Movies That Lost the Oscar for Best Picture to a Lower Rated Film

Actor Timothée Chalamet delivers a breakout performance as a 17-year-old student in this coming-of-age drama, set in early 1980s Italy. With the introduction of an older man (Armie Hammer) comes an exploration of sexual identity. It took home an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, making the then-89-year-old James Ivory the oldest-ever winner of a competitive Oscar.

Writer Ernest Thompson adapted his own hit play when penning the script for this acclaimed drama. Starring Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn at the twilight stage of their careers, it follows their characters to a summer vacation home. Thompson, Fonda, and Hepburn all won Academy Awards for their efforts.

From veteran director Peter Yates came this British drama about a struggling theater production during WWII. It received five Oscar nominations in total – including Best Actor nods for stars Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay – losing in all categories.

In one of the most famous Oscar upsets of all time, Tarantino’s masterpiece took home only a single statue for Best Original Screenplay, out of seven nominations. Presented in three parts, the film interweaves gritty characters and classic crime stories against an L.A. backdrop. Its unique tone and considerable success imparted palpable influence across the cinematic landscape for years to come.

This political thriller follows reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) as they crack open the Watergate scandal. More than a benchmark of its respective sub-genre, the film arguably ushered in a new era of journalism. It was knocked out of the ring by Stallone’s “Rocky” in a bout that some would contest and others would staunchly defend.

Director Martin McDonagh’s crime drama centers on a frustrated mother (Frances McDormand), who goes to extremes when the police can’t find her daughter’s killer. It drew inspiration from real-life events but remains entirely fictional in terms of execution. McDormand and co-star Sam Rockwell both took home Oscars for their respective performances.

Once given up for adoption as an infant, a Black doctor (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) reunites with her white working-class birth mother (Brenda Blethyn) in this British dramedy. Written and directed by Mike Leigh, it explores themes of class and race through a humane and empathic lens. Common Sense Media critic Tom Cassidy called it “a bonafide masterpiece.”

Jordan Peele’s directorial debut sends a young Black man (Daniel Kaluuya) into the starch-white suburbs, where he finds himself a stranger in a strange land. What begins with a prescient examination of racial differences becomes something far more sinister by the time the story concludes. It captured the zeitgeist and made Peele the first-ever African-American to win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Sylvester Stallone’s “Rocky” knocked out more than one masterpiece when it won for Best Picture in 1977. Among its competitors was this timeless satire about shallow media culture and the greedy pursuit of television ratings. “Network” did take home four other Oscars, including Best Original Screenplay for Sidney Aaron Chayefsky.

Author Tom Wolfe’s non-fiction novel laid the groundwork for this similarly sprawling drama, which traces the roots of America’s space program. It opens with the breaking of the sound barrier and later follows a team of fearless astronauts on a defining mission. A commercial disappointment upon release, it eventually took off on the home rental market.

Peter Jackson’s epic fantasy trilogy kicked off with this blockbuster installment, in which a Hobbit named Frodo (Elijah Wood) embarks on a perilous quest. Unique characters and stunning visual effects bring the story to life, blazing a trail that continues to reverberate in popular culture and entertainment. It won four Oscars in minor categories and currently sits at #9 on IMDb’s list of the Top 250 Movies.

Director Francis Ford Coppola expended every last ounce of creative energy when crafting this hallucinatory masterpiece. Loosely adapted from a Joseph Conrad novella, it sends a U.S. Army captain (Martin Sheen) through the heart of the Vietnam War. Various versions and runtimes exist, including a “Final Cut” released in 2019.

This Coen Brothers classic depicts a Midwestern kidnapping plot gone awry as only they can. Juxtaposing idiosyncratic comedy with shocking violence, it features career-defining performances from William H. Macy and Frances McDormand. “The film is a work of brick-by-brick world-building in the service of characters whose ordinariness is just as carefully crafted,” wrote critic Chris Packham for Village Voice.

This multi-layered drama takes place in a South American prison, where two inmates (William Hurt and Raul Julia) learn to overcome their differences. It was based on an Argentine novel, which was later adapted into a Broadway musical. Hurt won an Academy Award for his performance as gay prisoner Luis Molina.

Director Damien Chazelle expanded upon his own previous short film when crafting this feature debut of the same name. It takes place inside a competitive music conservatory, where a young drummer (Miles Teller) suffers the whims of his ruthless instructor (J.K. Simmons). The story moves at a breakneck pace and features an Oscar-winning performance from Simmons.

The same year that “Forrest Gump” beat out “Pulp Fiction,” this heralded drama lost in all seven Oscar categories for which it was nominated. Set inside Shawshank State Prison, it chronicles a harrowing story of injustice and survival. Commercially disappointing at the time of release, it now sits at #1 on IMDb’s list of the Top 250 Movies.

In addition to classics like “Network” and “All the President’s Men,” 1976 saw the release of this gritty psychological drama. It stars Robert De Niro as taxi driver Travis Bickle, whose descent into madness conjures real-life consequences. Neither director Martin Scorsese nor screenwriter Paul Schrader received even Oscar nominations for their efforts.

This crime drama stars Harrison Ford as Detective John Book, who must live on an Amish farm in order to protect a young murder witness (Lukas Haas). When Book falls in love with the boy’s mother (Kelly McGillis), two starkly different cultural worlds collide. The film was nominated for eight Oscars, winning for Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing.

Following a brutal invasion sequence, a troop of soldiers go behind enemy lines on an important retrieval mission in this WWII drama. It took home five Academy Awards overall, but only one in a major category (of Best Director). Star Tom Hanks lost in the Best Actor race to Roberto Benigni for “Life is Beautiful” while “Shakespeare in Love” swept through the other major categories.

Based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Steven Spielberg’s historical drama covers four decades in the life of a Southern Black woman. Her troubles at home are matched by the nakedly racist society in which she comes of age. It features Oscar-nominated performances from Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey.

This WWII drama stars Adrien Brody as a Jewish pianist, who struggles to survive in the harsh Warsaw ghetto. A number of its stories are taken from the pages of a 1946 memoir by Holocaust survivor Władysław Szpilman. It took home Academy Awards for Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

The same year that made director James Cameron a “king of the world” turned Matt Damon and Ben Affleck into overnight A-listers. They co-wrote and starred in this seminal drama, about an M.I.T janitor who also happens to be a mathematical genius (Damon). It won Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (for Robin Williams).

This period crime drama adapts James Ellroy’s pulpy novel and takes place in 1950s Los Angeles. In the wake of a deadly shooting, three policemen uncover a deep corruption that leads straight to their own door. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards, winning for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (for Kim Basinger).

Before “The Return of the King” swept all 11 Oscars for which it was nominated, this acclaimed sequel took home just two in minor categories. It continues the journey of Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) as they attempt to destroy an all-powerful ring. Shot on a reported budget of $94 million, it made over $936 million (before inflation) at the worldwide box office.

More than a franchise-starter, Spielberg’s historical adventure set a new benchmark for the modern action genre. Harrison Ford plays fearless archaeologist Indiana Jones, who races against Nazis in his pursuit of the lost Ark of the Covenant. It won four Oscars in minor categories as well as a Special Achievement Award for Sound Effects Editing.