# The Backstroke of the West



## Foxridley (Nov 26, 2021)

The Backstroke of the West is not a movie in its own right, but rather a weird bootleg of Revenge of the Sith from Hong Kong.
The original DVD they made contained Chinese subtitles apparently made from transcribed dialog, and English subtitles made by translating that back into English.
The result was, well:





Even the title "Backstroke of the West" was an attempt to trans;ate "Revenge of the Sith."
Somebody was actually dedicated enough to dub the subtitles. It's pretty hilarious, though I don't like of the voice they picked for Yoda. There are clips from the dub available online, but I don't think the original sub is up any more.
It has its own little following, so, do we have any Backstroke fans here?


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## Yastreb (Nov 26, 2021)

I _love_ that film! Let's not forget that all the names were translated too, because in Chinese you have to write them phonetically-ish using the Chinese characters and the back-translation was apparently done by a machine that just translated the _meaning_. So Anakin Skywalker becomes Allah Gold and so on. Jedi knights are "Warriors of hopeless situation" while the Jedi order itself is known as "Presbyterian church". Below is the plot summary by Tvtropes:



Spoiler



There is war in the Gram Republic with the Space. Speaker D, the Speaker/Prime Minister of the Senate, has been kidnapped by the Abruption Doctrine leader. Two Hopeless Situation Warriors, Ratio Tile and Allah Gold, are sent to rescue him from the clutches of Space General, a very deceitful former Hopeless Situation Warrior. Previously, Allah Gold made an unspecified mistake which started the war, and is determined to do whatever it takes to restore peace. However, it is unclear whether he wants the war to continue or not.

The rescue is a success. Allah Gold duels and kills The, a "big" who is into human sacrifice and harbors an intense hatred for him. Space General, who can always succeed to succeed, manages to escape, and his airship sustains critical damage from the mysterious Good Elephant. Fortunately, our heroes manage to crash-land the airship safely on Lemon Avenue, though The Willing to Compares is annoyed that nobody is there to greet them. After his harrowing experience, The D expresses concern about whether the war will continue, but Text How Big, a powerful black Hopeless Situation Master, rebuffs him, on the grounds that he is against compromising with black people.

As Space General proceeds with his plan to split up the Abruption Doctrine leaders, the Presbyterian Church grows to distrust The D, apparently because he is from the West. When D the Superior appoints Line to the Parliament as an Elder, the Parliament callously deny him that title in retribution for his record of "long peace." However, they accept his appointment to the Parliament on the condition that he spy on the Prime Minister . . . so that they can learn more about his sex life in order to discredit him.

Meanwhile, the Presbyterian Church continues on its task to find Space General, believing that he is the only thing that is keeping the war going on. A tip from Speaker D points the Hopeless Situation Warriors to Particularly With The System Of. Speaker vouches for Allah Gold to lead the campaign. Unfortunately, despite even Vanquish Is stating Gold's experience, the Card Ratio or Ratio Tile is instead sent to kill Space General, with Vanquish Is being outvoted and suddenly concurring with the Presbyterian Church's decision. Believing that everybody is good, Section Ratio General decides to confront Space General directly, but he is proven wrong when Space General orders his underlings to killed him. However, before the minions comply, Space General decides to duel Section Ratio General himself, confessing quite nonchalantly about being a former Hopeless Situation Warrior. Eventually, Space General is defeated, though he managed earlier to complete his plan to split up the Abruption Doctrine leaders.

The Presbyterian Church's brilliant plan to discredit the Speaker backfires, as, while the Space General was defeated, The D has become disillusioned with the Hopeless Situation Presbyterian's plan to create "less freedom with more wars." Determined to end the conflict at all costs, Mr. Speaker seduces Gold into having an affair with him, turns him against Hero's Ground, and ultimately reveals that, as Governor of the city, he has learned to use a dark power, the Black Influence, which can make a person become not just a big, but both strong and big. This is the last straw for Text How Big, who deems Allah Gold "foolish" and decides to kill the Pudding outright. The Peaceful is Willing To must make a fateful decision, which will ultimately pit him against his depraved and foul-mouthed teacher, Section Ratio General . . .



And here's the film itself.

I especially like the part where they are trying to land a spaceship that is on fire and falling apart around them and the literal fire brigade is flying by their side and spraying water at them, and then Allah Gold observantly points out "The temperature of our airship is too high."


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## Pomorek (Nov 26, 2021)

Yastreb said:


> the Black Influence, which can make a person become not just a big, but both strong and big. This is the last straw for Text How Big, who deems Allah Gold "foolish" and decides to kill the Pudding outright.


I died laughing...


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## Foxridley (Nov 26, 2021)

Yastreb said:


> I _love_ that film! Let's not forget that all the names were translated too, because in Chinese you have to write them phonetically-ish using the Chinese characters and the back-translation was apparently done by a machine that just translated the _meaning_. So Anakin Skywalker becomes Allah Gold and so on. Jedi knights are "Warriors of hopeless situation" while the Jedi order itself is known as "Presbyterian church". Below is the plot summary by Tvtropes:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Honestly, they have a confusing system of government. Speaker D is, at the same time, Speaker, Prime Minister, and Governor of the city. The Gram Republic has both a Senate and a Parliament, but there is also a Parliament for the Hopeless Situation, who are also under the influence of the Presbyterian Church.


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## Pomorek (Nov 26, 2021)

Foxridley said:


> do we have any Backstroke fans here?


Now you do!  Only about 20 minutes in, and...

_"he is in my behind"
"R2, do you is fucking"_

Dammit, I'm gonna giggle whole day now!



Foxridley said:


> Honestly, they have a confusing system of government. Speaker D is, at the same time, Speaker, Prime Minister, and Governor of the city. The Gram Republic has both a Senate and a Parliament, but there is also a Parliament for the Hopeless Situation, who are also under the influence of the Presbyterian Church.


This has some amusing parallels to how the situation in my country looks like, but since we're not supposed to discuss such topics, I shall say no more.


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## BadRoy (Nov 28, 2021)

One of my favorite quotes/ reaction images. I vote that we call fans of _Backstroke of the West_ 'Hopeless Situation Warriors'


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## Foxridley (Dec 1, 2021)

It's back on YouTube for the time being:


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## Yastreb (Dec 2, 2021)

The Pudding breaking the truth to Allah Gold.





That's, like, not tautological at all.





Text How Big wants to send in the Republican troopseses.


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