5 Great Movies That People Randomly Started Hating
1. Forrest Gump
Here it is the movie that inspired this article. Like The Lion King, Forrest Gump was released in 1994 and was the second highest grossing movie of the year behind only the Disney animated feature. It followed the life story of the titular character played to perfection by Tom Hanks in his prime. It goes without saying that the Forrest Gump was a runaway success, as well as its substantial box office gross it won several Oscars including best picture, best actor for Hanks and best Director for Robert Zemeckis. Though the film is still held in high regard by a lot of people, in the years since these Academy Awards wins have seemed to be the biggest and most frequently used stick that its growing number of critics wants to beat it with.
1994 was an amazing year in cinema and as such the following years Oscars were a hotly contested affair, Forrest Gump's fellow best picture nominees were Quiz Show, Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction. Despite this insanely tough competition, Forrest Gump won the award and in the following years a lot of people have criticised the movie for this victory. They claim not only that it was undeserving of defeating its competition but that it is also one of the most overrated winners of best picture in the history of the Academy Awards. There is certainly an argument to be made that either Shawshank or what many believe to be Tarantino's best work- Pulp Fiction-was more deserving of the honour, but that does not mean we should ostracise Forrest Gump because it managed to win a glorified popularity contest.
Forrest Gump is a journey and there is so much to love about it, chief among them Tom Hanks' performance he gives life to a joyous movie which follows the story of a mentally challenged man and the love of his life. There is nothing realistic about this film and I wouldn't have it any other way, because its fun, riveting and up there with Casablanca in terms of quote-ability. "Life is like a box of chocolates" "Run Forrest, run" "That's all I have to say about that", I could go on all day long. This film has everything, the feeling of triumph as we see Forrest grow as a man to the juxtaposition with the tragedy of Jennys life and the fitting but emotionally devastating end. There may have been better films in 94 but that's not Forrest Gump's fault, instead of attacking it we should simply celebrate what was a fantastic year in cinema.