1992 Best Picture: 3 Movies That Didn’t Deserve The Nomination (& 7 Replacements)

The Academy Awards held in 1992 honored the films from the previous year in 1991. In 1991 films like, Point Break, Man on the Moon, and My Girl graced the big screen and became classics, though they weren’t nominated for the coveted Best Picture award at the 64th Academy Awards. Films nominated in that category that year were: JFK, Bugsy, The Prince of Tides, Beauty and the Beast, and The Silence of the Lambs. 

A couple of films on that list have gone on to become some of the most iconic of the generation, but a few others maybe shouldn’t have received such high praise upon their release and there are a handful of others that could have easily replaced them.

10 Replacement: Boyz N The Hood

This coming of age story stars Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding Jr, Morris Chestnut, Regina Kind, and Angela Basset and tells the story of life in South Central Los Angeles in the late ’80s/early ’90s, when gang culture in the area was gaining traction.

The film, written and directed by John Singleton was a piece Singleton developed to get into film school and sold to Columbia shortly after graduation. It earned Singleton a nomination for Best Screenplay and Best Director, making him the youngest and first Black nominee in the category.

9 Nominated: The Prince Of Tides

This romance drama, starring Nick Nolte and Barbara Streisand received a lot of praise upon its release from critics and audiences alike. It also received numerous award nominations in the year it was eligible. Barbara Streisand directed the film and was praised for her vision, but snubbed out of the Best Director category at the 64th Academy Awards.

The film did get a Best Picture nomination, which seems more like a compensation than an actual nomination, especially given the fact the film was nominated for seven awards and received none.

8 Replacement: Hook

Hook, the fantasy feature film starring Dustin Hoffman as the title character and Robin Williams as his arch nemesis, Peter, now all grown up, has become one of the most beloved films of the generation.

The film, directed by Steven Spielberg, was expected to be a massive success, but fell short at the box office and during awards season, despite being considered such a classic by most fans today.

7 Replacement: Fried Green Tomatoes

Fried Green Tomatoes is a feature based on a novel by the same name, written by Fannie Flagg, who also wrote the screenplay for the film. The film was a huge success upon its release, both at the box office and in critics’ reviews of the film, but it was heavily snubbed at the Academy Awards the years it was eligible for nomination.

Despite its commercial and critical success, the film only received two nominations, one in the Best Supporting Actress category and one in Best Adapted Screenplay.

6 Nominated: JFK

This political thriller starring Kevin Costner and directed by Oliver Stone was considered extremely controversial at the time of its release. Many journalists accused Oliver Stone of taking liberties with the historical facts surrounding the assassination of President Kennedy.

Stone deemed his story a “counter-myth” to the “fictional myth” by the Warren Commission, who was in charge of investigating the assassination at the time that it happened. Despite the controversy, the film received a number of award nominations from the Academy, including a Best Picture nomination.

5 Replacement: Cape Fear

Cape Fear, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert DeNiro, was the seventh collaboration for this director/actor duo. The film is a remake of the 1962 thriller by the same name and is Gregory Peck’s last feature film role.

Peck was also in the original film in the ’60s. This film received a lot of praise and was considered a commercial success, yet only received two award nominations from The Academy in 1992, one in the Best Actor category and one in the Best Supporting Actress category.

4 Replacement: The Fisher King

The Fisher King stars Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams and received a lot of praise the year it was released. The film tells the story of Bridges character, Jack Lucas, whose comments as a radio disc jockey on air provoke a young man to commit a mass shooting at a mall, sending Lucas into a downward spiral of depression.

The film was praised by The Academy and received five nominations for the ’92 ceremony, but was strangely left out of the Best Picture category.

3 Nominated: Beauty And The Beast

This Disney animated classic has become a favorite amongst fans and movie-goers. The year of its release, the film was an incredible success by box office standards.

The film was praised for its music and story and earned well-deserved nominations in the music category at the 64th Academy Awards, but also earned a Best Picture nomination. Considering all of the other great films released that year, this nomination was a bit shocking.

2 Replacement: Thelma & Louise

This female led feature film has become iconic since the year of its release. The film, starring Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon as the title characters, has been praised for its feminism and set a new standard for what female-led productions could be.

Despite being so progressive and well-received, the film earned almost no praise during award season the year it was eligible and was completely snubbed by The Academy.

1 Replacement: Rambling Rose

Rambling Rose is a dramatic feature film about a family in Georgia navigating their way through The Great Depression and taking in a girl named Rose.

The film earned Laura Dern and her mother Diane Ladd Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress, respectively, making them the first mother-daughter duo in Academy history to be nominated in the same year for the same film. This film was snubbed in every other category despite all of the praise it received from critics and movie-goers.

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