← Apex Mountain

Brokeback Mountain

2005 · directed by Ang Lee · 134 min
26,698 feet · Prominence
132nd of 15,261 films scored
The Rewatchables‘Brokeback Mountain’ With Bill Simmons and Wesley Morris

How this film scores

Draw65

$178m worldwide in 2005 — $301m in today's money.

As released$178mIn 2026 money$301mRank1,100 of 8,589In 200523 of 209

How Draw works

Inflation-adjusted worldwide box office, on one global curve, and nothing else. It does not know whether a film was good.

Praise94

Critics 88, awards 96. Half each, so Praise lands at 94.

Critics88 → 44Awards96 → 48

Oscars3 won Director, Adapted Screenplay, Original Score5 nominated Picture, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Cinematography
Golden Globes2 won Director, Screenplay
BAFTAs4 won Film, Direction, Actor, Adapted Screenplay
How Praise works

Half critics, half a tiered award record where Picture and Directing carry most of the weight. Praise is the verdict at the time; Legacy is the verdict since.

Legacy78

Judged directly: Landmark queer film, endlessly referenced quote.

Verdict78 of 100IMDb7.7 from 414kWikipedia101k views a monthAge21 years

On the listsNational Film Registryevidence, not an input to the score
Scored beside it · 149 of 3,430 films judged

If it does not belong in this company, the number is wrong.

How Legacy works

Legacy is a judgment, not a formula. A film can be adored by critics and culturally quiet, or lightly reviewed and permanently lodged in the culture, and no arithmetic over IMDb numbers tells the difference. Every signal behind it keeps updating.

draw 65 praise 94 legacy 78averages 79, which places it at26,698 ft
How the three become one number

Added, not multiplied, so a film transcendent on one pillar and weak on another is not zeroed out. A compression curve then squeezes the top, because the seven greatest films ever made should not be four thousand feet apart.

Whose apex this is

Jake Gyllenhaal

In these careers — elevation for this film

Jake Gyllenhaal22,952 ftAnne Hathaway21,856 ft