We here at Rongo find that the modern review system is broken. Too much emphasis has been placed on a number that really means nothing. The content of the review is the most important part. A score only tells you so much, it’s what’s in the review that will tell you whether or not it’s something you may or may not enjoy. Reviews after all, are just opinions and while they are meant to help someone decide whether a piece of entertainment is worthy of their time and money, they are still just an opinion and we think the audience should base their decision off of more than an arbitrary number.
We still want to be able to sum up how we felt about something at the end of a review, but we wanted to do it in a way that couldn’t be boiled down to an arbitrary number. A rating system that could quantify our thoughts while still requiring you to engage with those thoughts. That’s why we use The Cruise Scale.
The Cruise Scale is a rating system that goes from 0% to 110+% and is based on how Tom Cruise not only always gives 110% minimum into all of his projects but he expects it out of everyone else working with him. With The Cruise Scale, we will judge a work based on how close it comes to Tom Cruise’s standard of 110%. Works will be given one of five ratings that correlate to a percentage range.
The Cruise Scale
Cruise Standard (110+): Awarded only to the absolute best of the best. These are the works where it’s clear those involved did everything in their power to make something special and they did. They have reached Tom Cruise’s standard of 110% or above and will go down in history as the cream of the crop.
Cruise Commendation (80-109): Awarded to works that while they might not have reached the pinnacle, they are incredible nonetheless. These were created by people operating at a level above most of their contemporaries and will be remembered fondly for years to come.
Cruise Control (60-79): Awarded to works that exhibit potential but for whatever reason just couldn’t quite reach it to their fullest. While these works are good, there is no escaping the feeling that they could have been better.
Cruise Condemns (40-59): Given to works that while not complete disasters, have far more negatives than positives. Whether it’s because the effort wasn’t put in, the execution was wrong, or something else, these works unfortunately fail to achieve what they set out to do. They may still be worth experiencing but there are likely better works to spend your time with.
Cruise Catastrophe (0-39): Given to works that have little to no redeeming qualities when it comes to giving an audience any sort of value. These are the ones so bad that it seems like no effort was made at all even if some was. Stay away at all costs and thank us for wasting our time so you don’t have to.
Legacy Reviews
We previously used The Paddington Scale to review things. All old reviews that used The Paddington Scale will remain with their original scores using that scale. You can learn about The Paddington Scale here.
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