# Most undeserving Best Picture winners of the past 25 years. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248 "2009-02-24T19:09:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/61 "2009-02-25T01:20:19Z")
1. Crash. All of the nominated movies were better. Any movie that wasn’t released straight to video that year was better. 2. Rain Man 3. Shakespeare in Love The last two are more matters of opinion and I’d be willing to entertain arguments for their merit. But Crash had one good scene in the midst of a bunch of awfulness. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/62 "2009-02-25T01:35:42Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > 1. Forrest Gump > > An irrelevant semi-comedy that beat Shawshank Redemption AND Pulp fiction. There is a goddamn content chart with the boxes. What are you, stupid? Not in 1994 when the movie was made and definitely not in the early 80s of which the film is set. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/63 "2009-02-25T02:01:21Z")
Crash Chicago Driving Miss Daisy Although Forrest Gump is a close 4th ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/64 "2009-02-25T02:09:54Z")
Crash Titanic Forrest Gump ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/65 "2009-02-25T02:50:42Z")
Dances With Wolves Out of Africa Driving Miss Daisy If I could pick a fourth it’d be the current winner Slumdog Millionaire. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/66 "2009-02-25T03:06:31Z")
For anyone who’s interested, i’ve been keeping a running tally. The “Score” is based on a 3-2-1 system. Movies voted worst got 3 points, second worst got 2 points, and third-worst got 1 point. So, the higher the score, the worse the movie (in the collective opinion of this thread). Where people did not provide actual numbers for their selections, i took them in order, starting with worst. The “Mentions” is a simple tally of how many people chose each movie, regardless of whether it was first, second, or third on their list. ```auto Year Movie Score Mentions 1984 Amadeus 0 0 1985 Out of Africa 9 4 1986 Platoon 0 0 1987 The Last Emperor 2 1 1988 Rain Man 9 4 1989 Driving Miss Daisy 3 3 1990 Dances With Wolves 21 11 1991 The Silence of the Lambs 3 1 1992 Unforgiven 0 0 1993 Schindler's List 0 0 1994 Forrest Gump 43 21 1995 Braveheart 16 7 1996 The English Patient 18 9 1997 Titanic 17 8 1998 Shakespeare in Love 15 9 1999 American Beauty 15 6 2000 Gladiator 26 14 2001 A Beautiful Mind 9 6 2002 Chicago 10 6 2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 3 1 2004 Million Dollar Baby 6 2 2005 Crash 53 24 2006 The Departed 2 1 2007 No Country For Old Men 0 0 2008 Slumdog Millionare 1 1 ``` Note: for people who mentioned more than 3 movies, i just took the first three. For people who mentioned fewer than 3, i just took the ones mentioned. **Crash** has a reasonably comfortable lead over **Forrest Gump** , and then there’s a fair gap to **Gladiator** , with **Dances With Wolves** close on its heels. Of the 25, there are five movies that have not yet received a single vote, and five others with only a single mention. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/67 "2009-02-25T03:14:58Z")
**The English Patient** , hands down. What a load of crap. (Especially because it beat out **Fargo**.) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/68 "2009-02-25T03:39:23Z")
I’ve also been making a running count, but slightly differently. If people mentioned less than three movies, I didn’t count any. If, as in two cases, a person mentioned a movie more than once in an entry, I gave it points as mentioned(Crash, and The English Patient, I’m looking at you!) Crash 52 Forrest Gump 36 Gladiator 24 The English Patient 21 Dances with Wolves 19 American Beauty 15 Shakespeare in Love 14 Titanic 12 Braveheart 11 Chicago 10 Rainman 9 Out of Africa 8 A Beautiful Mind 6 Million Dollar Baby 6 Driving Miss Daisy 3 L.A. Confidential 3 Silence of the Lambs 3 The Return of the King 3 Gosford Park 2 The Departed 2 The Last Emperor 2 Goodfellas 1 Slumdog Millionaire 1 ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/69 "2009-02-25T03:48:01Z")
Yay, someone’s counting the votes: 1. **Crash** - My God, I saw this with non-native English speakers who were not terribly familiar with America, and even they thought this was about as subtle as Dennis Rodman and as insightful as Paris Hilton. 2. **The English Patient** - Some good costumes, some good scenes, and some decent characterizations. However, the movie as a whole was just so long, meandering, and boring that I almost fell asleep, and it was a 6 PM screening! 3. **Forrest Gump** - It was a cute movie that I liked, and I’d say even a good movie. However, there’s simply no excuse for this beating out **Pulp** and **Shawshank**. I’m not especially outraged about this one, though. Honorable Mention: **Titanic** - I liked it, but I’m completely biased since I watched it with my first girlfriend… **Return of the King** - very enjoyable, but also quite repetitive and non-sensical at times. Characterization and a greater perspective of the war were cut for unnecessary and unending battle scenes. **A Beautiful Mind** - It almost felt like a by-the-numbers TV drama, with a standard psychologically-afflicted plot, complete with paranoid scenes and supporting wife. It felt pointless and brought nothing new to the table. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/70 "2009-02-25T03:48:31Z")
Least Deserving: 1. _Forrest Gump_ --1994. There were three superior nominees: _Pulp Fiction_, _Quiz Show_, and _Shawshank Redemption_. 2. _English Patient_ --1996. A good movie, but unfortunately it beat _Fargo_ which is a great movie. 3. _Gladiator_ --2000. I didn’t care much for any of the nominees (not a _Crouching Tiger_ fan) but dammit _Gladiator_ was a piece of Hollywood hack work. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/71 "2009-02-25T04:00:09Z")
Damn, now I wish I’d voted for _Platoon_, which I disliked for much the same reason as _Crash_, and which (IMO) doesn’t deserve to be one of the movies that hasn’t been mentioned yet. Unfortunately, among its competition I’ve only seen _The Mission_, so I didn’t feel totally comfortable listing it. And I like Woody Allen; I’ve got to rent _Hannah and Her Sisters_. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/72 "2009-02-25T04:17:17Z")
