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Best Movie Forums: IMDb message boards alternatives

Movie Forums: Which IMDb message board alternative is best?

With the closure of the IMDb message boards back in February 2017 there have been a number of websites that have archived the discussion boards and then created their own version for film fans to continue and begin new discussions. Inevitably, some of these movie forums sites have fallen by the wayside, and some remain, to varying degrees of success. Movie forums live and die by their communities, so there are plenty of skeletons masquerading as bodies of knowledge and discussion out there (trust us, we’ve picked away at a lot!).

Of course there were already movie forums websites like TMDb and Rotten Tomatoes as well as plenty of other film forums and websites with forums bolted onto them, the best of which we’ve listed at the bottom of this blog.

Here then is a list of viable IMDb message board alternatives, including those who have and haven’t archived the IMDb message boards. We begin with the best of those that have…

IMDb MESSAGE BOARDS ALTERNATIVES

Top IMDB Archive Boards

 

Moviechat IMDB AlternativeMovieChat

IMDb Message Boards Archived: YES

Verdict: Arguably the best IMDb message boards alternative out there that integrates an archive of every message board for movies, tv shows, actors and actresses from IMDb before they closed their message boards down.

Importantly, the community is growing and many of the boards are very active especially, as you would expect, current and recent releases. It looks good with a very similar feel to IMDB and is bang up to date with the latest and future releases, IMDb ratings and a blog. Importantly, the search facility is extremely easy to use and brings up automatic suggestions just like IMDb, so you can very quickly find the page you want.

Hopefully the trolls will be kept at bay and the site will grow further to become a long term IMDb forums alternative.

Read our interview with their founder Jim Smith to find out more about why he saved the IMDb chat boards and what IMDb think of his site!

LINK: https://moviechat.org/

Moviechat homepage

 

FilmboardsFilmboards IMDB Forums

IMDb Message Boards Archived: YES

Verdict: The main alternative to MovieChat when it comes to IMDb message board archives and an existing forum for individual movies, tv shows and actors. What immediately strikes you is the aesthetics – it currently looks very dull, with no imagery. It’s not a website one immediately feels like spending a lot of time.

In its favour is an impressive Chrome extension which, when installed, inserts the most recent message board threads into the bottom of the IMDb page. Furthermore, it has the facility to sync to your IMDb account and bring your message board conversations into your Filmboards account. This is great if there were lots of conversations you had which you thought were lost forever (although if you are “in the know”, you can actually retrieve the data through archives held online, but that doesn’t apply to most of us).

So, some great features, but sadly the site doesn’t appear to have an especially active community, at least not compared to MovieChat, its main “competitor” and TMDB (see below). If we come back in a year’s time and discover that the community has flourished then all the better, but it’s not looking great at the moment.

LINK: https://filmboards.com/

Filmboards Chrome Extension

 

The Movie DatabaseTMDB Movie Forums

IMDb Message Boards Archived: NO

Verdict: An excellent IMDb message boards alternative, TMDB is a great looking site with trailers, posters, movie and tv chat boards. As with all movie message boards, some are more popular than others. You can easily upload your IMDb ratings onto this site if you want to move on from IMDb completely (if you primarily use IMDb to check movie ratings before deciding on a movie to watch, as many do).

LINK: https://www.themoviedb.org/

The Movie Database

IMDB Chat Worth A Look

 

One Movie Avenue (UPDATE: NO FORUMS)

IMDb Message Boards Archived: YES

Verdict: A beautiful looking site and fairly easy to use but let down by an apparent lack of active community.

LINK: https://onemovieavenue.com/

One Movie Avenue

 

MovieForums

IMDb Message Boards Archived: NO

Verdict: A simple clean site from TMDB (see below) which is easy to use. Discussions date right back to 2000 with a lot of active threads and a thriving community. No message boards for individual film and tv shows however.

LINK: movieforums.com/community/

Movie Forums Homepage

Rotten Tomatoes (UPDATE: FORUMS CLOSED)

IMDb Message Boards Archived: NO

Verdict: Probably the second most famous movie website after IMDb and highly influential. It did have individual message boards for movies, tv shows and actors but was tricky to navigate and closed in November 2017 according to the interweb.

Rotten Tomatoes Forum

 

Blu-ray.com

IMDb Message Boards Archived: NO

Verdict: A bare bones movie and tv chat board website, but a very active one and easy to use with dozens of threads on dozens of different movie/tv subjects. One for the self-acclaimed geek who perhaps has more blu rays than he or she would care to admit initially, but can really open up on this site and chat to their heart’s content about that E.T. Limited Edition Steelbook, or indeed the latest cinema releases.

LINK: http://forum.blu-ray.com/

Blu-Ray.com Forums

 

Best of the rest IMDB Boards

 

Below is a list of other movie and tv show forums which we think are worth looking at to find fellow fans and get into the nitty gritty of film debate, or indeed pass the time with light hearted movie and tv chatter.

  • IMDB v2.1 – Very active with lots of threads. Surprised that it’s allowed to use “IMDb” name.
  • IMDForums – Fairly active with lots of threads. As of August 2020 it appears that activity may be dwindling.
  • JoBlo – UPDATE: Forums closed. Comments section available within the Movie Database but on checking these don’t seem active.
  • The Digital Fix – Fairly active with lots of threads.
  • Digital Spy – Very active, lots of different categories to choose from.
  • Comic Book Resources – Very active, with lots of different categories to choose from. Founded in 1995 although the forums were “reset” in 2014.
  • CHUD (Cinematic Happens Under Development) – UPDATE: It appears that the site is live but no longer active.
  • Goldderby – Very active, the premise is betting and predictions on awards ceremonies like the Oscars and the Emmys. You can enter contests and win prizes. Interesting concept and worth checking out.
  • TBOT (The Box Office Theory) – Very active and not dissimilar to Goldderby. The premise is betting on how movies with rank in North America over a weekend. Forums related to betting as well as general film forums on classic movies, international box office and other threads.
  • The Student Room – Fairly active. Film forums for students obviously.
  • AV Forums – Very active bare bones movie forum.
  • BritMovie.co.uk – Appears to be very active but limited compared to the original IMDb messages boards.
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