Have you ever tried to rank your top ten movies of all time? You probably named 5 or 6 relatively quickly but then struggled with the last few slots right? There are so many movies you like, you simply can't fit them all in and want to be sure that the films you have chosen are indeed your favourite top ten films.
The rating system below will help you grade your favourite films more accurately, so that films you struggle to choose between can be rated against each other fairly.
The Rating System
Where as many rating systems may work along the lines of a simple 1 to 10 basis. The All Star Rating system (ASR) is graded out of 100 and requires you to do a little more work.
Why? Because the difference between one film and the next is almost impossible to pigeon hole into such a small range, leaving you far to many films with the same rank.
The ASR system will provide the more discerning movie buff with a greater range to rate their movies by, and maybe help them think more closely about how they are ranked in comparison to other films they have seen and liked.
Basically the ASR breaks a film down into 10 levels or criteria, and asks the viewer to grade each criteria on a further 1 to 10 basis. The result is a value out of 100, which when placed next to other films you have assessed, should place them in a more widely distributed spectrum, allowing you to more easily asses which your favourite movies are among the many contenders that potentially exist.
What To Do
Below are two lists of categories along with the scores within each category by which to grade your chosen movie. The descriptions against each score are simply a basic guide to help you decide what grade out of 10 to apply.
There are 3 compulsory categories in list 1 which you must grade your movie by, these are the ‘Acting’ category, 'Watch-ability' and the 'Overall' category. You may then select a further 6 categories from List 1 of your own choosing, that you feel most closely resemble the best aspects of the film. Finally choose 1 categories from List 2 which you feel is the most appropriate genre for your movie.
Once you have chosen your 10 most applicable categories to rate your movie by, simply rate your film in each category (minimum score of 1, maximum score of 10) and keep a track of the score. Your total for that movie will become your ASR TOTAL.
Once you have rated a number of films in this fashion, you will easily be able to analyse how your favourite movies rate and compare to one another, along with your overall impression of the film.
List 1
You must grade the 3 compulsory categories and then choose and additional 6 categories most befitting the movie. A description and advice on grading each individual category is detailed after 'List 2'.
Acting (Compulsory)
Action
Authenticity
Direction
Drama
Effects
Entertainment
Humour
Musical Score
Originality
Scary
Storyline
Thought
Watchability (Compulsory)
Overall (Compulsory)
List 2
Pick the most compatible movie genre for your film and grade it out of 10. Your grade should represent roughly how this movie compares, to other movies you have seen of the same genre.
Action/Adventure
Animation
Comedy
Drama
Epic/Historical
Family
Fantasy
Film Noir
Gangster
Horror
Martial Arts
Musical
Romance
Science Fiction
Teen Film
Thriller
War
Western
Descriptions And Advice For 'List 1' Categories
Acting
The art of acting is to perform a part or roll in a story. The art of good acting is to entertain the audience to the point where they believe what they are seeing is real, or it evokes a strong emotional response.
You should grade a movies acting according to individual performances. This can be done according to how much they moved you, or how much they made you laugh. Overacting, whilst unrealistic, is still a skilful art and should be awarded just as well as a strong dramatic roll, or realistic portrayal.
Try to think if the Actors performances improve the entertainment factor of the movie, or weather their performances simply left you feeling hollow.
Examples:Action
1 - Extremely poor acting. The performers showed little or no passion, they did not relate to the characters they were portraying.
5 - Average
10 - Superb acting. They captivated your attention, pulled your heart strings, made you laugh uncontrollably, or brought a tear to your eye.
Action Films have tremendous impact, continuous high energy, lots of physical stunts and activity, extended chase scenes, races, rescues, battles, fights, destruction, disaster, explosions, fires… you get the general idea.
When grading on action you should consider the non-stop motion or spectacular rhythm and pacing that makes up the flow of the movie. You should grade frequency of action, quality of action regarding the effects, choreography and stunt work, as well as the rhythm of action sequences. The flow of action from one scene to the next, and how well balanced it is with relation to the story telling is key to a successful action movie, and often overlaps with other categories such as effects, direction, drama and originality.
Examples:Authenticity
1 – Action sequences were infrequent and poor. The action drove the story, not the other way round, and there was nothing original any of the action scenes.
5 – Average
10 – Non stop action throughout, integrated smoothly into the storyline. The effects and stunt sequences were original, well choreographed and visually spectacular.
Authenticity is the quality of being real or true. It is often very difficult to grade a films authenticity if you know little about the subject matter within it, however you can award points to a fictional or non fictional story, if you think it was done so well as to seem real, or believable to you the viewer, or if you believed what you saw was real.
If it is a factual movie about real life, the environment, historical events, or real life stories, you should avoid scoring in this category unless you know what you are talking about.
