How to write a movie review, a guide

Writing a movie review is a great way of expressing your opinion of a movie.  The purpose of most movie reviews is to help the reader in determining whether they want to watch, rent or buy the movie.  The review should give enough details about the movie that the reader can make an informed decision, without giving anyway any essentials such as the plot or any surprises.  Below are our guidelines and tips for writing a good movie review.

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1. Watch the movie

The first step in writing the review is to watch the movie.  Watch the movie in a relaxed environment you are familiar with.  You do not want to be distracted by an unfamiliar room.  Watching the movie a second time will help you absorb a lot more detail about the movie.  Most movie reviewers take notes as they watch the movie review. 

2. Give your opinion

Most movie reviewers will give their opinion of the movie.  This is important as the reviewer can express the elements of the movie they enjoyed or disliked.  However, as in all good journalism, the reviewer should also give impartial details, and allow the reader to make their own mind over an issue the reader liked or disliked.  Opinions should be explained to allow the reader to determine whether they would agree with your opinion .
Many regular movie reviewers will develop a following.  If one can find a reviewer who shares a similar taste in films, one can confidently follow the reviewers recommendations.

3. Who is your audience?

You need to consider who your likely readers are.  Writing a movie review for children requires a different approach than if writing for a movie club.  Ensure you report on the factors that matter to your likely audience.

4. Give an outline

Give the outline of the movie, but don't give away essential details such as the end or any surprises.  If there is a big surprise you want to entice readers by telling them something special happens, just don't say what.

5. Actors

If the movie contains actors, as most do, detail who is starring in the movie and how well you think they acted.

6. Structure

Did the movie follow a regular predictable story line, or did it get you thinking like a Quentin Tarantino movie?

7.Cinematography and lighting

Give details about how well the movie was shot and directed.  Was the lighting good in the moody scenes?

8. Music

Did the movie have its own score like Koyaanisqatsi or ET, or did it feature songs from popular artists?

9. Read, read and read

Read and check your review thoroughly.  It can be embarrassing to find errors in your work after it has been published.  This is especially important for reviews that will be published on the Internet, as search engines are always looking for the correct spellings of key words.

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Comments

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u dont care   - B man from u dont care - 18-Dec-2007 This page gives a lot of good tips and will will help me a lot. Thx

Review  - Stacey Jackson - 18-Dec-2007 Thanks, it helped alot.

jeze louise  - hannah jean from kansas - 16-Dec-2007 holy cow what a freaking awesome site... sure did save my ass!

a question  - jk - 20-Nov-2007 What are the differences between a film report and a film review?

Had to write one for class  - Kristen from Canada - 13-Nov-2007 had to write one, forgot, now i remember haha, thanks!

the guide  - katlynn from ile perrot - 12-Nov-2007 i am a journalism student and this guide helped me get futher in my pursuite in becoming a journalist. I decided to take this in school because i wanted to excel in all aspects in jounalism and this guide helped me get through my tough job in critisizing movies and to iensure that my review is accurate once again thank you

A middle school movie review  - Rachel from A place called home - 11-Nov-2007 This helped so much. I am a beginner in writing movie reviews, so this helped a lot. Thank you some much. Peace from the city

What a helper!  - Marissa from Canada - 04-Nov-2007 Okay so I'm definitely pulling what Flame from Australia did, 2am trying to write a review! My computer messed up and I was trying to fix it like all day to finish this huge project.. luckily these guildlines are easy to follow :) thanks.

I am from  - Somewhere from No Where - 30-Oct-2007 very good guide!!!

wow  - shireen matthews from perth Aust - 29-Oct-2007 first year uni student. was a fantastic help .. thank you.

Helpful  - Jz - 11-Oct-2007 ty

HOW TO WRITE A FILM REVIEW  - prany from uttar pradesh , INDIA - 09-Oct-2007 this site gives an excellent guidline on how to prepare a good flim review !!!!!!!

english  - VICTORIA from connecticut - 25-Sep-2007 thnk my second year of high school

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A great thanks.  - Bethany-Marie from Australia - 23-Sep-2007 This site is very much appreciated. Thank you.

