I was wondering out of curiosity… I was observing the sweeping wide range of ratings for Disney’s Mulan. Quite frankly I was just confused. So my question is, who do you trust as having the closest to reality rating? Is it better to just focus on TRAKT member ratings? Can anybody tell me if TRAKT has any known spam issues that can effect honest ratings? Thanks…
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I don’t trust any ratings. Everyone rates things differently, and based on different criteria. Some people will hand out 10/10 and 1/10 rankings constantly, without a second thought, whereas other people are more realistic and rate things from a more level headed point of view.
A lot of shows and movies will also mainly be watched by people who are actually fans of that show or movie, meaning that most people who rate them, liked them. So you end up with trash shows and movies having higher ratings, especially in later seasons of shows when people who dislike the show have dropped it.
I think the Rotten Tomatoes is maybe one of the best systems, even though most people misunderstand how it actually works. RT % is simply about how many people liked or disliked a movie, rather than rating it out of 100. I feel like a simple like and dislike rating system is probably the one that will give the most accurate results as to whether something is enjoyable or not.
Bad shows and movies will almost always have a higher rating than they should, because the people who love them will give them 10/10, but most people who dislike won’t go as extreme as 1/10, but rather a 3 or 4 depending on how bad it is. Obviously there are some exceptions, but I think this is true for the majority of shows and movies. A like/dislike system helps balance this out.
Note: I’m not advocating for the removal of numbered ratings. I just think that site wide overall ratings should be based on likes vs dislikes rather than the numbered ratings.
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That’s interesting… Thank you so much for the detailed feedback. This is one of the reasons I love TRAKT. I think there are more die-hard movie/TV fans here than anywhere else. I think you’re right about the thumbs up/down method. I was pissed when Netflix changed their rating system, as people like me rate based on a range of emotion, and sometimes a thumbs up/down isn’t enough. It kind of felt like either Netflix thought that we were too lazy to vote (and made it simple by changing to up/down), or there were screwing up the algorithms to make us watch movies we’d find in a $2 dollar dvd sale.
It’s funny, it used to be that documentaries was my worst nightmare, because most documentaries were low rated because people get emotional as to what they think is true, or how a culture was portrayed. Now with the advent of streaming, there is so much content, even the genres sometimes don’t seem to match up. I think the only way to really solve these things is to build a “spotify” like algorithm. It’s pretty clear to me that we can no longer rely on human ratings. Especially since entertainment has become global, and bad cultural and language translations isn’t gonna inspire an accurate rating either…
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Yeah I also don’t really trust any ratings, but I use them so I can at least know the opinion of the general population. A bad rating will not make me not want to watch something, I will just be more cautious with it (I use random lists to choose what I’m going to watch, so the ratings give me a notion of what people thought about it)
I only rate something after watching it (for TV shows that means at least a season), and I rate them based on what they were trying to achieve with it. So basically different genres have different criteria. But most people don’t do that, and that is where the majority of the votes come from.
For the things I watch usually the Trakt ratings are a bit lower than the IMDB. I really like the ratings for individual episodes here, usually when one has a higher rating than the show itself it is a pretty good episode. But making a comparison between many sources is the best way for you to get accurate ratings. And of course, vote for what you watch, many people don’t.
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I use ratings as a guide to see how others enjoy or dislike but only after I have seen the program/movie. Gives a good indication for a fan base for future shows.
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Despite TRAKT’s algorithms not being up to my standards (sorry Justin); where TRAKT’s value comes in, is the member’s lists. I found out that it’s pretty easy to find people with similar tastes. Not only that, the movies/TV in those lists usually are consistent with the types/genres. That allowed me to find great movies. Without TRAKT, I’d still be struggling to find stuff to watch using IMDB. The only type I feel I should offer is, stay away from lists named “NBC movies,” or movies from “so and so director,” and of course “1001 movies you must see before you die.” They are just movie dumps. Pure copy and paste. No one has that kind of time anymore.
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a lot of spam in trakt ratings, i hate RT ratings, HATE THEM. for me at least who i do not watch culture or high IQ movies like they want them to pass.
I used to lean to IMDB but i think that was years ago, now that system is messed up as well.
I now have a combination of reading the plot, watching the trailer, and checking IMDB and trakt rating.
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Understandable, though RT can still be useful if you know what to look for. I figured out a method that has worked pretty well for me so far.
