It would be odd for public scientologists to shit talk JT. Talking ill of scientology celebrities, or anything they do, is a big no no. I wonder if the reviews saying such things are coming from the OSA shills writing reviews, because I have a hard time thinking a typical public would dare to do such a thing. The typical public who is dutifully writing a review on command is the same type who dutifully saw BFE five times in the theaters because they were commanded to and then raved about how great it was. Coming up with anything negative that's associated with Scientology or it's celebrities is a though crime and will cost them dearly.
So I would have to think the negative JT stuff is coming from on high - and being written by SO. It's long been rumored that DM hates JT and makes gay jokes about him. After BFE I think DM's hate went up 100 times because he wanted to blame JT for the movie being a bomb, instead of the obvious culprits: a book that nothing good could ever come from and DM's own non-stop meddling and input. The fact is DM created that godawful film and he will blame anyone but himself for the disaster. (I still love stories about how DM raved about the movie the night he saw it, and how quickly he back tracked praise when the entire world laughed at it.)
I don't think JT has ever been in DM's good graces, but I think DM hated him even more after BFE because he was a reminder of DM's own failure. I'd almost bet that the "throw JT and the film" under the bus is a direct order based on DM's rantings when the program was discussed. I can't really imagine it any other way. Public scientologists aren't brave enough to publicly post any entheta about JT or that movie, esp when they know the cult is closely reading every word posted on those reviews.
I do find it really odd that the tackled this stinker book for a re-release. The mockery and horrible stench of the movie will always being attached to the title, so why did that shit up and pour millions into rereleasing the book? I can only think it's one of the very few novels DM has ever read so he thinks its top shelf? Probably a bunch of crap written by Hubbard demanding his awful book be promoted endlessly every 10 years or so to create tidal waves of new members. LOL.
Hubbard wrote a fuckton of awful books, so why pick this one for re-release given that it's a major lolcow of the internet? Could it be that none of Hubbard's books have stood the test of time and Battlefield Earth is the best one they have to reach modern audiences? It was written in 1980, but Hubbard's cringe inducing, cheesy prose is still firmly stuck in the worst pulp writing of the 1930's aimed firmly at adolescent boys.