Newspaper  - Megs from Canada - 23-Sep-2007 I have to write a movie review for my school paper and like pretty much everyone who is reaserching how to write a movie review i had no idea how to start. The step by step description is so clear and easy to follow that I can't wait to watch the movie for the second time and take notes. THanks to whoever wrote this page.

Movie Review  - Mercedes from USA - 16-Sep-2007 Thank you so much. So helpful for a first year college student. Thank you!

Danke schon  - Sammy from Communist China - 15-Sep-2007 This page is sooooooo good!Thank you~~~~

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my life  - lola - 03-Sep-2007 this site is cool and gives lots of details thanx man'

awesome guide  - Zalayha Maharaj from Trinidad - 02-Sep-2007 I wanted to thank you for this awesome guide of how to write my movie review paper. I was stuck and could not get started .After reading these guidelines I was shifted into gear. thanks a lot Zal

Intro by our Tutor from Wawasan Open University, Ipoh  - Kimberly Lee from Ipoh Mali, Malaysia - 27-Aug-2007 Thank you very much. Me 2 I find it really helpful to me. The step by step guide line will lead me along, how to find the resources that i want to find from the movie review for my Foundation English assisgment. Syabas! Malaysia Boleh. Cheer!!! Happy learning

woah.   - esther from NZ - 27-Aug-2007 Far owt. That just saved mii ass. lol as usual i left mi english homwrk til the last minute. and now, realising mi review wil cost my end of year credit grade.. i had NO IDEA on where to start. Geez. ive read the comments. man, this site has helped peeps frm ALL OVA de world. America, England, Sweden, Indonesia, Canada, Malaysia, New Mexico, Hawaii.. flip i cant even ryt em al... and now another saved student from NZ. big ups.

Thank you!  - Ashley from chino, CA - 22-Aug-2007 This was extremely helpful to me. I need to write a movie review for my English class and the sample website from my teacher didn't show up. This was a Lifesaver!

Very nice guide  - Danielle from Albuquerque, New Mexico - 28-Jul-2007 I do love this site, I can apply a lot of this to a movie review I'm doing. Although, I'm writing a review for an attorney who is my instructor; it is on legal issues. So I was thinking maybe you can also put up something like this but for a more serious audience. Just a suggestion. Honestly, I wish I just had to write a simple movie review to persuade the reader to watch it. Very nice though, with a review like this I can't imagine how anyone could fail.

Nice guide  - Michael from Malaysia - 20-Jul-2007 Nice guide.It helped me alot,but I watch movies in the cinemas so I can't watch it twice.I'll try to bring along pen and paper next time.See my movie review at kailord1.blogspot.com

Brilliant  - Trashmouth-tozier from Christchurch, New Zealand - 18-Jul-2007 ha, it so damn easy when sum1 explains it like that. Cheers!!!

You Saved My HSC  - Flame from Australia - 28-Jun-2007 I just want to say thankyou so much. It was 2am, I had just finished writing a 5 page essay and I realised that I had to write a movie review as well. Being 2am I couldn't think how on Earth I was supposed to write one, but if I didn't I would put my HSC at risk (grade 12 certificate, uber huge). This site explained it all to me in a simple 2am comprehendable (sp?) manner. It is great. I love it. Guys I owe you my HSC. THankyou so very much. Flame

WOW   - loreno Adekayode from Windsor Ontario,Canada - 19-Jun-2007 This sight helped me so much i have never written a film review before but this sight gave me a good perspective of the whole thing and it will help me do well on my english exam

english  - Giorgio from Australia - 12-Jun-2007 cheers it was a big help wish me luck, with the marking well have a good 1 champ bye

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Very Good Material  - Cristina from Texas - 24-May-2007 This will help me for one more assignment for my AP English IV class. Thanks alot to whoever made this place up.

Well taught!  - Gopalakrishnan from Chennai, India - 21-May-2007 This is really well taught to the just evolving group of youngsters who look at writing reviews. It has given me a good, solid view about writing a review. Thank you!

