Godfather vs Shawshank Redemption

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I keep a regular check on the IMDB Top 250 to see if any new movies have made it to the elite list. Today I noticed that both Godfather and Shawshank Redemption have got the same weighted rating of 9.1

(I am not sure it was the same few months back, I guess Shawshank had a mean rating of 9 I believe)

Even though Shawshank has more number of votes (296,165 vs 250,516) compared to Godfather, its still placed at No 2.

I had a look at the formula used by IMDB

I am not sure if 9.1 is the weighted rating or the average rating (R). Irrespective of that, with the 50k vote difference and the above formula, I thought that Shawshank should have been placed at No 1 ?

I have no complaints on Godfather being No 1, I am just wondering as to what is preventing IMDB from placing Shawshank at the top ?

Either I am not doing the math right or IMDB feels that Shawshank is not in the same class as Godfather 🙂 What do you guys think ?

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • ReviewSaurus Dec 26, 2007 Link

    Well, I’ve not seen godfather but i’ve seen shawshank and shawshank was really cool. I’ve heard a lot about godfather and I guess my new year resolution will be to watch godfather 🙂

    Nice catch though…even I’m not sure why shawshank isn’t at top…IMDB corrupt?????

  • Vasuki Dec 26, 2007 Link

    I am a huge huge fan of both the movies…I would be pleased and disappointed at the same time if any one of them comes first 😀

    And both are very different movies…so I cannot really pick one…

    The ratings are truncated to one decimal digit. I think the reason why Godfather is placed first might be because it is slightly ahead of Shawshank in second decimal place…

  • Raj Dec 27, 2007 Link

    I agree with Vasuki. The rating have been truncated. So while we see both the ratings as 9.1, those are actually different.

    Honestly, I think “The Godfather” is one of the most overrated movies ever. I would like “The Shawshank Redemption” to be no. 1.

  • Venu Dec 28, 2007 Link

    Mayank, Godfather is definitely worth watching more than once 🙂

    Vasu/Raj, probably there is truncation in the rating 🙂 With more “regular” voters voting in favor of Shawshank, it should probably eclipse Godfather soon ..

    I too like both the movies, and in Godfather its more to do with the characters and the cast 🙂
    Shawshank on the other hand is a powerful drama..

    I am tempted to see both of these movies again 🙂

  • Niyaz PK Dec 30, 2007 Link

    Both are great.

  • News Bandit Jan 16, 2008 Link

    These are two of my favorites. I love both of these movies so it’s hard to pick but I’d have to say that the Godfather is a better film all together.

  • Apurv Jan 16, 2008 Link

    For me, Shawshank’s always been the winner and been “hoping” that it gets the elusive first spot.. After all, “hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies”. 🙂

  • owen Apr 18, 2008 Link

    Shawshank now has an average rating of 9.2 and still it has been placed as number 2, i don’t really get it

  • jony Jul 12, 2010 Link

    Godfather is the legendry movie of the world cinema…. whats wrong with u guys…. i think u guys did,t see Godfather thats y u are saying .. first see the movie then u will decide which is better…. i m sure u will change ur ur votes..

    long live…. Godfather..