The 15 Greatest Best Picture Oscar Winners

The Oscars’ Best Picture winners are almost always controversial choices. Theoretically, these are the best movies from each year, dating back to the late 1920s, with 1935 creating the format where the best film from the previous year was established. While there are often arguments over which movies deserved the big win and which were “overrated,” just as many films deserve the big prize. There have been plenty of Oscar-winning movies over the years, and every category has been represented.

Throughout its almost 100-year history, the Academy Awards have honored the best of the best, with most of the attention going toward biopics, historical features, and prestige pictures. However, there have also been some winners that snuck in, from horror movies like Silence of the Lambs to fantasy movies like Lord of the Rings and Everything Everywhere All At Once to even a foreign-language film, shattering the glass ceiling at the biggest awards ceremony of the year, proving anyone could win in any given year.

15

Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

A24’s Highest-Grossing Film

In 2022, Everything Everywhere All At Once shocked audiences when it won the Best Picture at the Academy Awards. It beat out movies like Top Gun: Maverick, The Fablemans, and Avatar: The Way of Water, but looking back on it, the film deserved every award it received. The film is a fantasy absurdist comedy that stars Michelle Yeoh as a woman struggling with her place in the world while trying to connect with a daughter she doesn’t understand – all leading to a multiverse battle better than those in the MCU.

Not only did Everything Everywhere All At Once win the Best Picture Oscar, but it also won three of the four acting nominations, with Yeoh winning for Best Avress, Jamie Lee Curtis winning Best Supporting Actress, and Ke Huy Quan winning Best Supporting Actor in what might be the most heartwarming Oscar win in many years. In all, the film received 11 nominations, winning seven of them.

14

Oppenheimer (2023)

Christopher Nolan’s Epic Historical Biopic

There was a lot of concern for theatrical releases after theaters shut down in 2020, but in 2023, two movies proved that the theatrical model was alive and well. Barbie and Oppenheimer broke records that year, with the former making $1.4 billion and Oppenheimer making $976.8 million. While Barbie won the box office crown, Oppenheimer won the awards battle, picking up 13 Academy Awards nominations and winning seven of them, including Best Picture.

It also won Best Director for Nolan, Best Actor for Cillian Murphy, and Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey. Jr.

The movie tells the real-life story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist who was part of the team that created the first Atomic Bomb, which was used to end World War II by dropping it on Japan. It was an R-rated biopic that shattered all expectations and proved that Christopher Nolan was still the king of the box office. It also won Best Director for Nolan, Best Actor for Cillian Murphy, and Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey. Jr.

13

No Country For Old Men (2007)

The Coen Brothers’ Neo-Western Crime Thriller

The Coen Brothers are among the most beloved filmmakers in history. Their movies are often well-received immediately, or they become that way as cult hits over time. 2007’s No Country for Old Men was an instant sensation. Both a critical and commercial success, this crime thriller focuses on three characters. One is a war veteran who finds a bag full of cash, one is a sheriff investigating it, and one is a hired killer out to retrieve the money and might represent Death himself.

No Country for Old Men received eight Oscar nominations and was a huge success for the Coen Brothers, who not only won Best Picture, but also Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay (based on the Cormac McCarthy novel). Javier Bardem also won Best Supporting Actor for his role as the stone-cold, relentless killer, Anton Chigurh. This was only the second time in Oscars history that two people shared the Best Director honor (following Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for West Side Story).

12

All About Eve (1950)

The Only Movie To Have Four Women Nominated For Acting Oscars

When All About Eve arrived in 1950, it set an Oscars record. At the time, it received a record 14 Academy Award nominations, and won six of them. Among those nominations were four for the actresses. Anne Baxter and Bette Davis earned Best Actress nominations, Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter earned Best Supporting Actress nominations, and George Sanders won Best Supporting Actor. The movie also won Best Picture and Best Director for Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

The story follows a fan (Anne Baxter) who wiggles her way into the life of a famous, aging Broadway star (Bette Davis). However, the obsessed fan soon starts to threaten the star’s career and her relationship with those close to her. It remains the only movie in history to have four different women nominated for an Oscar for acting, and it was Mankiewicz’s second straight Oscar win for directing (following A Letter to Three Wives).

