How often do you give 5 star ratings?

[donniedarko]

Ive only given 5 stars 13 times. HBU

[bouncingbrick]

Almost never. I always fear that if I do I will find several films better than the 5 star film!

I'd say, IMO, 8 1/2, Nights of Cabiria, and Raiders of the Lost Ark are probably 5 star films. I'd have to really think about it to find more. I probably could think of some, but I'm really hesitant to give anything 5 stars.

[Gabrielle947]

I give a maximum either for movies where I can't see any flaws or for those which I personally liked a lot.Excluding TV shows,short movies and documentaries,I gave 27 movies a top score. ;)

[diapers]

Never. Or maybe when I'm too drunk when I saw a particular film.

[TylerDurden99]

Used to hand 'em out like Indian cuisine pamphlets. Now I'm a bit more mature and a bit more thoughtful when it comes to rating films.

[The Rodent]

Personally I don't use a star rating, I use a percentage system, but I've given 100% to only a small handful of films in my reviews section.

Must be something that stands out exceptionally to get it though.

Edit: At the other end of the spectrum, there's only one film that I've given 0%, Superman 4: The Quest For Peace.

[JayDee]

It's very, very rare that I will go all the way to 5 stars. I'll throw out 4.5 and 4.5+ with wild abandon but I hold back on going all the way except in special cases. I've not counted but I don't think there would be much more than 20, maybe 25 films that I'd give that holy grail rating to

[TylerDurden99]

A five star film should be something really special.

[mastermetal777]

Very few movies get a five star rating from me. It has to be memorable, outstanding on every aspect of the film-making process, has to have outstanding acting (not necessarily Oscar material, but solid), and it has to hold some sort of cultural worth years later.

[mark f]

Twice. I suppose it's not just a coincidence that one (Jaws) I find the best-directed film and the other (Elmer Gantry) I find the best-scripted film. There are a few others I find close, but those two always seem to float higher to the top. By the way, brickie, Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the close ones. :cool:

[TylerDurden99]

Very few movies get a five star rating from me. It has to be memorable, outstanding on every aspect of the film-making process, has to have outstanding acting (not necessarily Oscar material, but solid), and it has to hold some sort of cultural worth years later.

I don't really see what "cultural worth" has to do with rating a film. Do you mean if it's popular and considered a masterpiece, you pretty much have to rate it 5 stars? I could be interpreting this the wrong way, though.

[Brodinski]

I hand 'em out to some movies. I think there's about 40 or 50 films I'd give a maximum rating. They don't have to be perfect, no movie is. They just have to have that special something that really appeals to you. I for one give a max rating to The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. The film has a special combination of cinematography, storytelling, acting and overall feel that truly appeals to the cinematic inside of me...

[rauldc14]

I used to hand them out more regularly, but I haven't handed one out since I've joined this site. Also, some that I had rated 5 stars I have downgraded to 4.5. But there is still probably about 10-15 that I would give a perfect rating to, though they aren't without flaws.

[wintertriangles]

I remember Lime saying he would hope that anyone who's seen enough films, for him the top 50 or so should be 5 stars

[honeykid]

True, but then, I'd give 5/5 for the vast majority of my top 100, if not the entire list. :D

[bouncingbrick]

True, but then, I'd give 5/5 for the vast majority of my top 100, if not the entire list. :D

Especially Charlie's Angels, right? ;)

I, unlike most people, try to separate what I'd call a 5 star film from what I enjoy. If I were to make a list of my favorite films to watch the Friday the 13th films, Super Troopers, and They Live would all be on there, but they are far from 5 star films.

I rate films as objectively as I can and I like what I like. I'd never make a list of my favorite films and then presume to say they are all actually "good" films. I guess that's a part of why I don't give out top ratings very often.

[The Rodent]

I rate films as objectively as I can and I like what I like. I'd never make a list of my favorite films and then presume to say they are all actually "good" films. I guess that's a part of why I don't give out top ratings very often.


