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And the Oscar goes to... mediocrity? Join us as we count down our picks for the most overrated films to ever win Hollywood's highest honor! From dated period pieces to misguided portrayals of race, these movies may have taken home the gold, but time hasn't been kind to their legacies. What's the worst Best Picture winner you've ever seen?
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00:00You can't come up with a formula to change the way you experience the world.
00:03All I have to do is apply my mind.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the least impressive and most culturally insignificant movies to
00:11take home the Oscar for Best Picture.
00:13We're not saying these movies are bad, but rather that we find it hard to consider them as good as
00:17the movies they beat.
00:18Yeah, listen, I think we need another take, buddy.
00:21That looked pretty terrific, man.
00:25Number 20. The King's Speech
00:27When judged on its own merits, The King's Speech has lots of redeeming qualities.
00:32This historical drama is bolstered by its richly detailed settings, engaging dialogue, and a superb performance from Colin Firth, who
00:39more than earned the Best Actor award that year.
00:43Congratulations. First Lord of the Admiralty.
00:46Your Majesty.
00:47However, it's practically a relic when compared to nominees that better reflected the year 2010, especially the social network.
00:53The significance of David Fincher's haunting take on the creation of Facebook may be more profound today than it was
00:59upon initial release.
01:01You better lawyer up, asshole, because I'm not coming back for 30%. I'm coming back for everything.
01:07The Academy was uniquely situated to honor two movies that recaptured milestone moments in the history of communication.
01:13But rather than choose the one that set a precedent for the future, they chose the one that predictably valorized
01:19the past.
01:20Is that the best you can do?
01:21Well, bloody bugger to you, you beastly bastard.
01:27A public school prig could do better than that.
01:30Number 19. Chariots of Fire
01:32Another solid period piece, Chariots of Fire is a humble film about humble people achieving greatness, despite incredible odds.
01:41Faster, come on!
01:43Faster, come on!
01:45Whoa!
01:47Whoa!
01:47Whoa!
01:48Whoa!
01:50Come on, now!
01:51That sentiment largely sums up its Best Picture win as well.
01:54In fact, it's quite fair to say the sports drama's legacy has been almost exclusively defined by its legendary musical
02:00score, which the Academy was right to recognize.
02:13We know a great theme when we hear one, but Chariots of Fire never truly matches the grandeur of Vangelis'
02:18compositions, despite its fascinating real-life story.
02:21Between Reds and on Golden Pond, the Academy clearly had more memorable options, and that's to say nothing of the
02:27timeless masterpiece that is Raiders of the Lost Ark, whose influence has arguably trounced all of its fellow nominees combined.
02:41Number 18. The Great Ziegfeld
02:44No one could ever accuse this musical about Broadway producer Florence Ziegfeld Jr. of not honoring its subject,
02:50if only because the movie itself is just as self-indulgent and meandering as it makes him out to be.
02:55Father, I don't really belong here.
02:58No, I don't like it.
03:00Although its song and dance sequences are perfectly fine, it's still a surface-level treatment of someone whose true essence
03:06was far more interesting than what is conveyed on screen.
03:09It's a problem that any decently paced biopic is likely to run into, but after a demanding and yawn-inducing
03:15three hours,
03:16we're chomping at the bit for any reason to stick around.
03:30Unfortunately, The Great Ziegfeld doesn't offer very many.
03:33Luckily for the Academy, they'd surely recognize better musicals and better biopics later on down the line.
03:38Why didn't you make me a great star?
03:42Because I couldn't depend on you as I could on you.
03:45Yes! Well, alright, depend on her now.
03:47Go on, star her. Do anything you like with her.
03:50I hate you.
03:51Number 17. The English Patient
03:53This romantic war epic has all the makings of a Best Picture winning classic.
03:58With its impeccable cast, stunning cinematography, and ambitious direction,
04:02the English Patient should be regarded as one of the best to ever do it.
04:06So why isn't it?
04:07Well, that very ambition downgrades it from respectable art to pretentious Oscar bait.