Examples:Direction
1 - A completely false and misleading representation of science or evidence, so far fetched and contrived it was ridiculous.
5 - Average
10 - True to the facts or real events. Believable to the point where you felt you where watching live television.
Direction is the smooth and seamless art of story telling, it encompasses such elements as camera angles and lighting, scene and character integration, cinematography and set location. In short a Director is responsible for bringing the whole story together, they are the ultimate story tellers with a thousand tricks up their sleeves.
Often it is very difficult to grade the Directorial talent in a movie, as the subtle art of story telling simply washes over the viewer without them knowing. When watching a film more than once, it becomes easier to pick up on the clever little nuances of the movie.
Watching the special features and extras that are bundled with movies these days will enlighten you further as to the hard work that has gone into making a film.
Examples:Drama
1 - Very poor direction. The story jumped from one scene to the next erratically detracting your attention. No originality, and bad choice of characters and props.
5 - Average
10 - Superb direction. Clever and interesting camera angles, well worked scene integration, unique style and feel, a complete and masterful piece of story telling.
Drama is the serious presentations of part or all of a movie story. It usually encompasses situations in film that portray realistic characters in conflict with themselves, others, or forces of nature. It is the tension that grips you to your seat, which has you hanging on the edge of every second, every word and every event in the film. A dramatic film often shows us human beings at their best, their worst, and everything in-between.
A good way to gage the emotional drama of a movie, is not only how you felt while watching the film, but how long those emotions stayed with you after the final credits. Appropriate use of drama is also important in the overall enjoyment of a film. The mood should not be so oppressive as spoil the entertainment quality of a film.
Examples:Effects
1 – The drama was neither moving or tense. It did not play on my emotions at all. Wooden performances and poor unrealistic story line lead to a dramatically weak movie.
5 – Average
10 – My emotions were in tatters at the end of this movie, I had a lump in my throat, tears in my eyes, was on the edge of my seat throughout, and bit my nails down to the bone.
Effects are the extra dynamic used to make the movie convincing. They may be computer generated graphics, models and props, pyrotechnics and explosives, stunt work, make up, and camera trickery.
There are numerous effects that can be used in a movie, and some movies require more than others. Good effects are the ones that come with wow factor, or that integrate so invisibly that you simply don't even know they are there.
Extra points should be awarded for originality and innovation. Bear this in mind when grading old films that now seem to contain dated effects, they may well have formed the foundation for film making today.
Examples:Entertainment
1 - Extremely poor effects that distracted you attention away from the story, and made you realise instantly that what you just saw wasn't real.
5 - Average
10 - Spectacular effects unlike anything you have ever seen before. You were blown away in awe. The effects were very subtle and clever, but superbly done.
Entertainment value is a personal level by which to grade a movie. What is entertaining to one, may be nauseous to another. Also a film that scores highly on the technical side for realism and direction, may not always be Entertaining, and likewise a film with poorer technical merit could well be very Entertaining.
You need to decide how much this movie captivated your attention. Was it agreeable and gratifying to watch. If the film was very enjoyable to watch, to you should grade it highly.
Examples:Humour
1 – I did not enjoy this film at all, I would probably not watch it again. It did not entertain or lift my spirits at all.
5 - Average
10 – Highly entertaining throughout. I was captivated from the start, a real joy to watch.
This category is primarily used on Comedy movies, however it may also be used on other genre to gage the appropriate levels of humour throughout the movie.
Many dramatic films, or films with a heavy demeanour will often include a few scenes of a more spirited or jovial nature. When done well this technique can greatly enhance the entertainment factor of a movie, by lifting the viewers spirits from an otherwise dour movie atmosphere.
Apart from the obvious grading for how much the movie made you laugh, you should also try to award points for the appropriate use of humour, creative and original humour, and the humorous effect (how the humour content effects the atmosphere of the movie).
Examples:Musical Score
1 - There was nothing I found humorous in this movie at all. It was to serious, to heavy and otherwise moody for my taste.
5 – Average
10 – The use of humour was superb, it lifted my spirits at the right moments, titillated my emotions, and had me laughing heartily with appreciation. It was so funny throughout, I couldn’t stop laughing.
Particularly with films that evoke a strong emotional response, the musical score is often the unsung hero of the film. It sets the mood, creates the atmosphere and builds up the climatic finale of a scene to fever pitch proportions. It is in my opinion, one of the most important aspects of any movie, though most of the time you will scarcely be aware of it. When done to perfection it can elevate an average film to a good film and a good film to exceptional. It can provide a dynamic signature that once heard can instantly be associated with that movie.
Musical Score is not a reference to songs used in a movie, unless the songs have been written specifically for the titled film. Using other peoples pre recorded, pre written music in a film is not to be graded in this category. Instead award further points to Direction if you feel the appropriate use of songs was used.
