The professional ratings and reviews of some domestic films have been removed from an online ticket platform amid accusations that low ratings would harm China's movie industry.
The professional reviews on the recent domestic films such as The Great Wall, See You Tomorrow, and Railroad Tigers, on Maoyan, an online ticket selling app, could not be seen on Wednesday, with only the ratings from the public left on the site. The movies were poorly received by critics, especially the blockbuster The Great Wall, a work of China's iconic director Zhang Yimou.
Officials from the State Administration of Press Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) had talked to Maoyan and also the film review platform Douban over the low rating of domestic films on Tuesday, the Caijing magazine quoted 36kr.com as saying.
The SAPPRFT could not be reached for comment as of press time.
There are criticisms about the low ratings, accusing them of harming the ecosystem of Chinese movies. Those criticisms also noted that some new media also published malicious reviews to earn attention and profit.
The professional rating of The Great Wall and See You Tomorrow on Maoyan was 4.9 and Railroad Tigers was 5.2, while the public reviews are respectively 8.4, 7.8 and 8.5.
However, some netizens also pointed out that the reviews from the professionals should be viewed with tolerance, and film makers should welcome all kinds of reviews to improve their movies.