11

The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)

The Only Horror Movie To Win Best Picture

History was made in 1991 when The Silence of the Lambs won the Best Picture Oscar. It became the first (and remains the only) horror film to win the award. Only seven horror movies had ever been nominated for Best Picture, with The Exorcist and Jaws as the only two before Silence of the Lambs. To add to how impressive it was, the movie also swept the main categories and won Best Director (Jonathan Demme), Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins), Best Actress (Jodie Foster), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Ted Tally).

Thanks to the work of Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, the outstanding film remains an icon of the genre. The plot involves an FBI agent who gets help from a cannibalistic murderer while hunting down a different serial killer. The film inspired a franchise that had movies that never matched up to the original and a TV series that matched its brilliance on the small screen. It was added to the National Film Registry in 2011.

10

Parasite (2019)

The First Non-English Speaking Best Picture Winner

The most remembered Best Picture winners are the ones that made history. 2019’s Parasite is one of them as it was the first and only non-English movie to win Best Picture. The Bong Joon-ho film is one of the most unique ever to be nominated for such significant awards. Telling the story of a poor Korean family who infiltrates a wealthy family by hustling into key roles in their lives, it delivers in terms of acting, directing, and emotion.

Unsurprisingly, it also won Best International Feature Film, the first to win both that and Best Picture at the Oscars in the same year.

Parasite also won Best Director (Bong Joon-ho) and Best Original Screenplay (Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won). Unsurprisingly, it also won Best International Feature Film, the first to win both that and Best Picture at the Oscars in the same year. In all, the South Korean drama was nominated for 353 awards and won 2019, making it easily one of the most successful foreign language films ever released in the United States.

9

Unforgiven (1992)

Clint Eastwood’s Revisionist Western

While it might seem hard to believe, Unforgiven was only the third Western movie that won a Best Picture Oscar, despite the long history and legacy of the genre back to the start of cinema. Clint Eastwood starred in several Westerns over his career, including the Sergio Leone Dollars Trilogy of spaghetti Westerns. However, no other Eastwood Western film has won Best Picture, with the other two being Cimarron (1931) and Dances with Wolves (1990) as the other two Western Oscar winners.

The film stars Eastwood as a retired outlaw named William “Will” Munny, who is living a life of peace after his wife’s death. However, when a hardcore sheriff named “Little” Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman) steps over the line and hurts someone Munny cares about, he is pulled right back in. Unforgiven received nine Oscar nominations, but the only award it won was Best Picture.

8

The French Connection (1971)

Gene Hackman’s Masterpiece

When Gene Hackman died in 2025, people looked back on his cinematic output, and one of the best movies the icon starred in was the 1971 neo-noir thriller The French Connection​​​​​. Based on the non-fiction novel by Robin Moore and directed by William Friedkin (The Exorcist), Hackman starred as Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle, a New York City police detective who is trying to find and stop a wealthy French heroin smuggler named Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey).

The movie was a huge success, winning five of eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Hackman. Roy Scheider also earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The French Connection also won Best Screenplay and Best Film Editing. Filmmakers like Akira Kurosawa, David Fincher, and Steven Spielberg also praised the film. In 2005, the Library of Congress added it to the National Film Registry for preservation.

7

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Jack Nicholson Stars In Ken Kesey’s Novel Adaptation

Jack Nicholson is one of Hollywood’s greatest actors for several reasons, including his performance in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Released in 1975, this film did what The Silence of the Lambs did years later, winning in the five most prominent categories. Based on the novel by Ken Kesey, Nicholson is Randle McMurphy, a man who pretends to be mentally ill to avoid a prison sentence. However, once institutionalized, he leads an ill-advised rebellion against the system.

Among those Oscar wins were Jack Nicholson for Best Actor, Miloš Forman for Best Director, Louise Fletcher for Best Actress, and the biggest award, Best Picture. The film’s legacy remains high, with Nurse Ratched (Fletcher) named one of the greatest villains in cinema history. In 1993, the Library of Congress added it to the National Film Registry for preservation.

6

The Apartment (1960)

Billy Wilder’s Romantic Masterpiece

Billy Wilder’s The Apartment won the prestigious Best Picture Academy Award in 1960. Starring acting legends like Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, the film is an all-time great despite its controversial subject matter. The film centers around an insurance clerk who lets senior co-workers use his residence for their affairs, hoping it will help him move up in the company. No less than Steven Spielberg has named it a perfect movie, and often has people watch it before working with him.

