'Star Wars: The Last Jedi,' 'E.T.' and 'Knock Down the House' among most divisive films over the years: study

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A new data study designed to show the most divisive films over the last 40 years has been released -- and the results are eye-opening.

The study, which was conducted by RAVE Reviews, aims to uncover the world’s most controversial films, with the film junkies at the data compiler going to Rotten Tomatoes and pulling the average user and critic scores for the top 100 movies listed in Rotten Tomatoes’ 17 featured genres.

From there, the difference in the two respective scores reveals the discrepancy in opinions between audiences and critics, creating a “divisiveness gap,” as the auditor calls it.

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It should be noted that after removing duplicates ,the list was narrowed down to 967 movies

(RAVE Reviews)

Topping the list for the most divisive film of all time is the 2018 Netflix documentary “Knock Down the House,” which tracks Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. in her campaign for Congress.

The film was one of only nine titles to receive a perfect 100 percent from critics on Rotten Tomatoes in 2019, but it earned a dismal audience rating of just 18 percent.

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Meanwhile, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is considered the fifth-most divisive movie in the last 40 years, despite being the highest-grossing title among the entire segment -- raking in more than $1.3 billion at the global box office.

(RAVE Reviews)

The 2017 Rian Johnson-helmed installment of the franchise garnered a middle-of-the-pack rating in audience scoring with 43 percent and an average rating of 2 ½ stars – a huge dip from the 91 percent critics gave “The Last Jedi."

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The category where many fans might bang their keyboards brings us to the top 10 most divisive films of the beloved 1980s, and the results are staggering.

(RAVE Reviews)

In 1982 Steven Spielberg directed the alien classic “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” -- but what the legendary filmmaker didn’t anticipate is that for his work, the project would rank atop the food chain as the most divisive film of the decade with critics scoring the Oscar-winning movie 98 percent compared to 72 percent from the audience.

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No. 2 on this list is “Broadcast News” (1987) and rounding out the top 5 is “Repo Man” (1984) at No. 3, “Hairspray” (1988) at No. 4 and the Martin Scorsese flick “The Color of Money” (1986) at No. 5.

(RAVE Reviews)

Further adding to the trend of children’s films not sitting well with the audience but garnering praise from critics are the films that land at the top of the pack for the most divisive films of the 1990s.

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Critics gave “Antz” glowing reviews and settled on a 93 percent fresh rating, while the audience balked at such praise and handed down a score of just 52 percent. And coming in third was 1999's “The Blair Witch Project,” with “Babe” hot on its heels at the No. 4 spot.

(RAVE Reviews)

Additionally, the study also compared the most divisive genres; it's sufficient to say that the horror genre took the cake as the category with the most consistent large divide among the 17 genres analyzed for critic-versus-audience ratings.

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The most divisive horror film of all time is the 2015 title “We Are Still Here,” which audience members said lacked in goriness and a satisfying resolution. Critics, on the other hand, praised the project for forcing folks to read between the lines with its subtle references to cinema history.