Hidden in dozens of blockbuster hits are secret messages, images, or features. While these “Easter eggs” don’t detract from the movie’s storyline, they do provide exclusive insight.
The twist, however, is that some are more challenging to spot than others, especially if you only speak English. You could watch the movies listed below a thousand times, but there’s a good chance you’ll miss crucial plot twists and spoilers if English is your only language.
7 EASTER EGGS YOU MISSED IF YOU ONLY SPEAK ENGLISH
We’ve put together seven of the most intriguing movie Easter eggs out there, all with one thing in common—none of them are in English!
1: IRON MAN (2008)
Iron Man was one of the first in a long line of incredibly successful Marvel movies, but this superhero hit includes more than sophisticated technology and a wise-cracking billionaire playboy.
At the beginning of the film, Tony Stark is captured by extremists, who we later learn are working with his corrupt business partner. That is, unless you speak Urdu, the official national language of Pakistan.
When the terrorists are making their demands, they reveal the movie’s entire plot, outing the business partner from the get-go. If only Tony spoke Urdu, he could have saved himself a lot of time and effort! But then again, it wouldn’t make for an inspiring origin story.
2: THE THING (1982)
The Thing is a cult classic that ushered in a new era of science fiction horror movies. The film’s gruesome tale centres around an extraterrestrial hell-bent on killing everyone and everything.
At the very start of the film, a Norwegian helicopter pilot tries to tell the entire American research crew that the sledge dog he’s chasing IS the Thing. Sadly, none of them can understand, and in the commotion, the pilot is shot dead.
However, as the main characters eventually come to realise, the creature has a trick up its sleeve—it can mimic and replicate any living being, a fact they would have known earlier if they’d only understood the pilot!
“Get the hell away from that thing. That’s not a dog, it’s some sort of thing! It’s imitating a dog, it isn’t real! GET AWAY YOU IDIOTS!!”
3: THE DAVINCI CODE (2006)
The Davinci Code is a movie built of the premise of riddles, puzzles, and problem-solving, so this next Easter egg will likely come as no surprise.
Throughout the 2006 thriller, the story continually points towards Bishop Aringarosa as the main antagonist. But how exciting would a mystery thriller be if it revealed key characters before the movie finished?
There is, however, one group of moviegoers who probably knew the story was not as straightforward as it appeared. If you speak Italian and are familiar with literary devices, you would know that the bishop’s surname—Aringa Rossa—literally means “red herring”, an expression used to imply something is misleading or distracting.
4: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014)
In every Marvel movie made before his passing, Stan Lee, the legendary comic book writer, would play a subtle but highly anticipated cameo role. While his appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy came as no surprise, there was more to his brief guest spot than meets the eye.
When Rocket Raccoon is scanning various passersby, he locks onto Mr Lee chatting up a young woman. What English-speaking moviegoers didn’t realise (or any Earth-speaking language for that matter) was that next to his face was the word “Excelsior” in Skrull, one of the movie’s alien dialects. Excelsior was Stan Lee’s life motto, and in Latin means “ever upward” or “still higher”.
5: HEATHERS (1988)
The storyline of Heathers may be a little hard to believe, but that doesn’t make this crafty Easter egg any less impressive. In the film, the main character, Veronica, is unknowingly roped into the killing of several high school students by mysterious outsider J.D.
As part of his ploy, J.D. tells Veronica they’ll intimidate some high school jocks by pretending to shoot them. However, as we later find out, the gun was loaded with real bullets, not blanks, something German moviegoers already knew. When J.D. is unveiling his plan, he calls the ammo “ich lüge” bullets, which literally means, “I’m lying”.
6: SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998)
Saving Private Ryan is a harrowing depiction of World War 2, and while there’s rarely a dry eye come the credits, you may find this next Easter egg even more upsetting. At the end of the Omaha beach invasion, Allied soldiers are shooting surrendering German forces. However, during a scene with what appears to be two German soldiers, one is, in fact, Czech.
If you speak Czech, you can hear the soldier saying “Please don’t shoot me! I am not German, I am Czech, I didn’t kill anyone! I am Czech!”. Unfortunately, it was commonplace for men from neighbouring nations to be forced to fight for the Nazi occupation.
7: MATRIX RELOADED (2003)
We end our top seven list with an Easter egg that, although not essential to the story, is funny to know nonetheless. As part of Neo’s quest to reach the source of the Matrix, he needs to find the keymaker. The only problem is the keymaker is being held by Merovingian, a rogue programme with a love for the French language.
While Merovingian makes it obvious he’s cursing when he meets Neo, there are (conveniently) no subtitles to let you know what he’s saying. Well, we’re here to expose his profanities (in a SFW way of course).
It’s difficult to translate the phrase directly, but it reads something like, “Goddamn f**king wh**ehouse of a s**tty worthless moron of your buttf**ked mother”.
