The Worst Oscar Winning Movie per Year (1980-2023)
This list lists the worst movies that won an Oscar, regardless of category. This is my opinion and some of these movies aren't bad and even deserved to win in their categories. Also, no short films allowed.
Edit: Updated to include 2023 winners
Edit: Updated to include 2023 winners
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- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsEddie BarthIrene CaraLee CurreriA chronicle of the lives of several teenagers who attend a New York high school for students gifted in the performing arts.Won: Best Score and Best Song "Fame"
- DirectorMark RydellStarsKatharine HepburnHenry FondaJane FondaNorman is a curmudgeon with an estranged relationship with his daughter Chelsea. At Golden Pond, he and his wife nevertheless agree to care for Billy, the son of Chelsea's new boyfriend, and a most unexpected relationship blooms.Won: Best Actor "Henry Fonda", Best Actress "Katherine Hepburn", and Best Adapted Screenplay (I know a lot of people like this movie but I think it's sentimental mush)
- DirectorJosé Luis GarciStarsAntonio FerrandisEncarna PasoJosé BódaloA renowned Spanish writer returns to his natal city after 40 years and embarks on a journey back to his roots, triggering memories of his past.Won: Best International Feature Film
- DirectorAdrian LyneStarsJennifer BealsMichael NouriLilia SkalaAn 18-year-old female amateur dancer who performs nightly at a dancing bar, and works as a welder during the day, dreams of joining the Pittsburgh ballet school.Won: Best Song "Flashdance... What a Feeling"
- DirectorGene WilderStarsGene WilderKelly LeBrockCharles GrodinOn his way to work, Teddy spots Charlotte, an incredibly beautiful Woman in Red. He really wants to meet her, but what would his wife say?Won: Best Song "I Just Called to Say I Love You"
- DirectorTaylor HackfordStarsMikhail BaryshnikovGregory HinesJerzy SkolimowskiA Russian American ballet dancer's airplane is forced to land in USSR, where he's "repatriated". He stays with an American man married to a Russian. Will the American help him flee USSR?Won: Best Song "Say You, Say Me"
- DirectorTony ScottStarsTom CruiseTim RobbinsKelly McGillisAs students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom.Won: Best Song "Take My Breath Away"
- DirectorWilliam DearStarsJohn LithgowMelinda DillonMargaret LangrickThe Henderson family adopt a friendly Sasquatch but have a hard time trying to keep the legend of 'Bigfoot' a secret.Won: Best Makeup
- DirectorRobert RedfordStarsRubén BladesRichard BradfordSonia BragaThe accidental breakdown of an irrigation valve launches a hot confrontation between the mainly Latino farmers in a tiny New Mexico town and the real estate developers and politicians determined to acquire their land for a golf resort.Won: Best Score
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsMorgan FreemanJessica TandyDan AykroydAn old Jewish woman and her African-American chauffeur in the American South have a relationship that grows and improves over the years.Won: Best Picture, Best Actress "Jessica Tandy", Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Makeup
- DirectorWarren BeattyStarsWarren BeattyMadonnaAl PacinoThe comic strip detective finds his life vastly complicated when Breathless Mahoney makes advances towards him while he is trying to battle Big Boy Caprice's united mob.Won: Best Song "Sooner or Later", Best Art Direction, and Best Makeup
- DirectorRon UnderwoodStarsBilly CrystalJack PalanceDaniel SternOn the verge of turning 40, an unhappy Manhattan yuppie is roped into joining his two friends on a cattle drive in the southwest.Won: Best Supporting Actor "Jack Palance"
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsMeryl StreepBruce WillisGoldie HawnWhen a fading actress learns of an immortality treatment, she sees it as a way to outdo her long-time rival.Won: Best Visual Effects
- DirectorChris ColumbusStarsRobin WilliamsSally FieldPierce BrosnanAfter a bitter divorce, an actor disguises himself as a female housekeeper to spend time with his children held in custody by his former wife.Won: Best Makeup
