MegaStar, the distributor of the movie in Vietnam, recently received the agency’s ban. A member of the National Movie Appraisal Council disclosed that the movie was not approved by censors.

Some cinema critics said the movie is illogical with regard to content and has poor sound and image quality.

MegaStar Chair Brian Hall said that the distributor respects the Vietnam Cinema Agency’s decision.

A survey conducted by an online newspaper shows that around 60 percent of readers agreed with the ban of the film for high school girls and boys.

“I have always agreed with the council’s decision. It is another matter that people can watch banned movies through pirated disks. That’s not the job of censors,” said Ms Mai Lan, from HCM City. “Let’s review banned movies. Why were they banned? If you watched pirated disks, you would understand why.”

A reader wrote: “Watching this film’s trailer, I thought that it completely does not fit with the current life in Vietnam and it is non-educational, especially when teen crime is on the rise. It is unsuitable to screen this movie in Vietnam now.”

Blogger Trung Ro wrote: “I support the ban. It is unacceptable to see violent scenes in a movie for teens. Normally, characters in this kind of movie are at least university students, not high school students.”

Some reserved judgement in their comments since they had not watched the full movie yet. “I think that interesting movies, even if they have sexual or violent scenes, will be still welcomed by the audience. It is acceptable to cut out sensitive scenes which are inappropriate in Vietnamese culture. Banning a movie must be very carefully considered and it needs public evaluation, because each movie costs a lot of money and effort from hundreds of people,” wrote Duong Binh Nguyen, a reporter.

Actors Truong Nam Thanh and Baggio and actress Hoang Oanh starring in the movie, said that the film “does not have any overly-hot scenes.”

The film revolves around Minh, a modern teenage boy from Ho Chi Minh City, and his girlfriend, Hang, from a wealthy family. Before Hang goes abroad for tertiary education, the pair decides to go for an outing in Dalat. Three of their friends know the plan and set off to join Minh and Hang. However, when the group of five arrives in Dalat, terrible incidents occur. Each of them is killed mysteriously, one by one. The trip becomes a dangerous trap.

Producers of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo managed to introduce this product in Vietnam, but director David Fincher and Sony Pictures were afraid that if many sexual and violent scenes in this movie are cut out, the content will be misunderstood. Thus, this movie has not been distributed in Vietnam and some Asian countries.

Some scenes in the movie: