It was a done deal by the time the Oscars were held since neither Ron Howard for Apollo 13 nor Ang Lee for Sense and Sensibility had been nominated for Best Director.
Love for movie star Mel Gibson and love for Braveheart overall drove that film to a fairly surprising win. Most people wanted it to be Apollo 13 to the bitter end. But emotion, as it almost always does, won out. We do talk a wee bit about the current Oscar race all the way at the two hour mark. 1995 was an exceptional year for film. We could easily do two more hours on it.