Just what i needed to help me understand.  - Bonny from Blackall QLD - 16-May-2007 I am in Brisbane cause my brother has Lukaemia and has to be near a big hospital so my schoool is sending me work. i have to write a movie revew and i didn't know how so this has helped me out a lot. keep it up!

to joe edwards  - to joe edwards from new york - 13-May-2007 no, in part seven, the word choice is correct. the writer is not referring to all movie scenes; he is specifically referring to the choice of lighting in moody scenes.

Movie Review  - Stuart from South Africa - 10-May-2007 This might just help me get that one step closer to passing matric well!!! Thanks

read, read and read   - Joe Edwards from N. Wales - 28-Apr-2007 this helped alot thanks, btw in part 9 u say to read read and read ure work to chek for no spelling mistakes in case of search engines looking for the work, well lucky i found this as part seven mentions moody scenes, i guess it refers to movie scenes.

Movie - Review  - Holly from Australia - 28-Apr-2007 This page was very helpfull! Thankyou, keep up the good work!

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Thanks  - Crossy from England - 16-Apr-2007 Im another one who left there coursework till the last minute! Chears for the guide i have been realy stuck on what to write in my english review and this came in realy helpful, i would have been in a lot of shit if i didnt write it by 2nyt and this guide has helped alot! CHEARZ!

Movie review  - Sharnet from Los Angeles - 15-Apr-2007 Thank you for these guidelines. Now I have an idea how to get started with my movie reviews and what to pay attention to as I watch the assigned movies.

Thanx  - Wikas from Las Vegas - 09-Apr-2007 Thanks alot for this information. It helped me for my journalism class.

engislh  - amy - 04-Apr-2007 this is really useful

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My assignment just got easier! Thanks  - Pauline from Cheltenham, UK - 10-Feb-2007 Very simple, straight forward and easy to follow instructions. I will not go wrong; was a great help. Thanks.

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Movie - Review  - Annie from Germany - 09-Jan-2007 Thx. You helped me soooo much. Nowhere else I could find appropriate guideline on writing a movie - review. You really helped me to get a good mark in my english class. So thanks again a thousand times!!!

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Movie review  - shiheda from Phila. Pa - 14-Nov-2006 I thought that this helped my alot because my teache did not leave me with a procedure. And I'm only in the eighth grade so I have little experience in writing Movie reviews so thank you!

History of Motion Pictures  - Abby from Ohio - 07-Nov-2006 This was so helpful in my history of motion pictures class. I had no idea how to write a decent paper, and this really helped me, thanks a bunch!!

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thanks  - Amrin from Canada ----- da gr8 - 14-Oct-2006 da guide on how to write movie review is gr8. It really helped me with my college Media class assignment. once again thz for puttin dis information on your site. keep up da gud work. i'm outta here ezz

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Movie Reviews  - Chris from Massachusetts - 23-Sep-2006 Thank you very much for sharing your insight and experience with regards to reviewing a movi. It is helpful to have a frame of reference to go by and a format to aid in the structure of the delivery. I wrote for my college paper in the 9o's and I did some movie reviews then. I enjoyed it then and I hope to do some more in the future with this added tool.

Thank You!  - Sarah from Canada - 17-Sep-2006 Thanks for making this site! Helped with my review I have to write for Media Arts:) Thanks again!

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Thanks for the help, eh!!  - Alina from Canada - 12-Sep-2006 I was having a lot of trouble getting started, but now I have a feeling things will flow very smoothly...

thx heaps!!!!1  - mark from Australia - 12-Sep-2006 this guide help clarify on how to a write a film review thx to the ppl who created it good simple steps

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Movie Review  - Emily from New Zealand - 02-Sep-2006 Thankyou for these tips. I am currently writing a last minute review and I needed these.

thanks  - carmen from new zealand - 05-Aug-2006 i had to write a movie review for a english assignment, but i didnt know how to write one and what needs to be in a movie review. this site saved me! thanks^^

comment  - florisvaldo from england - 28-Jun-2006 I think that this site is a good site for people who want to do a good film reviw look like me. It is so good too for learners of english! Well done! Theirs web site have the essencial informations about films reviw

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Review writing!!  - anon from England - 31-Jan-2006 I found this website very helpful for my film review!! thank u!!