20 Baffling IMDb Top 250 Placements You Won't Believe

The Film:

Mel GIbson's ambitious historical epic, which chronicles the rebellion against the English by William Wallace, who Gibson also stars as. The film picked up the Oscar for Best Picture along with a few others.

Placement: #74

Why It's Wrong:

Braveheart is an underrated Best Picture winner that might be overlong and historically nonsensical, but which really packs a punch with gripping storytelling, thrilling action scenes and strong performances. It's a solid 4-star movie, but it's not the 74th best movie ever made.

There are many valid criticisms of the film, and while it absolutely deserves a spot on the list, it should be quite a bit lower down. However, the quality of the film isn't the most surprising thing about its placement.

Everyone is so unfair on Braveheart most of the time. It's usually described as one of the worst Best Picture winners (It really, really isn't) and is often dismissed as ludicrous, overdone and stupid. It's a film which gets so much backlash, so it's surprising that it managed to make it so far up the list given how mean people are to it.

That's particularly true when you take into account how much everyone detests Mel Gibson these days. Sure, this ranking might be more from shortly after the film's release, but due to it being only a 4-star film and being fairly maligned, it's an odd Top 100 choice.

Where It Should Be: #200-250