MY RATING SCALE: WHAT DOES GREAT MEAN?

Picking up where we left off, Great is the highest tier of rating.  I think it’s easier to progress from Good to Great and then drop back down, so that’s what we’re doing.  All great films take you to another level.  Maybe it’s the way it resonates within you, or it fills you with the urge to share it with others, but you know Great when you encounter it.  At least I think I do.  Of the 725 films that I watched before review writing dried up, 118 of them (or around 16%) got some form of Great rating.

A straight 4 rating can be described as great (again, so clever), it has spark, and/or something to seek out again.  For me, a film like The Hangover clears the hurdle as ‘great’- it doesn’t play it safe and fully leans into its R-rating for maximum no-holds-barred comedy.  It Happened One Night is a film that ‘has spark’- it’s top-quality Old Hollywood writing with on-screen charisma that is hard to match.  It’s fitting that Jaws is buzzworthy right now for it’s 50^th anniversary, because I think films like this are of the kind that I ‘will seek out again’- sure, it’s unrealistic shark behavior, but the story is just so well told that you revel in watching it play out every time.

A 4.25 rating is a bit elusive.  I have more 4.5 ratings than 4.25 ratings.  I’m not sure why.  Anyway, a 4.25 signifies something that is excellent, moving, or powerful.  Where a 4 may make you say ‘yeah!,’ a 4.25 goes further and makes you feel something more emotional.  Inception is a film I would call ‘excellent’- it’s unique, smart, and uses familiar heist elements to do something bold and original.  The original 1930 All Quiet on the Western Front is ‘moving’- one of the first anti-war films, it shows you how young men can be seduced by war lust and dragged into the hell of war, leaving you feeling as gutted as the soldiers on the screen.  I enjoy foreign films, and the German film Downfall is ‘powerful’- it is unrelenting in smothering you with the madness of Adolf Hitler in his final days, as well as the chilling deeds that engulfed him and his supporters as the Allies close in on his bunker.

Nearing the top of the mountain, we reach the 4.5 rating.  These are utilized as examples and lessons to teach people about filmmaking, writing, or making music.  They are (or should be) on top lists, and there’s only one or two very small reasons for me to give for holding it back from my highest rating.  The superlatives here are outstanding, high art, and masterclass in execution.  The Godfather is ‘outstanding,’ with the way it builds tension, though perhaps just a hair too long.  2001: A Space Odyssey is ‘high art’- everything is purposeful and beautiful, though general audiences get confused by the ending.  Call it sacrilege, but Citizen Kane sits at this level as a ‘masterclass in execution’- it pushed filmmaking boundaries and dared audiences to keep up with its storytelling technique.

At the pinnacle of my list, is the 4.75 rating.  These films/books/albums are nearly perfect, are what I consider must-own, and each one is rightfully in contention for the title of best ever.  The 1927 silent German film Metropolis is one film that I consider ‘nearly perfect’- I have been mesmerized by its techniques and creativity since I first saw it on big screen in college.  The Wizard of Oz is a ‘must-own’- it’s a timeless story of courage that is packed with a lot of mind-blowing detail if you look closely.  Finally, Saving Private Ryan is ‘in contention for the best ever’- the opening D-Day sequence leaves you exhausted and the rest of the film puts you through a slow-burn ringer.  It’s one of the few films to ever put tears in my eyes.

That’s the Great tier.  Once again, older reviews are less reliable, but all of these films are firmly cemented in these ratings.  Tomorrow, we’ll drop down to cover the Okay tier of my rating scale.