Chapter 320: Public Opinion Surge

"Mighty Troops" is being turned into a film series, so it naturally has Easter eggs; less than a minute into the scrolling subtitles, a scene appears with Liang Bing (Mo Gan Na) traveling to Mars to meet Suo Dun.

The big alligator circles Mo Gan Na, sniffing nonstop; Mo Gan Na asks, "Smells good?" "Good!"

"Want to eat?"

"Next meal, next meal!"

The big alligator says innocently, causing the audience in the hall to burst into laughter.

Game fans are naturally overjoyed, and ordinary viewers are also extremely delighted, finding the character quite amusing and expecting it to have plenty of screen time in the next installment.

As for Liang Bing (Mo Gan Na), the film only shows a brief encounter on the "Giant Gorge" with the Super God Academy's "Three Swordsmen," yet it leaves a strong impression on the audience.

Many people wonder where the character played by Zhang Yuqi has gone, why she never appears.

Now we know, she is probably the main villain in the second part! The movie ends, the lights in the hall come up, and thunderous applause erupts immediately.

In fact, for a director with a modest artistic ambition, the story of "Mighty Troops" is simply lacking in substance.

Yet from a commercial film perspective, it has plenty of watchable points.

The various military weapons in the film—whether alien giant warships, mech gluttons, armed helicopters, attack aircraft, or infantry firearms—are all brimming with a futuristic tech feel.

The final South Sea Fleet's full‑salvo saturated strike even brought countless viewers to the brink of tears.

Admittedly, the military strength shown is a bit lacking, but who doesn't have a great‑nation dream! Especially several leaders of the Maritime Administration TV Drama Art Center, who had already seen the finished film, yet upon watching again now they were still moved to tears.

"Thank you, Director Jiang, for making such a great movie!"

"It's my duty!"

"Congratulations, Director Jiang, congratulations!"

"Amazing, this film of yours will surely have a high box office!"

"Hopefully!"

Facing the guests' enthusiastic congratulations, Jiang Heng smiles somewhat forcedly.

Domestically there's definitely no problem; even if we don't surpass "Havoc in Heaven," pulling in one to eight hundred million is not a big issue.

As for overseas, that's truly uncertain.

For example, the European and American markets will certainly buy it, but the popularity varies by genre.

Naturally, sci‑fi is the most popular, followed by mech monsters, then mythic stories, since cultural barriers exist.

And military themes probably have the strongest cultural barrier.

After all, Western audiences may not like seeing Chinese troops wreaking havoc on screen.

In Asia, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia originally view China as a towering giant.

But when they see the film's intense military action, they might feel even less pleased.

Therefore, the overseas box office of this film is bound to drop.

Fortunately, there's the 3D selling point; countless film fans are awaiting a 3D blockbuster, and as the world's second 3D movie, it's hard to say how much "Mighty Troops" will sell.

Inside the screening hall, most people's faces wore smiles.

Only Wang Zhonglei and Xu Ke wore uneasy expressions, both puzzled by one thing.

The post‑production 3D conversion is the same, so why does your film's effect match "Havoc in Heaven" while ours seems only the subtitles are 3D and everything else is mediocre? Wang Zhonglei sweats on his forehead, already imagining audiences cursing after release, accusing them of a money‑swindle.

Xu Ke thinks, since the 3D is also converted, why is your effect so good—could you have more advanced technology?

"Director Jiang, your film's 3D effect is excellent, not inferior to 'Havoc in Heaven'; what's the secret?" Xu Ke asks sincerely.

Wang Zhonglei is also curious, wanting the answer. Jiang Heng laughs heartily, "The secret is simple: you get what you pay for—just throw money at it!"

"Throw money?"

Xu Ke murmurs, then immediately asks, "May I ask how much was spent?"

Jiang Heng says, "I haven't tallied that exactly, but the overall production cost wasn't much less than 'Havoc in Heaven'!"

Wang Zhonglei, hearing that, grew even more grim, thinking to himself, "You really are willing to splash the cash!" Hua Yi is naturally stingy; the 2D‑to‑3D conversion of "Detective Dee: The Mystery of the Phantom Empire" cost just over ten million, which already seemed pricey, so it can't compare with Jiang Heng! "I see, no wonder this film's effect is so good. Congratulations, Director Jiang, the box office will surely soar!"

Jiang Heng chuckles, "Thanks, let's have a good drink together later!"

"No, I still have some matters at my company; let's meet another day," Wang Zhonglei says as he departs.

He is mainly in a bad mood and doesn't want to see Jiang Heng being fawned over by the stars and constantly praised.

Xu Ke, worried about the reputation crisis facing "Detective Dee: The Mystery of the Phantom Empire" after its release, also lacks the mood to attend the banquet and leaves together with Wang Zhonglei.

Jiang Heng naturally doesn't mind, leading the "Mighty Troops" crew and the attending guests to the pre‑booked hotel for a lavish feast, unmentioned.

Meanwhile, military enthusiast Zhou Qiao, after returning to his school dorm, excitedly shared his viewing impressions with his roommate.

"Seriously, brother, the film is so worth watching, so cool!"

"Exactly, any film by Director Jiang is worth watching!"

"Right, just tell me what the highlights are!"

"The 3D, the effect is top‑notch!"

"That's for sure!"

"There's an aircraft carrier inside!"

"Is it real? So awesome, I'm telling you, you'll cry by the end!"

"Probably not that much!"

……

That night, many people, after returning home, excitedly shared their viewing impressions with family and friends.

Those with a better writing style even posted their feelings on QQ Space, Weibo, Douban, and the like.

As for the media reporters, they worked through the night to finish their articles, racking their brains for angles to praise the film.

After all, everyone is praising it; if you lack originality, you might not stand out.

Of course, where there is praise, there is criticism.

A film critic named Ximen Dalang posted on Douban saying, 'This Heroic Soldiers is just a military YY film disguised as a game adaptation,' its essence being no different from that of 'anti-Japanese god dramas'.

Such a powerful alien civilization was actually wiped out by a single salvo of the fleet's firepower—its strength is clearly not impressive, so it's no wonder it dares not invade the United States...

Such a post, once made, instantly attracted audience attention and discussion; many replied to criticize, while others supported Ximen Dalang's viewpoint, and the debate became heated.

Because of the controversy, it also gained heat; the film Heroic Soldiers instantly became one of the hot topics on the Internet, with many netizens joining the discussion.

During this period, Jiang Heng naturally led the main crew to various places to participate in promotional activities.

Overseas, premieres were also held in the United States, Japan, and Korea; overall, it was still relatively well-received.

Of course, there were also those who were not very optimistic.

Haolaiwu media outlets, meanwhile, had newspapers claiming that Director Jiang Heng this time might well suffer a defeat at Hua Tie Lu, for this is simply not a sci-fi military film but ought to be a delusional film! (End of chapter)