Rotten Tomatoes Unearths 850 Classic Oscar Nominee Reviews [Exclusive]

4 days ago 10

Russell Crowe as Maximus preparing for battle during an early scene in Gladiator (2000)

Published Feb 23, 2026, 11:00 AM EST

A cinematic obsessive with the filmic palate of a starving raccoon, Rob London will watch pretty much anything once. With a mind like a steel trap, he's an endless fount of movie and TV trivia, borne from a misspent youth of watching monster movies on TV, perusing the sun-faded goods at the local video rental shop, and staining his fingers with ink from the Video Movie Guide. Areas of interest include science fiction, film noir, horror flicks, '70s disaster pictures, Bond movies, '90s action, giant robots, dinosaurs, super heroes, and the exuberantly schlocky output of Cannon Films. He also enjoys both Star Trek and Star Wars when they're good, and maybe even more when they're bad. As a Canadian, he also has a vested interest in Canadian movies and TV shows, especially the cheesier ones dubbed "Canuxploitation."

An expert on Marvel Comics, he has also written for the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, and is a member of the Marvel Research Team. He can frequently be found pontificating on comic-book continuity or bemoaning the misfortunes of the Toronto Maple Leafs on his Twitter account.

The 98th Academy Awards are fast approaching, and to celebrate, Rotten Tomatoes is taking a look back at some classic Oscar nominees and what contemporary critics said about them. What was the critical consensus on films like Jaws, Apollo 13, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? You're about to find out, because Collider is proud to exclusively reveal that Rotten Tomatoes has unearthed more than 850 reviews for the Best Picture nominees of 1976, 1996, and 2001.

As part of their commitment to the preservation and promotion of film criticism, Rotten Tomatoes has established RT Archive, a site that takes a look back at the film reviews of the past. They've chosen to spotlight three excellent years for movies — 1975, 1995, and 2000 — with a bevy of reviews steeped in historical context. If you want to see what The Village Voice thought of Steven Spielberg's Jaws, before it ushered in the era of the summer blockbuster, or read New York Magazine's review of the counter-cultural touchstone One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, they're all there.

What Were the Best Picture Nominees of 1976, 1996, and 2001?

1976		1996		2001
Film	# of Reviews	Film	# of Reviews	Film	# of Reviews
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest	53	Braveheart	53	Gladiator	50
Barry Lyndon	60	Apollo 13	56	Chocolat	48
Dog Day Afternoon	77	Babe	50	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon	50
Jaws	61	The Postman	69	Erin Brockovich	43
Nashville	56	Sense and Sensibility	75	Traffic	57

1976 saw One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest become the second of only three movies to sweep the "big five" categories of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay; the only two others to do it were It Happened One Night and The Silence of the Lambs. Other films nominated that year were Stanley Kubrick's historical masterpiece Barry Lyndon, the iconic crime film Dog Day Afternoon, Robert Altman's magnum opus Nashville, and Jaws, which ushered in the era of the summer blockbuster. Braveheart won the most Oscars in 1996, but became only one of nine Best Picture winners without a single nomination in the acting categories. Notable nominees that year were the pastoral talking-animal film Babe, Ron Howard's astro-disaster Apollo 13, and the dramedy The Postman, whose star and co-writer, Massimo Troisi, died before the film was completed. Also nominated that year was Sense and Sensibility, which won Emma Thompson Best Adapted Screenplay; with her earlier win for Howard's End, she became the first person to win Oscars for acting and screenwriting.

Gladiator was the big winner in 2001, taking home not only Best Picture, but Best Actor, and three other wins. Steven Soderbergh accomplished the rare feat of competing against himself, with two of his films, Traffic and Erin Brockovich, up for the top prize; neither won, but Soderbergh did beat himself out for Best Director, winning for the former film. Also nominated were Ang Lee's lyrical martial arts epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and the Lasse Hallström romance Chocolat.

Rotten Tomatoes has added 850 contemporary reviews from the 1976, 1996, and 2001 Oscar nominees; the reviews are accessible through their RT Archives hub. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.