There's no art in movie titles, and they're simply another way for studios to market the movie in the broadest way possible, and that sometimes leads to titles that are completely misleading. But while that's generally the case, there are other reasons why too, and studios aren't always to blame for misleading movie names.
An adaptation of a novel could use the novel's title but not explain the meaning behind it, or a title could be intentionally misleading to throw audiences off by prankster filmmakers. But regardless of why, between sequels lying about being the last in a franchise and blockbuster film titles simply being historically inaccurate, these releases have Redditors totally confused.
Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter has a misleading title because "there were eight more movies." The fourthquel wasn't even followed by a remake or reboot, as the fifth movie in the series is in the same timeline. It isn't the first time the studio used this trick either, as the eighth movie is titled Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday.
The series thankfully continued because otherwise, audiences wouldn't have gotten so-bad-they're-good movies like Jason X, which sees the iconic villain mass murdering in space. And Quentin Tarantino genuinely thinks it's a great horror movie.
Fight Club (1999)
Fight Club has a misleading title, explaining, "for years I thought that it was just a movie about an underground boxing club." Even to this day, there are still people who think it's a testosterone-fueled movie about grown-ups getting kicks out of fighting each other, but that couldn't be further from the truth.
The 1999 David Fincher-directed movie is a commentary on Generation X, values, marketing, the violence in the movie is largely satirical, and Fight Club even eerily predicted the future. And when it comes to genres, Fight Club is more of a romantic comedy than anything. The movie's title could have also had something to do with why it underperformed at the box office, as it didn't become a hit until years later.
Goodfellas (1990)
Goodfellas is one of the best gangster movies ever made, along with being extraordinarily violent and not remotely glamorizing anything the mobsters do. Aofcardinal44 sarcastically notes that "the fellas in Goodfellas were really bad actually." However, though it comes off like more of a joke, there's actually an interesting history behind the movie's title.
Interestingly, Goodfellas, which has become an iconic title, was originally intended to be called Wise Guy. According to Yardbarker, Scorsese thought it'd be best to change the name to avoid confusion with Brian De Palma's 1986 movie Wise Guys and the 1987 TV series Wiseguy.
Life Is Beautiful (1997)
Schindler's List is the best World War II movie ever made and one of the outright best films ever, but coming four years later, Life Is Beautiful lives in its shadow. Like the 1993 Steven Spielberg movie, the 1997 film follows Jews trying to escape the Nazis, but it's on a much smaller scale, as it focuses on a father and son.
Squelchygirl explains that contrary to the film's title, "it's the saddest movie and really shows the inhumanity and evil in the world." However, even though the father and son are trying to evade the Nazis and the film has a tragic ending, the father is trying to teach his son that though they're living through such a tragedy, life is still beautiful.
The Happening (2008)
The Sixth Sense, but since then, he has tried to chase that same success and has mostly failed. The 2008 movie received one of the worst receptions of any movie of the 2000s, as it was critically lambasted for the central premise of plants causing humans to commit mass suicide.
Shyamalan is his own worst enemy, and The Happening is a movie that even he surely wishes never happened.
Troll 2 (1990)
Not many people have heard of Troll 2, but the few people who have only know it for the bizarre legacy it holds. Producers thought Troll 2 wouldn't be successful with its original title, Goblins, so they decided to change it.
But the movie's title was the least of Troll 2's problems, as there were so many other issues on set. Actors had to stand still in their makeup for 14 straight hours and one actor was a patient in a mental institution. There's even a documentary about the making of the film, Best Worst Movie, which managed to turn the original film into a cult classic.
Trainspotting (1996)
Trainspotting's movie title, pondering that "no anoraks or notepads to be found. I think there is one scene where they get dropped off by a train." And while it isn't exactly clear, especially for viewers outside of the UK, the title does make sense.
There is a specific scene in the novel the film is based on where Begbie meets his estranged father at an abandoned railway station, and his father sarcastically asks him if he's trainspotting. And though that line isn't in the movie, "trainspotting" is also a British colloquial term for drug use. So, even though it isn't very clear, the 1996 drama's title is pretty appropriate.
Fargo (1996)
bulk of the Coen brothers-directed movie takes place in Minnesota, the visually incredible opening sequence and the following scene are set in the North Dakota city.
It's undoubtedly another joke that the directing duo finds funny, as the Coen brothers are always throwing bemusing anecdotes into their movies that throw audiences for a loop. Another example of that can again be found at the beginning of Fargo, as it says "based on a true story" before the movie actually starts, which isn't remotely true.
Jurassic Park (1993)
Given that the current cinematic landscape features movies full of meta and self-referential jokes, surprisingly no character in any of the Jurassic World movies has pointed it out. But with the release of Jurassic World Dominion, which will see the return of beloved characters like Dr. Ian Malcolm and will be the last movie in the series, it has to be brought up.
Scary Movie (2000)
I Know What You Did Last Summer. But, that didn't last very long.
The Scary Movie titles got even more misleading with each consecutive release in the franchise. With each sequel, the series began parodying more and more movies outside of the horror genre. The main parody of Scary Movie 3 was even 8 Mile, a drama about a lower-class rapper.
