Academy Award Winners for Best Picture
AMC Movie List

Academy Award Winners for Best Picture

Every single one of these movies won Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Which is your favorite? (For additional info on these best picture winners, check out Filmsite.org.)

rank title points votes your vote
1 The Godfather
(1972, Francis Ford Coppola): A Mafia family struggles to reconcile old-country traditions and the realities of doing business in America. 904 1820
2 The Godfather Part II
(1974, Francis Ford Coppola): The Corleone family's past is explored while its activities expand into Vegas in the late 1950s. 589 1561
3 Schindler's List
(1993, Steven Spielberg): An apparently ordinary German businessman saves 1,000-plus Polish-Jewish refugees during WWII. 504 1510
4 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
(1975, Milos Forman): The struggle between submission to authority and rebellion plays out in a mental hospital. 489 1441
5 Casablanca
(1943, Michael Curtiz): Love, heroism, and betrayal unfold against the backdrop of a Moroccan nightclub during WWII. 488 1546
6 The Silence of the Lambs
(1991, Jonathan Demme): Damaged FBI agent trainee Clarice Starling takes on one sociopathic serial killer with the help of a deranged, cannibalistic psychiatrist. 485 1611
7 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
(2003, Peter Jackson): The spectacular conclusion to J. R. R. Tolkien's epic fantasy trilogy. 296 1586
8 Unforgiven
(1992, Clint Eastwood): Retired gunslinger Bill Munny picks up his gun for a good cause but soon remembers why he put it down. 296 1352
9 Gladiator
(2000, Ridley Scott): A slave in ancient Rome finds dignity and a reason to live in gladiatorial combat. 262 1512
10 Platoon
(1986, Oliver Stone): America's Vietnam experience is dramatized via the relationship between a private and two hardened officers. 257 1313
11 Braveheart
(1995, Mel Gibson): Thirteenth-century Scot Sir William Wallace takes up the sword to defend his people against the English. 236 1500
12 The Departed
(2006, Martin Scorsese): A cop and a criminal go undercover and infiltrate each other's world, in this crime thriller. 233 1393
13 Gone With the Wind
(1939, Victor Fleming): Love, money, ambition, and family conflict made this Civil War spectacle an enduring critical and popular favorite. 218 1484
14 The Deer Hunter
(1978, Michael Cimino): Three young men from small-town Pennsylvania are forever changed by their experience in Vietnam. 193 1205
15 The Sting
(1973, George Roy Hill): Two charming grifters decide to work an elaborate con in thirties Chicago. 182 1170
16 Patton
(1970, Franklin J. Schaffner): A rousing biopic of the WWII general, a brilliant tactician sidelined by his outspokenness. 179 1113
17 Rain Man
(1988, Barry Levinson): A shallow ne'er-do-well is changed for the better by meeting his autistic-savant brother. 178 1220
18 Rocky
(1976, John G. Avildsen): An unsuccessful boxer pins his hopes on a high-profile match against a champ. 171 1357
19 No Country for Old Men
(2007, Joel and Ethan Coen): A disillusioned, retiring sheriff tracks a sociopathic killer through modern West Texas. 165 1401
20 The Bridge on the River Kwai
(1957, David Lean): American and British POWs find ways to survive harsh internment in a Japanese camp. 126 1202
21 On the Waterfront
(1954, Elia Kazan): Hardworking New York longshoremen try to make a living while thugs, mobsters, and corrupt businessmen prosper. 114 1080
22 The Sound of Music
(1965, Robert Wise): The singing Von Trapp family and their governess, an aspiring nun, escape Nazi-occupied Austria. 111 1177
23 Lawrence of Arabia
(1962, David Lean): A spectacular adventure about a British officer who found his place among Bedouin tribesmen in WWI Arabia. 103 1249
24 Dances With Wolves
(1990, Kevin Costner): A nineteenth-century soldier learns to respect and then love the Lakota way of life. 92 1314
25 Amadeus
(1984, Milos Forman): The story of Mozart and his forgotten contemporary Salieri poses questions of fate and fairness. 82 1140
26 American Beauty
(1999, Sam Mendes): An ordinary American family is torn apart by internal stress and personal demons. 74 1294
27 West Side Story
(1961, Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise): Romeo and Juliet as a musical about warring white and Puerto Rican gangs in New York City. 68 1088
28 Million Dollar Baby
(2004, Clint Eastwood): A cranky, aging boxing trainer agrees to work with an underdog female boxer in this macho tearjerker. 63 1237
29 Titanic