I am another person that thought \*The English Patient \*was a good movie. Maybe not as good as Fargo, but I found it very interesting. As far as being too long, just to put it into perspective, the theater projector broke down twice for a total of twenty minutes of the film, and I still enjoyed it. My favorite books and movies are often very long, so maybe I just was blessed with a decent attention span. I don’t know, I guess I would say _Forrest Gump, Titanic_ and _Shakespeare in Love_. I was born to love a movie called _Shakespeare in Love_- it’s so like all of my favorite movies, but I really disliked it and never want to see it again. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/73 "2009-02-25T04:21:46Z")
I am sure I am the only one with these particular opinions but… _Goodfellas_ bored the living crap out of me and I have never liked or recommended it to anyone in my life. It is a very very close vote between _Forrest Gump_ and _Shawshank_ as to the two best…not necessarily my favorite…but overall BEST movies I have ever seen. To me this award goes to Forrest. I believe that in every aspect of filmmaking Forrest is the best movie I have ever seen. And even more to a point, the character of Lt. Dan is the best characterization in any movie I have seen, and most that I haven’t I am also gonna give some quick love to _Dances_, I thought it was a great movie with some heart-string tugging moments in it. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/74 "2009-02-25T04:33:07Z")
1. Forrest Gump. Every other thing nominated was better. 2. Titanic. 3. Shakespeare in Love. Hmm, the mid-90s. ---
**Author:** ![Asylum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@Asylum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asylum)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/75 "2009-02-25T05:17:09Z")
1. Forrest Gump - I hated this movie when it came out, but my opinion of it has softened over the years. But at best that movie is treacle and does not deserve a Best Picture nomination, especially compared to Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption. 2. Titanic - I thought it was an okay movie when I saw it but I didn’t get the hype. It’s a so-so love story with cool special effects. Another “shouldn’t have been nominated”. L.A. Confidential and Good Will Hunting were both Best Picture worthy IMO. 3. Chicago - I actually thought it was good flick and worthy of a nom, but how the hell did it beat out Gangs of New York? If you cut down Gangs of New York to just Daniel Day Lewis’s screen time you still have an Oscar worthy movie. There were a few more I thought shouldn’t have won: Shakespeare in Love (over Saving Private Ryan?), Braveheart, and Gladiator are a few. But there’s a special not mentioned for Crash: my girlfriend rented it and I only got fifteen minutes into it before I left the room. Those fifteen minutes contained the shittiest, most non-subtle appeals to emotion that I had ever seen in a movie, and ironically succeeded in sterotyping what racists were like in an “enlightened” way. It’s not on my list because I never watched the whole movie, but if I had I suspect it would top my list of undeserving Oscar winners. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/76 "2009-02-25T05:27:27Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > ``` > Originally Posted by robardin > I must disagree about The English Patient! When I saw it I was deeply moved. I don't know if it'd stand a re-viewing, but I did not see the ending coming...*) > > ``` > > Indeed, I feared it may never come at all. \ ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/77 "2009-02-25T07:11:07Z")
1. Forrest Gump 2. A Beautiful Mind 3. Braveheart Also count be as one who thinks Shakespeare in Love was the right choice (and I think Saving Private Ryan is terrific). > [@Sarahfeena](#): > > Titanic, especially, frustrated me to no end. Special effects-wise, an amazing film. If Cameron had stuck to the human drama of the ship sinking, and what happens to people who realize they probably only have an hour or so to live (or are seeing family members for the last time), it could have been brilliant. The star-crossed romance and ham-handed class warfare story lines were just awful. Yes. There’s a lot to like about Titanic, but there are serious problems with it. Shouldn’t have been anywhere near the Oscars. > [@VarlosZ](#): > > I agree, but among the other nominees (_JFK, Beauty and the Beast, Bugsy, and The Prince of Tides_) it was by far the most noteworthy. However, taking a second look, I did miss an opportunity by failing to include _Terminator 2: Judgment Day_, which is probably the only 1991 film that even has a chance of deserving to be in the same conversation as _Lambs_. I’ll take Beauty and the Beast over all of those. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/78 "2009-02-25T07:23:56Z")
Crash The English Patient No Country For Old Men ---
**Author:** ![Mesquite-oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/79 "2009-02-25T07:35:57Z")
If I had to pick three… 1. Crash 2. Shakespeare in Love As soon as these movies were over, and the lights were turned on in the theater, I was angry about how totally stupid these movies were, then I basically forgot that I had seen them and never thought about them again. Brokeback Mountain and Saving Private Ryan are two movies that I thought about and discussed with others a great deal, and they occassionally cross my mind to this day. 1. Gladiator- Didn’t Kirk Douglas do this same exact movie a couple of decades prior? Any movie that has Joaquin Phoenix utter “It vexes me. I am terribly vexed” should never have even been nominated for anything. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/80 "2009-02-25T07:39:15Z")
I wasn’t overwhelmed by a single flick on the OP’s list. How depressing. _Silence of the Lambs_ was scary and funny, and _The Departed_ was highly entertaining, _Titanic_ was an orgy of cool effects, but not one of them was a work of art, IMHO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248.md?page=5)