How I Rate Films

I thought I’d take a moment to explain my approach to the scores I assign to films at the end of my reviews.  Instead of the favoured star system, I opt for a score out of 10.  The reason being is that, too often, star scores can be misleading.  A score of 6/10 would, to me, mean that a film is sub-par.  To covert that to a star-scale out of 5 would then be three stars, which in my mind, appears to be a favourable rating.  So while stars make for better and easier inclusion on film posters, I feel they do not give an accurate reflection of the film in question, with the only real exception to that being the extremes of zero stars and a full five.

As for my ratings, I adopt the old US school mark style.  Spending the entirety of my academic life in the US, save for my MSc, this is what I am most familiar and comfortable with.  In that style, the top marks would be 90-100% or score of 9/10 and 10/10.  The next level 8/10 marks a very good film, while 7/10 is merely average.  A film that ranks a 6/10 is passable but disappointing, while any film scoring below that is a failure and not really worth wasting time and money on.

It’s straightforward, but I thought it was worth clarifying, as anyone familiar with study at British universities may think a score of 7/10 is a grand accomplishment. It really isn’t.