Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Pacific Rim‘ has been doing quite well in China. It’s actually raked in roughly $106.2 million in the country to date since July 31st and is still going strong. Hell, it’s $9 million opening was a new record for Warner Brothers in that country. People have been flocking to see it on over 5,700 digital screens and it’s spawned so much success that they are most likely making a sequel based off of the bumped up international sales!

You’d think that would be good news right? Well apparently not.

Apparently some people have mistaken the capitalistic views of a Hollywood blockbuster meant to entertain (that costed $180 million of non-government funded money from the now defunct partnership of Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures) with western society’s apparent attempt to manipulate the minds of others.

At least that’s what Zhang Jieli, an officer in the People’s Liberation Army, wrote last week in The PLA Daily (which is an official China military publication). It would appear that the entire film was actually meant to be one big piece of manipulation and as he put it:

“The decisive battle against the monsters was deliberately set in South China Sea adjacent to Hong Kong. The intention was to demonstrate the U.S. commitment to maintaining stability in the Asia-Pacific area and saving the mankind.”

That’s not all! In fact many other films were cited as well such as Fox’s ‘Ice Age’ and the James Bond films where the films are pushing “American values and global strategies” on a hapless world. It should probably be noted here that all non-domestic films that are screened in China need government approval to even be shown so at least someone in the country’s system doesn’t seem to agree with this view.

Still it’s an ideological threat he doesn’t believe should be ignored and makes a passionate call to the country’s military:

“Soldiers should sharpen their eyes and enforce a ‘firewall’ to avoid ideological erosion when watching American movies. More importantly, they should strengthen their combat capability to safeguard national security and interests.”

That’s right ladies and gentlemen. World War 3 is coming and it’s all going to be because of Hollywood films being shown overseas. Who knew that all of this time I thought ‘Pacific Rim’ was just one of the best popcorn flicks of the summer, it was really out there changing social views across the globe!

What do you think, is this the saber rattling of a military officer stuck in an old mindset? A man looking for added attention? Or someone whose love for science fiction was spurned as a child and is now trying to take it out on others? Let’s hear your thoughts below!

Source: Deadline.