# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/81 "2009-02-25T08:01:57Z")
First Place - 1990 – _Dances With Wolves_ (_Goodfellas_) Second Place - 1997 – _Titanic_ (_L.A. Confidential, Good Will Hunting_) Third Place - 1994 – _Forrest Gump_ (_Pulp Fiction, The Shawshank Redemption, Quiz Show_) Tough decision on 1/2. Goodfellas is a GREAT film, deserving of an Oscar in any year. But godDAMN, Titanic stunk it up something fierce. Is the worse travesty that Goodfellas lost in 1990, or that Titanic was nominated AT ALL in 1997? Joe ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/82 "2009-02-25T08:02:23Z")
1. A Beautiful Mind Easily the most undeserving. Not that good, and Fellowship was a clear choice. 1. Return of the King AKA we should have given Fellowship best picture, so let’s give it to the massively inferior sequel instead. This movie is pretty much a mess. Maybe a weak year, but Lost in Translation was more deserving, and honestly I would go with Finding Nemo ahead of this. 1. The English Patient Fargo was fantastic. English Patient, not so much. 1. Titanic L.A. Confidential, Good Will Hunting, and Princess Mononoke were all much more deserving. 1. Dances With Wolves Miller’s Crossing is vastly superior. Failing that, Goodfellas is also better. 1. Braveheart Seven, The Usual Suspects, 12 Monkeys, Before Sunrise, City of Lost Children… there is no shortage of movies from this year that put Braveheart to shame. I’m only listing movies that were not very good, and were up against much better movies. Notable for not being listed: Forrest Gump: Yes, Pulp Fiction should have won. But in many other years I could see Forrest winning, so I don’t consider it the most undeserving. Shakespeare in Love: Very good romantic comedy. Not a clear winner, but hardly an all time worst. ---
**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, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/83 "2009-02-25T08:51:34Z")
Last score update before i go to bed: ```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 24 12 1991 The Silence of the Lambs 3 1 1992 Unforgiven 0 0 1993 Schindler's List 0 0 1994 Forrest Gump 60 28 1995 Braveheart 17 8 1996 The English Patient 28 14 1997 Titanic 25 12 1998 Shakespeare in Love 19 12 1999 American Beauty 15 6 2000 Gladiator 28 16 2001 A Beautiful Mind 14 8 2002 Chicago 11 7 2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 5 2 2004 Million Dollar Baby 6 2 2005 Crash 62 27 2006 The Departed 2 1 2007 No Country For Old Men 1 1 2008 Slumdog Millionare 1 1 ``` The tussle is now very close between **Crash** and **Forrest Gump** , with the former leading in total score, but the latter just ahead on mentions. **The English Patient** has moved into equal third place in Score, tied with **Gladiator** , but the latter still has the edge in Mentions. The battle for first seems to be a two-horse race, though. ---
**Author:** ![maplekiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@maplekiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maplekiwi)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/84 "2009-02-25T09:01:47Z")
Titanic Forrest Gump Chicago If I was alowed a fourth I’d say Gladiator. I liked it - but I can’t believe it was the best movie of the year. ---
**Author:** ![Hrududu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Hrududu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hrududu)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/85 "2009-02-25T16:18:35Z")
1. Crash. 2. A Beautiful Mind. 3. Forrest Gump. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/86 "2009-02-25T16:23:15Z")
1989 – Driving Miss Daisy. Field of Dreams should have had it. 1995 – Braveheart. Apollo 13 should have had it. 1998 – Shakespeare in Love. Saving Private Ryan should have had it, even with the shaky-cam issues. Can we have ties? Because if we can, I’m tied for third with 1999 – American Beauty over The Sixth Sense If not, never mind. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/87 "2009-02-25T16:31:17Z")
Hmm I am having a lot of trouble deciding. I really hate the vast majority of movies on that list. Unforgiven was a great movie. LOTR was a damn good movie. Amadeus was a good movie. and Braveheart was okay as was Shindlers and last Emporer. I havn’t seen the last 4. So all the other movies get 1/15th of a last place vote. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/88 "2009-02-25T18:34:41Z")
1. 2005 – _Crash_ 2. 1985 – _Out of Africa_ 3. 2006 – _The Departed_ Crash, because it shouldn’t have even been nominated, and it was really Brokeback’s year to win. Out of Africa, just because The Color Purple was so excellent. The Departed, because it was a pale imitation of the original, and obviously pandering to the critics, but not actually very good other than a few excellent individual scenes that failed to tie together to make a coherent or cohesive whole. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/89 "2009-02-25T18:48:47Z")
1. A Beautiful Mind 2. Crash 3. Slumdog Millionaire ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/90 "2009-02-25T19:00:02Z")
1. Forrest Gump - my hate knows no bounds 2. The English Patient - hate given a wide berth but not quite boundless 3. Titanic - just being stubborn ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/91 "2009-02-25T19:44:04Z")