IMHO
If a movie is highly rated by RT critics and highly rated by audiences: Great, sometimes artsy phartsy
If a movie is rated badly by RT critics but highly rated by audiences: Good, sometimes the best
If a movie is highly rated by RT critics but rated badly by audiences: Bad
If a movie is rated badly by RT critics and rated badly by audiences: Worst
Keep in mind that there have been some exceptions to the rule of course. It really comes down to personal taste. If the trailer for a movie has me interested and I want to watch even though it doesn’t fit any rule I will go right ahead and watch.
I rate things personally by how much I liked and enjoyed watching and whether I thought it was good. I update upon rewatch as well. That way if I want to go back and watch a movie/episode I had seen before I know what I thought was good/bad in case I forgot.
Edit: Grammar/specificity of language.
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I don’t go just by ratings — Reading through the comments are enlightening. So a combination of both and my own instinct.
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Ignore the ratings completely.
Read the write-up and then have a look.
If it catches your attention carry on. If it doesn’t, bin it as there are too many films out there to watch.
An example for you.
I read the write-up on “The Intouchables” and thought it sounded boring but would give it a go.
One of the best films I have seen in ages.
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i forgot about comments, yes i read a lot of them before making my case. so a combination more of less.
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If I remember correctly Netflix’s rating was about how close the movie or the show you watched close to your preferences for better recommendations next time. And that was confusing as hell because people thought that they are rating a movie/show. I never knew about this after Netflix explained this in a tweet. That is why they changed it to simple thumbs up/down to avoid confusion 
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And … IIRC Reed Hastings, (I think it was) said that many people were rating shows that they hadn’t watched (On Netflix). This was true, in my case — at the time I was upset bc as a senior I had watched many shows/movies previously, so was rating them according to my preferences. It didn’t seem to me, that they considered anyone over the age of 30 to be using their service, at the time who might have seen them in another life. If uno wot I mean. 
Now, I often get shows recommended (by Netflix) that aren’t even close to my taste. So in my opinion I think their algorithms need some work.
Edit: Oh and Netflix removed the ability to comment — Seems like a regression in a feature I often used.
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I find that you need a weighted approach, so I kind have my own ratings system where I take several different ratings into account and then weigh them to get an indication of how good something seems. That’s all that is, however, an indication. Deciding what to watch is, like what previous posters have touched on, a combination of a lot of things.
There are genres/directors/actors that I will watch almost no matter what, and I once wrote an algorithm for it. Have had thoughts on and off about writing something using the Trakt API, but so far I haven’t gotten around to it. Procrastination FTW!
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The only time I pay attention to ratings is to see what the top-rated episodes of a series are when deciding to rewatch an episode or when I finish the series to see what other people liked and if I agree.
I don’t choose a series/film based on the rating at all neither how much of a match Netflix thinks it is! I choose what to watch based on what the plot is most of the time or how I’m feeling
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That makes sense! And I didn’t realize it until you’ve mentioned it. Which is, I didn’t notice I relied more on IMDB crucially for movies, than I ever did for TV shows. I don’t understand why subconsciously I held movies to a higher standard? Honestly, movies have been so poor the last couple of years, I’ve been relying more and more on several good TV shows, to fill in for those moments when my movie playlist runs dry.
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I tend to just ignore ratings altogether. It’s all down to personal taste so I go with the approach of just giving everything a chance. At the very worst I waste a couple of hours watching a movie or a few episodes of a TV show I don’t enjoy, but to be quite honest it’s rare for me to find something entirely unenjoyable.
I would always take audience ratings over critics if forced to make a choice though. I think critics tend to be looking at aspects of movies that a lot of viewers don’t care about. For example, I love the movie Bio-Dome, but the critics absolutely hate it with a passion.
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Well… I made a horrible mistake and allowed my eyes to watch “Death Of Me (2020).” Have you ever saw a movie that pissed you off so bad it feels like it ruined your mood for a couple of hours? That was me! I kept saying to myself, “why, why, why!” 
If I knew it was that bad, I’d much rather finish off Netflix’s Punisher instead. That movie had only 58 votes @ 51%, and IMDB had 543 votes with 4.4 rating. Even I should have known better! But I trusted in the trailer. Arrrggggghhh!!! So, sometimes it does pay to look at ratings, and not really put trust solely on the trailer.
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I can’t say I’ve ever been angered that much by a movie, no.
The problem is that no matter what rating system was used there would always be outliars purely due to preference.
Take for example Date Movie, it’s a movie I quite enjoyed but it is rated like this:
Then at the opposite end there’s Inception which felt like a chore to watch.
Now maybe I should watch Death Of Me to see if it’s really that bad 
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I also take into consideration, (or try, to the best of my ability) the age demographic that uses each rating service. Younger people tend to like certain types of movies generally speaking.
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