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsJessica LangeTommy Lee JonesPowers BootheCarly moves with her military husband and their two daughters to an isolated army base, only to quickly become part of a cover-up involving nuclear bomb tests.Won: Best Actress "Jessica Lange"
- DirectorMike GabrielEric GoldbergStarsMel GibsonLinda HuntChristian BaleAn English soldier and the daughter of an Algonquin chief share a romance when English colonists invade seventeenth century Virginia.Won: Best Musical/Comedy Score and Best Song "Colors of the Wind"
- DirectorTom ShadyacStarsEddie MurphyJada Pinkett SmithJames CoburnGrossly overweight yet good-hearted professor Sherman Klump takes a special chemical that turns him into the slim but obnoxious Buddy Love.Won: Best Makeup
- DirectorPeter CattaneoStarsRobert CarlyleTom WilkinsonMark AddySix unemployed steel workers form a male striptease act. The women cheer them on to go for "the full monty" - total nudity.Won: Best Musical/Comedy Score
- DirectorVincent WardStarsRobin WilliamsCuba Gooding Jr.Annabella SciorraChris Nielsen dies in an accident, and enters Heaven. But when he discovers that his beloved wife Annie has killed herself out of grief over the loss, he embarks on an afterlife adventure to reunite with her.Won: Best Visual Effects
- DirectorJames MangoldStarsWinona RyderAngelina JolieClea DuVallA directionless teenager, Susanna, is rushed to Claymoore, a mental institution, after a supposed suicide attempt. There, she befriends a group of troubled women who deeply influence her life.Won: Best Supporting Actress "Angelina Jolie"
- DirectorRon HowardStarsJim CarreyTaylor MomsenKelleyOn the outskirts of Whoville lives a green, revenge-seeking Grinch who plans to ruin Christmas for all of the citizens of the town.Won: Best Makeup
- DirectorMichael BayStarsBen AffleckKate BeckinsaleJosh HartnettA tale of war and romance mixed in with history. The story follows two lifelong friends and a beautiful nurse who are caught up in the horror of an infamous Sunday morning in 1941.Won: Best Sound Editing
- DirectorJulie TaymorStarsSalma HayekAlfred MolinaGeoffrey RushA biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her work.Won: Best Score and Best Makeup
- DirectorAnthony MinghellaStarsJude LawNicole KidmanRenée ZellwegerIn the waning days of the American Civil War, a wounded soldier embarks on a perilous journey back home to Cold Mountain, North Carolina to reunite with his sweetheart.Won: Best Supporting Actress "Renee Zellweger"
- DirectorBrad SilberlingStarsJim CarreyJude LawMeryl StreepWhen a massive fire kills their parents, three children are delivered to the custody of cousin and stage actor Count Olaf, who is secretly plotting to steal their parents' vast fortune.Won: Best Makeup
- DirectorRob MarshallStarsZiyi ZhangKen WatanabeMichelle YeohThe heartwarming tale of Nitta Sayuri, a young Japanese woman who transcended from her fishing-village roots and became one of Japan's most celebrated geisha.Won: Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Costume Design (You got lucky, Crash)
- DirectorGeorge MillerWarren ColemanJudy MorrisStarsElijah WoodBrittany MurphyHugh JackmanInto the world of the Emperor Penguins, who find their soul mates through song, a penguin is born who cannot sing. But he can tap dance something fierce!Won: Best Animated Feature
- DirectorChris WeitzStarsNicole KidmanDaniel CraigDakota Blue RichardsIn a parallel universe, young Lyra Belacqua journeys to the far North to save her best friend and other kidnapped children from terrible experiments by a mysterious organization.Won: Best Visual Effects
- DirectorStephen DaldryStarsKate WinsletRalph FiennesBruno GanzPost-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself in a war-crime trial.Won: Best Actress "Kate Winslet"
- DirectorJohn Lee HancockStarsQuinton AaronSandra BullockTim McGrawThe story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All-American football player and first-round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family.Won: Best Actress "Sandra Bullock"
- DirectorJoe JohnstonStarsBenicio Del ToroAnthony HopkinsEmily BluntUpon his return to his ancestral homeland, an American man is bitten and subsequently cursed by a werewolf.Won: Best Makeup
