I'm not a fan of the star ratings OR the various groups like Collector Series but I appreciate that most people like a quick, painless method of glancing at a review and seeing what the general impression was of a title. As far as the numbers go, there are too many variables to accurately assess whether someone is too liberal with specific ratings strictly using their numbers (last time I checked, my own % of Collector ratings was under .5%).

I appreciate the input about additional rating guides though; perhaps an IMDB style system for established members that have been around for a few years or more would work...

You need to give those out more. Too much Seal Samuel recently.

Bumping in the hopes that we get one or more of the recent suggestions put into play.

Any updates on this?

I stumbled upon the Apocalypto blu-ray and Mr. Brooks discussions, which I had somehow missed before. A page long attack on Mel Gibson and second hand stories about Mr. Costner's pot use give this site a bad name.

Neither of those reviews were giving out the DVD Talk Collector's Series rating. I think the individual threads of those two reviews are more than enough on those particular subjects.

For the record, I argued the absurdity of giving Collector's Series ratings to theatrical releases years back. That significantly weakened the rating, which should have been used exclusively for what it was designed -- DVD releases. While a movie may be good enough to be worth collecting, many a great movie has had a mediocre DVD release. "Highly Recommended" or perhaps "Highest Recommendation" would suffice for theatrical reviews.

Otherwise I don't mind the ratings. You get a sense of the reviewer's tastes after a while and can calibrate them to your own. A top rating has occasionally pursuaded me to make purchases I might have overlooked but, in most cases, quite enjoyed (which, I'd like to point out, is a compliment to the DVD Talk reviewers).