SITE DESCRIPTION

The Internet Movie Database, or IMDB, is one of the premiere websites for news and information on movies and television. Unlike some of it’s competitors, IMDB doesn’t fall into the celebrity gossip trap, though it does offer links to entertainment news websites. Instead, IMDB focuses primarily on news and facts specifically related to movies and TV shows.

The depth of information for each movie is stunning, as each film, both old and new, has a plot synopsis, trailer links, and numerous photos. In addition, the cast list, award summary and release information provides everything you’d want to know about all your favorite movies.

For advanced or industry users, there is a service called IMDBPro that offers inside information on behind the cameras industry news and available work. The membership costs $12.95 per month and offers members contact listings for over 65,000 people, company directories for more than 10,000 industry businesses, production charts for upcoming and in-process projects on film and TV, and many other benefits. SiteRoast isn’t a member of IMDBPro, but at only $12.95 per month it may not be a bad thing for those who work or are hoping to work in the entertainment industry. It should also be noted that IMDBPro offers a free 14-day trial so you can have a look commitment-free.

ABOUT IMDB.COM

The IMDB refers to itself as a “HUGE collection of movie information”. Started as a hobby project, IMDB became so good, and so big, that it couldn’t refuse its own status as a superb film and TV resource. Once it became obvious that IMDB was of use to others, the founding group of movie lovers decided to continue to improve and enhance the site, leading to a wealth of content as well as revenue.

The IMDB staff is spread throughout the U.S. and Europe, many of whom add information from their homes, working around their full-time jobs. The community atmosphere helps users feel welcome when searching such a vast site.

WHAT WE LIKED

The best way to surf, we found, is to click on the browse button just below the navigation bar at the top of the home page. From this page, you can really begin to understand the huge amount of content available on IMDB.com. The facts and trivia page is fun for learning some interesting info on your favorite movies, and the goofs search page provides a collection of continuity and factual errors made when filming.

Additionally, though probably quite obvious by now, we are most impressed with the amount of information presented on popular movies, cult movies, independent films, discontinued television shows, and many other categories that your favorite movie or TV show might fall into. Anything and everything that you’d like to know can probably be found on this site. So, for the most part, if you go to IMDB looking for information on movies and TV, chances are you won’t have to go anywhere else.

WHAT WE DIDN’T LIKE

We’ll let you decide whether this is a negative thing or not, but the biggest issue we had with IMDB is it’s got so much information on it, that it’s tough to sort through it all. The challenge of knowing what information is available, and where to find it can be a bit overwhelming, but if that’s the worst thing we could say about IMDB then it’s probably not so bad.

THE FINAL WORD

Although best used to settle bets, IMDB can also be fun just looking around. Once you visit the first time it will probably become your default movie trivia resource.

www.imdb.com