04:12When you leave, you should forget me.
04:15In other words, it's a lavish period piece looking to remind you at every turn
04:19just how thought-provoking and beautiful it is.
04:22The Academy had terrific alternatives that year, in Jerry Maguire and Fargo,
04:26both of which got the same points across with far greater humility.
04:34Seriously, when the most memorable things about the movie nowadays
04:37are the jokes that Seinfeld made about it,
04:39perhaps it's a sign that something's off.
04:47Number 16. A Beautiful Mind
04:49Another pre-eminent example of successful Oscar bait,
04:53Ron Howard's sentimental take on John Nash's struggle with mental illness
04:56was undeserving on a variety of levels.
04:58For one thing, it's half-baked attempts to infuse a potentially powerful drama
05:03with conspiracy thriller tropes don't always make for a moving experience.
05:16For another, it pales a comparison to Moulin Rouge, Gosford Park,
05:20and The Lord of the Rings' The Fellowship of the Ring,
05:22all of which would have made for more exciting and stylistic winners.
05:26I don't know, Frodo. I don't have any answers.
05:30Worst of all, though, is that almost everyone involved has done far better work elsewhere.
05:34It's a classic case of the Academy giving overdue attention
05:37to some of the industry's most reliable figures
05:40without fully considering the strength of the movie itself.
05:51Number 15. How Green Was My Valley
05:53How Green Was My Valley is a good movie that came out in the wrong year.
05:57This mining drama is yet another winner with plenty of prose,
06:01from its strong direction, stirring performances,
06:04and prescient commentary on labor exploitation.
06:06And yet, its memorability dipped beyond repair
06:09the moment it topped two of the greatest movies ever made.
06:12What does that mean?
06:14I should not have said it.
06:17Why?
06:21I have no right to speak to you so.
06:23The fact that The Maltese Falcon ended the night empty-handed is tough enough,
06:27but not honoring Citizen Kane beyond a deserved Best Original Screenplay win
06:31is even worse.
06:33Orson Welles' masterpiece is a game-changer in the truest sense,
06:36with its narrative twists and revolutionary technical accomplishments
06:39setting standards for almost every movie to follow.
06:48Hindsight may be 20-20, but the Academy pushed their luck with this one.
06:52Your eyes are no longer good in the daylight from the blows you have taken in the ring.
06:56Number 14. Gandhi
06:57Honoring a biopic made on the biggest scale possible
07:00is par for the course of the Academy,
07:02provided that the results speak for themselves.
07:04At the time in which Gandhi won the top prize,
07:07they surely did,
07:08thanks in no small part to Ben Kingsley's commanding presence as the titular Mahatma.
07:12All those who wish to make the English sea,
07:16bring me the cloth from Manchester and Leeds that you wear today,
07:20and we will light a fire that will be seen in Delhi and in London.
07:26However, the film's reputation hasn't progressed much further,
07:29with retrospectives criticizing its excessive run time
07:32and overly glamorous portrayal of such a complex figure.
07:35Most discussions about the movie have likely been drowned out
07:38by the groundbreaking sci-fi movies we got the very same year.
07:42Perhaps I have overdone it?
07:45Time has been extremely kind to The Thing and Blade Runner,
07:48while box office champ, E.T. the Extraterrestrial,
07:51was a critical darling worthy of just as much recognition.
08:01Number 13, Cavalcade.
08:04Though it's largely fallen by the wayside,
08:06Cavalcade was actually a more important best picture winner than you might think.
08:10That is,
08:10if you consider that its win underscored many of the reasons
08:13why other movies on this list became just as unworthy of the award.
08:17The film follows a British family throughout the first three decades of the 20th century,
08:20and all of the important historical events they play witness to in that time.
08:35It may sound as entertaining as fellow winner Forrest Gump,
08:38but that movie's cheeky revisionism is replaced
08:41by uninspired drama and thematically dull characters.
08:45Put simply,
08:46Cavalcade may be one of the most purely boring movies ever to win the big prize,
08:49and that's saying something.
