10 Least Deserving Oscar Winners Ever

As if there weren't enough reasons to despise Harvey Weinstein already...

The disgraced producer essentially rigged everything in this humdrum flick's favour. Going up against the masterful Saving Private Ryan, the film appeared to be an unlikely underdog. Despite being nowhere near the level of other nominees that year, it did have a few things running in its favour. Historical dramas centred on famous folks tend to appeal to the Academy, even the lesser quality ones.

Prior to the film's release, Weinstein had a new ending shot that would ensure the film was more appealing to viewers. He also assembled an army of lobbyists to sell the film to voters in a desperate bid to make them vote it over Saving Private Ryan. As if that wasn't enough, he also launched a subtle, but effective, smear campaign against Steven Spielberg's WWII epic.

The film itself isn't anything remotely special. Light and harmless, it offers little interigue or entertainment value and has aged poorly. Considered the worst of the 90s decade's Best Picture winners, its legacy lies in being an example of how to engineer an award winning feature. For this, not only was it undeserving, it made the Academy as a whole look bad in the process, calling the ceremony's prestige into question.