Empire's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
For 6,818 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 54% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 43% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.9 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 66
Highest review score: 100 Oppenheimer
Lowest review score: 20 Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Score distribution:
6818 movie reviews
  1. Not a masterpiece, by any stretch of the imagination, but it's pleasing to see a sequel strive so hard to reach the same heights. That it fails is through no fault of its own - the original simply raised the bar too high.
  2. What makes Freddy truly terrifying, and an inspired invention on Craven's part, is that he exists not in the real world but in the shadowy realm of dreams.
  3. Enigmatic and fascinating.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    A tense, slickly executed thriller.
    • Empire
  4. Once you get past the ridiculous story this is a fine example of De Palma's lush overkill style and certainly has a redeeming thread of silly sick humour.
  5. Strong performances anchor a series of unforgettable scenes. Breathtaking and unfathomable.
    • 92 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Horrifying, moving and powerful. Watch it by yourself, late at night and never sleep again. Not a good date movie.
  6. Amadeus skewers the period finery - stunning costumes, production design, sublime music - with piercing intelligence and thematic gravitas.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The sometimes dark sci-fi thriller tone is punctured nicely by Quaid's one-liners, and Capshaw is on good form. Very, very '80s, but lots of fun too.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    A solid John Woo fu-action hero actioner from the 70s with a glimpse of his later promise.
  7. Red Dawn is at once a mainstream shoot ‘em up action picture and an ideologically demented exercise in American paranoia.
  8. A fairly dappy and overlong attempt to turn Prince the then emergent rock-funk superstar into a movie star.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Jim Jarmusch tried to create the essential road movie and although he didn't manage that, he has still created a classic that captures perfectly the life of a drifter in New York.
  9. This was sweet and charming at the time but now it just lacks either the comedy or sophistication of kids' fantasy film that we've all become accustomed to.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Dated of course, being typically 80s, but maintains a certain charm.
  10. Arnie still swings that sword with aplomb, but with a story this ludicrous, he's on slippery ground.
  11. Ralph Macchio's transformation from high school geek to butt-kicking tough guy, thanks to a little help from Chinese sage Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita) and his homespun Oriental wisdom, is entertaining enough.
  12. A delightfully offbeat reminder of how inventive and witty blockbusters seemed when you were a kid.
  13. Jokes so stupid as to seem almost surreal, an amazing range of cultural referents and a smattering of genuinely witty conceits.
  14. Very of its time but enjoyable for all that.
  15. Impressive visual invention by Nimoy and the reliability of his cast mean that Trek III does more good than harm to a franchise still competing with it's younger, more tehnologically advanced adversaries.
  16. While The Godfather delivers certainty and a comforting dramatic resolution, Once Upon A Time In America delivers a profound kind of mystery. While Coppola's film delivers answers, Leone's asks questions. It lingers and plays on the mind; its meanings shift and change like a faded memory or a half-remembered dream.
  17. The sustained furore of humour, visual panache and headlong momentum makes for dazzling cinema.
  18. An otherwise fine sports fantasy is dragged down by an overindulgence in sentimentality.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Hall is very funny as the energetic adolescent pest and a good supporting cast includes the Cusack sibings John and Joan.
  19. Film is elegant but never beautiful, a pretence at Lean’s magnificence contradicted by a lavish but anachronistic score by Vangelis. It is the words and performances which excite; their director is out of his depth.
  20. This film is more known for being the one which introduced Goldie Hawn to Kurt Russell than anything else, which is somewhat unfair as at its heart lies a sweet romance, with good performances from both the leads and an Oscar nomination for supporting actress Lahti.
  21. As a fish-out-of-water comedy-drama, it works well.
  22. Douglas and Turner make a great double act in this exuberantly directed adventure movie with a great start turn from the always enjoyable De Vito. Good stuff.
  23. It picks up in the last hour, though this is a very minor compensation in an otherwise long and listless film.

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