(Photo by A24/courtesy Everett Collection)
What movie will be added to this list Sunday? See all of this year’s Best Picture nominees ranked.
Every year, after the fracas of awards season and studio campaigning, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hands out the ultimate prize in cinema, the explicit recommendation that if you’re only going to watch one movie, make it the one we picked. We’re talking the Oscar for Best Picture. Less than 100 of these have been handed out through the centuries. But ever wonder how the movies of this exclusive golden club would fare against each other?
Welcome to our countdown of every Best Picture winner ever, from the Certified Fresh (Casablanca, Schindler’s List, Argo, Lawrence of Arabia, The Godfather, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King…most of them, fortunately), the kinda Fresh (Out of Africa, Forrest Gump), to the ‘HUH? HOW?’ Rottens (The Broadway Melody, Cimarron).
See where all the films place in our guide to Best Picture Winners, Ranked by Tomatometer!
#1
Adjusted Score: 124730%
Critics Consensus: An urgent, brilliantly layered look at timely social themes, Parasite finds writer-director Bong Joon Ho in near-total command of his craft.
#2
Adjusted Score: 120554%
Critics Consensus: An undisputed masterpiece and perhaps Hollywood’s quintessential statement on love and romance, Casablanca has only improved with age, boasting career-defining performances from Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
#3
Adjusted Score: 115477%
Critics Consensus: Smart, sophisticated, and devastatingly funny, All About Eve is a Hollywood classic that only improves with age.
#4
Adjusted Score: 113559%
Critics Consensus: With his electrifying performance in Elia Kazan’s thought-provoking, expertly constructed melodrama, Marlon Brando redefined the possibilities of acting for film and helped permanently alter the cinematic landscape.
#5
Adjusted Score: 117493%
Critics Consensus: Moonlight uses one man’s story to offer a remarkable and brilliantly crafted look at lives too rarely seen in cinema.
#6
Adjusted Score: 111585%
Critics Consensus: Schindler’s List blends the abject horror of the Holocaust with Steven Spielberg’s signature tender humanism to create the director’s dramatic masterpiece.
#7
Adjusted Score: 123578%
Critics Consensus: Capturing its stars and director at their finest, It Happened One Night remains unsurpassed by the countless romantic comedies it has inspired.
#8
Adjusted Score: 112958%
Critics Consensus: Hitchcock’s first American film (and his only Best Picture winner), Rebecca is a masterpiece of haunting atmosphere, Gothic thrills, and gripping suspense.
#9
Adjusted Score: 112521%
Critics Consensus: Director Lewis Milestone’s brilliant anti-war polemic, headlined by an unforgettable performance from Lew Ayres, lays bare the tragic foolishness at the heart of war.
#10
Adjusted Score: 104944%
Critics Consensus: Boasting masterful cinematography to match its well-acted, wonderfully romantic storyline, Sunrise is perhaps the final — and arguably definitive — statement of the silent era.
#11
Adjusted Score: 116016%
Critics Consensus: Spotlight gracefully handles the lurid details of its fact-based story while resisting the temptation to lionize its heroes, resulting in a drama that honors the audience as well as its real-life subjects.
#12
Adjusted Score: 109011%
Critics Consensus: A well-acted, intensely shot, action filled war epic, Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker is thus far the best of the recent dramatizations of the Iraq War.
#13
Adjusted Score: 119860%
Critics Consensus: One of Hollywood’s greatest critical and commercial successes, The Godfather gets everything right; not only did the movie transcend expectations, it established new benchmarks for American cinema.
#14
Adjusted Score: 111447%
Critics Consensus: Filled with poignant performances and devastating humor, Annie Hall represents a quantum leap for Woody Allen and remains an American classic.
#15
Adjusted Score: 111970%
Critics Consensus: An engrossing look at the triumphs and travails of war veterans, The Best Years of Our Lives is concerned specifically with the aftermath of World War II, but its messages speak to the overall American experience.
#16
Adjusted Score: 109893%
Critics Consensus: Broderick Crawford is spellbinding as politician Willie Stark in director Robert Rossen’s adaptation of the Robert Penn Warren novel about the corrosive effects of power on the human soul.
