The franchise with the most films in the IMDb top 250

IMDb has a Top 250 list which is constantly evolving. You can rate every movie listed on IMDb from one to 10, and the Top 250 is a collection of the highest-rated movies on the entire site. This differs from Rotten Tomatoes, which has both critics and audience scores; The IMDb list is based only on regular audience ratings. The more people watch and enjoy a movie and the higher they rate it, the higher it ranks in the Top 250.

The lowest-rated movie on the list, Cool Hand Luke, has an 8.0 rating, while the highest-rated movie, The Shawshank Redemption, has a 9.3. Back in the good old days when IMDb was more of a community and had message boards, the Top 250 was a hotly debated topic. There were constant arguments about who deserved to be on the list, who didn't, and who should be in the coveted top spot.

There are many movie franchises out there, but it's hard to get a franchise to maintain its high quality and viewership, much less have everyone unanimously agree that any sequels, spin-offs, or other additions deserve a high rating as well. Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies might be magical masterpieces, but his “Hobbit” trilogy is a colossal mess and animations by Kenji Kamiyama 'Lord of the Rings' prequel 'War of the Rohirrim' earned lukewarm critical response before dropping at the cash register. Elsewhere, both “Alien” and “Aliens” are in the IMDb top 250, although the franchise suffered from the release of Ridley Scott's polarizing, contemplative slogs “Prometheus” and “Alien: Covenant.” The recent “Alien: Romulus,” however, brought the property back to life financially many critics felt that Fede Alvarez's The Stranger sequel relied too much on nostalgia.

So which franchise has the most entries on the IMDB Top 250? The answer is a collection of superhero movies and comic book adaptations, which isn't surprising given that both have dominated cinema for the past two decades.

Although several Spider-Man movies (“Into the Spider-Verse”, “Across the Spider-Verse”, “No Way Home”) and “Avengers” (“Infinity War” and “The End”) have made it into the film. In the IMDb top 250 at the time of writing, this particular Marvel vs. DC's turn goes last. Notably, DC's “Batman” franchise currently has the most films in the top 250. In particular, Christopher Nolan's thrilling “The Dark Knight” takes the third place in the top 250 list. For anyone who was on the IMDb message boards when the movie came out in 2008, you might remember that there was even a campaign to get it on the top 250 list. User-generated ratings are easy to manipulate. . Many IMDb users would give a movie a 10 or a one when trying to put it in or out of the Top 250.

It seemed almost impossible to live up to the principles of The Dark Knight, but 2012's The Dark Knight Rises was the grand finale to Nolan's Batman trilogy, and is now number 73 on the IMDb top 250. Nolan's 2005 trilogy starter “Batman Begins” is also on the list at number 130, but probably deserves a lower spot because it doesn't have the same action-packed grandeur as its sequels ( it and its antagonist, Ra's al Ghul, is perhaps a less interesting villain than those who came after him). As the title suggests, Batman Begins focuses more on Bruce Wayne's backstory and slowly develops his rise as the Caped Crusader.

Christopher Nolan's Batman films are joined by Todd Phillips' 2019 Joker, which is currently #85 on the IMDb top 250. unmistakably Phillips' dirty, insidious and disturbing Joker. is the performance of Joaquin Phoenix. After Heath Ledger's iconic Oscar-winning portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight, it was hard to imagine anyone else taking on the role. Be that as it may, Phoenix ended up winning the Oscar for his portrayal of a desperate, brooding, mentally ill man that's uncomfortable to watch, but fascinating. Phillips' 2024 sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, followed with a bold musical sequel, but it alienated many audiences, and the film's actual story was painfully dull.

Other “Batman” movie adaptations, eg Joel Schumacher's horribly beloved smashes “Batman Forever” and “Batman & Robin,” Tim Burton's gothic fantasy “Batman” and “Batman Returns” and Zack Snyder's insane character in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” are not in the IMDb top 250. It seems to be a more realistic and harsh character. The Batman universe from Nolan and Phillips resonates the most with audiences. Although Matt Reeves' Batman has a similar aesthetic and was a critical and box office hit, it failed to surpass the 7.9 rating on IMDb. It will be interesting to see what happens with the Batman franchise in the future, especially since Nolan left a huge mark that is hard to overcome.