The Worst Of The "Best"
I think we can all agree that the movie that wins Best Picture at the Academy Awards isn't always the best movie. However, although not the best, it's usually a really good film. But, sometimes that isn't even the case—as you will see with these 12 films. But how did we determine which movies made the cut?
Well, we checked out every Best Picture-winning movie on Rotten Tomatoes. We also determined that an 80% score was going to be the cut off point. Sure, a score in the 70% range is pretty good. But we're talking "Best" Picture here, and 80% felt like a more proper line to draw in the proverbial sand.
Of the 98 movies that have won a Best Picture Oscar—12 of them have a Rotten Tomatoes score below that 80% mark. Starting with the worst reviewed winner in history...
The Broadway Melody (1929)
RT Score: 42
The second ever Best Picture winner, and the first sound film to win the award, The Broadway Melody was well received by both audiences and critics in 1929, but has seen its appeal fall over time—leading to its current 42% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
MGM, The Broadway Melody (1929)
The Greatest Show On Earth (1952)
RT Score: 50
This grand Cecil B DeMille production was a controversial win, even at the time—especially given the fact that the great film High Noon was also nominated in the category. And it's hard to fathom, but Singin' In The Rain wasn't even nominated.
Some say it was the academy seeing its last chance to give DeMille an Oscar, while others claim it was the political climate created by Joseph McCarthy and his blacklist. Either way, The Greatest Show on Earth was not even close to the greatest movie that year.
Paramount, The Greatest Show On Earth (1952)
Cimarron (1931)
RT Score: 52
As popular as Westerns have been in the history of Hollywood—only four Westerns have ever won Best Picture. Cimarron was the first. And while many found it deserving at the time, the film has been decimated by modern critics. "Seen with contemporary eyes, the film is badly dated, slow moving, and pocked with racist caricatures," wrote one modern review.
Out Of Africa (1985)
RT Score: 62
Out of Africa made over $200 million at the box office and won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, and Cinematography. And while the film's sets and scope were almost universally praised—that 62% Rotten Tomato score is primarily due to the film's 2 hour and 41 minute length and its extra slow pace.
Mirage Enterprises, Out of Africa (1985)
Cavalcade (1933)
RT Score: 64
A middle-of-the-pack movie, Cavalcade might've deserved its nomination, but not the win. Also nominated that year was 42nd Street, the classic musical that currently holds a 92% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Fox Film Corporation, Cavalcade (1933)
Around The World In 80 Days (1956)
RT Score: 72
David Niven is great and Around the World in 80 Days is fun, charming "light-hearted entertainment". Which, that year, was enough to make it the "Best" movie of the year. We will just point out that Giant, The King and I, and The Ten Commandments were also nominees that year.
Michael Todd Company, Around The World In 80 Days (1956)
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
RT Score: 72
The Great Ziegfeld was one of the most financially successful movies of the 1930s, but it is also the third film from that decade to end up on this list. It is also yet another film that has seen a critical re-evaluation over the years. Variety called it an "outstanding picture" at the time—but, as one modern day writer put it, The Great Ziegfeld is a "textbook case of how a film can lose its appeal over the years".
MGM, The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
Crash (2004)
RT Score: 73
Paul Haggis' Oscar-winner is one of those movies that you either love or you hate. Enough people loved it to get it over the line for its Best Picture win, but enough were on the other side to settle its Rotten Tomatoes score in the low 70s. To this day, there are also many who are still angry that it beat out Brokeback Mountain for the top prize.
Bob Yari Productions, Crash (2004)
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
RT Score: 74
This one might surprise a few people, given how much audiences loved this movie—as evidenced by its 93% audience score. But while audience praise was almost universal, critics weren't as certain about A Beautiful Mind. They liked it, but that 74% score doesn't really scream "Best Picture".
Universal, A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Forrest Gump (1994)
RT Score: 75
There is no denying that Forrest Gump is one of the most beloved films of the last 40 years. But while audiences loved it and went back to see it over and over again—to the tune of over $680 million at the box office—critics took a slightly more critical view of the picture.
While some called it "complex" and "magical", others called it "glib, shallow, and monotonous"—leading to the good, but not great, 75% Rotten Tomato score.
Paramount, Forrest Gump (1994)
Braveheart (1995)
RT Score: 76
In 2003, readers of Empire magazine voted Braveheart the best film of 1995. A couple years later, the magazine did a poll, and Braveheart was named number one on the list of "The Top 10 Worst Pictures to Win Best Picture Oscar".
Icon Entertainment, Braveheart (1995)
Green Book (2018)
RT Score: 77
The most recent Best Picture winner on the list is 2018's Green Book. And again the critics and the audience had a little difference of opinion. While some critics took issue with the way the racial aspects of the story were handled, audiences happily fell for this biographical comedy-drama and scored it 91% on Rotten Tomatoes.
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