1. Return of the King (agreed with **Carmady** that this was basically just a make-up vote for Fellowship) 2. The English Patient 3. Braveheart (if only because there were so many other good choices that year) (Dis?)honorable mention to Crash, which had its moments but also a lot of moments that didn’t work. I’m surprised at all the hate for Gladiator. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/92 "2009-02-25T19:59:37Z")
[list=1}[li]_The English Patient_ over _Fargo_? No.[/li][li]_Forrest Gump_ over _Pulp Fiction_? Also no. [/li][li]_Million Dollar Baby_ over _The Incredibles_ - See 1 and 2 above.[/list][/li] Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/93 "2009-02-25T20:39:45Z")
**Braveheart** , **Gladiator** , and **The Return of the King**. Neither of these are very good story telling wise, IMHO, though they might be entertaining any Sunday afternoon. ---
**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, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/94 "2009-02-25T23:04:47Z")
> [@magnusblitz](#): > > 1. > > (…) > I’m surprised at all the hate for Gladiator. Well, It’s been awhile, but wasn’t the climax that the emperor (or similar)… …got so annoyed with Russell Crowe’s incredible success as a gladiator, that he decided to get in the ring and fight Russell himself. Yeah, right. Before that came an unjust betrayal and then Russell getting powerful again by winning lots of fights. So.. by the numbers plot with an absurd resolution. Braveheart had a similar set-up, but more interesting history, better script, direction, characters, visuals… and a less ridiculous ending. ---
**Author:** ![Reloy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Reloy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reloy3)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/95 "2009-02-25T23:06:43Z")
Worst: 1. American Beauty (hated it - just a bad movie) 2. English Patient 3. Dances with wolves I agree that Forrest Gump and Braveheart weren’t great either. Shakespeare in Love was a good movie and should have won almost any other year, but Saving Private Ryan was better. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/96 "2009-02-25T23:22:44Z")
I have a bias against Braveheart and Dances With Wolves, because both were basically first-time efforts of big-name Hollywood stars who produced and directed these films to Best Picture/Best Director wins when longtime, respected directors like Kubrick, Altman, Scorsese and Hitchcock had never won Best Director (although Scorsese since won). It may be unfair, but it seems wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Chum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ab097/32.png) [@Chum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chum)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/97 "2009-02-25T23:53:43Z")
1. _No Country for Old Men_. I actively loathe this movie. And _There Will Be Blood_ is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. 2. _Million Dollar Baby_. I watched this for the first time recently and could not understand why anyone would think it’s good. At all. I would have given the Oscar to _The Aviator_, which I thought was wonderful. 3. _A Beautiful Mind_. Absolutely wretched. The Oscar should have gone to _The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring_. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/98 "2009-02-25T23:55:54Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I have a bias against Braveheart and Dances With Wolves, because both were basically first-time efforts of big-name Hollywood stars who produced and directed these films to Best Picture/Best Director wins Nitpick: _Braveheart_ was the second film Gibson directed (_The Man Without a Face_ was the first). ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/99 "2009-02-26T00:01:43Z")
1. Crash 2. Out of Africa 3. The English Patient I had originally put ROTK, but pulled back because I think it was an award for the trilogy of sorts. But I think it is the weakest of the three movies in the trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248/100 "2009-02-26T00:06:44Z")
> [@I'm Not Dennis Bergkamp](#): > > I’m glad to see someone else support Shakespeare in Love. I simply can’t fathom the dislike for it, unless it’s rooted in the Affleck/Paltrow casting (Affleck, I’ll admit was miscast, but I liked Paltrow). Wonderful movie, IMO, and one of the very few I’ve pegged as an Oscar Best Picture winner immediately upon seeing it in the theater. > > As for my three worst choices: > > 1. **American Beauty**. I actually hated this movie. Boring, pretentious tripe. None of the other choices were all that great, either, so I suppose I’d have chosen The Sixth Sense as the lesser of the remaining evils. > > 2. **Rain Man**. I did not care for this movie at all (though I don’t hate it). Tom Cruise’s performance grates on me and I wasn’t all that impressed by Hoffman, either. Mississippi Burning was a far better film. > > 3. **Forrest Gump**. Not a bad movie, but I would’ve gone with Pulp Fiction, personally. > My (dis)honorable mention goes to **No Country For Old Men**. I liked it okay, but thought **Michael Clayton** was more deserving that year. Actually, I agree about the honroabel mention, except I would put **There Will Be Blood** as better. Just watched it again the other day and it is a pretty stunning piece of filmmaking, storytelling and acting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-undeserving-best-picture-winners-of-the-past-25-years/487248.md?page=6)