List of movies shows "my guess" star rating instead of "members" rating

Hi. I wonder why when I'm searching for films I see the red star rating according to what Netflix believes I will rate. That's ridiculous. They put "our best guess", instead of "member average". I wonder if there is a possibility in settings to see members rating in the red stars. Netflix could have the best intelligent system ever, but I'm still more confident about another member's rating or review, instead of what Netflix believes I would potentially say about the film... Please help.

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Permalink Reply by photo heathen on February 1, 2009 at 8:27pm: I wonder if there is a possibility in settings to see members rating in the red stars.

'Fraid not. Click on the movie page though and you'll see both the average rating and your estimated rating.

but I'm still more confident about another member's rating or review

You really shouldn't be. I mean, have you looked through the top-100 recently? Lots and lots of crap in there and yet most of those are going to have relatively high average ratings.

The point is, the estimated rating is based on many factors, including how you've rated other movies and what your rental patterns are. Isn't that more reliable than a bunch of fans boys artificially raising the average of The Dark Knight?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by goldfilm on February 1, 2009 at 8:33pm: Yeah, you're right about the top-100. I also know that there are many kids around putting 5 stars to cheese balls. But what I don't like about this rating system is when I see that the member average is 3 stars, and Netflix shows 4 stars because they guess (I don't know how) I will love that film. That's misleading, because to first sight you see 4 stars. How intelligent could be a guessing system? I could admire and respect Robert De Niro, but it doesn't mean I will get crazy about Righteous Kill...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by photo heathen on February 1, 2009 at 8:39pm: How intelligent could be a guessing system?

Intelligent enough that Netflix is giving away $1,000,000 to the person/people that can develop a system that does a better job.

It's not just "guessing".; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Alan-Not So Nice Not So Helpful on February 1, 2009 at 8:37pm: Netflix could have the best intelligent system ever, but I'm still more confident about another member's rating or review

Imagine a few million people like myself rating Lifeforce, Charmed, Showgirls and Wings as Loved it; The Wrestler, The Reader and Milk as Not Interested; and No Country for Old Men, Batman Dark Knight and Sideways as Didn't Like it. I'm sure out of 9 million subscribers, I am not alone with this taste in movies.

Knowing this, would you still be more confident about another member's rating rather than what Netflix guesses you will rate a movie according to your past ratings? If the answer is Yes, then feel free to add me as a friend. You just might like the next disc or list I make. :-); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by goldfilm on February 1, 2009 at 9:01pm: Mmm... I understand what you say guys. But still, at least I would like to have the option to put in my settings if I want to see the rating star system according to the member average, or according to what Netflix guesses, or the critics rating, etc. I'm now forced to see a movie rated according to what Netflix guesses and I still don't trust those guesses. Especially because I'm a new user and I didn't rate too much...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Spindaddydad on February 1, 2009 at 9:09pm: Especially because I'm a new user and I didn't rate too much...

Than continue rating. The more you rate, the smarter it gets. Before long it will be a very good gauge at what you'll like.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by eviltimes on February 2, 2009 at 7:56pm: Didn't work that way for me. After a couple thousand ratings it went all crazy on me. I don't think it can handle diversity. If you just give 5 stars to Korean action films it does pretty well, but you start adding in critical Japanese and Chines films and suddenly it will recommend everything from that side of the Pacific. Doesn't matter that you've 1 starred every J pop horror film and kung fu chop suey films. It's very simple minded.

That's why there is a Million dollar prize!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by ToxicDon on February 1, 2009 at 9:20pm: I find it to be very good at guessing what I would rate a movie, to the point where I try not to look at what it says. I don't want my thoughts to be unduly influenced by what Netflix says I should think about a movie. Still, when I'm about to click those stars after seeing a movie, it comes darn close...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by goldfilm on February 2, 2009 at 7:57am: Something that caught my attention with the Netflix guessing system is that I'm a hard rater (between 2 and 4 stars, average 3 to 4), but most of the times Netflix guesses that my rating will be better than the average...

But I have the point. Most of you, beyond the need to improve the guessing system, believe that it's better to use the guessing system than the member average. And it's supposed to improve if we rate more and more. I'll think about it.

It's just that today I prefer to have the option to choose which system I wanna see first.

Thanks to all who replied.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kaotikitty on February 2, 2009 at 12:58pm: I have to agree, Don. For instance, I was convinced I was really going to like Lakeview Terrace, despite Netflix thinking I'd give it only 2.5 stars, but they were right and I was wrong! :-); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Knaldskalle on February 2, 2009 at 6:57pm: I find it the system to be almost scary in how good it is at predicting how I feel about a movie (which, btw. tends to be lower than average).

And then there are of course a couple of movies where it's way off. I just saw Red Sun and netflix predicted 3.9 stars for me, it got 2. Napoleon Dynamite said 3.4 vs. 2.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Anthony on February 2, 2009 at 7:09pm: I like to look at both and come up with an educated guess based on that, if I haven't seen something.

Wire In The Blood is a good example. It gets low ratings based on the gore and violence from some users... but I know that I would probably actually like that aspect of the show, so I rely more on my 'best guess' rating for something like that.

As long as I can see both it's all good.; ▶ Reply to This