"Water army tactics," "malicious hype," "online public relations," "internet trolls"...
These phenomena, which emerged with the internet, might be commonplace and exploitable in the eyes of professionals or companies, but for ordinary users, they remain relatively unfamiliar terms.
Although many internet users with sharp senses have already noticed the presence of water armies, most people still find themselves influenced by online comments, whether negative or positive.
Norman Shiller, a steadfast supporter of Duke in film matters, missed yesterday's early screening and the midnight showing. After waking up early, he checked online reactions, then drove to the theater where he had booked his ticket.
After picking up his ticket at the theater, he sat in the lounge, throwing popcorn into his mouth. His brow was furrowed as he couldn't understand how, after just one night's sleep, both IMDB and Duke's personal website were flooded with negative reviews of The Two Towers.
Could the film really be that bad?
It shouldn't be, though. Even though this is a trilogy, The Two Towers can't be called a sequel in the strictest sense. These are three films shot and produced simultaneously, so there's no reason The Fellowship of the Ring was so good and The Two Towers turned out to be a disaster, right?
Anyway, since Duke became a director, he's never made a bad movie.
"Didn't you see the online reviews?"
Norman overheard a discussion not far from the ticket counter. A boy in his twenties was telling his companion, "This film has received so much negative feedback. I think we should pick something else. Besides, we haven't even watched the first one."
"There are plenty of negative reviews, but there are also many positive ones..." His companion disagreed. "Besides, if we don't watch The Two Towers, there aren't any other big-budget films to choose from."
Norman watched the two of them argue for a while. In the end, they bought tickets for The Two Towers.
After sitting there for more than twenty minutes, Norman noticed several other people hesitating, and from their words, he could sense that most of them hadn't seen The Fellowship of the Ring. Those discussing how great The Fellowship of the Ring was had no hesitation in buying tickets for The Two Towers.
Although not a professional in film analysis, Norman came to a vague conclusion: the negative online comments didn't affect the existing The Fellowship of the Ring fanbase much, but it was causing hesitation and abandonment among some new viewers.
Duke couldn't have made a bad film, right?
With only a slight doubt, Norman entered the theater. Within just ten minutes, the thought left his mind completely. The battle between Gandalf and the Balrog at the film's opening was enough to ignite everyone's emotions.
This was undoubtedly an amazing film!
When the film reached the battle at Helm's Deep, especially when Aragorn and King Théoden led the humans in a desperate charge, the entire theater erupted. Norman swore that there had never been such a grand battle scene in Hollywood or world cinema. If it were only a big spectacle, it would be one thing, but the spirit of humans charging forward with the sound of horns in the face of life and death—how could that not be moving? How could it not stir the blood? How could it not deserve high praise?
"This is a super classic film. How could people online call it a bad movie?"
When the war scene ended and the atmosphere in the theater started to calm down, Norman caught these words and turned to look. It was the same two boys who had argued about their ticket choice earlier.
The boy who didn't want to buy the ticket angrily said, "What's wrong with those people online? How can they post such irresponsible comments? I'll definitely leave a nasty comment when I get home…"
A string of curse words caught the attention of others, and the two of them quickly shut up to avoid disturbing the other viewers.
However, those words resonated with Norman. The online comments were indeed irresponsible, and he would definitely go back to fight against them!
When Norman returned home, he immediately opened his computer. Just as he logged into IMDB, he found a large number of replies and posts rebutting the critics.
"Really? The Two Towers is a piece of crap, and it's still ranked number one on IMDB?"
Norman frowned. He wanted to ask why such an amazing film couldn't be ranked number one on IMDB?
Similar comments followed, and they were especially sharp.
"IMDB ratings have become more and more problematic. More and more young people are joining IMDB, and more and more people who haven't watched many films are giving ratings, leading to a very skewed direction. As a result, films like The Two Towers, which are big spectacle films, are getting outrageously high ratings. Now, if it's a Duke Rosenberg film, IMDB ratings are never low."
