2 Messages

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80 Points

Wednesday, March 18th, 2026

No Status

1

Bring back review comments

Hello,

I never post reviews on IMDb, but I frequently read them to get a feel for what may or may not be worth watching. There was a time when I could look up a movie on IMDb that looked interesting, see what other people had to say about it, and find at least one or two reviews from people with similar tastes as myself that could give me some idea of what to expect as a viewer. 

However, in recent years, I've noticed a steep decline in the quality of reviews on IMDb, and it makes it very difficult to get a clear read on what films I might actually enjoy. To be clear, this isn't a problem with the IMDb platform itself. It's a problem with the user base. Far too many reviews on IMDb are from people who don't seem to understand what a film review is and what purpose they're supposed to serve. If someone dislikes a film, there's this widespread belief that submitting a review to IMDb is like returning a defective toaster oven to the Customer Service Department at Wal-Mart:

"This movie is broken because it made no sense and I want my money back! I'm giving it 1/10 stars because my failure to comprehend the plot is the film's problem and not mine!"

Or worse yet:

"Avoid this film at all costs! It sucks and I hated it -- for reasons that are mine to know and yours never to find out! I know a bad film when I see one, so just take my word on this! (P.s.: I also hate cilantro and you should too if you truly love America!)"

The bottom line is that writing a quality film review requires a bare minimum of self-awareness to realize two things:

1) You're writing for an audience as well as for yourself.

2) Taste is personal. Not everyone is going to like what you like and hate what you hate -- so give the reader some idea of what your tastes are so they can decide for themselves whether their tastes line up with yours.

The people who don't understand these things shouldn't just be handed a megaphone and allowed to yell into the digital abyss without expecting a critical response other than a "Thumbs Up" or "Thumbs Down." This is why I'm suggesting that IMDb bring back the ability to comment directly on individual reviews. It may get a little messy at times, but it may also give reviewers the necessary motivation to put a little more thought into what they write before pressing that Submit button.

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Champion

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16 days ago

I don't remember such a feature.

Employee

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@Peter_pbn​ I think they are just wishing the user reviews were written to fit their definition of a review vs. what they are seeing posted as reviews on IMDb?

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@Col_Needham​ 

I was referring to this:

This is why I'm suggesting that IMDb bring back the ability to comment directly on individual reviews.

Champion

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I also sometimes wish I could reply to a review, but I don't know if it would be manageable.

Employee

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@Peter_pbn​ Ah, I missed that sentence; we never had this feature on reviews as far as I can recall either.  We did briefly have (Facebook) comments on news articles and user lists, but I do not remember it ever being launched on reviews (although I could be mistaken since it was so long ago). 

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80 Points

@Col_Needham@Peter_pbn​ I checked the Wayback Machine and it turns out that you're both correct -- there never was a time when you could comment on individual reviews. However, prior to 2017, each film page did have its own "Message Board" where people could "discuss this movie with other users."

 

 

What I'm proposing is something more surgical: a way to respond to the specific content of individual reviews in order to disincentivize the lazy "this sucks because I said so" approach that so many reviewers are taking these days. Not only would this help to counteract the effects of "review-bombing" where an organized effort is made to affect the rating of a film for various ideological and political reasons, it would also hold the average user to a higher standard of commentary by introducing a layer of productive friction -- subjecting reviews to a system of "peer review" that forces a moment of deliberation before hitting submit.

Instead of looking at this as a potential debacle that needs to be "managed," I'd suggest that this "Review The Review" feature is the management itself. It's basically a way of outsourcing moderation to the user base through accountability and critical engagement rather than shutting down dialogue and debate. This feature already exists on Letterboxd and, as far as I know, they haven't devolved into chaos yet.

(edited)