08:51You see,
08:52we can never in our whole lives be any happier than we are now.
08:56Number 12, Oliver.
08:58This well-meaning adaptation of the classic Dickens novel
09:01thrives off its likable characters and invigorating musical sequences.
09:05Why should we be crazy to do nothing but do?
09:11Why should we be crazy to do nothing but do?
09:12Why should we be crazy to do nothing but do?
09:13Why should we be crazy to do nothing but do?
09:13Why should we be crazy to do nothing but do?
09:14Why should we be crazy to do nothing but do?
09:15Critics and audiences ate it up,
09:17so we can't fault the Academy for naming it best picture,
09:19but we should since 1968 was a tremendous year for cinema.
09:23A better musical was overlooked for the big prize in Funny Girl,
09:26while all-time classics like The Producers and Rosemary's Baby
09:30didn't even make the cut.
09:31But the biggest omission of all has to be 2001 A Space Odyssey.
09:35Stanley Kubrick's masterstroke continues to inspire millions
09:38with its unrivaled ideas about what movies and humanity as a whole can accomplish.
09:50Oliver blends in too easily by comparison,
09:53and it's telling that another musical wouldn't win for more than 30 years.
10:07The Oscars are nothing if not a ceremony that celebrates the best that movies have to offer.
10:12Every now and then, though, the notion is taken a little too seriously,
10:15as was the case with The Artist.
10:17Making movies about Hollywood is often a recipe for success,
10:20and to its credit, the movie's modern recreation of a silent film
10:24makes for a loving and finely crafted salute to a simpler time.
10:37As enjoyable as it is, however,
10:39The Artist carries little thematic weight,
10:41finding few things to say about the industry
10:43that other movies haven't already said.
10:51While there wasn't exactly an overwhelming favorite
10:53in the Best Picture lineup that year,
10:55the movie's win hasn't done much
10:57to increase its shelf life past Oscar night.
11:06Number 10. American Beauty
11:08American Beauty was still celebrated for years
11:11after its Best Picture win closed out the 20th century,
11:13but its bold performances
11:15and interconnected plot
11:16about disillusioned suburbanites
11:18have lost most of their luster today.
11:20Incredibly,
11:21its troubles are much bigger
11:22than its portrayal of Kevin Spacey
11:23fantasizing about his teenage daughter's friend.
11:36Ultimately,
11:37the lifestyle American Beauty captures
11:39is mostly a thing of the past,
11:40meaning that Lester Burnham's
11:42once daring midlife crisis
11:43now reads as superficial.
11:50Don't interrupt me, honey.
11:53It certainly doesn't help
11:54that 1999 is widely considered
11:55one of the best years in movie history.
11:57The Green Mile and The Sixth Sense
11:59made the Best Picture lineup one to remember,
12:02while Being John Malkovich
12:03and a little movie called The Matrix
12:05remain just as thought-provoking today.
12:06You take the blue pill,
12:08the story ends,
12:10you wake up in your bed
12:11and believe whatever you want to believe.
12:13You take the red pill,
12:15you stay in Wonderland,
12:18and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.
12:21Number 9. Gigi
12:22As long as we're discussing movies
12:24with politics that wouldn't fly today,
12:26it sends a veritable chill down our spine
12:28that this musical romance took home
12:30a then-record-setting nine Oscars.
12:32Following a wealthy socialite
12:33who falls for a teenage girl
12:35training to be a courtesan
12:36in turn-of-the-century Paris,
12:37you really can't defend Gigi's premise
12:39no matter how hard you try.
12:41They seem to love it
12:43and speak highly of it.
12:45I don't understand.
12:47Heck, the opening song is even titled
12:49Thank Heaven for Little Girls.
12:51That's merely one indication
12:52of how ignorant the movie is
12:54towards the very ideas
12:55it portends to be interested in exploring.
12:57Each time I see a little girl
13:00or five or six or seven
13:02I can't resist a joyous urge
13:05to smile and say thank heaven.
