Variety's Scores

Select another publication »
For 17,777 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 52% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 44% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.4 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 63
Highest review score: 100 IMAX: Hubble 3D
Lowest review score: 0 Divorce: The Musical
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9,133 out of 17777
  2. Mixed: 7,008 out of 17777
  3. Negative: 1,636 out of 17777
17777 movie reviews
view
per page
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Dreamscape
    Film [from a screen story by David Loughery] centers on 'dreamlinking', the psychic projection of one person's consciousness into a sleeping person's subconscious, or his dreams. If that sounds far-fetched, it is.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Sheena: Queen of the Jungle
    There are plenty of laughs to be had in Sheena, but it's quite impossible to tell how many of them were intentional. Attempt to install this 1930s jungle heroine in the pantheon of the contempo adventure icons fails to find a consistent tone.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Woman in Red
    A wonderful diversion through all of this is Gilda Radner, a relatively plain fellow office worker who initially thinks she’s the object of Wilder’s wanderlust and is bitterly – and vigorously – disappointed when she finds out she isn’t.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Phar Lap
    Tom Burlinson is very effective as the shy stable-boy who becomes devoted to the courageous horse. Martin Vaughan is impressive as the grimly determined trainer who leases the horse in the first place, as is Celia de Burgh, luminous as his loyal but neglected wife. Ron Leibman practically walks away with the picture as Davis, the smooth American horseowner, and Judy Morris is quietly effective as his naive, talkative wife.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Red Dawn
    Red Dawn charges off to an exciting start as a war picture and then gets all confused in moralistic handwriting, finally sinking in the sunset. Swayze, Howell and the other youngsters are all good in their parts.
    • Variety
    • 58 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Crimes of the Future
    Cronenberg’s obsession for such matters as bodily mutation and grotesque growths, aberrant medical experiments, massive plagues and futuristic architecture are all here in a convoluted look at a future gone perverse.
    • 44 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Philadelphia Experiment
    The philadelphia Experiment had a lot of script problems in its development that haven't been solved yet, but final result is an adequate sci-fi yarn.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Bostonians
    This is a classy adaptation of a Henry James novel.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Purple Rain
    Playing a character rooted in his own background, and surrounded by the real-life members of his Minneapolis-based musical 'family,' rock star Prince makes an impressive feature film debut in Purple Rain, a rousing contemporary addition to the classic backstage musical genre.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Stranger Than Paradise
    Stranger than Paradise is a bracingly original avant-garde black comedy. Begun as a short which was presented under the same title at some earlier festivals, film has been expanded in outstanding fashion by young New York writer-director Jim Jarmusch.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The NeverEnding Story
    Wolfgang Petersen's The NeverEnding Story is a marvelously realized flight of pure fantasy.
    • 44 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Revenge of the Nerds
    Revenge of the Nerds shows more than enough smarts to deserve a passing grade.
    • Variety
    • 64 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Muppets Take Manhattan
    The Muppets Take Manhattan is a genuinely fun confection of old-fashioned entertainment.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Last Starfighter
    With The Last Starfighter, director Nick Castle and writer Jonathan Betuel have done something so simple it's almost awe-inspiring: they've taken a very human story and accented it with sci-fi special effects, rather than the other way around.
    • 13 Metascore
    • 20 Critic Score
    Cannonball Run II
    Execution is uninspired, laughs are hard to find, and the script is also difficult to locate. Reynold’s high-pitched laugh is wearing thin.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Conan the Destroyer
    Conan the Destroyer is the ideal sword and sorcery picture. As Conan, Arnold Schwarzenegger seems more animated and much funnier under Fleischer’s direction than he did under John Milius’ in the original – he even has an amusing drunk scene. Jones just about runs off with the picture.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Karate Kid
    John G. Avildsen is back in the Rocky ring with The Karate Kid. More precisely, it is a Rocky for kids. Morita is simply terrific, bringing the appropriate authority and wisdom to the part.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Pope of Greenwich Village
    The Pope of Greenwich Village, set in Manhattan’s Italian community, is a near-miss in its transition from novel [by Vincent Patrick] to film, setting forth an offbeat slice-of-life tale of small-time guys involved in big trouble.
    • 36 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Rhinestone
    Effortlessly living up to its title, Rhinestone is as artificial and synthetic a concoction as has ever made its way to the screen.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Under the Volcano
    Although this voyage into self-destruction won’t be to the taste of many, there will be few unmoved by Finney’s towering performance as the tragic Britisher, his values irretrievably broken down, drowning himself in alcohol and practically inviting his own death.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Ghostbusters
    Within the top-heavy cast, it’s Murray’s picture, as the popular comedian deadpans, ad libs and does an endearing array of physical schtick.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Gremlins
    The humans are little more than dress-extras for the mechanics.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Top Secret!
    The attempted target this time is a combination of the traditional spy film and Elvis Presley musical romps, which in and of itself is funny to start with. And Val Kilmer proves a perfect blend of staunch hero and hothouse heartthrob.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
    Star Trek III is an emotionally satisfying science fiction adventure. Dovetailing neatly with the previous entry in the popular series, Star Trek II.
    • Variety
    • 75 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Once Upon a Time in America
    Once Upon a Time in America arrives as a disappointment of considerable proportions. Sprawling $32 million saga of Jewish gangsters over the decades is surprisingly deficient in clarity and purpose, as well as excitement and narrative involvement.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Streets of Fire
    A pulsing, throbbing orchestration careening around the rescue of a kidnapped young singer. The decor is urban squalor.
  27. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
    Spielberg is such a talented director it’s a shame to see him lose all sense of subtlety and nuance.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Firestarter
    Script by Stanley Mann is quite faithful to the Stephen King novel, but cinematically that loyalty is damaging. Picture's length can't sustain the material.
    • Variety
    • 61 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Natural
    The Natural is an impeccably made, but quite strange, fable about success and failure in America. Redford is perfectly cast as the wary, guarded Hobbs.
    • Variety
    • 61 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Sixteen Candles
    Ringwald is engaging and credible. For the boys, there's a bright, funny performance by Anthony Michael Hall.
Page:

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »