2ToRamble logo
The Rambler Rating System

By Richard and Austin, from2ToRamble.

This rating system is designed to help you more concretely rate a movie, TV show, or book. What’s the difference between a 9/10 and a 10/10? A 70% or 75%? A 4-star or a 5-star?


Our rating system hopefully makes this clearer, and will help you compare your ratings to others. It also allows you to break down exactly what you found great/bad/neutral about a story. It makes you think and is great for discussions!


Keep in mind that we like to use the entire 0-10 scale, so a 5/10 movie means that the movie is average, not that it is bad. If a book is a 9/10, it is one of the best reads in a while, not just a good book. Not everything is a 7/10 (talking to you IGN). But, obviously, rate as you please.

To get our /10 score, we take the average of 5 specific categories that we individually rate out of 10. They are: Emotional Impact, Characters, Plot and Dialogue/Prose; but the 5th category changes depending on the medium. For movies/shows, the 5th category is Cinematography. For books, it’s Worldbuilding/Magic System. Here’s what each category means:


  • Emotional Impact - This category judges how well the story made you feel what it intended to make you feel. Did the horror story scare you? Did the action story make you excited? Did the sad story make you cry? Basically, did you enjoy the movie?
  • Characters - This category judges the quality of the characters, the focus being on the main characters, though the side characters should have an impact on this score. If the intent of the story is to make you hate a character, do you hate them? If they want you to love a character, do you love them? Do you care about what happens to these characters? How well done are the character arcs? If there isn’t an arc and this is intentional, is that done well? In movies/shows, how is the acting performance of the characters?
  • Plot - This category judges the plot. Does the story make sense? Were you interested? Hooked? Are there plot holes? Is it paced well? If it follows the 3 act structure, does it do this well? Does the setting work with the plot? Anything and everything to do with the sequence of events should be judged here. For fantasy movies/shows, you can also include the worldbuilding and magic system in this category. Does the story introduce and explore the world well in the narrative structure? Does the magic system work with the plot and make it more interesting?
  • Dialogue/Prose - This category differs slightly from movies/shows to books. For movies/shows, this category only judges the dialogue, both spoken and unspoken. Spoken dialogue means the words said in the script, and unspoken means what was conveyed through the characters’ visual impressions (if an actor looks angry, does this make sense in the scene, etc). For books, this category judges both the dialogue and also the written prose. Do the characters have unique voices? If the prose is meant to be poetic, does it do so well? If it's meant to be a fast-paced easier read, does it do that well? Does the prose help you visualize the scenes? Overall, does it accomplish what it intends to and keeps you engaged?
  • Cinematography - This category includes visuals, sounds, music, editing, and directing. Anything to do with practical effects, CGI, or the endless work that goes into making a movie look the way it looks and sounds the way it sounds. The 5th category for books: Worldbuilding/Magic System - This category judges how interesting the world is and how much you like the magical elements. Do you feel immersed in the world? The history? The cultures? The geography? Is it a soft or hard magic system? Is it fascinating? Anything and everything to do with the fantastical nature of a book should be judged in this category.

And that’s the system! Rate those 5 categories out of 10, average your score, and that’s your /10 Rambler Rating! You can rate each category to the nearest hundredth, tenth, whole number, or whatever you please.

Here’s an example:

Top Gun: Maverick's Rambler Rating:

  • Emotional Impact - 8.8
  • Characters - 7.7
  • Plot - 8
  • Dialogue - 6.75
  • Cinematography - 8.75

    • The average of these 5 categories is an 8/10. So the Rambler Rating = 8/10.

Made by Alex