15 Worst Best Picture Snubs, Ranked

Yes, Gone with the Wind is certainly a celebrated film in its own right. Yes, it was in no way as deserving of the Best Picture award as The Wizard of Oz, a wondrous technical achievement that has gone down in the decades since as one of the most influential films of all time. Despite the many — and there are many — aspects of Gone with the Wind that have received increased backlash in recent years due to overt themes of racism and sexism, it is undoubtedly a part of cinematic history for better or for worse… whereas The Wizard of Oz is nothing less than an icon.

Of course, Tom Hanks’ performance in Forrest Gump is iconic, but being nominated alongside Pulp Fiction, the Tarantino film that birthed a whole new generation of film nerds, and The Shawshank Redemption, which overcome an initial box office flop to become a classic, has not done the film any favors. While Pulp Fiction ushered in a groundbreaking new cinematic voice, it’s The Shawshank Redemption that deserved Best Picture for its profound cultural impact and for having arguably one of the best endings of any movie ever. 

While Oscar voters were clearly bowled over by the elaborate visuals and decadence of The Last Emperor, they missed out on awarding a soon-to-be classic, Broadcast News, with Best Picture. With James L. Brooks’ sharp writing on gender dynamics and relationships within a newsroom and winning performances from Holly Hunter and William Hurt, it’s clear why the film has its position in cinematic history, whereas The Last Emperor has more or less faded in moviegoers’ imaginations. 

And I liked The Shape of Water! With that said, the sheer number of fantastic films in the Best Picture category this year — Lady Bird, Phantom Thread, and Dunkirk, just to name a few — clearly outshine Guillermo del Toro’s creature-feature romance, but none so much as Jordan Peele’s debut tour de force Get Out. Darkly comedic and legitimately scary, Get Out has become such a cultural touchstone that it has revitalized a subgenre — the social thriller — and remains a conversation starter years after its release. 

An unfortunate trend in the Academy is their propensity for giving Best Picture to a “serious,” albeit less galvanizing film over a more spirited, often genre-based nominee. This has happened in recent years with the Academy choosing Spotlight over Mad Max: Fury Road, but it was most upsetting with Chariots of Fire winning instead of Steven Spielberg’s iconic Raiders of the Lost Ark. Hopefully Raiders of the Lost Ark becoming one of the most influential movies of all time was a worthy consolation prize for losing out on the top film award of the year.

Kramer v. Kramer, a legal drama anchored by two powerhouse actors in Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, is an excellent film, yes, but it simply doesn’t hold a candle to arguably the greatest war movie ever made. While receiving a more mixed critical reception upon its release, Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam War epic has only grown in stature and renown over time.

Another textbook case of Oscar voters choosing staid historical dramas (this particular year’s winner was The English Patient) over more exciting, original voices in cinema, Fargo not winning Best Picture at the 1997 ceremony was at least partially rectified by Frances McDormand winning Best Actress for her role as pregnant cop Marge Gunderson. While the Coen brothers did finally manage the top prize for No Country for Old Men, it’s no question they deserved it for Fargo as well. 

This snub is more remembered by the epic behind-the-scenes melodrama that led to Shakespeare in Love winning than anything else, so it’s worth mentioning that they are both very accomplished films. With that said, the strong-arming techniques of Harvey Weinstein and Miramax played a role in obfuscating the fact that Saving Private Ryan was clearly the better, more enduring film, and more deserving of the top prize. 

Once again, Harvey Weinstein used aggressive awards campaigning to deliver a less-than-deserving historical drama to the Best Picture award at the expense of a better movie! By using a gripe against the MPAA to drum up support for The King’s Speech, which was perfectly fine if a little bland, Weinstein deliberately overshadowed The Social Network, which boasted an instantly iconic screenplay from Aaron Sorkin and pitch-perfect performances from Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield.

Considered charmless by critics even upon its initial release, it remains baffling to this day that Out of Africa, a sweeping but ultimately lacking historical romance starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, beat out The Color Purple, a more accomplished film anchored by a stellar performance from Whoopi Goldberg. While criticisms levied towards Steven Spielberg perhaps not being the ideal choice for director given the subject matter being so thoroughly entrenched in the struggles of American slavery are sound, there is a reason why The Color Purple has endured in the cultural memory, and Out of Africa has decidedly not. 

As is the case with many of these famous snubs, Ordinary People  has attracted some unnecessary ire for beating out Raging Bull for Best Picture, despite it being a great movie in its own right. With that said, Martin Scorsese’s skillful examination of tortured boxer Jake LaMotta was flat-out the better choice for the award, despite the raw violence depicted, which no doubt turned off certain members of the Academy. 

There are some good things about Green Book. Yes, 99 percent of them have to do with the fact that Mahershala Ali is in it, but despite Ali’s capable presence, Green Book still plays as a parody of Oscar bait — half-baked accents, a tepid white savior narrative, and generally dull storytelling. When compared to BlacKkKlansman, an invigorating, biting commentary on race, policing, and identity, Green Book‘s win looks outright embarrassing on the Academy’s part. To quote Spike Lee, the writer and director of BlacKkKlansman, when asked about Green Book,  “Not my cup of tea.”

Speaking of dull storytelling about race relations in America! Crash winning Best Picture over Brokeback Mountain inspired widespread ridicule towards the Academy at the time and continues to spark confusion to this day. Yes, Ang Lee’s slow-burning gay romance still picked up wins for Director, Screenplay, and Score, but the rumored homophobia in the Academy that impeded the film from claiming the top prize remains infuriating — especially when Crash isn’t even the best movie with that exact title. 

Martin Scorsese has long had trouble with the Academy failing to properly recognize his work, but Dances with Wolves beating out Goodfellas for Best Picture is almost laughably egregious. While undoubtedly a technical achievement on director Kevin Costner’s part, his complacent Civil War-era Western doesn’t hold a candle to the whiz-bang showmanship Scorsese pulls off in Goodfellas, and his balancing act between the flashiness and moral rot in the Mafia.

Probably the most-cited example of the Oscars failing to give the award to the most deserving movie, Citizen Kane being beaten out by How Green Was My Valley, a drama helmed by John Ford (an iconic director in his own right, but for Westerns, not dramas), is a reality that becomes more and more unbelievable with each passing year. Citizen Kane endures due to its technical wizardry, stellar performances, and profound influence on moviemaking as a whole. It’s considered the best of all time for a reason.