How Taiwan and China rename English movies (and why it's a mess)

I’ve lived abroad for most of my life. I watch movies in English with English subtitles. So when I recommend a film to friends and family in Taiwan, I just translate the title myself on the spot.

It never works.

They don’t know the original English titles. And no matter how I translate, they have no idea what I’m talking about. I end up describing the entire plot just to identify the movie.

When I finally look up the official Taiwanese title, I usually can’t guess it at all.

The most classic example: The Shawshank Redemption. In mainland China, it’s called 《肖申克的救贖》, which is a direct transliteration of “Shawshank” plus “Redemption.” Straightforward. In Taiwan? It’s called 《刺激1995》, which translates to “Thrilling 1995.”

How does anyone get from The Shawshank Redemption to “Thrilling 1995”?

Shawshank is the name of the prison. Redemption doesn’t just refer to the protagonist’s escape. It’s about how his actions brought a kind of spiritual redemption to everyone around him.

Here’s the backstory. Back in 1994, The Shawshank Redemption was nominated for seven Oscars but won none, losing to heavyweights like Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction. The Taiwanese distributor had no marketing angle to work with. So they borrowed the name of an older hit: The Sting, which had been translated as 《刺激》(“Thrilling”) in Taiwan. That film won seven out of ten Oscar nominations, and it also had a twist ending like Shawshank. They just slapped a year on the end.

Even funnier: a completely unrelated movie, Return to Paradise, later got named 《刺激1998》(“Thrilling 1998”). The “Thrilling” cinematic universe, I guess.

Regardless of the reasoning, I think “Thrilling 1995” is a terrible name. It’s 2026 now. Because of one short-sighted decision decades ago, Taiwanese audiences are stuck calling this masterpiece “Thrilling 1995” forever. What a waste.

Taiwan has a whole system of formulaic movie name prefixes. There are recurring patterns like 《神鬼XX》(roughly “Supernatural XX”), 《終極XX》(“Ultimate XX”), 《XX總動員》(“XX Mobilization”), 《限制級XX》(“Restricted XX”), and 《王牌XX》(“Ace XX”).

People who grew up in Taiwan probably don’t think twice about it. But as a kid visiting during summer breaks, I always felt something was off when my cousins would discuss these weirdly prefixed movie titles. Now I finally understand why.

Take the Jason Bourne trilogy. In Taiwan, it was called 《神鬼認證》, literally “Supernatural Authentication.” It’s a spy thriller. What does “supernatural” have to do with anything? Catch Me If You Can became 《神鬼交鋒》(“Supernatural Showdown”). That’s a crime film about a con artist. No ghosts. No gods. The whole thing started because The Mummy was translated as 《神鬼傳奇》(“Supernatural Legend”) and did well at the box office. After that, every big release got the 神鬼 prefix to ride its coattails.

There are over 50 Taiwanese movie titles with 神鬼 (“Supernatural”) as a prefix.¹

What’s even funnier is the formula that links specific actors to specific prefixes.

• Leonardo DiCaprio = 《神鬼XX》(“Supernatural XX”)
• Jim Carrey = 《王牌XX》(“Ace XX”)
• Arnold Schwarzenegger = 《魔鬼XX》(“Devil XX”)
• Will Smith = 《全民XX》(“Everybody’s XX”)
• Liam Neeson = 《XX救援》(“XX Rescue”)²

The most absurd victim of this formula is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. One of my all-time favorite films. Just because Jim Carrey starred in it, Taiwan named it 《王牌冤家》(“Ace Sweethearts”).

The original title is a line of poetry by Alexander Pope, recited by Kirsten Dunst’s character in the film. It asks whether we’d be happier if we could erase all our painful memories, like having eternal sunshine in a spotless mind. It mirrors the film’s entire premise.

“Ace Sweethearts” threw all of that away. It makes the film sound like a romantic comedy. It’s not. Yes, Jim Carrey is in it. No, it is not funny.

Or take Arnold Schwarzenegger. Because of The Terminator (translated as 《魔鬼終結者》, “Devil Terminator”), every single Arnold movie had to have 《魔鬼XX》 in the title. So Kindergarten Cop became 《魔鬼孩子王》(“Devil Kid King”). China’s translation, 《幼兒園警探》(“Kindergarten Detective”), sounds a bit clunky, but at least it actually describes the movie.