(1997, James Cameron): A rich girl and poor boy defy convention and fall in love during the 1912 maiden voyage of the ill-fated ship. 58 1530
30 The King's Speech
(2010, Tom Hooper): A speech therapist helps insecure monarch King George VI control his stuttering. 54 1250
31 Ben-Hur
(1959, William Wyler): A chance encounter with Jesus of Nazareth changes the life of a Jewish prince in this lavish epic. 39 1253
32 A Beautiful Mind
(2001, Ron Howard): Mental illness plunges a once-brilliant mathematician into devastating paranoia and schizophrenia. 30 1144
33 In the Heat of the Night
(1967, Norman Jewison): An African-American cop from Philadelphia and a Mississippi police chief join forces to solve a murder. 24 930
34 All Quiet on the Western Front
(1930, Lewis Milestone): The horrors of WWI, told from the perspective of a young German conscript. 15 891
35 From Here to Eternity
(1953, Fred Zinnemann): A gritty drama about American servicemen in Hawaii in the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor. 2 922
36 The French Connection
(1971, William Friedkin): The fact-based story of two determined New York detectives who pursue a major drug-smuggling operation. -8 1124
37 Gandhi
(1982, Richard Attenborough): This biopic focuses on the revered political activist's efforts to end Britain's colonial occupation of India. -9 1015
38 The Hurt Locker
(2008, Kathryn Bigelow): US Army ordnance disposal teams disarm IEDs placed by Iraqi guerilla fighters. -19 1159
39 Forrest Gump
(1994, Robert Zemeckis): The upheavals of the American sixties and seventies are seen through the eyes of a childlike young man. -29 1825
40 All About Eve
(1950, Joseph L. Mankiewicz): An innocent-seeming would-be actress coldly uses an aging star to further her own ambitions. -35 921
41 It Happened One Night
(1934, Frank Capra): A runaway heiress and a macho reporter fall in love on the road in this pioneering screwball comedy. -42 898
42 Rebecca
(1940, Alfred Hitchcock): A meek, high-strung second wife feels she can't live up to her predecessor in this psychological thriller. -57 859
43 Kramer vs. Kramer
(1979, Robert Benton): A divorced dad resents playing Mr. Mom, then fights for his son when his ex-wife demands custody. -60 960
44 Mutiny on the Bounty
(1935, Frank Lloyd): Abused sailors rebel against sadistic Captain Bligh in a movie based on a real-life incident. -65 801
45 The Best Years of Our Lives
(1946, William Wyler): Three servicemen try to rebuild their broken lives at home after seeing combat in WWII. -73 849
46 My Fair Lady
(1964, George Cukor): George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion reinvented as a musical about a flower girl taught to pass as a cultured duchess. -78 888
47 The Apartment
(1960, Billy Wilder): A comedy about an insurance clerk who advances by letting his scummy bosses meet with their mistresses at his apartment. -83 963
48 Annie Hall
(1977, Woody Allen): A neurotic New York Jew and a ditzy suburban WASP try to make their relationship work. -91 1041
49 The Artist
(2011; Michel Hazanavicius) This daring, dialogue-free comedy-drama stars Jean Dujardin as a matinee idol before the dawn of talkies. -113 659
50 Driving Miss Daisy
(1989, Bruce Beresford): The long-running relationship between an elderly white woman and her black chauffeur illuminates American race relations. -134 1120
51 The Last Emperor
(1987, Bernardo Bertolucci): This lavish spectacle views the birth of twentieth-century China through the unique life of emperor Pu Yi. -139 839
52 Slumdog Millionaire
(2008, Danny Boyle): Game-show success fuels one man's escape from poverty in this Bollywood-tinged romantic drama. -145 1185
53 Marty
(1955, Delbert Mann): A lonely, middle-aged butcher finds love in this adaptation of Paddy Chayefsky's 1953 made-for-TV drama. -150 780
54 Midnight Cowboy
(1969, John Schlesinger): A portrait of a naive hustler and a bottom-feeding con man living on New York's fringes. -159 1045
55 Chariots of Fire
(1981, Hugh Hudson): The fates of two Olympic runners, one Christian and one Jewish, reflect the prejudices of twenties England. -179 881
56 The Lost Weekend
(1945, Billy Wilder): In an era of funny-drunk movies, a hard-drinking writer discovers that alcoholism is no joke. -193 733
57 A Man for All Seasons
(1966, Fred Zinnemann): A sixteenth-century chancellor pays dearly for defying King Henry VIII rather than betraying his religious principles. -210 764
58 Hamlet
(1948, Laurence Olivier): Olivier directed himself in this adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays. -210 762
