IMDb's "Top 250"

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) invites its users to rate movies, then compiles a list of those with the highest average weighted rating. For a movie to appear on the list, there must be at least 1300 ratings for it given by "regular IMDb voters".

The formula for calculating the Top 250 Films gives a true Bayesian estimate:

weighted rating (WR) = (v / (v+m)) x R + (m / (v+m)) x C
where:
 R = average for the movie (mean) = (Rating)
 v = number of votes for the movie = (votes)
 m = minimum votes required to be listed in the Top 250 (currently 1300)
 C = the mean vote across the whole report (currently 6.8)

The list is restricted to theatrical releases; it does not include shorts, TV movies, straight-to-video releases, TV series or miniseries, or any documentaries. For the IMDB top 50 documentaries, see http://www.listsofbests.com/list/11635

For items ranked 251-500 at the IMDb, check out the Bubbling Under List: http://www.listsofbests.com/list/51302

For Archived Lists from January 1st of each year:
2001 Edition: http://www.listsofbests.com/list/68693
2002 Edition: http://www.listsofbests.com/list/68692
2003 Edition: http://www.listsofbests.com/list/68672
2004 Edition: http://www.listsofbests.com/list/68297
2005 Edition: http://www.listsofbests.com/list/68131
2006 Edition: http://www.listsofbests.com/list/67184
2007 Edition: http://www.listsofbests.com/list/67192
2008 Edition: http://www.listsofbests.com/list/67199
2009 Edition: http://www.listsofbests.com/list/67202
Current List: http://www.listsofbests.com/list/1004

(Last update: November 20, 2009)