Then there’s Braveheart. China translated it as 《勇敢的心》(“Brave Heart”). Simple and faithful. Taiwan’s version? 《梅爾吉勃遜之英雄本色》, which translates to “Mel Gibson’s True Hero Colors.” I couldn’t believe it when I first saw it.

If that naming convention sold more tickets, why not go all the way? “Matt Damon’s Supernatural Authentication.” “Jim Carrey’s Ace Sweethearts.” Thank god this didn’t become a trend.³

Studios should unify translations

I understand that different regions have different cultures. But the differences aren’t big enough to justify three different names for the same movie. This is something the studios (Warner Bros., Sony, and so on) should have been enforcing all along. Because they didn’t, distributors in Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong each came up with their own titles. That was understandable when information didn’t flow freely across borders. But in 2026, it feels outdated.

I really admire what The Pokemon Company did. In 2016, they unified twenty years of divergent names. Taiwan had been calling it 《神奇寶貝》(“Magical Treasures”), Hong Kong used 《寵物小精靈》(“Pet Elves”), and China called it 《口袋妖怪》(“Pocket Monsters”). They scrapped all three and unified under one name: 《寶可夢》(“Pokémon,” phonetically). I remember thinking the new name sounded terrible. But I agreed with the decision. And time proved them right.

Now when you search “寶可夢” on YouTube, you get content from all three regions. Before, searching 《神奇寶貝》 would only surface Taiwanese content. One name means one audience.

I think every major studio should take note. Major IPs like The Lord of the Rings (called 《魔戒》 in Taiwan, 《指環王》 in China), The Matrix (《駭客任務》 vs. 《黑客帝國》), and Star Wars (《星際大戰》 vs. 《星球大戰》) should be the first to unify. These franchises keep releasing new content. Every new installment is another chance for fragmentation. Harry Potter, interestingly, has the same Chinese name everywhere.

And it’s not just movies. Games, books, manga, anime, TV series, album titles. They should all do this.

I know movies aren’t Pokémon. Hundreds of films release every year, and coordinating translations across three regions isn’t simple. But it should at least be the direction, not something nobody even tries.

Even when there are commercial pressures, I believe the original title is already the best name for the film. Think of it as the author’s carefully considered conclusion, factoring in marketing, how much to spoil, whether to create contrast.

Translation is translation. If you add another layer of creative rebranding on top, you lose the original intent.

But literal translations and China’s titles can be terrible too

Of course, literal translations sometimes backfire.

The Day After Tomorrow was translated in China as 《後天》, which literally means “the day after tomorrow.” Technically correct. But it just sounds like two days from now, not an apocalyptic disaster movie. Taiwan’s version, 《明天過後》(“After Tomorrow”), is much more evocative. Same meaning, better delivery.

And it’s not like Taiwan always gets it wrong while China nails it. China has its share of bad titles too. 3 Idiots was translated in Taiwan as 《三個傻瓜》(“Three Idiots”), a clean, direct translation. China’s version? 《三傻大鬧寶萊塢》, which means “Three Idiots Wreak Havoc in Bollywood.” Where did Bollywood come from? That word appears nowhere in the film.

“Translating it better” and “slapping on a formula” are two different things. “After Tomorrow” is faithful to the original, just phrased more smoothly. “Thrilling 1995” and “Ace Sweethearts” throw out the original creator’s intent entirely and replace it with a marketing label that has nothing to do with the film.

No matter where the translation comes from, a good translation speaks for the original title. It doesn’t rename it.

This principle doesn’t just apply to movies.

Everyday language isn’t as extreme as movie titles. Most of the differences between Taiwanese Mandarin and mainland Mandarin are just habits, neither better nor worse. But occasionally someone corrects me with “that’s a mainland Chinese expression, you should use the Taiwanese one,” and I think of “Thrilling 1995.” Does it matter whether the translation is good or bad, as long as it’s “ours”?

On the flip side, if a word spreads quickly, isn’t that precisely because it works well?

These days when I look up a movie title, I always check both the Taiwanese and mainland versions. The best case is when they’re the same. When they’re different, I compare them and pick the better one.

When I talk to Taiwanese friends, I still use Taiwanese expressions whenever I can. But I refuse to judge a word by where it came from. Movie titles work this way. Everyday language does too.

If someone tells me: it’s “Thrilling 1995,” not The Shawshank Redemption! It’s “Mel Gibson’s True Hero Colors,” not Braveheart!

I’ll smile politely and continue to ignore them.