13:08Gigi makes the best use
13:09of its superb production
13:10and costume design,
13:12but it's not enough.
13:13Even then, better made
13:14and less disturbing period pieces
13:16have managed to win Best Picture.
13:18Not worth a soup.
13:20The poor thing doesn't do it.
13:21It's just a matter of time now.
13:24Number 8. Dances with Wolves
13:26Martin Scorsese must be too good
13:28at making movies.
13:29A full decade after they
13:30infamously snubbed Raging Bull
13:32for Robert Redford's
13:33Ordinary People.
13:34How did voters repay him?
13:35By overlooking his gangster
13:37tour de force Goodfellas
13:38in favor of Kevin Costner's
13:40Civil War epic
13:41Dances with Wolves.
13:42I'm an average nobody
13:45get to live the rest of my life
13:46like a schnook.
13:47History practically repeated itself
13:49as Scorsese was defeated
13:51by another heartthrob actor
13:52turned director,
13:53but this loss was easily
13:54the more unforgivable one.
13:56Dances with Wolves deserves credit
13:57for revitalizing the western
13:59with its scope
14:00and high production values,
14:01but there's a reason
14:02certain genres fade out with time.
14:12Despite Costner's best efforts,
14:14the film's sanitized portrayal
14:16of Native American culture
14:17has made it more a product
14:18of a bygone era
14:19than the groundbreaking accomplishment
14:21the Academy made it out to be.
14:22Though well supplied,
14:23I've decided to ration my goods
14:25as if I were part of a post
14:26instead of the whole affair.
14:29There's a wolf who seems
14:31intent on the goings-on here.
14:33He does not seem inclined
14:35to be a nuisance, however.
14:36Number 7.
14:37Out of Africa
14:38Out of Africa is the kind
14:40of sweeping romance
14:41that is rarely seen nowadays
14:42and probably deserves
14:43to make a comeback
14:44in a market oversaturated
14:45with IP adaptations.
14:47The irony is that
14:48the very things
14:49that would make it stand out today
14:50were what made its best picture
14:52win so egregious.
14:53And don't worry about us.
14:54We'll be alright.
14:55While undeniably
14:56a beautiful film visually,
14:57it's also more tedious,
14:59out of touch,
15:00and boring
15:01than any movie
15:01starring Meryl Streep
15:02and Robert Redford should be.
15:04Plus,
15:05its portrayal
15:05of a coffee farmer
15:06and big-game hunter
15:08finding love
15:08in the plains of Kenya
15:10outright ignores
15:11its blatantly
15:11colonialistic underpinnings.
15:13I used to think
15:14that there was nothing
15:14that you really wanted,
15:16but that's not it, is it?
15:18You want to have it all!
15:20Once again,
15:21the Academy ignored
15:21a worthier film
15:22from Steven Spielberg
15:23in The Color Purple.
15:25Sadly for him,
15:26it wouldn't be
15:26the last time either.
15:28Until you do right by me,
15:30everything you think about
15:31is gonna crush me.
15:33Number 6.
15:34Green Book
15:35By 2019,
15:36the Academy had no excuse
15:38for giving their highest honor
15:39to a movie
15:39as misguided as Green Book.
15:41Based on the story
15:42of pianist Don Shirley
15:43and his chauffeur
15:45Tony Vallelonga,
15:46this road-trip dramedy
15:47paints their relationship
15:48and his portrayal
15:49of racism
15:50in the broadest of strokes.
15:52I don't think
15:52I've ever met anyone
15:53with your appetite.
15:54No.
15:55I got the bucket
15:56so you could have some.
15:57I've never had
15:58fried chicken in my life.
16:00Mahershala Ali
16:00and Viggo Mortensen
16:01elevate the material considerably,
16:03but the characters
16:04are misrepresentations
16:05at best
16:06and offensive stereotypes
16:07at worst.
16:08What's particularly mystifying
16:10is that this win
16:11came on the heels
16:11of the hashtag
16:12Oscars So White movement
16:14and on a night
16:15when Spike Lee's
16:16Black Klansman
16:16could have paved
16:17a new way forward.
