MovieChat Forums > Metal Hurlant Chronicles (2012) Discussion > Pronunciation of the title

Pronunciation of the title

posted 10 years ago by silovik812
4 replies | jump to latest

Since I speak French, I know perfectly well how Métal Hurlant is pronounced. I'm amused by how the Syfy announcers try to pronounce it with English phonemes. Sometimes it's "Metal HUR-lunt", and sometimes it's "Metal Hurl-LAWN". I'm not sure why they use that name, which is meaningless in English, instead of the standard "Heavy Metal", or a translation like "Screaming Metal" or "Howling Metal".

I also keep forgetting that the actual title of the series is Metal Hurlant Chronicles. Maybe I just think that for anything on Syfy, a title with more than two words is too much to remember.

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"Oh, well" said Zanoni, "to pour pure water in the muddy well does but disturb the mud !"

[–] ughmoretodealwith 10 years ago

It happens with other shows. Naruto on cartoon network and the second series on the Disney channel was properly pronounced in the show and certain promos. But the commercials done by the networks it was not properly pronounced.
It obviously depends if the VO person has been giving the pronunciation card.

Christians call it faith ... I call it the herd.
-- Friedrieh Wilhelm Nietzsche

[–] CSyn 9 years ago

Yeah, I don't understand why they didn't change the title stateside, especially since the magazine and the animated movie are quite well known under the "Heavy Metal" title in America.

"I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
I do not think that they will sing to me."

[–] philoj 8 years ago

The Heavy Metal magazine established itself decades ago, almost before heavy metal music was a thing. Also kind of before the knee-jerk trademark wars. So the name was fairly unique.

Today I'm sure there's at least one company in the metal industry that would find a reason to be threatened by the name "Heavy Metal Chronicles" and sue.

Of course there's also the issue of confusion, especially since Syfy has sullied their name with wrestling. "Heavy Metal Chronicles on Syfy" might be seen as a metal band show and get the wrong audience. (Though I think most metal fans would like the show anyway)

--
Philo's Law: To learn from your mistakes, you have to realize you're making mistakes.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 4 years ago

No, philo. The Metal music genre was established WELL before the US mag appeared. I doubt you we’re even a sperm at the time.