How Batman Fans Made The Shawshank Redemption The Highest-Rated Movie On IMDb
"The Shawshank Redemption" has held the top spot on the Internet Movie Database's prestigious Top 250 Movies list for years. While there's no denying that the 1994 prison drama's pristine quality is a primary reason for its placement, the film may have also gotten a hand from IMDb users following the premiere of "The Dark Knight."
When director Christopher Nolan's superhero epic was released in the summer of 2008, 1972's "The Godfather" was No. 1 on the Top 250. During this time, however, a notable increase in 1 out of 10 ratings started popping up for the iconic crime drama, with many theorizing that Batman fans were downvoting "The Godfather" to get "The Dark Knight" to the top spot. "The Shawshank Redemption" remained untouched, finding itself sandwiched between both films as "The Dark Knight" became IMDb's highest-rated title and "The Godfather" dropped to third place.
As the hype for "The Dark Knight" died down, its rating drastically dropped from 9.3 to 9.0, bringing it down to the third spot. Meanwhile, "The Godfather" climbed to second place as its score increased to 9.2. However, with "The Shawshank Redemption" going from a 9.1 in 2008 to its current 9.3 rating based on nearly 3 million reviews, it won the war it wasn't even fighting to become the highest-ranked film on the user-voted list.
Shawshank director Frank Darabont isn't sure his film deserves the top spot
The gradual rise of "The Shawshank Redemption" to the top spot of IMDb's Top 250 list mirrors the film's journey to becoming a beloved classic. Its release in September 1994 was met with disappointing box office returns, making a little over $16 million against its $25 million budget. Similarly, while met with outstanding critical response, the movie failed to take home a single golden statuette from its seven Oscar nominations.
Time was kind to the Stephen King adaptation, as subsequent home media and television releases earned it a newfound appreciation. Even so, the film's director, Frank Darabont, isn't sure how to feel about the situation. In an interview with Paste Magazine (via Independent), the filmmaker shared, "[It] is a very surreal thing for me. I look at that list, and of course, I see 'The Godfather,' and 'Citizen Kane,' and you can't help but think, 'Is 'Shawshank' really better than 'The Godfather?'" I find that a little hard to believe." Nevertheless, the filmmaker said it's "tremendously gratifying" that fans voted for his movie.
Whether aided by "The Dark Knight" or not, "The Shawshank Redemption" remaining No. 1 on IMDb's Top 250 list is much like Andy Dufresne's (Tim Robbins) own odyssey to freedom — beating all odds to achieve greatness.