The Academy Awards — Hollywood’s Biggest Night — hardly lack drama and that’s typically thanks to the voters themselves.
While the Oscars tend to take the pulse of the industry and reward the best of the best work from the past year, the voters have a tendency to miss the mark, to put it nicely. To be more direct: the Academy Awards have produced some of the more puzzling moments in movie history.
As we get ready to honor another slate of films with the 96th Academy Awards on Sunday night, these are the seven biggest upset wins for Best Picture dating back to 1974.
All odds courtesy of SportsOddsHistory.com
9
Parasite (2020)
Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images
Nominees:
- 1917 (-163)
- Parasite (+173)
- Once Upon A Time… in Hollywood (+1525)
- Joker (+3750)
- Jojo Rabbit (+5650)
- The Irishman (+9500)
- Marriage Story (+14500)
- Little Women (+24500)
- Ford v. Ferrari (+29500)
Parasite was undoubtedly the movie of the year. The only question was whether the Oscars would really give it’s highest honor to a foreign language film. Thankfully, it came to its senses and the rest was history for South Korea’s Bong Joon-ho, who nabbed four awards that night — including a Best Director victory over luminaries Martin Scorsese, Sam Mendes and Quentin Tarantino.
8
Million Dollar Baby (2005)
Nominees:
- The Aviator (-200)
- Million Dolar Baby (+200)
- Sideways (+600)
- Finding Neverland (+5000)
- Ray (+6000)
This wasn’t really a year for movies with happy endings at the Oscars. Clint Eastwood’s boxing drama that turned Hillary Swank into a household name went home the big winner and left both Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese wondering what they needed to do to finally nab Best Picture after The Aviator saw its award stolen away at the last second.
7
Crash (2006)
Thandie Newton and Matt Dillon in a scene from the motion picture Crash
Nominees:
- Brokeback Mountain (-125)
- Crash (+200)
- Good Night, and Good Luck (+300)
- Capote (+3000)
- Munich (+4000)
In hindsight, just about every other movie on this list deserved the award more than Crash, which has aged as poorly as any Best Picture winner of the last 25 years. Walk The Line, Pride & Prejudice, North Country and Syriana didn’t even make nominees that year, which still feels wrong.
6
Green Book (2019)
Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY NETWORK
Nominees:
- Roma (-155)
- Green Book (+210)
- Black Panther (+2300)
- Bohemian Rhapsody (+2300)
- The Favourite (+2500)
- BlacKkKlansman (+3000)
- A Star Is Born (+7500)
- Vice (+15000)
Everyone was ready for Roma to give Netflix its first Best Picture winner. Then Green Book happened and, well, the less said about it, the better.
5
The Godfather: Part II (1975)
Paramount Pictures
Nominees:
- Chinatown (+200)
- The Towering Inferno (+300)
- The Godfather: Part II (+300)
- Lenny (+700)
- The Conversation (+2000)
Huh? What!? One of the greatest films of all time wasn’t even the favorite to win Best Picture? Well, that just goes to show what an unreal year 1974 was for movies. In addition to the five nominees for the top prize, the Academy handed out awards to Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and Murder on the Orient Express. Not to mention, Francis Ford Coppola was nominated twice for Best Picture with both The Godfather: Part II and The Conversation.
That’s hedging your bets at a level seldom seen since.
4
Annie Hall (1978)
Handout
Nominees:
- Turning Point (+160)
- Annie Hall (+300)
- Julia (+300)
- Star Wars (+300)
- Goodbye Girl (+1000)
A bit of a strange year — from a betting perspective — as there was no clear favorite when the lines closed. In hindsight, it’s hard to find a more influential film of the bunch than Star Wars but no one is surprised the voters went with Annie Hall.
3
Spotlight (2016)
Photo by Paul Marotta/Getty Images
Nominees:
- The Revenant (-250)
- Spotlight (+350)
- The Big Short (+700)
- Room (+12500)
- Mad Max: Fury Road (+12500)
- The Martian (+16000)
- Brooklyn (+25000)
- Bridge of Spies (+25000)
Things started looking up for Spotlight early in the night when it won for Best Original Screenplay, but once Mark Ruffalo (Best Supporting Actor), Rachel McAdams (Best Supporting Actress) and Tom McCarthy (Best Director) failed to win the categories they were nominated in, it seemed like The Revenant was going to take home the top prize.
The win was triumphant and watching the cast celebrate with the real journalists the film was based on was a wonderful sight.
2
Moonlight (2017)
Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Nominees:
- La La Land (-450)
- Moonlight (+450)
- Hidden Figures (+3500)
- Manchester by the Sea (+5000)
- Lion (+10000)
- Hacksaw Ridge (+18500)
- Arrival (+22500)
- Fences (+24500)
- Hell or High Water (+29000)
One of the most infamous moments in Oscars history also serves as one of the biggest upsets. La La Land had so much momentum heading into the Academy Awards, but it was Moonlight at the buzzer getting a rightful win. In hindsight, it feels like Arrival didn’t get the love from the voters it deserved with odds longer than Hacksaw Ridge.
1
Braveheart (1996)
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images
Nominees:
- Sense and Sensibility (-125)
- Apollo 13 (+350)
- Braveheart (+600)
- Babe (+600)
- The Postman (+1200)
The biggest upset in Oscars history (so far!) belongs to Mel Gibson’s epic tale of William Wallace. Despite starting the show as the clear favorite to nab the top prize, Sense and Sensibility very nearly went home empty-handed. The film was nominated in seven categories and only earned a Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) win for Emma Thompson.
