IMDb Movie Ratings

[claws]

Any of you guys "trust" IMDb movie ratings? I think they are pretty reliable when it comes to movies that interest me but haven't seen yet.
I'm aware that every person has a different opinion about a movie, and while I don't always agree with certain ratings (Madhouse (2004) 5.5/10. Really? It was a P.O.S.) I think in most cases they are sort of spot on. Except for Troll 2 of course 

I think movies with a 5/10 and higher IMDb rating are worthy (except Madhouse). Anything below 5/10 should be consumed with caution.

Thought? Opinions?

[Jack]

They seem to rate everything on a good movie scale over there, so most of the stuff I watch is down in the 2's and 3's.  That's makes it pretty useless to me.  Half the reviews seem to feature the lines "Worst movie I've ever seen in my life" and "I want my two hours back", and then they usually complain about the lack of originality in the movie   

I find the ratings on the Netflix site seem to coincide with my tastes pretty well.  People rate bad movies on a bad movie scale according to how entertaining they are.  So I know if some piece of direct-to-video trash gets a 3/5, it's probably worth checking out.  While if it's down in the 2/5 range, I'm probably in for some pain.

[bob]

they're kinda inconsistant to me, which inspired me to write 2 books on the top 250 and the bottom 100

[Rev. Powell]

They are a fairly good indicator of how the average viewer sees a movie, once they get enough votes.

New release movies are usually inflated and the ratings tend to fall to normal once its been out on DVD.

Also worth remembering: the mean vote on IMDB isn't 5.0, it's more like 6.5.  So if you see something rated in the 6s, that's about average.  Ratings of 7 or more indicate movies people really like. 

[Flick James]

I agree with Jack. Netflix ratings work well for me, but all ratings require us of some common sense. Movies that are good bad movies, because they have some appeal, will usually have about 2.5 to 3 stars. Some, however, that have really low ratings, like less than 2 stars, are hit or miss. It could be an entertaining bad movie or it could be completely unwatchable. The nice thing about streaming movies is that it's a pretty cheap roll of the dice. However, with discs only available for delivery, I'm much more reluctant to put one in the queue.

Overall, I don't think any ratings are all that reliable. However, I do like Rotten Tomatoes because you can look up a movie and, in a pretty quick time, see what kind of movie it is, especially if it's a so-bad-it's-good movie.

[Doggett]

I use the imdb and rotten tomataoes as good indicators.

I used to use Amazom but realised how totaly biased it was.
If people are going to buy a DVD these a good chance they already like the film and will give it a good review. Although I do enjoy reading the bad reviews on the Amazon sites.

[voltron]

I tend to seek out the really low rated movies myself. The "average" movie watcher generally don't seem to appreciate  good "bad" films. However, sometimes they can be right about certain movies ie: Scream (1981) which has very VERY little to redeem itself from it's awfulness.

[Pilgermann]

I've noticed that there seems to be a general bias towards any kind of silly looking "black" movie.  For example, Who's Your Caddy? and Madea's Big Happy Family are both in the bottom 100.  I have no personal interest in them, and I'm pretty sure they're not good, but I feel confident that neither one is as bad as say, Click, which currently has a 6.7  A horrible and appalling film like Click has a pretty good score!  A lot of stuff featured on MST3K have low ratings, too, like The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!? (2.1) or The Brain That Wouldn't Die (3.6).  I don't think they're taken on their own merits and a lot of voters on IMDB are fake film buffs if you know what I mean.

Like others have said, IMDB ratings are generally a good indicator, but it's a good idea to skim through user reviews to get a better grip on what to expect.  Personally, I'll pretty much watch anything.

[wuatenigenu]

I think the IMBD users (especially reviewers) are waay to generous with their ratings.. The first page of the user review section is always full of 10/10 ratings and analytic thoughts on the movie like : "One of the best movies I've ever seen" or "If you're used to .. then you won't like it but if you give it a try you will see it's special in it's own way"

[Criswell]

The top 250 is very biased due to so many fanboys that vote 10 on movies like Inception.

[SPazzo]

I lost faith in IMDb when The Dark Knight made it in the top 5 of the Top 250 after like a week of being released.  I'm not saying it was bad, but not Top 250 worthy.  I rate things how I feel about them.

Also, I once read on the help board there that ratings of 10 and 1 don't always count.  Depending on the number of votes of each they might not count them.

[claws]

I know for a fact that a group of people in Germany started a internet campaign to vote Daniel - Der Zauberer (2004) down without ever watching it, so it would make the Bottom 100. The reason was because of the star of the movie, Daniel Küblböck. He was discovered during a "American Idol" type of show in Germany. His fame didn't last very long so he made the movie to boost his fading career.
Daniel - Der Zauberer was directed by Ulli Lommel (!) and turned out to be one hot mess of a movie.
So in that regard the 1/10 votes on purpose did make sense after all. Here's the Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2vKfxXE7_4

[diamondwaspvenom]

I disagree with a lot of the ratings on IMDB. Then again, the only movie ratings that I truly give a rat's ass about are my own.

In the past, sometimes there was a movie at a flea market or a video store that had something I was interested in but wasn't entirely sure of buying. IMDB would give me general ideas as to what the general movie public thought of the movie, therefore I could make a proper judgement.

But eventually, I stopped caring about the opinions on IMDB. Most of the reviews were just so childish at times (i.e. "OMG! This film sux so bad because teh filmmakers killed of my favourite characterzz!", "Worst movie eva!", "If this movie used CGI, I would liuke it better", etc.). In all honesty, screw IMDB. The only opinions about a movie that you should be concerned with are your own.