"I don't know what basis the score for The Two Towers is based on. Just because it's a Duke Rosenberg film, it gets such a high score? I've noticed that there isn't a single Duke Rosenberg film with a low score on IMDB. They all have high ratings. It's unbelievable and disgusting!"
"The Two Towers is indeed a pretty good movie, but it's nowhere near as good as The Shawshank Redemption. How does it deserve more than a 9? Is it the Lord of the Rings nostalgia? Duke Rosenberg? The director's name? The actor's pull? What makes it deserve such a high score?"
"In my opinion, The Two Towers is at best in the same category as Braveheart, maybe even a bit lower. I can only say that these ridiculously high scores are because of fanboys who don't know any better…"
At this point, Norman's fury reached its peak, and the urge to curse immediately rose to his lips. However, when he saw that there were countless people countering these comments—people who weren't just blindly defending the film—he swallowed his words.
"Looking at it on its own, The Two Towers is an indisputable 9/10 movie. It has a perfect story structure, well-developed plot, great performances, high standards, depth, and so on. It could compete for the top three classic films of any year, only slightly behind Duke's Saving Private Ryan."
"Furthermore, even if we assume that IMDB is full of water armies, fanboys, and young people who don't understand films, can the 40,000+ people who voted for 9/10 not indicate something? Are all American young movie fans worse than you keyboard warriors? Are all young movie fans around the world just Duke Rosenberg fanboys?"
"If global movie fans are all Duke fanboys, does that not prove that Duke is incredible?"
These words almost echoed Norman's own thoughts, and he unconsciously nodded. Then, he refreshed the page and saw that there were more and more supportive comments for The Two Towers.
"Commercial and genre films need examples like The Two Towers. While greatly pleasing us, it also gives the film some depth. As the middle part of the trilogy, The Two Towers is excellent and has received praise both inside and outside the theater. It's not just IMDB that has high ratings."
The poster even included the latest statistics to back up their claims.
"Audience approval rate for The Two Towers is 96%, CinemaScore gave it an A+, and 94% of popcorn audiences love it. MetaCritic collected ratings from 77 entertainment journalists, averaging 88 points. Can't these facts explain something?"
Norman nodded lightly. He had already watched The Two Towers, and such a response was normal.
At this point, he couldn't hold back any longer. He clicked on the reply section, and his fingers flew across the keyboard. A targeted response was quickly posted.
"During its nearly three-hour runtime, Duke delivered a surprise that surpassed The Fellowship of the Ring. The Two Towers has brilliant story details, masterful pacing, tightly integrated action scenes and plot progression, perfectly balanced moments, and no excess. Every minute grabs the audience's attention, keeping them holding their breath until the final frame, still resonating with them."
"Though both films in the trilogy have dark tones, Duke is still a director who enjoys telling beautiful stories. Even though this isn't the final film of the series, he still sticks to one key principle: every touching character should receive a good ending."
"As the leading figure of the new generation of Hollywood directors, Duke has once again proven himself through these two films. He's different from the previous generation of directors. He no longer obsesses over the so-called art and meaning of films but focuses on presenting diverse filmmaking techniques. Through an exciting story and stunning visual spectacles, he brings the greatest enjoyment to global audiences!"
"How could we not love such a director and his works? How could we not give high ratings?"
After posting, Norman didn't even think about lunch. He scoured websites, including Duke's personal homepage, and everywhere there were criticisms of The Two Towers, Norman was there countering the arguments, fighting the battle!
Throughout the entire afternoon, Norman, guided by some clever online discourse, unknowingly became what some referred to as a "water army" for The Two Towers.
However, one thing was clear to Norman: he was happy to speak out for such an amazing film.
By afternoon, he had already noticed that the number of supporters for The Two Towers was steadily increasing, and their voices were growing louder. Many fans were actively suppressing negative comments, giving positive reviews to the film they loved. By midnight, the negative reviews had almost been drowned out.
...
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