Ratings, and what they are

Stars

Probably the most commonly used method of rating anything, the four point star system. Basically, this ranges from zero stars up to four stars, with half star increments.

Currently, the only place this is in use is on our homepage, and is used for both aesthetic purposes, and it's usefulness in quickly distinguishing each rating (it's much easier to notice that one film has more stars than another, than to have to check and compare a numerical value for each film)

Note : On the hompage, stars are assigned according to each film's straight average (as compared to weighted rating), due to each new release having much fewer ratings than older films. The use of a weighted rating would result in little difference between each film rating.

Weighted Rating

Each individual is allowed to rate a film on a scale from 0.0 to 10.0, with increments of .5 (This is detailed below). To get a composite rating for each film, we can use either a straight average (sum of all ratings, divided by the number of ratings), or a weighted average (which employs a formula involving the the straight average, but takes into consideration the number of ratings to give each film a particular weight).

This can more easily be explained with an example. Suppose film x has one review, a 10.0. And suppose film y has one hundred reviews, which has a straight average of 9.0. If we ranked films by the straight average, film x would be ranked higher (10.0 > 9.0). However, since film x's rating could immediately drop after another ratings is added, it makes more sense to rank film y higher. And, so we do.

Individual Ratings

Each user can rate a film from 0.0 to 10.0 using .5 increments. While this scale will mean slightly different things for different users, certain assumptions are made. 0.0 is the bottom of the scale, reserved for films the reviewer deems repugnant. The 10.0 is the top of the scale. 5.0 is the middle. Other than that, the nuances of each rating is up to each particular reviewer.

This scale was chosen as it is in fairly common use around the web, so it's not completely foreign to most users. Also, it allows each user enough (but not too much) flexiblility in reviewing films.