#17
Adjusted Score: 107373%
Critics Consensus: Director Billy Wilder’s unflinchingly honest look at the effects of alcoholism may have had some of its impact blunted by time, but it remains a powerful and remarkably prescient film.
#18
Adjusted Score: 113730%
Critics Consensus: Tense, exciting, and often darkly comic, Argo recreates a historical event with vivid attention to detail and finely wrought characters.
#19
Adjusted Score: 111266%
Critics Consensus: Drawing on strong performances by Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, Francis Ford Coppola’s continuation of Mario Puzo’s Mafia saga set new standards for sequels that have yet to be matched or broken.
#20
Adjusted Score: 106067%
Critics Consensus: As both director and star, Clint Eastwood strips away decades of Hollywood varnish applied to the Wild West, and emerges with a series of harshly eloquent statements about the nature of violence.
#21
Adjusted Score: 111847%
Critics Consensus: This complex war epic asks hard questions, resists easy answers, and boasts career-defining work from star Alec Guinness and director David Lean.
#22
Adjusted Score: 107223%
Critics Consensus: Realistic, fast-paced and uncommonly smart, The French Connection is bolstered by stellar performances by Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider, not to mention William Friedkin’s thrilling production.
#23
Adjusted Score: 106791%
Critics Consensus: Tense, funny, and thought-provoking all at once, and lifted by strong performances from Sydney Poitier and Rod Steiger, director Norman Jewison’s look at murder and racism in small-town America continues to resonate today.
#24
Adjusted Score: 105420%
Critics Consensus: Scriptwriter Paddy Chayefsky’s solid dialogue is bolstered by strong performances from Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair in this appealingly low-key character study.
#25
Adjusted Score: 111011%
Critics Consensus: The historical inaccuracies in this high-seas adventure are more than offset by its timeless themes, larger-than-life performances from Clark Gable and Charles Laughton, and Frank Lloyd’s superb direction.
#26
Adjusted Score: 103343%
Critics Consensus: A well-executed labor of love from star and director Laurence Olivier, Hamlet not only proved that Shakespeare could be successfully adapted to the big screen, it paved the way for further cinematic interpretations.
#27
Adjusted Score: 112973%
Critics Consensus: It’s far from comfortable viewing, but 12 Years a Slave‘s unflinchingly brutal look at American slavery is also brilliant — and quite possibly essential — cinema.
#28
Adjusted Score: 108486%
Critics Consensus: A crowd-pleasing tribute to the magic of silent cinema, The Artist is a clever, joyous film with delightful performances and visual style to spare.
#29
Adjusted Score: 109036%
Critics Consensus: Director Jonathan Demme’s smart, taut thriller teeters on the edge between psychological study and all-out horror, and benefits greatly from stellar performances by Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster.
#30
Adjusted Score: 112917%
Critics Consensus: The plot may be problematic, but such concerns are rendered superfluous by Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron’s star power, the Gershwins’ classic songs, and Vincente Minnelli’s colorful, sympathetic direction.
#31
Adjusted Score: 105210%
Critics Consensus: George Cukor’s elegant, colorful adaptation of the beloved stage play is elevated to new heights thanks to winning performances by Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison.
#32
Adjusted Score: 116076%
Critics Consensus: Led by an outstanding Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once lives up to its title with an expertly calibrated assault on the senses.
#33
Adjusted Score: 106584%
Critics Consensus: Colin Firth gives a masterful performance in The King’s Speech, a predictable but stylishly produced and rousing period drama.
#34
Adjusted Score: 108826%
Critics Consensus: CODA‘s story offers few surprises, but strong representation and a terrific cast — led by Emilia Jones’ brilliant performance — bring this coming-of-age story vividly to life.
#35
Adjusted Score: 104043%
Critics Consensus: Visually breathtaking and emotionally powerful, The Lord of the Rings – The Return of the King is a moving and satisfying conclusion to a great trilogy.
#36
Adjusted Score: 110722%
Critics Consensus: The epic of all epics, Lawrence of Arabia cements director David Lean’s status in the filmmaking pantheon with nearly four hours of grand scope, brilliant performances, and beautiful cinematography.
#37
Adjusted Score: 108297%
Critics Consensus: Director Billy Wilder’s customary cynicism is leavened here by tender humor, romance, and genuine pathos.
