Do You Rate Movies on Netflix?

Have you rated any movies on Netflix? If so, how many have you rated? Are you happy with the results of the resulting recommendations?

I've rated 279 movies and I like the majority of the Netflix recommendations. I also use the member reviews and the combination has helped me find movies that I enjoy (and avoid some real duds).

Did you know that they have more than 315 million ratings from subscribers like you and me? The average subscriber has rated 150 movies. They also claim that 60% of rentals are from recommendations.

What do you think of the Netflix ratings and recommendation service?

Comments

[jason nickels]

The Netflix ratings system IS their competitive advantage. I believe they have a patent on that portion of the business. I have rated over 900 movies. The recommendations are very accurate but of course not a 100%(Just as with anything). The best part is for movies IN the theatres. If you wait a week after release you can get an accurate rating of the NEW movie from initial ratings on the Netflix site.
Caution:: If you look at the ratings of a new movie too early it will be close to a five because it is ratings from the Producers, actors, cast ect ect ect. Wait at least a week for the REAL ratings to come in. If you don't trust critics you can listen to Netflix diehards, They seem to be right 90% of the time.
Jason Nickels

[Sven]

Currently rated 1164 movies and I'll look over the recommendations sometimes, but more often than not, I don't find them useful. After a while, I don't find I need a system to tell me I'd like to see The Sopranos, or Kurosawa, or Casabanca. It may be that I already spend a good deal of time looking for movies when they come out theatrically, but it's rare that I stumble onto something based on the recommendation pages. Usually, I'll put more trust in a personal friend's suggestion. (484 in queue-about 8 movies per month)

[Peter]

I've rated 614 movies and I find the recommendations very accurate. It doesn't help much with the popular titles, you generally know if you will like it or not. But it is great with the lesser known films that you are willing to take a chance on.

[Alex]

I am closing in on 1000 star ratings (~990s). And yes everything I rate I have actually seen all the way through. Some movies I have seen I don't include because I saw them when I was so young I don't figure rating them now is fair. :)

[Manda]

I've rated 747 movies, but I don't pay much mind to the recommendations. My queue has over 200 titles, and I keep adding to it every week even without their help.

However, I do often skim the user reviews. I find them most useful for figuring out which discs are worth the effort. I've been warned away from some boring bonus discs and DVDs with only 30 minutes of content.

[Rob]

I've rated 343 movies as of this morning (subscriber for 14 months). I rated like 200 movies off the bat and the rest have been from time to time when the mood strikes me.

I find the recommendations ok but not particularly valuable -- i.e. I don't think I've ever rented a recommendation.

[Jim Biancolo]

I rated 330 in pretty short order, but gave up after not really seeing their recommendations improve much. I've never rented anything based on their recommendation service.

[Fred T]

If I rate a John Wayne movie well, then I get lot's of John Wayne recomendations. Not very usefull really, but then no ones recomendation software understands why I like a movie, books or music.

[Jennifer]

I've rated 87 movies, which perhaps tells you how much I don't love the ratings system. I've never picked a rental based on what they recommended for me. Like a few other folks here, if you rent one movie of one genre, you get recommended tons of movies in that genre. If you rent one season of a TV show, it recommends the rest. Like I can't figure that out for myself?

[kt]

I've rated a lot of movies (955) on Netflix, but I'm not convinced the recommendations system is very good.

I actually also realized a few months back that the definition of the stars had been changed. Two stars used to mean "Just OK" but now means "Didn't Like It" - so many movies I'd previously rated are now inaccurately rated.

There was a site back in the day called moviecritic.com that had an excellent ratings and recommendation system called LikeMinds. You rated the movies on a scale of 1 to 10 or 12 or so, and the recommendations came with a little bullseye graphic that indicated how confident the site was in its prediction of how I would like the movie. Oh how I wish Netflix could license this technology!

[MR]

I just discovered your blog and like it.

For those of you who have rated less then 150 movies, give it some time and rate other movies that you have seen. You would be surprised about some of the recommendations that you get from NetFlix.

I have rated 609 movies on NetFlix, been a customer for 3 months. I would say that I take recommendations about 30% of the time. Of the recommendations that I have received and watched I would say that I have liked the majority of them. So overall, I think their recommendation system is pretty good.
I currently have 103 movies in my rental queue. I watch around 8-10 movies a month.

[Darrin]

Great website!

I have rated over 1200 films, including ones I remember from over 20 years ago. My ratings do tend to have NetFlix recommend John Wayne films frequently; now if only I can train it to stop recommending Star Trek and its many incarnations.

The ratings tend to be accurate as I have rarely run into an awful movie.

[Matt M.]

I've rated over 1300 films and definitely feel like I've hit the limits of the Netflix recommendation engine. Typically it just recommends the same classics and I'm rarely surprised by a recommendation.

I think the problem is that Netflix doesn't have a very broad collection in some of the genres I like. They used to carry Criterion but nowadays I only see one in a quick search. I don't remember seeing anything from First Run Features or New Yorker Films. So it's not that the recommendations are bad they are just pretty limited.

[Lonnie K]

Member since May, 2002 - 3 out plan. I've averaged 15 movies/month. I've rated ~1250 movies. The most significant benefit to me is that can immediately recognize (seeing gold stars) that I've already seen a movie. For a senior citizen with failing memory this is a definite plus. I really don't pay too much attention to recommendations.

[shoobe01]

(Rated 453, subscriber since '99) I was just talking about this today at work. Sometimes it works well, within a specific genre for example I have found an anime I may not have encountered and sometimes like. The top line recommendations are almost always uselessly the top rentals, though, because /everyone/ seems to get those. Who cares? I wish they would drop those out, or note how many foreign/indie movies I watch and downplay my major studio recommendations.

Way better than Amazon suggestions and most others, still.

[Becky]

I've rated nearly 900 titles on Netflix.com. I find most of their recommendations to be spot-on. I have rented several and been quite happy. Only one exception: The Russian Ark. That movie is good for when you're having difficulty sleeping: it will put you right out.

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[Biff]

Strange, I've rated 370 films and I find the recommendations very disappointing.

99% of the movies I've rated are relatively new (last 20 years). I've rated tons of independent films. Netflix likes to supply 50% of my recommendations with movies that are approaching their 40th birthday.

Also after rating 370 movies, Netflix can only suggest 27 Dramas?

Amazon is 1,000 times more accurate with a lot less information to go on.