16:18What's your problem?
16:19That's my problem.
16:20For you,
16:20it's a crusade.
16:22For me,
16:22it's a job.
16:23It's not personal,
16:24nor should it be.
16:25Green Book
16:26was the kind of victory
16:26that wouldn't even
16:27have worked 30 years prior,
16:29but hold on to that thought.
16:30We'll come back to it.
16:31This is Dr. Donald Shirley.
16:36Merry Christmas.
16:41For its time,
16:43this ensemble drama
16:44was perhaps
16:45the preeminent example
16:46of an undeserving awards player.
16:48Capturing life
16:49under the big top,
16:50The Greatest Show on Earth
16:51is best remembered
16:52for its inclusion
16:52of real-life circus performers
16:54in its documentary-like set pieces.
16:56Oh,
16:57haven't you got enough clowns
16:58you gotta make a comic
16:59out of her?
16:59She was trying
17:00to break a record.
17:01She'd have broken
17:01more than a record.
17:05Unfortunately,
17:06that's about all
17:06the movie has going for it.
17:08We're still confused
17:09as to how
17:09a thinly sketched
17:10slice of life
17:11managed to top
17:12High Noon
17:12and Sing It in the Rain,
17:14the latter of which
17:15wasn't even nominated.
17:17The sun's in my heart
17:19and I'm ready for love.
17:22It could be
17:23that the Academy
17:23needed a successful movie
17:25to combat
17:25the increasing popularity
17:26of television
17:27or that it was
17:28a safer option
17:28in the age
17:29of the Hollywood blacklist.
17:31Whatever the case,
17:32it's no excuse
17:32for ignoring genre staples
17:34in the process.
17:35Here,
17:35never mind the record,
17:36get the show rolling,
17:37hurry!
17:37I can beat a drum,
17:39even with one hand,
17:40not until I'm through with you.
17:41Number 4,
17:42Driving Miss Daisy.
17:43If the Academy
17:44should have known better
17:45with Green Book,
17:46it's because this decision
17:47was truly confounding.
17:49And you don't have to go
17:50yapping about this
17:51to Booley or Fleury.
17:52No, no, no.
17:52This is between you and me.
17:54Tracing the friendship
17:55between an elderly widow
17:56and her black driver,
17:58Driving Miss Daisy
17:58is a feel-good film
17:59meant to appeal
18:00to the masses.
18:01And it did that,
18:02but at the expense
18:03of an enlightening depiction
18:04of race relations
18:05in the Deep South.
18:06The Best Picture race
18:07that year was a stacked one,
18:09and any other nominee
18:10would have made
18:10the night more satisfying.
18:12You took the wrong turn
18:13at all for life.
18:14Well, now,
18:14you took it with me,
18:15Miss Daisy.
18:16But the Academy
18:17really rubbed salt
18:18in the wound
18:18by not nominating
18:20Do the Right Thing.
18:21Once again,
18:22Spike Lee's more direct
18:23and abrasive portrayal
18:24of the same issues
18:25started a conversation
18:26much bigger
18:27than the Academy itself,
18:28but voters looked
18:29in the complete opposite direction.
18:31I'll leave 50 bucks.
18:34Keep it.
18:35You keep it.
18:35You keep it.
18:37You keep it.
18:37No, you keep it.
18:37You keep it.
18:38Number three,
18:39Around the World in 80 Days.
18:41As we've seen,
18:42the Academy are by no means
18:44strangers to recognizing
18:45a towering epic.
18:46However,
18:47just because the movie
18:48is the biggest epic
18:49in a lineup full of them
18:50doesn't guarantee
18:51it's the best.
18:52That's a lesson voters learned
18:54after awarding
18:55this star-studded
18:55yet bloated
18:56Jules Verne adaptation.
18:58What have we decided
18:58to save her?
18:59Good heavens,
19:00man,
19:00you can't interfere
19:00the rate of affairs.
