I was rewatching Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and noticed the Japanese translations were awful. I could have done a better job. In one scene a guy says, “何飲む(なにのむ)” and the subtitle read “What’d ya want?” I was like: WTF! He is asking her what she wants to drink! It’s not a hard translation. Who hires these people? I was completely baffled and had to pause the movie to tell someone. This is a Quentin Tarantino movie. I figured A-list directors would do a bit of vetting to ensure all aspects of their film are high quality.

What do guys think? Am I over analyzing it? What’s an accurate translate for なにのむ?

The same goes for Spanish movie subtitles. It doesn't matter how big the movie is. I don't think the people who pay for the translations really care, or they don't know how bad the results are.

James

As a translator, I don't do subtitles but I read about people doing it. It's down to the people paying for the translations, as James says, I think. I also think people don't always see the film they're translating - sometimes you see a subtitle, or here in Germany hear a dubbed translation, where it's obvious the wrong word was taken. Of course, it takes longer to translate if you watch the film, so the client has to pay enough for a translator to make enough money to live on.