Exactly (+rep), my top film is Young Guns and I only rated it at 90%. I guess if I used stars ratings I'd have it at 4, or maybe 4 & a 1/2.

Another example is that I gave Shawshank Redemption 100%, or 5 stars if you will, but it's not even in my personal top 20.

[honeykid]

No, nor would I, but I'd give them five stars because I'm rating for myself and not someone else/an audience. For me, Charlie's Angels is definately a 5 star film, but were I rating it for other people, I'd have to take the presumed audience into account.

[bouncingbrick]

No, nor would I, but I'd give them five stars because I'm rating for myself and not someone else/an audience. For me, Charlie's Angels is definately a 5 star film, but were I rating it for other people, I'd have to take the presumed audience into account.

Then what's the point of your rating system other than pure narcissism?:D

[wintertriangles]

Well now what's being discussed is a difference between favorites and "best" which, to me, is rarely different.

[mark f]

My ratings have obviously evolved down through the years. When I first started rating movies about 38 years ago, I used a 1-10 scale and had several 10/10 ratings, and believe it or not, nobody used 5-star ratings then. The scale went up to 4/4. Well, any movie I would give an 8 or higher would be worth a 4/4 (highest rating). When I came on the various movie forums in the 2000s, everyone was using a 5/5 scale, so I've adapted, and that's probably why I have so few 5/5s. However, most films I give 4 here are still worth 4/4 (8-10/10) to me on the old scale (a few may be on the high end of 7.5/10). It's just that I've saved the higher ratings for films I'd rate above 8/10 (about 30 movies). Conversely, the many films I used to rate at 10/10 have dropped over the years, more because I've seen more movies multiple times than because I think somehow less of them. I'll admit there's nothing quite like watching a really good movie for the first time and laughing, crying or feeling blown away, but often that experience goes with the passion of youth. That's why I try to keep my ratings as objective as possible.

[Used Future]

My ratings are a combination of personal enjoyment; genre consideration (i.e. how good an example the film is - is it seminal, boundary busting, or just hackneyed), and technical proficiency. I also try and take into account the possibility that someone might look at my post and decide to watch a particular movie based on my rating. In other words I try and be as objective as possible where some of the trashier movies I like are involved.

[linespalsy]

I don't know, I think on average maybe 1 five or close-to-five movie comes out in any given year. They may cluster a little bit unpredicatably but it might come out to about that many.

I will say that when I give a movie a "high five" I'm actually being even more relaxed about applying independent "objective" criteria ("does this movie balance its excellence in all the necessary filmic components?") than I usually am. The experience matters more than my reasoning about it. This has the curious side effect of making it harder to intellectualize the rating and consequently making it seem less justified, but if anything that just shows up the inherent pretense of this kind justification.

And I'm not knocking that "pretense". Generality definitely makes talking (and entertainingly disagreeing) about movies more possible, and there's a lot of fun in that. But it's good to be reminded that we're not really standing on solid ground once in a while.

[Fiscal]

I don't give them out too often. A couple a year at most. Sometimes I find a film personally relatable and base my rating on that more than the technicalities. For example, recently, I loved We Bought a Zoo so much that I gave it a perfect score. It wasn't a total critical success but I enjoyed how I felt the entire film and sometimes that is more important.

[honeykid]

Then what's the point of your rating system other than pure narcissism?:D
None. Maybe that's why I very rarely rate films? Unless asked, of course.

[cinemaafficionado]

I don't use stars, I just color code my ratings, so I guess the movies I write in my movie log in red would be tantamount to five stars. As there are not that many of them, they really do stick out on a page.

[Deadite]

I don't give a film a "perfect" rating very often and I usually regret it later when I do. :)

[ollanik]

Where are ratings?

[The Prestige]

I'm with bouncingbrick (no homo), i rarely give 5 star films. In fact, long term members will remember my first few posts that banged on about only having TWO films I thought were genuinely 5 stars. Needless to say, I have changed my tune a bit since then :D

I still think that 5 stars should be rare though.

