Reviews - Do they influence what you watch?

SirDelboy18

Just curious to know, as these days I always go onto Rotten Tomatoes to see whether the movie will be worth my while or not.

Depending on the reviews, it'll probably influence me quite a bit on whether I'm going to see something or not.

What's the general consensus?

Bullseye1

No,not for a movie I haven't seen yet. While I read them they don't determine whether I go and see it for myself. I might give reviews for movie transfers on Blu Rays more consideration but that is purely on picture and sound quality.

krudler

mixed no, if something is slated beyond belief then I probably wont be in a rush to see it.

Fysh

It depends, there are a couple of reviewers that I've found over the last 10 years or so have similar sensibilities to my own so a really good or really bad review from them would make the difference between me paying to see something when it's first on general release or not. Unless it's terrible though I'd most likely just shunt the so-so/bad films to the "wait for TV/netflix/cheap DVD" list.

I am getting pickier about what I see at the cinema though - if I know something's merely OK and will annoy me, it has to have something to get me into the cinema. Not a hope am I paying full cinema price to watch some shlock like Battleship or Transformers 3, whereas something like Prometheus was, while hugely flawed, still visually stunning so just about worth the price of admission.

Mickeroo

If I really want to see a film on strength of source material or whatever, I'll go see it regardless of the reviews. For example I still went to see Green Lantern even though it got slated. If its a flm I'm on the fence about and it gets bad reviews then I usually won't go to the cinema to see it. Also if a film gets unexpectedly good reviews then I'm likely to go see it, 21 Jump Street for example.

I find the RT score to be pretty reliable to be honest, its very rare I've watched a film with a fresh rating that I felt didn't deserve it.

Gandalph

I just tend to go onto IMDB and if it has roughly 5 stars or more (depending on the genre, horrors seem to generally get rated lower than most other film types imo) I will tend to watch the film and make my own choice. I am lucky though as I enjoy most films so I dont let negative feedback discourage me from watching a flick

pixelburp

From the various trailers, interviews & paraphernalia released for any film, I'll have already made up my mind and got a good sense if this is a movie for me before the reviews start appearing; really I just use reviews as a general form-guide to see what the buzz is like for a movie. That policy does come at a price, because it tends to mean I can be fairly spoiled before I set foot in the cinema.

Cork boy 55

Yes, most of the time.


I don't read the reviews in case they give away plot but I do a quick 2 minute check of a few sources before watching for ratings/scores.
If a movie does not get a decent score I won't be watching it
unless it is something that I am interested in for some specific reason.


Life is too short and they are too many bad movies out there
It is a good way of avoiding complete donkeys.
Having said that I have sometimes watched a movie which I liked and then checked reviews afterwards and they said it was terrible.

I made the mistake of watching The General's Daughter
Sunday night on film four without checkingratings
If I had checked I would have found this and not watched it.

The film had generally negative reviews with 22% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 19 out of 86 critics giving it a positive review with an average rating of 4.3/10.

I switched it off after an hour but still lost an hour. :mad:

Please Kill Me

To a degree, yes the reviews will influence if I go to a movie or not. If it's a movie I really, really want to see - I'll go regardless of reviews (Prometheus for example). But if it's a movie that "I wouldn't mind seeing", then yes the review will determine whether I go to the cinema to watch it or wait for the DVD release.

Loughc

Like if there's a film coming out and been looking forward to seeing then no I wouldn't let a review sway me.

However if there are films I'm not too bothered by, good reviews can sway me to go see it. Although to be fair that can have a bad out, Cabin In The Woods, is "this generation's Scream".... Ah no it isn't Mr.Reviewer!! It's not even close!! :mad:

AnonoBoy

Like most if it's something I really am looking forward to I'll go and make up my own mind.

But if I'm on the fence about something, constant bad reviews will probably sway me from going to see it in the cinema.

Beruthiel

I don't post in here much, but I read a lot.
Before watching a new film, I'll come in here and if it's been slated from a height, I won't bother watching it.
If it gets a 50/50 review, I'll give it a go and if ye are raving about it I'll pay to watch it.
Keep up the good work lads.

johnny_ultimate

Yes, very much so. I would have missed Moinseur Lazhar recently, for example, if I had just gone on the relatively uninspiring trailer which suggested 'inspiration teacher nonsense'. But the reviews were enthusiastic, and it's certainly one the hidden gems of the year.

It's not the only criteria, and there are plenty of films I'll go and see regardless. Still a generally decent gauge, though, even if for me reviews are more valuable after the fact.

Sleepy

It depends but generally, if Cosmos Landesman likes it, I'll try and give it a miss...

Footoo

Absolutely,

Not so much the body of the reviews but the general consensus. Aggregators like RT act as a pretty good barometer for weeding out rubbish. It's then a judgment call on films that get mixed reviews.
There are certtain films that I willl see no matter what, ie films based on specific source material or films by certain directors even if they get slated.

Mebuntu

I never read or listen to reviews before I see a film. I prefer to know nothing about it beforehand which is difficult enough these days with the likes of Dave Fanning virtually giving it all away in his radio comments. In any event a good/bad review would not be in any way the deciding factor in whether I'd watch it or not.
On the other hand after I've seen a film I love to spend hours reading all the reviews online.

Rarely do I pay much heed to reviews, more often than not I won't read any reviews of a film till after I've seen it. Far too many reviewers seem to think that recapping the plot and then a few lines on how good or bad the film is suffices as a review. bluray.com are terrible for it, they rarely discuss the film preferring to offer a blow by blow of what occurred onscreem but that is preferable to a publication like Empire or AICN (Knowles in particular) whose reviews are based not upon a films merits but rather which studio offered a free mug or trip to the set.

briany

I don't read many professional reviews but a general rule of thumb for me is that anything less than 5.5 (5.0 for a comedy) on IMDB means a film has big problems. Now, that is provided a certain number of votes as well; it has to be weighted but I've found it's rarely steered me wrong. I'll watch (and often enjoy) films of any rating on TV because I can always change channel if I don't like it. There's no commitment there but if I'm picking one, I want to at least know it's a well made film. I still mightn't like it regardless of how high it's rating might be and switch it off half way through though (looking at you, "Amelie" and "Synecdoche, New York"!).

Jogathon

I think alot of reviewers have a very high-falutin' view of films. Sometimes I want high brow, and other times I just want to chill out and not think. Anything chicky-flicky I'll just watch and ignore reviews, they tend to be panned by critics regardless but to pass an hour or so they are prefect for me.