1.1《回到未来》

Example 1:

SL:“Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”

TL: “路？我们要去的地方不需要路。”

This line is spoken by Dr. Brown and his time-traveling car when traveling through time. He doesn't need traditional roads and means of transportation and can directly travel through time in the time-traveling car. From the perspective of Skopos theory, the translator directly uses literal translation to convey Dr. Brown's idea, retains the sense of suspense and humor in the original sentence, helps the audience understand the plot, highlights the character's adventurous spirit, which conforms to the entertainment purpose of the science-fiction adventure movie and implements the Skopos principle of Skopos theory. Moreover, this approach creates a sense of science-fiction suspense, triggering the readers' thinking about the unknown: Where is he going in the time machine? Isn't he afraid of getting lost? Is such a time machine really possible...? It fully proves the Skopos rule of Skopos theory.

4.1.2 Domestication

The subtitle translation of this movie mainly adopts the domestication translation strategy. Domestication is a translation method proposed by American translator Lawrence Venuti, aiming to make the translated words closer to the target language and culture. In movie translation, domestication is often used to translate new words or foreign objects and is also widely used in daily conversations. The domestication method usually makes the translation conform to the cognitive habits and language culture of the target readers by replacing cultural connotations or adjusting the mode of expression.

Example 2:

SL: “No McFly ever amounted to anything.”

TL: “麦克菲家祖传没出息。”

The translator fully exerts the translator's subjectivity in the translation process. On the basis of fully considering the differences in the cultural environment and social background between Chinese and English, when translating “No McFly ever amounted to anything”, which is what the protagonist Marty said when complaining about his father's cowardice when he was young, the translator uses free translation to render it as “麦克菲家祖传没出息” instead of the literal and blunt “No McFly ever amounted to anything” . If this humorous line is simply translated literally as “No McFly ever amounted to anything” , the satirical effect will be weak. However, by adopting the domestication translation method and translating it as “麦克菲家祖传没出息”, it is closer to the Chinese context and expression habits, highlights the comical and satirical effect of the original text, vividly depicts the protagonist Marty's psychological activities at that time, and the word “祖传”,this ancestral translation (handed down from generation to generation) can arouse strong resonance among Chinese readers, thus achieving full communicative function and expressive effect.

Example 3:

SL: “flux capacitor”

TL: “通量电容器”

The movie Back to the Future involves a large number of elements of American popular culture in the 1980s (such as rock and roll and retro technology) and science-fiction concepts (such as time paradox and parallel universe). Affected by the historical background and cultural cognition, the translator needs to give priority to the understanding needs of the target audience. There is no corresponding cultural symbol for the fictional scientific and technological term “flux capacitor” in the movie. So how to deal with scientific terms like “flux capacitor”? The translator uses the method of literal translation plus supplementary explanation in Chinese, which not only retains the characteristics of scientific terms but also avoids unnecessary confusion for the audience and highlights the functionality of the machine. This feature is also reflected in Back to the Future Part II. “hoverboard” is translated as “悬浮滑板” instead of “磁浮板”. This term is not transliterated in the 2015 future world, highlighting the authenticity of the technology.