The Lowest-Scoring Best Picture Nominees of the Past 30 Years
As history—and Metascores—show, Academy Award nominations reveal best picture contenders, but not necessarily the best pictures.
We've looked through the best picture Oscar fields of the last 30 years, from the 1989 nominees through the recently announced 2018 field, cross-checked the nominees' Metacritic scores, and ranked the 24 lowest-scoring films, from the bottom to the relative top. Four of these films went on to become best picture winners—but none boasts a Metascore higher than 69.
Mel Gibson's popular 1995 epic about the fight for Scottish independence conquered the 68th Annual Academy Awards. Nominated in 10 categories, it won five times. Actor-director-producer Gibson himself claimed two trophies, for best picture and best director. But where the Academy saw greatness, some critics saw overwrought spectacle.
“A rambling disappointment.” —Desson Thomson, Washington Post