19:01Why not?
19:02Oh, it isn't done.
19:04My master does things
19:05other people do not, sir.
19:06Around the World
19:07has no shortage
19:08of spectacle,
19:09but greatly lacks
19:09in substance,
19:11often acting as a travel log
19:12with no emotional
19:13through line.
19:14Both the Ten Commandments
19:15and Giant
19:16had this quality
19:17in spades,
19:18with the latter
19:18in particular
19:19practically demanding
19:20respect thanks to
19:21a powerhouse James Dean
19:22in his final role.
19:23I want you to know
19:24that I appreciate
19:25her generosity.
19:29And yours too, babe.
19:31And y'all.
19:32I surely want
19:33to thank you for it.
19:34With his over-reliance
19:35on gimmicks
19:36and dated performances,
19:37Around the World
19:38was too superficial
19:39for his win
19:39to make sense then,
19:41let alone now.
19:42Our poor,
19:42benighted sinners,
19:44the very sort
19:44I've been telling you about.
19:46Don't do it, sir.
19:46Don't do it.
19:47Don't give in
19:48to the Prince of Darkness.
19:49Number 2.
19:50Shakespeare in Love
19:51In the alternate reality
19:52where this historical dramedy
19:54doesn't beat
19:54Saving Private Ryan
19:55for Best Picture,
19:56it's probably considered
19:57a charming romance
19:58with lots of heart.
19:59You ran from me before.
20:01When I thought you did,
20:02I did not care about
20:03all the plays
20:04that would never come.
20:05Only that I would
20:06never see your face.
20:08Even in this reality,
20:09it can still be viewed
20:10that way.
20:10But any goodwill
20:11most cinephiles had
20:12towards Shakespeare in Love
20:14is still missing.
20:14And it's not just
20:15because Steven Spielberg's
20:17war epic
20:17was an infinitely
20:18better choice.
20:21Ernest.
20:27Ernest.
20:27While its connection
20:28to producer Harvey Weinstein
20:30and his aggressive awards campaign
20:31is hard to ignore,
20:33its dubiousness
20:33as a Best Picture winner
20:35still comes down
20:36to its own lack
20:36of substance.
20:37With three heart-wrenching
20:39World War II movies
20:40as its competition,
20:41it was likely
20:41the most accessible
20:42nominee that year.
20:43But that didn't make
20:44its upset sting any less.
20:46But all ends well.
20:49How does it?
20:51I don't know.
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21:11Each of this ensemble drama's
21:14Oscar nominations alone
21:15were cause for dismay,
21:16so the fact that
21:17it took home Best Picture
21:18is a travesty
21:19of the highest order.
21:20We don't blame Crash
21:21for wanting to tackle
21:22complicated subjects
21:23like racism
21:24and xenophobia
21:25at a potent time in history,
21:27but we can't resist
21:28admonishing its
21:29ham-fisted execution.
21:30Look, we're sorry
21:31and we would appreciate
21:35if you just let us go
21:36with a warning, please.
21:37Poorly written and directed,
21:39the movie attempts
21:40to create unity
21:40through shameless
21:41emotional manipulation,
21:43but it does such a bad job
21:44that it would have been
21:45more effective
21:45had it said nothing at all.
21:47I'm not going to touch you.
21:49But there's nobody else here yet
21:51and that's gasoline there.
21:54We need to get you
21:55out of here right away.
21:56Made all the more infuriating
21:57by the fact that it topped
21:58the groundbreaking
21:59Brokeback Mountain.
22:00Crash is more than just
22:01the worst Best Picture winner.
22:03It's a bad movie
22:04in every respect.
22:05I want you to sit down
22:06on that curb
22:06with your hands on your head
22:07and do nothing
22:08until I speak with these officers.
22:09I'm not sitting on no curb
22:10and I'm not putting my hands
22:11on my head for nobody.
22:12What's the worst Best Picture
22:13winner you've ever seen?
22:14Is there one we forgot to mention?
22:16Let us know down in the comments.
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