Ever since its release in the summer of 1998, Steven Spielberg's stunning World War II epic, Saving Private Ryan, was considered the shoe-in to win the Academy's highest honor. And even up to the awards, it was still considered the front runner.
But a different film's title awaited Harrison Ford when he opened the envelope, and even to his apparent shock, he read the name - Shakespeare in Love! It left many pondering the question of what the Academy was thinking and how did this happen.
Indeed, it was a surprise ... but throughout Academy history, from time to time, this most prestigious and respected of awards has come up with some surprises. Throughout the entire 1990s almost, year after year, there was one sure thing after another and Best Picture became more of an afterthought than a serious nail biter - in essence, it was a foregone conclusion.
From Dances With Wolves to Unforgiven to Schindler's List to Forrest Gump and to Titanic, Best Picture was usually easy to predict. But even amongst those have been some very interesting choices ... who would have ever thought that a film as dark and haunting as Silence of the Lambs would beat out more traditional Oscar picks like JFK and Bugsy?
But before the 1990s, there have been some upsets. The quieter film Driving Miss Daisy took the Best Picture Oscar of 1989, beating out favorite Born on the Fourth of July. In 1981, Chariots of Fire was one of the biggest surprise wins for Best Picture when it beat out four other films that were all considered favorites to win before Chariots, including Reds, On Golden Pond, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Dreamworks and Miramax waged a huge, ugly war campaigning for the Oscars in 1998, and the bloody battle was publicized heavily. It started with Harvey Weinstein and Miramax, already well known for being perhaps the best promoter for Oscar campaigns around.
And he must be given credit ... he's gotten some really incredible independent films viewed by larger audiences than would have ever seen them before, including foreign films, like IL Postino and 1998's Life is Beautiful. And he believes strongly in backing the films that he produces. Miramax really upped the gamut however when they spent nearly $10 million just on their Oscar promotion for Shakespeare in Love to the point that everyone seemed to be forgetting about Saving Private Ryan.