[bartleby]

Star ratings are tricky, but I don't usually give 5 stars to a film. Before I had a legit critics gig, I was probably more willing to dole out 5 stars, mostly because it was a personal rating. To some extent this is still true, but if Im writing for an audience, Im tending to take in account if the film is meeting its audience, purpose, etc.

However, I think five stars just usually comes down to the fact a movie has made me fall in love with it so hard that I've thrown all issues of 'context' out and just go for it.

For example, the last film to get 5 stars from me personally was Tree of Life and that's a divisive movie and one I wouldnt recommend to every person. But, such was its effect on me personally that giving it anything less just felt wrong at some level.

I think ultimately, it should probably be less about context and more about our own reactions/responses to films. I think this is what is often confusing when we see mainstream critics give films five or four stars on the moment of their release, and we struggle to understand why. For me, I dont usually feel a film is worthy of '5 stars' the minute I see it, and need to see it at least twice before making that declaration. Critics have less time to make a decision regarding rating, and maybe deciding only a few hours after having seen it. Its why I ultimately prefer the five star system. It's easy to make four stars an 'it was great!' rating, indicating a superior film, and even push a particularly great film to 4.5, without breaking out the top scale every time. I'd say most opening day films get anything from 4.5 or lower, unless they really throw me for a loop. Upon returning to something, I have been known to award that elusive fifth star.

[MovieGal]

Very rarely...

Most of the time I do 1 to 10.. most films are around 6 to 6.75.. not many get higher than 7 and rarely above an 8.. dont think anything has touched a 9 or 10

[Tugg]

~5% of the time.

[Iroquois]

Too often.

[Citizen Rules]

Not often enough;)

[Gideon58]

I usually rate films on a 10 scale, and I have only rated 3 films 10/10.

[Citizen Rules]

Gideon which 3 are they?

[Cole416]

Very rarely...

Most of the time I do 1 to 10.. most films are around 6 to 6.75.. not many get higher than 7 and rarely above an 8.. dont think anything has touched a 9 or 10
What's the lowest you've ever given?

[jal90]

According to my rating stats this year, once every 3-3½ weeks.

[matt72582]

I don't think there are more than 20 movies I'd give a 5 (or a 10 on my scale)

[Citizen Rules]

I've given 8 movies that I've reviewed a rating of 5/5

See for yourself, my list of 5/5 movies (http://www.movieforums.com/reviews/search/5/higher/any/Citizen%20Rules)

[Guaporense]

I had about 60-70 movies around 5/5 now, maybe more. (including 8 Miazaki, like 5-6 Kurosawa, 5 Kubrick and 4 Tarkovsky).

Thing is that now I think its nonsensical to rate movies with a number slapped on it, if you want a thumbs up or down might be a better way of saying whether you liked it or not. Art is not something you can just slap a number into specially something as complex and multidimensional like a movie.

[Gideon58]

Gideon which 3 are they?
PULP FICTION

TOOTSIE

MARY POPPINS

[Camo]

PULP FICTION

TOOTSIE

MARY POPPINS

Think your top ten in your profile is backwards then Gideon ;)

[Citizen Rules]

I've never seen Tootsie. Love Mary Poppins of course.

[Yoda]

Well, I've got about 140 reviews on this site, and only seven of them have perfect ratings. And I'd take a few of those back now.

[gbgoodies]

Well, I've got about 140 reviews on this site, and only seven of them have perfect ratings. And I'd take a few of those back now.


What movies did you give perfect ratings to then, that you'd like to change now? And why?

[MovieMeditation]

We just had a similar thread, but to this question I would say not that often. But looking at it maybe more frequent than I think.

My last 4 five stars was giving in the time frame between now, December 30th and back to 20th October. But I don't think there really is a pattern to it. Maybe if I looked further back, it would be fewer; or more.