#38
Adjusted Score: 111636%
Critics Consensus: It’s predictably uplifting fare from Frank Capra, perhaps the most consciously uplifting of all great American directors — but thanks to immensely appealing performances and a nimble script, You Can’t Take It With You is hard not to love.
#39
Adjusted Score: 104111%
Critics Consensus: An excessively sentimental piece of propaganda, Mrs. Miniver nonetheless succeeds, due largely to Greer Garson’s powerful performance.
#40
Adjusted Score: 100618%
Critics Consensus: Subsequent war epics may have borrowed heavily from the original Best Picture winner, but they’ve all lacked Clara Bow’s luminous screen presence and William Wellman’s deft direction.
#41
Adjusted Score: 118585%
Critics Consensus: A poetic character study on the forgotten and downtrodden, Nomadland beautifully captures the restlessness left in the wake of the Great Recession.
#42
Adjusted Score: 104838%
Critics Consensus: Bolstered by powerful lead performances from Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, and Tommy Lee Jones, No Country for Old Men finds the Coen brothers spinning cinematic gold out of Cormac McCarthy’s grim, darkly funny novel.
#43
Adjusted Score: 107715%
Critics Consensus: Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher are worthy adversaries in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, with Miloš Forman’s more grounded and morally ambiguous approach to Ken Kesey’s surrealistic novel yielding a film of outsized power.
#44
Adjusted Score: 104612%
Critics Consensus: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and director George Roy Hill prove that charm, humor, and a few slick twists can add up to a great film.
#45
Adjusted Score: 106235%
Critics Consensus: Nostalgic without becoming maudlin, this working-class drama is enlivened by a terrific cast and John Ford’s ineffable directorial eye.
#46
Adjusted Score: 118120%
Critics Consensus: The Shape of Water finds Guillermo del Toro at his visually distinctive best — and matched by an emotionally absorbing story brought to life by a stellar Sally Hawkins performance.
#47
Adjusted Score: 101149%
Critics Consensus: Endlessly witty, visually rapturous, and sweetly romantic, Shakespeare in Love is a delightful romantic comedy that succeeds on nearly every level.
#48
Adjusted Score: 106206%
Critics Consensus: Buoyed by Robert Wise’s dazzling direction, Leonard Bernstein’s score, and Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics, West Side Story remains perhaps the most iconic of all the Shakespeare adaptations to visit the big screen.
#49
Adjusted Score: 101608%
Critics Consensus: This story of a down-on-his-luck boxer is thoroughly predictable, but Sylvester Stallone’s script and stunning performance in the title role brush aside complaints.
#50
Adjusted Score: 106287%
Critics Consensus: Urgently relevant in an era of escalating bigotry and fascism, The Life of Emile Zola is a respectful and staid tribute to the French novelist, enlivened by Paul Muni’s chameleonic prowess.
#51
Adjusted Score: 108612%
Critics Consensus: A thrilling leap forward for director Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman is an ambitious technical showcase powered by a layered story and outstanding performances from Michael Keaton and Edward Norton.
#52
Adjusted Score: 103010%
Critics Consensus: Visually dazzling and emotionally resonant, Slumdog Millionaire is a film that’s both entertaining and powerful.
#53
Adjusted Score: 103022%
Critics Consensus: Featuring outstanding work from an excellent cast, The Departed is a thoroughly engrossing gangster drama with the gritty authenticity and soupy morality we come to expect from Martin Scorsese.
#54
Adjusted Score: 99017%
Critics Consensus: George C. Scott’s sympathetic, unflinching portrayal of the titular general in this sprawling epic is as definitive as any performance in the history of American biopics.
#55
Adjusted Score: 99132%
Critics Consensus: Clint Eastwood’s assured direction – combined with knockout performances from Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman – help Million Dollar Baby to transcend its clichés, and the result is deeply heartfelt and moving.
#56
Adjusted Score: 103932%
Critics Consensus: Gone with the Wind‘s epic grandeur and romantic allure encapsulate an era of Hollywood filmmaking — but that can’t excuse a blinkered perspective that stands on the wrong side of history.
