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