But as I've said earlier, I don't consider a 5/5 to be the holy grail. I do give them out when I feel like it fits; whether being a masterpiece or a favorite...

[AdamUpBxtch]

only about 9-10 films I give a 5 star rating to and they are all in my top 10. All film is subjective though so obviously everybody will give high and possibly even perfect ratings to films they love. The Godfather is considered the greatest film ever.....but It isn't a 5 star film to me. I certainly like the film but since film is subjective and it isn't a favorite of mine I'm not gonna just follow everybody else and be like "Considered greatest film ever, If I don't give it a 5 star rating nobody will take me seriously". I gave it a 4/5 which still means I liked the movie and I thought it was great, but I'm not jumping up and down to watch it again and it didn't really do as much for me as it did for other film junkies who considered it the next messiah.

[matt72582]

Actually, last night I saw the movie "Cathy Come Home" and I was thinking about giving it a 9/10, but then I thought "What was wrong with it" and thought about it, and gave it a 10/10.. One day I'm going to check out everything I rated, and document it.

[ursaguy]

A few times a year. Every single movie is flawed in some way, so I don't see the point in holding onto a 5 as some kind of sacred score, only for perfection. If there's no part of the film that I disliked for whatever reason, even if it has obvious problems, I don't see why I shouldn't give it a top score.

[The Sci-Fi Slob]

Mary Poppins!

[Yoda]

What movies did you give perfect ratings to then, that you'd like to change now? And why?
Juno's the only one I'm positive I'd bump down. Probably Slumdog Millionaire, too. Weirdly, I gave Cloverfield 5, but simply because I thought it was the best possible version of itself, so I'm not sure if I'd change it or not.

Maybe Toy Story 3, too, for being a little more repetitious than I first realized. But in each case we're likely only talking about a move down to 4.5, anyway.

[seanc]

What movies did you give perfect ratings to then, that you'd like to change now? And why?

Can we treat this like a question to everyone?
Okay then I'm going to.

I have 92 films rated 5 star on Letterboxd with probably 80 of those being movies I already had seen multiple times before I started rating things as I watched. I don't see any of those I would take back.

Of the rest I think the only one I would take back is Paris, Texas. I was absolutely in love with the last third of that film. I would need to watch it again but it feels like a 4 star movie in my mind now.

[Sexy Celebrity]

Ratings I would change now (looking at reviews I've done).....

Dumb and Dumber To might get a higher rating.

Lords of Salem might go lower.

Blades of Glory might go higher.

Observe and Report would probably go from 4 to 5.

Chapter 27 would go higher.

Synecdoche, New York might go higher.

Step Brothers might go higher.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome would go much higher.

Hey, Yoda, I did not watch Rambo: First Blood Part III. (http://www.movieforums.com/reviews/539567-rambo-iii.html)

I miss writing reviews.

Notorious Bettie Page would not be a 5 anymore. Much lower.

My God, I reviewed a lot of stuff.

Why did I review DMT: The Spirit Molecule? Hey, maybe I could add that to the documentaries thing.

[Tugg]

only about 9-10 films I give a 5 star rating to and they are all in my top 10. All film is subjective though so obviously everybody will give high and possibly even perfect ratings to films they love. The Godfather is considered the greatest film ever.....but It isn't a 5 star film to me. I certainly like the film but since film is subjective and it isn't a favorite of mine I'm not gonna just follow everybody else and be like "Considered greatest film ever, If I don't give it a 5 star rating nobody will take me seriously". I gave it a 4/5 which still means I liked the movie and I thought it was great, but I'm not jumping up and down to watch it again and it didn't really do as much for me as it did for other film junkies who considered it the next messiah.

I like all movies in your top 10. I'd like to see your top 100.

[Yoda]

By the way, if anyone else wants to see their reviews (the tagged ones, anyway) by rating, just go to the Reviews (http://www.movieforums.com/reviews) page and scroll to the bottom left, where you'll see a simple form for filtering based on user, rating, or title. Or just go right to the View All Reviews (
http://www.movieforums.com/reviews/search/any/higher) page and use the filter there. Real easy.

[Gideon58]

Think your top ten in your profile is backwards then Gideon ;)
The top ten in my profile was not done in any particular order....boy, you just stay on my ass, don't you?

[Citizen Rules]

I seen Juno only once before I came to Mofo. I felt at the time it was fresh, different and a 5/5. But I'd have to watch it again to see if I still feel that way. Usually my ratings would go down with a second viewing, unless the film is really tight.


I really like Mad Max Beyond Thunder Dome. I seen a couple of weeks ago and I still loved the first part but the third act was weaker for me. Not sure what I would score it.

[Tugg]

I liked "Juno". Whether I would still like it would depend on whether it still seems to have charm about it.

[Gatsby]

Like many other MoFos, I do not give out 5 star ratings often, because it indicates perfection and absolute cinematic glory. A 5 star movie would be one that makes me walk around my room trying to contain the brilliancy inside my head after finishing watching, and it rarely happens. Instead I tend to give out a lot of 4.5+ to films I'd recommend to anyone and personally loved on the very first reviewing. The most recent 4.5+ from me is Inside Out and y'all should watch it. :yup:

[Camo]

The top ten in my profile was not done in any particular order....boy, you just stay on my ass, don't you?

:laugh: Yeah it is the high point of my day.

For the record i looked at your profile when Citizen asked that question and thought it would've been your first three. Just so i don't drop the habit of being on your ass apparently, i'll say that i don't believe you. No particular order but your 1,2 and 3 ended up at 8,9 and 10? When you write in a film in your favourites on your profile the first one goes into tenth place, so yeah i think you did it backwards :whoopi:

[Citizen Rules]

http://www.movieforums.com/reviews/search/5/higher/any/Gatsby

Gats, I see 14, 5/5 reviews from you...which is cool as they all seem to be great films.

[BlueLion]

I've only given 6 films the 5-star rating according to my Letterboxd, and this includes rewatches of all-time favorites. So the answer is not too often.

[foster]

i give out 5* rating to less than 2% of the films I've seen
so maybe 1 in 50 movies on average but it seems less than that lately.. probably because i sought out a lot of classics 3 years ago. now that i've seen those I haven't given a 5 star in years. definitely less than 1 in 50 recently.

[Gatsby]

http://www.movieforums.com/reviews/search/5/higher/any/Gatsby

Gats, I see 14, 5/5 reviews from you...which is cool as they all seem to be great films.
All of those films are part of my current Top 50, except The General and Italian Job . The former needs to be lowered just a bit because the stuntwork doesn't amaze like it used to and the latter I severely overrated for... I don't remember, maybe because I love mini coopers? :lol:

[Pindrop]

I can probably count five star films on two hands, and they include films like The Shawshank Redemption and Jaws... there are not that many around. 4.5 star films though, there are quite a few of those.

[Citizen Rules]

I'd give The Shawshank Redemption and Jaws 5 Stars too.
I don't mind giving 5 stars, it's my review and so if I really love a film then I will.

Let's make this thread more fun...post your 5 star films and others can then comment on them. Here's my 5/5

My Dinner with Jimi
Blade Runner
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
Pickup on South Street
Sweet Smell of Success
It's a Wonderful Life
The Hired Hand
Never Let Me Go

[Cole416]

Citizen i'm guessing you're asking for us to post 5 star movies that we've reviewed, and not ones that we had already seen (like our top 10).

If so my only one is Boogie Nights, I believe.

[Citizen Rules]

Oh, I don't know, I guess any film you would call 5/5 would work.

[MovieGal]

What's the lowest you've ever given?

if a film is a 1, 2, 3, 4 .. you better bet I shut it off as soon as I started feeling it was that way.... say 5 is the lowest I will watch... .