59 Oliver!
(1968, Carol Reed): Charles Dickens's story of a plucky orphan scrambling to survive the mean streets of nineteenth-century London. -211 809
60 All the King's Men
(1949, Robert Rossen): A corrupt politician parlays folksy talk and fake populism to rise through the ranks. -212 758
61 How Green Was My Valley
(1941, John Ford): A poor turn-of-the-century Welsh mining family sees its own disintegration and way of life passing. -221 773
62 An American in Paris
(1951, Vincente Minnelli): Showstopping dance numbers distinguish this musical about a WWII veteran trying to make it as an artist in Paris. -228 776
63 Terms of Endearment
(1983, James L. Brooks): A mismatched mother and daughter live, love, and fight like wildcats until fate forces a reconciliation. -230 968
64 You Can't Take It with You
(1938, Frank Capra): This timeless comedy revolves around a dinner for the in-laws of a liberal girl who falls for a conservative guy. -233 729
65 The English Patient
(1996, Anthony Minghella): The complexities of WWII are explored through the flashbacked adventures and romance of a horribly burned flyer. -240 930
66 Chicago
(2002, Rob Marshall): Bob Fosse's cold, glittering, cynical musical about murder and showbiz. -245 1031
67 Wings
(1927, William A. Wellman): Jazz baby Clara Bow plus spectacular aerial scenes of WWI fighter planes made this silent war film a hit. -245 707
68 Grand Hotel
(1932, Edmund Goulding): A cross section of guests, from a world-famous ballerina to a dying accountant, check into a Berlin hotel. -254 706
69 Gentleman's Agreement
(1947, Elia Kazan): A journalist poses as a Jew and discovers that anti-Semitism is alive and well in post-WWII America. -259 733
70 Mrs. Miniver
(1942, William Wyler): A small-town British housewife fights the war at home with common sense and quiet determination. -261 705
71 Out of Africa
(1985, Sydney Pollack): Isak Dinesen's autobiographical writings inspired this story of romance in colonial Africa. -263 907
72 Around the World in 80 Days
(1956, Michael Anderson): The story of a Brit circumnavigating the globe in a balloon featured blockbuster effects, dozens of cameos and exotic locations. -274 810
73 Going My Way
(1944, Leo McCarey): A comedy-drama in which an idealistic young priest takes over an old-fashioned parish. -279 689
74 Crash
(2005, Paul Haggis): The lives of LA's rich and poor, smug and desperate, law abiding and criminal both intersect and collide. -281 1107
75 The Greatest Show on Earth
(1952, Cecil B. DeMille): This behind-the-scenes circus drama mixed movie stars and Ringling Brothers headliners. -285 739
76 Ordinary People
(1980, Robert Redford): A son's suicide reveals the unhappiness beneath the surface of an apparently perfect family. -296 928
77 Gigi
(1958, Vincente Minnelli): The last of the great MGM musicals, based on a Colette story about life and love in turn-of-the-century Paris. -308 734
78 Shakespeare in Love
(1998, John Madden): Romance and heartbreak inspires young Will Shakespeare's new play: Romeo and Juliet. -328 1068
79 Cimarron
(1931, Wesley Ruggles): The land rush into Oklahoma Territory and the saga of an American family, based on a best-selling novel by Pulitzer Prize-winner Edna Ferber. -330 666
80 Tom Jones
(1963, Tony Richardson): The comic and amorous adventures of an eighteenth-century foundling, told with swinging sixties style. -368 706
81 The Great Ziegfeld
(1936, Robert Z. Leonard): Showman Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.'s fictionalized life is an excuse to showcase Follies featuring catchy tunes, famous comedians, and leggy girls. -373 665
82 The Life of Emile Zola
(1937, William Dieterle): The French writer's fight for Capt. Dreyfus, a victim of nineteenth-century anti-Semitism, is the focus of this biopic. -395 685
83 Cavalcade
(1933, Frank Lloyd): Based on Noel Coward's play, this drama juxtaposes the trivial problems of London's rich and havoc of the early 20th century -403 655
84 The Broadway Melody
(1929, Harry Beaumont): Hollywood's first all-talking musical was a backstage story featuring a Technicolor sequence. -405 657