.. and it's name is the 4 star rating system. Before where there was chaos, order has been restored.
Let me make the simple argument for 4 star ratings instead of a 10 scale:
First, its an industry standard. Go over to our hated rival site rotten tomatoes and you'll see that the vast majority use the 4 star scale. Simple, classic, and has withstood the test of time.
Second, everyone's favorite dvd renting site netflix uses the similar 5 star scale. But in my opinion it has a fatal flaw. That flaw is the dreaded 'middle rating', or that 3rd star. It gives the reviewer an out, basically not calling the flick good or bad, just average.
I think a stand needs to be taken. Movies should be good or bad. With 4 stars, you're forced to make a decision. For me that line in the sand represents the question 'would I want to see this movie again?' or 'if I came across this movie on TV, would I change the channel?'. From there you have 2 buckets on either side of the fence to further categorize the flick. Anything more nuanced than that can be explained in the body of the review.
So to summarize, here is a brief description of each star:
4 star: excellent movie, very few flaws, and one that you'd love to own, see again, and would actively recommend to others.
3 star: above average movie, not quite up to snuff relative to the 4 star movies, and one that you wouldn't mind seeing again, and would recommend to others if asked.
2 star: below average movie, flawed, not one you'd want to see again and would not recommend to others.
1 star: bad movie, horribly flawed, one you're mad you even wasted your time and money on and one that you would wish on your worst enemies.
From here forth, you'll see all my flicks rated in this manner.
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Sorry Jeff I don't agree with this system. In fact I hate it. : ) I also hate Netflix’s 5 stars system and I’ve considered contacting them to tell me how obtuse they are being.
ReplyDeleteHere are some reasons why I don't like it.
When you rate a movie on a scale that uses less numbers like three out of four or four out of five you can't be held accountable for which movies are better or worse. Let me try to explain that statement. Take ‘Star Trek: II Wrath of Khan’ and the newest Star Trek Movie ‘Star Trek’ both are great movies but on your scale they both would receive a 4 out 4’s (at least according to me). So which movie is the better movie? You would never know according to your scale but on my 10 point scale you would know the slight advantage goes to ‘Star Trek: II Wrath of Khan’ at a 9.5 (Oh yeah, I give half points now). It also works in reverse for bad or horrible movies. Take the latest Indiana Jones movie and ‘Bulletproof Monk’. On your scale, both movies would receive a one but on my scale you would know ‘Indiana Jones and the kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ is a two and the lousier movie ‘Bulletproof Monk’ begets a true one score. See how this works?
There’s a show that I watch called X-Play and they rate video games. They use a 1 to 5 star system. They say that the viewer or player shouldn’t worry about the rating of a game and to read or listen to the full review to get a complete understanding. I think it’s a cop out and maybe a political thing. Possibly X-Play doesn’t want to offend the game manufacturers and not get future interviews or future information about upcoming games. So they have this pointless 5 scale system that means nothing to me except they don’t have to compare games and actually say which game is the better game Halo III or Call of Duty II (both received five stars). Is a three star a good game or an average game? Who the frack knows!
For me it’s the comparisons between the games or in our case movies to be able to tell. I know that my top twenty movies all have a score of nines and that my dream movie or perfect movie has a ten. Of course giving a movie a rating is always an opinion of the reviewer and my opinion may be different but at least I can see what he rated Forrest Gump and Aliens maybe an 8 and an 7 and find out according to him which is the better movie But again on your scale they are both probably fours.
Maybe the only true scale (yet impossible) would be your favorite movie at the top #1 (Matrix) and your least favorite movie of all time all the way at the bottom #6427 (A Passage to India). One can dream.
P.S. Here’s a key to my 1 to 10 scale.
10. Your all time favorite movie or dream movie (maybe you don’t have a ten)
9. Top twenty movies.
8. Excellent movie that I would recommend to all of my friends.
7. You really liked the movie but maybe it’s wasn’t your favorite style (i.e. Sci-Fi or Gore)
6. Above average
5. Average
4. Below Average
3. Horrible film
2. Excruciating painful movie you want to leave but it might be fun to stay and make fun of the film
1. Never talk about the movie again. (Leave early or turn off)
0. Something Kevin puts on Youtube
Ask yourself this question. Would you rate women, foods, cars, music or anything else using this 4 point scale? I know I wouldn’t.
I think this is a case of comparing apples and oranges. Is the intention of these reviews to rate our favorite movies or more to serve as a guide for other people to see the movies? I've seen the light as to astroboy's point and I agree with it. I hope people will use this site as a reference of whether or not to see a movie. They don't care what our favorites are.
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