The 10 Worst Best Pictures

The 10 Worst Best Pictures - from Empire magazine

1. Braveheart (1995)
"This typical piece of Pom-bashing from Mel Gibson is just about the all-time worst Best Picture. Randall Wallace might have merited praise for making 14th-century history relevant to audiences who thought King Edward was a potato or a cigar, but his dialogue has all the thudding subtlety of a parody."

2. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
"Some critics are still reeling from the fact this fictionalised biopic of John Forbes Nash drew eight nominations. But Ron Howard's clunkingly intricate direction of Akiva Goldsman's wilfully dishonest screenplay makes its landing the big prize all the more galling."

3. The Greatest Show On Earth (1952)
"If ever a movie was misnamed it was Cecil B. DeMille's tawdry circus spectacle that send hoary cliches and caricatures trotting round the ring."

4. Ordinary People (1980)
"Robert Redford's directorial bow is nothing more than a TV-movie that got lucky. This should have been the year that Raging Bull triumphed and saw Martin Scorsese crossed off the long list of legends who have never won an Academy Award."

5. Forrest Gump (1994)
"Tinseltown's ghastly self-satisfaction with both the sentiments embraced by this revisionist nonsense and the cutting-edge technology employed to realise them."

6. Terms Of Endearment (1983)
"Many rank 1983 among Hollywood's worst years. Its nominations were as predictable as its decision to laud a weepie espousing family values."

7. Around the World In 80 Days (1956)
"Whoever said size doesn't matter had no insight into the minds of those eligible to vote for the Oscars. Producer Mike Todd succeeded in squeezing 70,000 extras from 13 countries... showcasing 240 sets and locations. But too many of the 45 A-list co-stars were confined to blink'n'miss 'em cameos..."

8. Cavalcade (1933)
"The bogus upstairs-downstairs accents are excusable theatrical conceits compared to the patronising politics underpinning the sentimental storylines."

9. Rocky (1976)
"Considering that Watergate and Vietnam had given the USA's self-image one hell of a hammering, it was hardly surprising that the Academy should hail a picture restoring the American dream."

10. How Green Was My Valley (1941)
"How could it possibly be considered superior to either of 1941's exceptional directorial debuts, John Huston's The Maltese Falcon or Orson Welles's Citizen Kane? Blame Hollywood's eagerness to show solidarity with war-torn Britain."