#57
Adjusted Score: 100146%
Critics Consensus: Oliver! transforms Charles Dickens’ muckraking novel into a jaunty musical Victorian fairytale, buoyed by Ron Moody’s charming star turn and Onna White’s rapturous choreography.
#58
Adjusted Score: 103581%
Critics Consensus: Amadeus‘ liberties with history may rankle some, but the creative marriage of Miloš Forman and Peter Shaffer yields a divinely diabolical myth of genius and mediocrity, buoyed by inspired casting and Mozart’s rapturous music.
#59
Adjusted Score: 102038%
Critics Consensus: Informed by director Oliver Stone’s personal experiences in Vietnam, Platoon forgoes easy sermonizing in favor of a harrowing, ground-level view of war, bolstered by no-holds-barred performances from Charlie Sheen and Willem Dafoe.
#60
Adjusted Score: 106080%
Critics Consensus: John Schlesinger’s gritty, unrelentingly bleak look at the seedy underbelly of urban American life is undeniably disturbing, but Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight’s performances make it difficult to turn away.
#61
Adjusted Score: 100539%
Critics Consensus: Director Richard Attenborough is typically sympathetic and sure-handed, but it’s Ben Kingsley’s magnetic performance that acts as the linchpin for this sprawling, lengthy biopic.
#62
Adjusted Score: 100171%
Critics Consensus: Robert Redford proves himself a filmmaker of uncommon emotional intelligence with Ordinary People, an auspicious debut that deftly observes the fractioning of a family unit through a quartet of superb performances.
#63
Adjusted Score: 99519%
Critics Consensus: The divorce subject isn’t as shocking, but the film is still a thoughtful, well-acted drama that resists the urge to take sides or give easy answers.
#64
Adjusted Score: 99848%
Critics Consensus: Solid cinematography and enjoyable performances from Paul Scofield and Robert Shaw add a spark to this deliberately paced adaptation of the Robert Bolt play.
#65
Adjusted Score: 106652%
Critics Consensus: A mostly unqualified triumph for James Cameron, who offers a dizzying blend of spectacular visuals and old-fashioned melodrama.
#66
Adjusted Score: 100849%
Critics Consensus: This road-trip movie about an autistic savant and his callow brother is far from seamless, but Barry Levinson’s direction is impressive, and strong performances from Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman add to its appeal.
#67
Adjusted Score: 101632%
Critics Consensus: It has perhaps aged poorly, but this languidly paced WWII romance remains an iconic, well-acted film, featuring particularly strong performances from Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Clift.
#68
Adjusted Score: 99363%
Critics Consensus: It may not be one of Vincente Minnelli’s best, but the charming and flawlessly acted Gigi still offers enough visual and musical treats to satisfy.
#69
Adjusted Score: 96840%
Critics Consensus: Flawlessly cast and brimming with dark, acid wit, American Beauty is a smart, provocative high point of late ’90s mainstream Hollywood film.
#70
Adjusted Score: 98297%
Critics Consensus: Dances with Wolves suffers from a simplistic view of the culture it attempts to honor, but the end result remains a stirring western whose noble intentions are often matched by its epic grandeur.
#71
Adjusted Score: 96038%
Critics Consensus: Perhaps less a true film than a series of star-studded vignettes, Grand Hotel still remains an entertaining look back at a bygone Hollywood era.
#72
Adjusted Score: 95131%
Critics Consensus: A rousing and energetic adaptation of the Broadway musical, Chicago succeeds on the level of pure spectacle, but provides a surprising level of depth and humor as well.
#73
Adjusted Score: 100813%
Critics Consensus: Its greatness is blunted by its length and one-sided point of view, but the film’s weaknesses are overpowered by Michael Cimino’s sympathetic direction and a series of heartbreaking performances from Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, and Christopher Walken.
#74
Adjusted Score: 98017%
Critics Consensus: While Bernardo Bertolucci’s decadent epic never quite identifies the dramatic pulse of its protagonist, stupendous visuals and John Lone’s ability to make passivity riveting give The Last Emperor a rarified grandeur.
#75
Adjusted Score: 92448%
Critics Consensus: Though it suffers from excessive length and ambition, director Minghella’s adaptation of the Michael Ondaatje novel is complex, powerful, and moving.
