Websites ban reviews of Communist Party epic

TWO major websites in China have stopped allowing users to review the country's newest propaganda blockbuster about the ruling Communist Party.

Mtime.com and douban.com removed their star rating systems and disabled the function for user reviews for Beginning of the Great Revival, which has opened to mixed reactions from audiences.

The film was made to celebrate the Communist Party's 90th anniversary and traces events from the fall of the last imperial dynasty in 1911 until the founding of the party in 1921. It features many of the Chinese film industry's biggest names, including Chow Yun-fat, Fan Bingbing and John Woo.

The makers of the film are following the successful formula used by The Founding of a Republic, in 2009 which marked the 60th anniversary of the formation of the People's Republic of China.

That made $61 million at the box office as young audiences, weary of traditional propaganda movies, flocked to get a glimpse of the stars.