Rotten Tomatoes has disabled user comments on its Dark Knight Rises page after two critics received abuse over their negative reviews.

The movie site, which collates verdicts from publications across the web, put a halt to feedback on its Dark Knight Rises reviews after Christy Lemire of The AP and Hollywood & Fine's Marshall Fine attracted more than 1,000 comments.

In a letter posted on the site, Rotten Tomatoes editor in chief Matt Atchity said that comments would be shut off for "a few days".

"Marshall has the right to not like the movie, and people have the right to express their disagreement with him (although if you haven't seen the movie, your arguments may be on shaky ground)," he wrote.

"And we have the right to pull your comment down and ban you if we think you're acting inappropriately."

He added: "We'll ban you for threats and hate speech - we're trying to have fun here, so don't be a d**k. And don't try and argue about your right to free speech - this is a business, and we have the right to refuse service to anyone we feel like."

Atchity noted that Rotten Tomatoes had removed the link to Fine's review at his request after it crashed his server. He also chastised Film.com's Eric D Snider for posting a link to a negative review where he admitted that he had not seen the film and described Rotten Tomatoes commenters as "the worst human beings on the planet".

"Snider has abused our trust, and therefore, his reviews will no longer apply to the Tomatometer," Atchity said.

He concluded his letter by writing: "There are plenty of other things to get angry about, like war, famine, poverty and crime. But not movie reviews."

The Dark Knight Rises will open in cinemas on Friday, July 20.

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Watch the trailer for The Dark Knight Rises below:

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