The 5-point scale has a simplicity to it.
5's are great, must-watch for the genre. 4's are good. 3's are mixed, with the good slightly outweighing the bad; they are for fans of a series/genre. 2's, most people should avoid but may have a tiny niche for people who are hardcore enough fans of that niche. 1, avoid altogether.
My main issue with the 5-point scale is that there are a ton movies which are better than 3/5, but not quite a 4/5. How exactly would you rate a 7/10 movie on a 5-point scale?
Proponents of the 5-point scale might retort by ask me what exactly is the difference between a 2/10 vs. 3/10, and mention that the 10-scale has too many increments on the lower end.
But the difference is that 7/10's come up more often than 3/10's.
If we were to watch every movie that existed at random, it might be a normal distribution bell curve with an average of 5/10, and maybe just as many 3/10's as 7/10's.
But we have selection bias. We tend to watch movies that are either acclaimed, culturally significant, popular or at least pique our interest. So, if we look at the average rating of all our movies, it might actually rest in the 6-7 ish range.
5's are great, must-watch for the genre. 4's are good. 3's are mixed, with the good slightly outweighing the bad; they are for fans of a series/genre. 2's, most people should avoid but may have a tiny niche for people who are hardcore enough fans of that niche. 1, avoid altogether.
My main issue with the 5-point scale is that there are a ton movies which are better than 3/5, but not quite a 4/5. How exactly would you rate a 7/10 movie on a 5-point scale?
Proponents of the 5-point scale might retort by ask me what exactly is the difference between a 2/10 vs. 3/10, and mention that the 10-scale has too many increments on the lower end.
But the difference is that 7/10's come up more often than 3/10's.
If we were to watch every movie that existed at random, it might be a normal distribution bell curve with an average of 5/10, and maybe just as many 3/10's as 7/10's.
But we have selection bias. We tend to watch movies that are either acclaimed, culturally significant, popular or at least pique our interest. So, if we look at the average rating of all our movies, it might actually rest in the 6-7 ish range.