for the mistranslation of [[Darth Vader]]'s climactic scream of "Nooooooo!", into "Do not want", upon learning about the death of his wife, [[Padmé Amidala]].<ref>{{harvnb|SCMP|2016}}, "The climax of the film—when Anakin-as-Darth Vader finds out that Padme has died—is possibly the most climactic climax of the entire trilogy ..."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hall|2017}}, "This bootleg is most well-known for the line "Do not want," a mistranslation of Darth Vader's widely parodied "Noooooo!""</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Alexander|2017}}, "The bootleg version also includes the infamously bad subtitled version of Darth Vader's iconic "Nooooooo," which was replaced with, "Do not want.""</ref> ''Inverse'' attributed this to the lack of "an equivalent word for 'no'" in Chinese, with the machine translation instead using the "negative tense of a verb" based on the scene's context.<ref>{{harvnb|Glennon|2020}}, "Chinese doesn't have an equivalent word for "no." Instead, speakers often use the negative tense of a verb based on the context of the conversation."</ref>
== See also == * [[Chinglish]] * [[Humour in translation]] * ''[[Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam]]'' * ''[[English as She Is Spoke]]''
== Notes == {{notelist}}
== References == {{reflist}}
=== Works cited === {{refbegin|colwidth=30em|indent=yes}} * {{cite web |last=Alexander |first=Julia |date=January 4, 2017 |url=https://www.polygon.com/2017/1/4/14167442/star-wars-revenge-of-the-sith-bootleg |title=Bootleg version of ''Revenge of the Sith'' features hilarious and bad subtitles |website=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]] |access-date=March 31, 2026}} * {{cite web |last=Burton |first=Bonnie |date=June 17, 2005 |title=Episode III: Lost in Translation |url=https://blogs.starwars.com/bonniegrrl/43 |website=[[starwars.com]] |publisher=[[Lucasfilm]] |access-date=April 1, 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907165215/https://blogs.starwars.com/bonniegrrl/43 |archive-date=September 7, 2008 |url-status=dead}} * {{cite web |last=Elderkin |first=Beth |date=January 7, 2017 |title=Let Us Rejoice That Someone Dubbed The Entire Chinese Bootleg of ''Revenge of the Sith'' |url=https://gizmodo.com/let-us-rejoice-that-someone-dubbed-the-entire-chinese-b-1790936814 |website=[[Gizmodo]] |access-date=March 31, 2026}} * {{cite web |url=https://fred.stlouisfed.org/data/EXCHUS |title=Chinese Yuan Renminbi to U.S. Dollar Spot Exchange Rate |website=[[Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis]] |publisher=[[Federal Reserve Economic Data]] |access-date=March 30, 2026 |ref={{sfnref|FRED}}}} * {{cite web |last=Glennon |first=Jen |date=May 20, 2020 |url=https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/revenge-sith-backstroke-west-bootleg |title=6 reasons why a goofy bootleg is the best version of ''Revenge of the Sith'' |website=[[Inverse (website)|Inverse]] |access-date=March 31, 2026}} * {{cite AV media |author=GratefulDeadpool |date=February 14, 2016 |title=Star War The Third Gathers: Backstroke of the West HD (Dubbed) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XziLNeFm1ok |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816101939/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XziLNeFm1ok |archive-date=August 16, 2024 |url-status=dead |medium=YouTube video |access-date=March 31, 2026}} * {{cite web |last=Hall |first=Jacob |date=January 3, 2017 |url=https://www.slashfilm.com/548507/revenge-of-the-sith-dubbed/ |title=VOTD: ''LOL: 'Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith{{'-}}'' Dubbed With Bootleg Subtitles Is A Magical Thing |website=[[SlashFilm]] |access-date=March 31, 2026}} * {{cite web |last=Liberman |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Liberman|date=January 15, 2017 |title=Backstroke of the West |url=https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=30425 |website=[[Language Log]] |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania]] |access-date=March 31, 2026}} * {{cite podcast |url=https://soundcloud.com/mendicant-ect/interview-with-jeremy-winterson |title=Interview with Jeremy Winterson |host=MendicantECT |date=September 7, 2020 |website=[[SoundCloud]] |access-date=March 30, 2026}} * {{cite web |last=Paur |first=Joey |date=January 2017 |title=Watch the Hilarious Chinese Dubbed Bootleg Version of ''STAR WARS: REVENGE OF THE SITH'' |url=https://geektyrant.com/news/watch-the-hilarious-chinese-dubbed-bootleg-version-of-star-wars-revenge-of-the-sith |website=GeekTyrant |access-date=March 31, 2026}} * {{cite web |last=Purdom |first=Clayton |date=January 2, 2017 |title=The best version of the ''Star Wars'' prequels is still legendarily bad Chinese dub |url=https://www.avclub.com/article/best-version-star-wars-prequels-still-legendarily--247818 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103062124/https://www.avclub.com/article/best-version-star-wars-prequels-still-legendarily--247818 |archive-date=January 3, 2017 |url-status=dead |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |access-date=March 31, 2026}} * {{cite web |last=Reading |first=Caleb |date=January 3, 2017 |title='Revenge of the Sith' Dubbed With a Chinese Bootleg's Subtitles Is a Vastly Superior Movie |url=http://uproxx.com/movies/star-wars-revenge-of-the-sith-bootleg-subtitles/ |website=[[Uproxx]] |access-date=April 1, 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104113927/http://uproxx.com/movies/star-wars-revenge-of-the-sith-bootleg-subtitles/ |archive-date=January 4, 2017 |url-status=dead}} * {{cite web |last=Rossignol |first=Derrick |date=January 7, 2017 |title=''Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith'' Is Way Better with Nonsensical Bootleg Subtitles |url=https://archive.nerdist.com/star-wars-revenge-of-the-sith-is-way-better-with-nonsensical-bootleg-subtitles/ |website=[[Nerdist]] |access-date=April 1, 2026}} * {{cite news |title=Famed Shanghai pirates' paradise faces closure |url=https://www.scmp.com/article/531746/famed-shanghai-pirates-paradise-faces-closure |work=[[South China Morning Post]] |date=January 6, 2006 |access-date=March 30, 2026 |ref={{sfnref|SCMP|2006}}}} * {{cite news |title=Star Lols: Revenge of the Hilarious Sith Redub |url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/hk-magazine/article/2038184/star-lols-revenge-hilarious-sith-redub |work=[[South China Morning Post]] |date=August 17, 2016 |access-date=April 1, 2026 |ref={{sfnref|SCMP|2016}}}} * {{cite news |last=Shanley |first=Patrick |date=January 3, 2017 |title='Revenge of the Sith' Dubbed With Bootleg Chinese Dialogue Is a Fan-Made Masterpiece |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/star-wars-revenge-sith-bootleg-chinese-dialogue-is-a-masterpiece-960452/ |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |access-date=April 1, 2026}} * {{cite news |title=Shanghai's fake goods heaven, RIP |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worldbiz/archives/2006/07/01/2003316700 |agency=[[Associated Press]] |work=[[Taipei Times]] |date=July 1, 2006 |access-date=March 30, 2026 |ref={{sfnref|Taipei Times|2006}}}} * {{cite web |last=Winterson |first=Jeremy |date=June 7, 2005 |url=http://winterson.com/2005/06/episode-iii-backstroke-of-west.html |title=The Backstroke of the West |website=winterson.com |access-date=March 30, 2026}} * {{cite web |last=Winterson |first=Jeremy |date=January 27, 2009 |url=http://winterson.com/2009/01/episode-iii-backstroke-of-west-redux.html |title=episode iii, the backstroke of the west redux |website=winterson.com |access-date=March 30, 2026}} {{refend}}
== External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20131205212734/http://www.winterson.com/pics/starwars.txt ''Backstroke of the West'' script] as uploaded by Winterson {{Unofficial Star Wars media}}
[[Category:2005 Chinese films]] [[Category:2010s viral videos]] [[Category:Fan films based on Star Wars]] [[Category:Humour in translation]] [[Category:Internet memes introduced in 2005]] [[Category:Internet memes introduced from China]] [[Category:Parody films based on Star Wars]] [[Category:Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith]] [[Category:Star Wars fandom]]