Along with Best Picture, it won Best Director for Wilder and Best Screenplay for Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond. Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Jack Kruschen all received acting nominations, although they all lost in their respective categories. In 1994, the Library of Congress added The Apartment to the National Film Registry for preservation.

5

The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003)

The Lord Of The Rings Franchise Won A Total Of 17 Oscars

2003 was a year when some true history was made at the Academy Awards. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King set a record by sweeping the awards, winning all eleven Oscars it was nominated for, with the two most prominent being Best Picture and Best Director. It remains the biggest Oscar sweep in history. This Peter Jackson epic managed to wrap up The Lord of the Rings trilogy in a way that was both true to the source material and a cinematic masterpiece.

The movie was mostly a way to show respect for the franchise, which had made over $2.9 billion at the box office and was a worldwide phenomenon. While it might have the reputation of being the movie to receive its honors to pay tribute to the franchise, Return of the King deserved its praise. In the end, it tied Ben-Hur and Titanic for the most Oscar wins for any single movie in Academy Awards history.

4

Casablanca (1942)

Humphrey Bogart’s Masterpiece Performance

There’s no doubt that Casablanca is one of the most iconic films in cinema history. Many hold it up and put it in conversations as one of the greatest films ever made, which is saying something, and those who feel that way aren’t far off. The premise of Casablanca centers on a café owner who must decide whether to help his former lover and her new husband escape the Nazis. Everything from the crisp black and white cinematography, the quotable script, and the iconic moments still stands up over 80 years since its release.

In all, Casablanca won three Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director for Michael Curtiz, and Best Screenplay) while earning five other nominations, including Best Actor for Humphrey Bogart and Best Supporting Actor for Claude Rains. In 1989, the Library of Congress began to honor films with the National Film Registry, and Casablanca was one of the first 25 films selected for preservation in that inaugural year.

3

Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)

David Lean’s Epic Masterpiece Remains An Influential Film

Clocking in at just under four hours, there’s no doubt that Lawrence of Arabia is among the most epic films ever to grace the big screen. Along with its Best Picture victory, the movie went on to take home six other Oscars, including Best Director for David Lean. Lawrence of Arabia is based on the life of T.E. Lawrence and his experiences in the provinces of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

In all, the film earned Oscars for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography – Color, Best Film Editing, Best Music Score, and Best Sound. Both Peter O’Toole and Omar Sharif received acting nominations, but neither won in their categories. Directors like Ridley Scott, Stanley Kubrick, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg have called this movie an inspiration in their careers. The Library of Congress also added it to the National Film Registry in 1991.

2

Schindler’s List (1993)

Steven Spielberg’s Holocaust Movie

You’d be hard-pressed to find a film more powerful than Schindler’s List. Arriving in theaters in 1993, this Steven Spielberg epic blew away audiences as soon as they saw it. Taking place during World War II, it follows a German industrialist named Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) who becomes concerned for his Jewish workers. Based on a true story, Schindler helped save the lives of 1,200 Jewish people during the holocaust, and this film showed how dangerous and horrifying that era in history was.

Steven Spielberg is no stranger at the Oscars, and Schindler’s List remains his masterpiece. The movie not only won Best Picture, but Spielberg won Best Director. The film won seven Oscars with 12 nominations, although neither Liam Neeson nor Ralph Fiennes won despite being nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. The Library of Congress added Schindler’s List to the U.S. National Film Registry for preservation in 2004, just 11 years after its release.

1

The Godfather (1972) & The Godfather Part 2 (1974)

A Rare Original & Sequel To Both Win Best Picture

Only two sequels have ever taken home the Best Picture trophy. Nearly 30 years before The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King pulled off the feat, The Godfather Part II did it. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the 1972 and 1974 dramas both won Best Picture, two years apart, and the second is often seen as just as good, if not better, than the original. The first movie starred Marlon Brando as Don VIto Corleone, the leader of the Corleone Family mafia group who has everyone gunning for him.

However, the second movie took the story and focused it on his son Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), who took over the leadership after his father’s death, while there were flashbacks with Robert De Niro playing a young Vito. The Godfather earned 11 Oscar nominations and won three, including Best Actor for Marlon Brando. The Godfather: Part II matched the first movie with 11 Oscar nominations but won six, including Best Director for Coppola and Best Actor for De Niro.