It is possible for a film to be rated 8.2 on IMDb and 92% on the Tomatometer of Rotten Tomatoes and yet be a completely contrasting figure in terms of the audience score. Even though these figures may seem to be interchangeable, they are certainly not. Every site employs its very own system.
This understanding of movie rating systems will assist you in knowing what is being rated and whose opinions are being counted.
Movie rating systems involve assigning an evaluation of individual opinion or content to a grade, score, percentage, or classification. It makes it easier to evaluate movies at a glance.
While the review score is an evaluation of the audience reaction towards a movie, the content classification is an indicator of the type of content shown in that movie.
Examples of the classification by the Motion Picture Association include G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17. The classification of the film does not indicate quality. It simply indicates content. There is no difference between a PG-13 and R movie in terms of quality.
The review platform answers the question of how well the audience responded.
The number, such as 7.8 out of 10, usually represents an aggregation of user-submitted scores. “Percentage” means something else when talking about specific websites. The Tomatometer rating from Rotten Tomatoes, for instance, represents the percentage of positively reviewed critics' reviews among all the counted reviews.
Thus, the score of 90% doesn't mean that critics have given the film 9/10 as an average score but that 90% of the reviews included in the Tomatometer rating have been considered to be positive.
Audience scores aggregate the numbers submitted by viewers. Thus, before accepting any number as an interpretation of a film's quality, one should pay attention to who provided the ratings and how the numbers are aggregated.
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One of the most common movie scores is from IMDb. Explanation of IMDb ratings in simple language: IMDb allows its registered users to rate any released movie from 1 to 10, and these ratings are used to generate a score.
The figure presented on a movie page is calculated as a weighted average and not just an arithmetic average. According to IMDb, all votes are not equal, and different weights may be applied in case of any strange voting patterns. However, the weighting formula remains secret.
The score is an indication of IMDb users' opinion. Professional critic scores are not used for the calculation of this score. Critics' opinions are published separately from user ratings.
Any movie with a high number of votes can show a wider picture of audience opinion than a new movie with just a few votes.
Ratings on Rotten Tomatoes are calculated differently. The Tomatometer is basically the percentage of reviews from professionals that are favorable about the movie in question. There are two types of critic reviews on the website: fresh and rotten. The percentage of positive reviews calculates the Tomatometer percentage.
The 90% Tomatometer means that the movie in question had a large number of positive reviews from professional critics. It doesn’t mean that they all rated it 90 out of 100 or 9 out of 10.
In addition to the Tomatometer, there is a Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes that is the percentage of users that have positively rated the movie. For some movies, the site gives the Verified Ratings score and All Audience scores for some others.
The difference between critic score and audience score becomes significant when trying to interpret film ratings.
A critic can write about directing, script, acting, camera work, editing, uniqueness, pace, and themes. An audience member might be more interested in the entertainment aspect, emotional component, franchise, humor, action, or whether the movie fulfilled its promise.
In case of differences in scores, the movie might have had a special effect on each group.
Let’s consider a movie with a 55% rating according to Tomatometer and 85% according to its audience score. These figures indicate that there was disagreement among participating critics and agreement among participating audiences.
Neither score can be considered the “right” one.
Understanding the significance of movie rating means considering the underlying method of obtaining the number rather than taking it as the objective criterion of movie quality.
Consider two movies that have the same numerical rating of 8.0/10 from IMDb and 80% from Rotten Tomatoes. These numbers may seem the same but actually refer to something different. While the first number shows the aggregated weighted score from users’ ratings based on the scale from 1 to 10, the second number is a percentage of critic reviews counted as positive.
Rating may also change depending on how many people participate in voting or how many reviews appear. Initial ratings may fluctuate greatly when the number of participants is not large enough.
The description accompanying the number is significant too. "Positive reviews," "average rating," and "audience rating" are not synonymous notions.
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Think of a movie score as a beginning, not as the end.
First, determine the type of score. An IMDb score is an average user opinion. A Rotten Tomatoes score refers to the percentage of positive critics' reviews, whereas a Popcornmeter reflects audience opinion.
Second, determine the size of the respondents' group and whether the movie is a new release. Then compare critics' and audience opinions if both exist.
Third, look through a couple of specific reviews if the scores are unusual for you. The written opinion will show you whether it was because of good acting, a slow pace, an interesting plot, or just differing expectations.
Your personal preferences still play an important role here. A person who likes dramas will have another opinion about the movie than a person who prefers action films. Scores are the general reaction of other people; they can't satisfy everybody's preferences.
Film rating systems enable easy interpretation of numerous film reviews, although the numbers themselves are not helpful until one understands what the numbers mean. The IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, and the MPA all have their own way of rating films for various reasons. Gaining more insight into the review numbers allows you to see more of the review picture.
IMDb's standard movie rating comes from user ratings, not from professional critics. The rating is on a scale of 1-10 with a weight applied by IMDb. Professional criticism does not play a role in calculating the user rating.
Not at all! A 90% score on the Tomatometer means that 90% of counted professional critic reviews were considered positive. This does not mean that critics rated the movie 9/10 on average.
Because IMDb uses user ratings, which are calculated on a weighted 1-10 scale, while Rotten Tomatoes calculates the percentage of counted professional critic reviews considered positive.
The critic rating indicates the reactions of the professionals whose opinions are taken into account by the platform, whereas the audience rating is formed based on viewers' feedback. People might evaluate different features of a movie, and hence the rating would be different.
The movie rating might indicate the overall reception of the movie, but this does not necessarily mean that you will like it. Look at the nature of the score, the feedback pool, and individual reviews to get a better idea.
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