A Best Picture win can hang around a film’s neck like an albatross, earning it more backlash and hate than is often warranted. With this in mind, this list looks atsome Best Picture winnersthat are not as bad as their harshest critics make out. While they’re not masterpieces, they’re not awful either.
FromGreen BooktoShakespeare in Love, the following ten movies are still enjoyable and packed with more than a few strong moments, even if they’re not necessarily profound or innovative. Sure,not all of them deserved their Oscars, but all of them are worth watching.
10’The Last Emperor' (1987)
Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
“I was the Son of Heaven.” For years,The Last Emperorhas been remembered more for its sweep than its substance. Yes, it’s grand. Yes, it won nine Oscars. Sure, many of its elements scream “Oscar bait”. But beneath the opulence is a startlingly intimate story about identity, loneliness, and the collapse of a world. The life ofPu Yi(John Lone), who becomes emperor as a toddler and ends up a forgotten prisoner of communism, is fascinating. His story becomes a great snapshot of a very specific moment in time, as well as a microcosm of China’s political upheavals.
Rather than being a conventional historical epic, this movie is reallya study in exile. DirectorBernardo Bertoluccicaptures the fading grandeur of imperial China with haunting elegance, and the score byRyuichi Sakamoto,David Byrne, andCong Suwraps the whole thing in mournful beauty. Bertolucci’s more incendiary work tends to overshadow it, butThe Last Emperoris still certainly worth checking out.
The Last Emperor
9’Ordinary People' (1980)
Directed by Robert Redford
“You never came to the hospital. How do you know about the hospital?” When people complain thatRaging Bulllost Best Picture,Ordinary Peoplebecomes the scapegoat. But that dismissal misses the quiet devastation at its core. This isn’t about boxing or bravado. It’s about guilt. About grief that calcifies. About a teenager who survives a boating accident that kills his brother, and the mother who can’t forgive him for living.
Robert Redford’s direction (in his debut behind the camera) is subtle, never flashy. The performances, particularly fromMary Tyler MooreandTimothy Hutton,are similarly raw and restrained. It’s a film that understands how families fracture not through screaming, but through silence. WhileRaging Bullis the more iconic and influential film,Ordinary Peopleis still worth watchingfor its sensitive storytelling and quiet truths. Not to mention, the music is fantastic too, especially the repeated use ofPachelbel’s “Canon”.
Ordinary People
8’Green Book' (2018)
Directed by Peter Farrelly
“The world is full of lonely people afraid to make the first move.” Few Best Picture winners have inspired as much immediate backlash asGreen Book. Admittedly, it’s far from a masterpiece (though, in its defense, it was probably never trying to be.) Strip away the thinkpieces and hot takes, and what’s left is actually a very human road movie. Flawed, yes, but also funny and tender. The story ofTony Vallelonga(Viggo Mortensen), a working-class bouncer, andDr. Don Shirley(Mahershala Ali), an elite Black pianist, crossing the Deep South in 1962, is told with a light touch that sneaks up on you.
The chemistry between the stars does most of the heavy lifting.Ali, in particular, elevates every scene he’s in, and the film’s ending is better than it’s often given credit for. Critics wanted something angrier, more radical, more complex. Instead,Green Bookis about small shifts and awkward growth. The story itself may not be revolutionary, but it’s sincere, and sometimes that’s enough.
Green Book
7’Gigi' (1958)
Directed by Vincente Minnelli
“Thank Heaven for little girls, for little girls get bigger every day.” Dismissed today for its outdated gender politics and cloying songs,Gigihas become an easy punchline. Still, it has its old-fashioned charms. Watch it again, and you might find something more complex beneath the gloss. Set in turn-of-the-century Paris, it centers on a young girl (Leslie Caron) being groomed for courtesanship… only to disrupt the whole tradition with her stubborn, sincere sense of self.
Gigiis admittedly pretty strange. It’s a film caught between eras, both celebrating and critiquing the system it portrays. The costumes and set design are undeniably lush, but it’s the odd emotional tone (part satire, part sincerity) that lingers. Fortunately,Vincente Minnelli’s direction is pure elegance: lavish, witty, and tonally sharper than it’s often remembered. In the end,Gigiis flawed and dated, also a time capsule of cinematic craft and cultural contradiction that deserves more than a shrug.
6’A Man for All Seasons' (1966)
Directed by Fred Zinnemann
“When a man takes an oath, he’s holding his own self in his own hands.” There are no battles in this drama. Just words. Just integrity. Just a quiet refusal to bend. It’s one of the most intellectually rigorous films the Academy has ever honored. The story ofSir Thomas More(Paul Scofield), a man who chooses moral principle over political survival, feels almost radical in its calmness.
