Everyone seems to know the most famous Academy Award winners in history like Parasite, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and Forrest Gump, just to name a few. While all of those films are certainly great, it's more fun to look at the ones you likely forgot even took home Oscars.
Some of these films to win an Academy Award were panned by most critics, while others are classics from the past that people love but had no idea won in a category that isn't talked about much. They're all worth a rewatch to at least see if the trophy was truly warranted.
The news that the popular novel Northern Lights would be adapted to a big screen film was pretty exciting. However, the end result was The Golden Compass, which was mostly met with a lackluster reception from both critics and longtime fans of the books.
Among the aspects to actually receive praise were the performances of the cast and the visual effects. There was no questioning how pretty the film was, which is why it took home the Best Visual Effects Oscar, beating out Spider-Man 3 and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to do so.
Speaking of the Harry Potter franchise, it is kind of shocking that none of the entries ever won an Academy Award. It's one of the most well-received and beloved movie series ever, yet it came away empty-handed despite picking up a dozen nominations over the years.
It's even more surprising to learn that the spin-off series, Fantastic Beasts, actually did what it couldn't and won an Oscar. Although it lost out in the Best Production Design category, it picked up a win for Best Costume Design as the film magically brought the '20s to life.
If there's one thing that Director Michael Bay is known for, it's bringing big action to the screen and pleasing audiences. Critics may not always agree but the likes of Transformers and Bad Boys have often been box office hits and for the most part, the same could be said about Pearl Harbor.
Alas, critics were not pleased with the film, and even the moviegoers who went to see it came away unimpressed. Although the film is something of a punchline these days, it actually has an Academy Award to its name, winning for Best Sound Editing. It is the only movie to win an Oscar and be nominated for Worst Picture at the Golden Raspberry Awards.
Unlike most of the aforementioned movies, Ex Machina isn't all that well-known, wasn't a huge commercial success, and isn't part of a popular existing franchise. It was also met with widespread acclaim but the forgotten Oscar win is mostly due to the fact that a lot of people have likely still not seen it.
Ex Machina deserves credit though as it won Best Visual Effects in a year that also included Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Mad Max: Fury Road, and The Martian. The effects used to show off Alicia Vikander as an A.I. named Ava were remarkable and hold up well. This was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay.
There is no questioning the iconic status of the late, great Prince. From legendary hit songs to incredible live performances to a memorable cameo on New Girl, anything he touched seemed to turn to gold, which was also the case with Purple Rain.
While the movie received positive reviews and is a favorite for fans of his music, you might not know that it is also an Oscar winner. It won for Best Original Song Score, which is a category that no longer exists. In fact, Purple Rain was the final movie to win that award.
Similar to The Golden Compass, this iteration of The Great Gatsby got a mixed reaction. Also like that movie, the positive praise was aimed at the actors and things like the visual style. While it wasn't up for Best Visual Effects, it did manage to win elsewhere.
Although the movie wasn't beloved by critics, it was difficult to deny the beauty, which was evident in the Oscar win. On top of that, The Great Gatsby managed to win two Academy Awards, coming out on top in both categories it was nominated in, which were for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design.
A lot of people love the Men in Black franchise and especially the original installment. It's part of what really helped solidify Will Smith as one of the most popular actors in the world. However, it's far from what people would call "Oscar bait."
Men in Black is meant to be simple fun and it works that way, yet it still reeled in a prestigious Academy Award victory. It was actually nominated for Best Art Direction and Best Original Score but the win came for Best Makeup as it did a great job of making the aliens look lifelike.
Another movie that was made as a blockbuster for casual audiences to adore was Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. The widely-acclaimed first film landed Johnny Depp an Oscar nod for Best Actor, while it was also nominated in four other categories.
It came away empty-handed but this sequel managed to win one despite getting a much colder response from critics. It was up in four categories but won for Best Visual Effects, which was certainly earned given how impressive a character like Davy Jones looked for the time. It still holds up well today.
A movie with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves sounds like a crowd-pleaser no matter when it was released. Speed is them at their best and their electric chemistry is evident as soon as they start sharing the screen. Again though, this isn't what someone would consider an Oscars favorite.
Thankfully, this iconic film was rewarded, though it was in one of the less popular categories. It won for both Best Sound and Best Sound Effects Editing, allowing it to go down as a blockbuster hit to come away with multiple Academy Awards.
The DCEU has struggled to find anywhere near the success of the MCU but it did manage to beat the Marvel franchise in one aspect. One of its movies won an Academy Award before the MCU could, though Marvel has surpassed it after Black Panther won three in 2018.
A few years prior, Suicide Squad scored a totally unexpected Oscar win for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. It was surprising to see it beat Star Trek Beyond in the category, especially since almost every aspect of Suicide Squad was poorly received by critics.
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