Oscars: Every Best Picture Winner Ever Ranked From Worst To Best

62. Braveheart (1995)

braveheart mel gibson
20th Century Fox

Mel Gibson's towering epic prevailed in a rather soft year, with Babe and Il Postino bafflingly making the final five Best Picture nominees, and while it's saddled with rampant historical inaccuracies and a ridiculous three-hour runtime, Gibson delivers big-time when it comes to classical Hollywood bombast.

Gibson makes little attempt to paint an even-handed depiction of events and the accents are uniformly rough, but there is a tough-to-battle pull to the sheer, ridiculous, cheesy nonsense that Gibson puts on screen. The battle scenes are first-rate and the abundance of gnarly gore is somewhat refreshing for a Best Picture winner.

It's aged badly, for sure, but it's still a fun sit, even if David Mackenzie's upcoming retelling, Outlaw King, will probably wipe the floor with it.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.