Scofield is astonishing as More, giving a performance of pure gravity. He took home Oscar gold for his efforts. It helps that he’s given rich material to work with. The script, drawn fromRobert Bolt’s play, is tight, lyrical, and filled with ethical fire.It’s a meditation on conscience, wrapped in velvet robes and candlelight. In the end,A Man for All Seasonsis a solid example of what moral dramas can look like when handled with a deft touch.
A Man for All Seasons
5’Shakespeare in Love' (1998)
Directed by John Madden
“I would stay asleep my whole life, if I could dream myself into a company of players.“Saving Private Ryanwas the obvious choice.Shakespeare in Lovewas the surprise, and that surprise sparked decades of resentment. But if you set theSpielbergsnub aside, what you get isa sparkling, literate, funny, and unabashedly romantic filmthat celebrates both love and language. It’s not epic;it’s sweet and theatrical, and that’s exactly the point.
This is a film about creation, about the chaos and magic of art, and it sings with joy. The cast is terrific, the screenplay a marvel of structure and cleverness, and the tone perfectly pitched between farce and tragedy. Yes, some loathsome Hollywood figures campaigned hard for this win, but that’s not the film’s fault. Watch it without bitterness, andShakespeare in Lovereveals itself as one of the most purely enjoyable Best Picture winners ever made.
Shakespeare in Love
4’Out of Africa' (1985)
Directed by Sydney Pollack
“I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills.” Long, slow, and drenched in golden light,Out of Africahas become shorthand for Oscar prestige; romanticized, exoticized, and maybe a little indulgent. These critiques are valid and the film is definitely not as good as its fans made it out to be back in 1985. Nevertheless, it’s not a complete dud either. Behind the sweeping landscapes and elegant costume design lies a sorrowful, deeply personal film about displacement, loneliness, and love that refuses to fit the fairytale mold.
Meryl Streepgives one of her most nuanced performances here asKaren Blixen, andRobert Redford, as her enigmatic lover Denys, plays against type with beautiful restraint. Through these characters, the film’s melancholy tone builds slowly but with purpose, until it becomes something more lasting than a love story: a statement on grief. Rewatch it not for the plot, but for the feeling it leaves behind.
Out of Africa
3’Chariots of Fire' (1981)
Directed by Hugh Hudson
“I believe God made me for a purpose. But He also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.” Ask most people to name the best sports movies ever made, andChariots of Firerarely makes the list. It’s definitely faded a little in the public consciousness. When it’s remembered at all, it’s usually for theVangelisscore and slow-motion beach run. Yet the film is far more layered than this oft-parodied sequence suggested. Fundamentally,it’s a quiet, dignified exploration of conviction, identity, and the cost of living by principle.
Chariots of Firetells the parallel stories of two runners, one Jewish (Ben Cross), one Christian (Ian Charleson), competing in the 1924 Olympics for reasons far deeper than gold. It’s a film about what drives a person when applause isn’t enough. It’s one of the rare Best Picture winners that elevates sport to spiritual metaphor, without ever turning its characters into clichés.
Chariots of Fire
2’The Greatest Show on Earth' (1952)
Directed by Cecil B. DeMille
“The circus is the only fun you can buy that is good for you.” This one’s easy to hate. In fact, it’s often cited as the worst Best Picture winner of all time. But dismissingThe Greatest Show on Earthoutright means ignoring what it actually is: a massive, Technicolor spectacle that serves as a living time capsule of mid-century showbiz, and a celebration of performance itself. It’s not deep or subtle (and one can point to more than a few narrative stumbles), butit is dazzling, and in its own way, sincere.
Basically, this is popcorn cinema with an Oscar. It may not be high art, but it’s circus magic. The film mixes melodrama with jaw-dropping stunt work, live animal chaos, and a cast of characters that range from charming to cartoonish. Yes, it beatHigh NoonandThe Quiet Man, but its win is a reminder of what Hollywood once valued: scope, pageantry, and big top wonder.
The Greatest Show on Earth
1’Oliver!' (1968)
Directed by Carol Reed
“Please, sir, I want some more.” Musicals have always had a rocky relationship with critics, andOliver!has become a casualty of that snobbery. But this adaptation ofDickens' classic, orphan angst, toe-tapping tunes and all, is far more than cheerful choreography. There’s real darkness here. Real menace. And a visual sophistication that shouldn’t be overlooked.It’s one of the rare musicals that dares to balance joy and despair in equal measure.
From the grubby workhouses to the shadowy alleys of Victorian London,Oliver!captures both the wonder and horror of childhood. It has a fairy tale quality that transcends time and place. The performances are rich, the songs iconic, andCarol Reed’s direction tighter than it’s often credited for. Not to mention, the writing manages to make Dickens' story even warmer than it is simply on the page. While it’s easy to roll your eyes at its Best Picture win, the film’s emotional complexity and production value earn it a second look.
