Takeshi's Castle

(en.wikipedia.org)

60 points | by tosh 2 hours ago

13 comments

  • sunaookami 1 hour ago

    I only know the German version from RTL2 which had funny commentary dubbed over it with made-up names and stuff. Curious, did the dubs in other countries do the same? Were there languages with the original commentary translated?

    • rimeice 1 hour ago

      In the uk it was Craig Charles of red dwarf fame, renowned funk and soul DJ and robot wars host. It was brilliant.

      • oakesm9 41 minutes ago

        I can hear his laugh just reading this

      • jareklupinski 1 hour ago

        US had Most Extreme Elimination Challenge (MXC)

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Boww2fJUEHc

        strange Poland didn't have one...

        • riffraff 1 hour ago

          We had this in the 80s/90s in Italy within a show called "mai dire banzai", they mixed up clips of Takeshi's Castle and Za Gaman[0], and the commentary was three guys of which two acted as faux Japanese experts and the third acted surprised at the completely made up bits of Japanese culture.

          It was incredibly popular back then.

          0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Za_Gaman

          • danirod 1 hour ago

            The dubs for the Spanish version did it too. There were two dubs, one in 1990 and another one for a 2006 re-run. Both completely made up.

            • altmanaltman 39 minutes ago

              Yes, it was a deliberate strategy to add localized commentary, as the original context would not apply in foreign markets. An example of Transcreation

              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcreation

            • alexpotato 27 minutes ago

              I was involved in pro paintball for several years and at the start of every one of their matches, one of the pro teams would chant:

              "DON'T. GET. ELIMINATED."

              • jttnr 2 hours ago

                Back in the early 2000s, I always had a good laugh whenever I was flipping through TV channels and stumbled upon Takeshi's Castle.

                • grimgrin 2 hours ago

                  You can watch some English subtitled rips here:

                  https://archive.org/details/takeshis-castle-with-english-sub...

                  The other archive link shared here, it's to another set of rips that appear to lack subtitles.

                  • rdtsc 1 hour ago

                    “Right you are, Ken!”

                    (From MXC, based on footage from Takeshi’s Castle)

                    Still remember that phrase from years ago.

                    • beej71 1 hour ago

                      Kenny Blankenship and Vic Romano! The names so discordant with the visuals...

                    • haunter 2 hours ago
                      • pimeys 1 hour ago

                        His movies are also worth a watch: Hana bi, Sonatine, Brother, Dolls, and Zatōichi are all amazing movies.

                        Should do a rewatch again, it's been a while...

                      • klocksib 2 hours ago

                        wait did you see that microsoft execution container (mxc) article and think "oh wow remember the best show that was on spiketv"? :D

                        • tosh 2 hours ago

                          I don't know about spiketv but yes @ microsoft execution container post

                        • Fervicus 1 hour ago

                          Wouldn't have expected this on Hacker News. Used to love watching this as a kid!

                          • prominent660 1 hour ago

                            IRL OG Fall Guys

                            • dfxm12 1 hour ago

                              Most of Beat Takeshi's work is amazing, from this, to his films, even his infamous Nintendo game.

                              • racl101 1 hour ago

                                "Right in to the mud!"

                                Remember watching this as a kid after school eating my bag of chips I'd been given for lunch which I'd save up so I can eat it later while watching this. In Canada, it was aired as MXC.

                                • jauntywundrkind 2 hours ago

                                  Thanks! Someone once told me about this, told me MXC is actually Takeshi's Castle, but I forgot, long ago. Fun fact.