Examples:Originality
1 – Inappropriate and inadequate music score, lead to film with the wrong atmosphere. I was unable to relate to the performance due to the poor musical score.
5 – Average
10 – Superb musical score that touched me emotionally and brought life and soul to every scene of the film. I will never forget the movies anthem which will remain a signature to the films excellence.
Movies that immediately spring to mind when talking about originality, are Star Wars, Willow, Terminator II, The Matrix, and Lord of the Rings.
A film can be original on a number of different levels. It may contain special effects that have never before been done, the storyline may contain new and refreshing ideas and concepts, or the style in which the movie is made may be quite different from the norm. Even how scenes are shot can comprise a number of techniques out of the norm.
Try to award points for the appropriate use of originality. If something was original but completely misplaced with the rest of the film, don’t be tempted to grade it highly unless you have good reason to.
Examples:Scary
1 - There was nothing original in this movie whatsoever, it was predictable, and everything I saw has been done a thousand times before in other movies and better.
5 – Average
10 – It was refreshing to see so many new ideas and concepts, I have never seen anything quite like that before. The camera angles and filming techniques were very unique. The style of the movie was very original and interesting to explore.
Scary moments in film are unsettling and designed to frighten, panic, cause dread and alarm, or invoke our worst and hidden fears.
Whilst being terrifying, the scare factor should captivating and entertaining us at the same time. It often requires empathy for the characters in the story, good acting and even better direction. It should invoke our most primal instincts for self preservation, and our vulnerability to events out of our control.
Examples:Storyline
1 – Though the film was designed to be scary, I felt no emotion to either the characters or plot. The unrealistic or poor portrayal of events, coupled with over exaggerated effects left a shallow feeling that was neither scary or entertaining.
5 – Average
10 – Spine chilling moments that dragged me out of my comfort zone and had me fearing for the characters lives. That fearful emotion will play on my subconscious fears for some time to come.
What comprises a good story? You could argue that it is largely personal preference, however there are a couple of things that should be taken into consideration, such as originality of script, character and story development, and level of complexity to name but a few.
A good story should have characters you can relate to, that you care about, or feel some emotional attachment towards. The story line should try to contain interesting material, preferably in an original manner. It should culminate to a climatic finally and not leave you feeling hollow or emotionless at the end of it. It should not be so simplistic as to patronise the viewer, nor be to complex to comfortably follow.
Examples:Thought
1 – Pathetic story line with no originality whatsoever. A mindless excuse to show effect after effect with no direction or consideration to the viewer.
5 – Average
10 – Fantastic story, that teased and piqued my interest throughout. Its non predictability and original script thoroughly entertained me, I fell in love with the characters right away and could immediately related to them.
Complexity to a particular story, and how much effort was involved in understanding it. Films of this ilk require the audience to be both attentive and interested in order to follow what is unfolding before their eyes. The level of complexity should be adequate to the point where most attentive viewers could follow, and not so complex that few people can understand it without significant knowledge of the subject matter.
You should attempt to award points for how much the story line made you think, did it have multiple meaning at different levels, how much compassion and empathy did you feel towards the characters. Where you left pondering over the events of the movie long after the final credits.
Examples:Watchability
1 – No thought required at all to watch this simple and mindless charade. A zombie falling asleep could still follow this plot.
5 – Average
10 – Wow the intrigue and plot where so rich with thought provoking material that I could watch this film a dozen times and still find something new to think about. An amazingly clever piece of script writing and story telling.
Watchability refers mainly to how likely you are to watch this film again, or add it to your DVD collection. It signifies your intentions towards the film, and encompasses you viewing preference.
It is entirely subjective and does not come with any technical reference other than to say it is your viewing preference, and your likelihood of viewing over and over again. If you it’s a film you would like to watch again, or would be likely to own, then grade highly.
Examples:Overall
1 - This film may have been good or bad, but its not my sort of film at all. I would never watch this film again by choice.
5 – Average
10 – I could watch this film over and over again. I cant wait till it comes out on DVD, I will be the first person in the cue.
Its “make your mind up” time. You have graded the various different categories and analysed the technical aspects of the film along with its entertainment value. Now its time to give your overall opinion of the film.
This is your basic out of 10 grade for the film overall. It can act as a biased for particular films that you love, but which didn’t necessarily score high technical marks. It is purely down to your own viewing preference how you grade in this category.
Examples:
1 – Rubbish, I hate this film, I must be mad to even grade something I hate so much, what a waste of my life.
5 – Average
10 – Outstanding. Of the thousands of film out there, this one is definitely in the top flight. Without a doubt one of my all time favourite movies.
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