EVER since its Chinese release last week, the Hollywood heroic movie “Guardians of the Galaxy” has aroused a heated discussion among netizens about the film’s translation.

The Chinese subtitles are thought to be off the mark from the original meaning, depriving the movie of authentic Marvel appeal and humor. Criticism focuses on Jia Xiuyan, a post-1980s-generation part-time translator who did the Chinese subtitles.

A netizen called “Talk Show Translator” has listed on his microblog more than 80 mistakes in the movie’s translation. He notes that Jia does not have a solid English language background and has very little understanding of the culture of Marvel movies.

He cites a line of the film — “Some machine head freak working for a guy named Ronan” — which Jia translated into “some guys who have tubes on head.” “Moons,” which refer to natural satellites, were just simply translated into “moon.”

Some netizens complain that the Chinese subtitles have failed to adequately capture the movie’s funny scenes and dialogue. They suggest movie buffs watch the film with a friend with strong English in order not to miss the funny part.

Jia majored in Chinese literature in college. She works in film promotion and marketing for Beijing-based August First Film Studio of People’s Liberation Army. Subtitle translation of Hollywood movies has been her part-time job since 2008.

Actually, “Guardians of the Galaxy” is not her first work for which Jia has been criticized. In 2012, when Jia translated “Men In Black 3,” she cited a sentimental verse of ancient Chinese poet Bai Juyi (AD 772-846), which seemed irrelevant to the original.

Jia said she usually takes three days to translate a script. Her finished work is later reviewed for mistakes regarding figures, names and historical background, but the rest of the translation is not checked.

She told media earlier that she’d like to add some elements of Chinese culture to cater to local audiences, including Chinese poems and popular buzzwords.

But many say her attempts simply interrupt the immersive cinemagoing experience and reflect incoherence. Some movie fans even joke that she is a secret weapon for homegrown movies to compete with Hollywood flicks at the box office.

However, some professionals say that Jia is not the one to blame. China’s film industry is thriving and the film subtitle and dubbing business faces some real challenges.

According to Liu Feng, director of the Shanghai Film Dubbing Studio, China’s box office soared to 21.7 billion yuan (US$3.5 billion) last year.

“In the future, China’s smaller cities and towns will be a new and strong impetus in the growth of the industry,” Liu says. “Versions with good dubbing and translation will always be in demand.”

About 60 foreign movies are annually released in China, and for each there are two versions — original with Chinese subtitles and dubbed version.

Four film-dubbing studios in the country — Shanghai Film Dubbing Studio, August First Film Studio, China Film Group Corporation and Changchun Film Studio — are responsible for movie translation and dubbing. About half of the imported films are translated and dubbed by the professionals from Shanghai Film Dubbing Studio.

Liu says that it usually takes 20 to 30 days to present a dubbed version and a subtitle version. Around 20 people are involved in the work, from early discussion to translation to dubbing and recording.

“We have around eight teams working for movies in varied genres and styles,” he says. “Scholars and language professionals are also invited for films with complicated cultural implications such as ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and ‘Inception’.”

The average age of the team is 30, and it comprises mainly professional translators, freelancers and college students. The local studio also offers training sessions for film enthusiasts who are encouraged to start their work from simple anime productions.

In his opinion, China still lacks high-level film script translators who should have good comprehension of the context and rhythm of a movie and its related cultural background.

As early as in 2008, the Shanghai Film Dubbing Studio cooperated with the film school of Tongji University to launch a film dubbing major. They are also considering working with local colleges to open a new major of film and TV translation.

In addition to lack of talent, another problem is insufficient investment from film producers and distributors. Liu says that only 50,000 yuan is spent on an average film’s dubbing, which can’t even cover the manpower and equipment costs.

“Our colleagues have to do some freelancing dubbing work in animation, online games and commercials just to support themselves,” he says.

Nowadays, many film and TV fans in China are used to logging onto video-sharing websites to watch new episodes of foreign TV series. On www.YYeTs.com, a few netizens are working part-time to translate the subtitles for the latest productions from the United States, the UK and Japan.

They often stay up all night to translate so that many Chinese fans can watch a latest episode with Chinese subtitles within hours. All of them are working out of enthusiasm for movie and TV drama. Some consider it a good way to improve English and make friends. They work for free.

Shanghai native Emily Yao, who’s part of an online film community and has translated the Chinese subtitles for “24,” says that all the part-time translators reached an agreement that the subtitles should adhere to the original content and is understandable for the viewers.

“We also made some funny versions, but it’s only for ourselves, not proper for a larger audience,” says the 30-year-old media specialist.

Frank Ju, an official from the organizing committee of the Shanghai TV Festival and Shanghai International Film Festival, says his group plans to collaborate with these netizens from video-sharing websites next year to present the Chinese subtitles for some movies to be shown at the festival.

“We now have only 60 people — both college students and veterans engaged in the translation work for the 250 or so foreign movies shown in the film festival,” he says. “Next year we will invite netizens from the websites and online film communities to work with us.”

Critics note that film translation should be based on respect for the movie’s original meaning and flavor. It should always adopt the principles of being faithful, coherent and elegant.