- DirectorPhyllida LloydStarsMeryl StreepJim BroadbentRichard E. GrantAn elderly Margaret Thatcher talks to the imagined presence of her recently deceased husband as she struggles to come to terms with his death while scenes from her past life, from girlhood to British prime minister, intervene.Won: Best Actress "Meryl Streep" and Best Makeup
- DirectorMark AndrewsBrenda ChapmanSteve PurcellStarsKelly MacdonaldBilly ConnollyEmma ThompsonDetermined to make her own path in life, Princess Merida defies a custom that brings chaos to her kingdom. Granted one wish, Merida must rely on her bravery and her archery skills to undo a beastly curse.Won: Best Animated Feature
- DirectorBaz LuhrmannStarsLeonardo DiCaprioCarey MulliganJoel EdgertonA writer and wall street trader, Nick Carraway, finds himself drawn to the past and lifestyle of his mysterious millionaire neighbor, Jay Gatsby, amid the riotous parties of the Jazz Age.Won: Best Costume Design and Best Production Design
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsBradley CooperSienna MillerKyle GallnerNavy S.E.A.L. sniper Chris Kyle's pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and turns him into a legend. Back home with his family after four tours of duty, however, Chris finds that it is the war he can't leave behind.Won: Best Sound Editing
- DirectorSam MendesStarsDaniel CraigChristoph WaltzLéa SeydouxA cryptic message from James Bond's past sends him on a trail to uncover the existence of a sinister organisation named SPECTRE. With a new threat dawning, Bond learns the terrible truth about the author of all his pain in his most recent missions.Won: Best Song "Writing's On the Wall"
- DirectorDavid AyerStarsWill SmithJared LetoMargot RobbieA secret government agency recruits some of the most dangerous incarcerated super-villains to form a defensive task force. Their first mission: save the world from the apocalypse.Won: Best Makeup and Hairstyling
- DirectorJoe WrightStarsGary OldmanLily JamesKristin Scott ThomasIn May 1940, the fate of World War II hangs on Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler, or fight on knowing that it could mean the end of the British Empire.Won: Best Actor "Gary Oldman" and Best Makeup and Hairstyling
- DirectorBryan SingerStarsRami MalekLucy BoyntonGwilym LeeThe story of the legendary British rock band Queen and lead singer Freddie Mercury, leading up to their famous performance at Live Aid (1985).Won: Best Actor "Rami Malek", Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing
- DirectorJay RoachStarsCharlize TheronNicole KidmanMargot RobbieA group of women take on Fox News head Roger Ailes and the toxic atmosphere he presided over at the network.Won: Best Makeup (Note: I hate Toy Story 4 more, but I refuse to acknowledge that film even won an Oscar)
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsGary OldmanAmanda SeyfriedLily Collins1930s Hollywood is re-evaluated through the eyes of scathing social critic and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he races to finish the screenplay of Citizen Kane (1941).Won: Best Cinematography and Best Production Design
- DirectorSian HederStarsEmilia JonesMarlee MatlinTroy KotsurAs a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family's fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her passion at Berklee College of Music and her fear of abandoning her parents.Won: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor "Troy Kotsur" (I know some people liked CODA but why? It has no more substance than a Disney Channel original and was forgotten after it won Best Picture anyway. Thank god the Oscars redeemed themselves with Everything Everywhere All at Once the following year. Hopefully, they'll continue this trend with Oppenheimer.)
- DirectorRyan CooglerStarsLetitia WrightLupita Nyong'oDanai GuriraThe people of Wakanda fight to protect their home from intervening world powers as they mourn the death of King T'Challa.Won: Best Costume Design
- DirectorGreta GerwigStarsMargot RobbieRyan GoslingIssa RaeBarbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.Won: Best Song "What Was I Made For?" (Note: Barbie is still a really good movie but 2023 had probably the best lineup of Oscar winners ever so I had no choice)