Least Deserving Best Picture Oscar Winner?

I saw this on IMDB and figured it could be a good discussion over here...


My pick: Shakespere in Love

My reason: Saving Private Ryan, anyone?

Don't get my wrong SIL was good, just not bettter than SPR

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We've had this topic before, right HERE, though it didn't get a ton of responses. But as there have been four more Best Pictures named since that thread was last replied to, might as well get a new one going I suppose.



For me it's going to be difficult to ever "top" The Greatest Show on Earth (1952). Not only is it a pretty lousy flick in its own right, but in a year that also had films such as Singin' in the Rain, High Noon, The Bad and the Beautiful, The Quiet Man and Moulin Rouge and foreign titles such as Rashômon, The Lavender Hill Mob and Forbidden Games in eligibility, it makes The Greatest Show on Earth's Oscar win that much more ridiculous. Fu*k, Singin' in the Rain wasn't even nominated as Best Picture that year. PUH-LEEZE.

Of more recent winners, I really dislike both Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind a whole lot. It's already embarrassing seeing Gladiator on the list and it hasn't even been a decade since it won. I think that sting is going to get much worse over time, not better.


But whatareyougonnado?

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Ahh, sorry I just searched "Least deserving Best Picture Oscar Winner"

I'll choose one worst for me from each decade, a combination of their individual quality (or lack of quality) and how much worse they were than the other nominees the year they won...

Gladiator (2000)
The English Patient (1996)
Ordinary People (1980)
Rocky (1976)
Oliver! (1968)
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
Hamlet (1948)
Cimarron (1931)

I completely agree, how the hell did Rocky win Best Picture? Over TAXI DRIVER for that matter! Same with ordinary people over Raging Bull which is 4th! on the top 100 list, I don't think Ordinary People is even on it. The English Patient is just stupid.

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Well, I agree with a lot of what Holden said. Without actually divulging all my preferences (mostly because I don't have strong feelings about some of these), I will throw in a few changeups. For the 2000s, I'll suggest Crash. I realize that the Russell Crowe flicks are fodder, but I enjoy Crash the least of the 2000s winners. For the 1970s, I have to go with Kramer vs. Kramer. Although it is much better than Ordinary People, I believe it IS responsible for Ordinary People. In the '40s, I have to say Going My Way. It's a fun flick and all, and yes, Holden, the song is even more fun than the movie, but I find it less captivating than Olivier's Hamlet and only slightly shorter. As far as the 1930s, Cimarron has fallen on bad times, mostly due to complaints of it being overripe, but I certainly don't find Richard Dix (Blazing Saddles?) all that bad, and it's obviously more watchable than Noel Coward's Cavalcade.

I probably didn't factor in as many things as Holden did, and I'm not saying that any Oscar winners are worth skipping, but I had this desire to post this right now.

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Yeah, a lot of mine have been taken already. I do like Ordinary People a whole lot, though. I actually prefer it to Raging Bull, so that one never bothered me. Rocky over Taxi Driver is a bit laughable, isn't it? But I don't necessarily think Rocky is all that bad of a movie, so I don't know if I would consider it the absolute least deserving winner. I haven't seen a ton of the pre-1950 Best Pictures and I haven't been tempted to give The Greatest Show on Earth or Around the World in 80 Days a spin, either. But of the ones I have seen, I'd say Out of Africa is my least favorite. I just flat-out dislike that movie. Not that the other 1985 nominees were classics or anything, but Out of Africa plain sucks.

As for the ones mentioned above, yeah, I don't rate Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind or The English Patient at all. But I do like Shakespeare in Love loads more than Saving Private Ryan and I can live with Kramer vs. Kramer and Crash.

I can't live with Out of Africa, though.



And Dances With Wolves & Chicago are a little iffy, too...

My pick: Gandhi

Why: The Verdict.

I find it tough to critique movies but if I had to pick one it'd be Rocky. I mean could Sly even speak English in that one?

My pick: Forrest Gump

My reason: Pulp fiction and the shawshank redemption!

I did like forest gump....but its minuscule to the above two!

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Never mind over Taxi Driver(I'm not slighting Taxi Driver. It's a great film),But what about Rocky over Network. Talk about travesty.

Also, How Green Was My Valley had no right winning over Citizen Kane, The Maltese Falcon, and Suspicion. The same could also be said to Going My Way winning over Double Indemnity. Going My Way was a fluff piece for Crosby and Double Indemnity was a masterpiece. This just goes to show that the academy is not perfect and makes mistakes.

Also, don't get me started on how the academy ignores foreign films in the Best Picture category. Kurosawa, legendary influential Japanese producer, was never up for any of his films, But Ron Howard's work is up multiple times.

Rocky winning an oscar? Damn it's idiots like Stallone that make me embarrassed to be part italian, learn to talk moron.

The year Rocky won was a great year and I can see the argument against it, but the film was a huge hit and people loved it. I remember when it won, the crowd kinda went nuts. There was no way a dark film like Taxi Driver was gonna win; All the President's Men was rather dry (I love it, though!), and Network was pretty intense. The voters could get behind Rocky -- it was a sleeper hit and kind of a Cinderella story. I get why it won and I really don't have a problem with it.

Everyone seems to complain about Gladiator. It is one of my favorite films. Russell was so amazing. There's something about that film that just gets to me -- I've seen it like 20 times. I know people love to rag on it; the screenplay was a tad poor at times; but it was exciting and the hero was a throwback to the kind of pure hero, loyal and true. I just think when you look at the other films nominated, this was the only film a lot of people could rally behind. I also think Russell's charisma in that performance made the film a rare kind of film. We just don't see films like that very often -- especially one that is successful and doesn't come across as cheesy.

Without going back too far, the worst BP winner for me was Crash. There are too many reasons why this film sucks -- over the top performances (Bullock), contrived scenes and a screenplay that is beyond bad (called "fables" by the author -- my god). I can't believe this film was nominated, let alone win. It's the one time I couldn't understand the Academy. I didn't even want to watch the Oscars again after that! UGH.

Rocky! Who wants to give an oscar to a movie about a mentally challenged Italian boxer?

Rocky might talk funny, but he's certainly not "mentally-challenged" in the first film.

Reservoir Pup I'm pretty sure you said Rocky twice... And Stallone is actually smarter than you think he is, I read an interview with him in Time, he surprised me with his wisdom.

Crash miffed me as well, least of all because it should have chosen a different name instead of the same as Cronenberg's far better film.

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No need to get frisky but Rocky is totally over-rated IMO and I'm just voicing that and I don't care if I said Rocky twice. I can't believe I used to like Rocky, thank god for the Godfather.
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Ordinary People just made me fall asleep. It was so ordinary.

Gladiator was just stupid.