#76
Adjusted Score: 94815%
Critics Consensus: While it’s fueled in part by outdated stereotypes, Driving Miss Daisy takes audiences on a heartwarming journey with a pair of outstanding actors.
#77
Adjusted Score: 90982%
Critics Consensus: Uneven, but in terms of epic scope and grand spectacle, Ben-Hur still ranks among Hollywood’s finest examples of pure entertainment.
#78
Adjusted Score: 94492%
Critics Consensus: Decidedly slower and less limber than the Olympic runners at the center of its story, Chariots of Fire nevertheless makes effectively stirring use of its spiritual and patriotic themes.
#79
Adjusted Score: 93416%
Critics Consensus: Unapologetically sweet and maybe even a little corny, The Sound of Music will win over all but the most cynical filmgoers with its classic songs and irresistible warmth.
#80
Adjusted Score: 93649%
Critics Consensus: A classic tearjerker, Terms of Endearment isn’t shy about reaching for the heartstrings — but is so well-acted and smartly scripted that it’s almost impossible to resist.
#81
Adjusted Score: 97285%
Critics Consensus: It occasionally fails to live up to its subject matter — and is perhaps an ‘important’ film more than a ‘great’ one — but the performances from Gregory Peck and Dorothy McGuire are superb.
#82
Adjusted Score: 86043%
Critics Consensus: A frantic, irreverent adaptation of the novel, bolstered by Albert Finney’s courageous performance and arresting visuals.
#83
Adjusted Score: 89664%
Critics Consensus: While not everyone will be entertained by Gladiator‘s glum revenge story, Russell Crowe thunderously wins the crowd with a star-making turn that provides Ridley Scott’s opulent resurrection of Rome its bruised heart.
#84
Adjusted Score: 97388%
Critics Consensus: Green Book takes audiences on an excessively smooth ride through bumpy subject matter, although Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen’s performances add necessary depth.
#85
Adjusted Score: 88072%
Critics Consensus: Tom Hanks’ rigorously earnest performance keeps Forrest Gump sincere even when it gets glib with American history, making for a whimsical odyssey of debatable wisdom but undeniable heart.
#86
Adjusted Score: 85729%
Critics Consensus: Distractingly violent and historically dodgy, Mel Gibson’s Braveheart justifies its epic length by delivering enough sweeping action, drama, and romance to match its ambition.
#87
Adjusted Score: 82063%
Critics Consensus: A raw and unsettling morality piece on modern angst and urban disconnect, Crash examines the dangers of bigotry and xenophobia in the lives of interconnected Angelenos.
#88
Adjusted Score: 81788%
Critics Consensus: The well-acted A Beautiful Mind is both a moving love story and a revealing look at mental illness.
#89
Adjusted Score: 87914%
Critics Consensus: Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald are eminently likable, and film is pleasantly sentimental, but Going My Way suffers from a surplus of sweetness.
#90
Adjusted Score: 78435%
Critics Consensus: It’s undeniably shallow, but its cheerful lack of pretense — as well as its grand scale and star-stuffed cast — help make Around the World in 80 Days charmingly light-hearted entertainment.
#91
Adjusted Score: 83813%
Critics Consensus: This biopic is undeniably stylish, but loses points for excessive length, an overreliance on clichés, and historical inaccuracies.
#92
Adjusted Score: 71496%
Critics Consensus: Though solidly acted and pleasant to look at, Cavalcade lacks cohesion, and sacrifices true emotion for mawkishness.
#93
Adjusted Score: 71472%
Critics Consensus: Though lensed with stunning cinematography and featuring a pair of winning performances from Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, Out of Africa suffers from excessive length and glacial pacing.
#94
Adjusted Score: 57272%
Critics Consensus: The Greatest Show on Earth is melodramatic, short on plot, excessively lengthy and bogged down with clichés, but not without a certain innocent charm.
#95
Adjusted Score: 54363%
Critics Consensus: Cimarron is supported by a strong performance from Irene Dunne, but uneven in basically every other regard, and riddled with potentially offensive stereotypes.
#96
Adjusted Score: 44846%
Critics Consensus: The Broadway Melody is interesting as an example of an early Hollywood musical, but otherwise, it’s essentially bereft of appeal for modern audiences.