Here’s our list of every Best Picture Oscar-winning film from the start of the awards in 1929 all the way up to 2025. Scroll down to read about each of the films, or use the quick links below to jump to your favourite.
Best Picture Oscar: quick links
Wings – 1929 winner
Film (1927). The first ever Best Picture Oscar went to this war film directed by William A Wellman, which follows the story of World War One fighter pilots engaged in a romantic rivalry over the woman they both want to be with.
With no dialogue, the film was released with a synchronised score and sound effects. Around 300 pilots were recruited for the filming and its technical achievements were seen as revolutionary at the time, with visceral air-combat sequences that would set the standard for all other aviation films to come.
Starring Clara Bow, Charles ‘Buddy’ Rogers, Richard Arlen and Jobyna Ralston. Watch the trailer.
Available to stream on Apple TV+ (rental).
The Broadway Melody – 1930 winner
Film (1929). Harry Beaumont’s musical was the first sound film to win the Best Picture Oscar.
It tells the story of two sisters from the vaudeville who want to make their name on Broadway, and the romances that stand in their way. Its use of Technicolor for one of its sequences sparked a trend that would take off for other big musicals in the years to follow, and its songs, such as You Were Meant for Me, became hugely popular.
Starring Charles King, Anita Page and Bessie Love. Watch the trailer.
Available to stream on Apple TV+ (rental).
All Quiet on the Western Front – 1931 winner
Film (1930). Lewis Milestone’s antiwar film was indeed a milestone, with its realistic – and deeply upsetting – portrayal of warfare in World War One. An adaptation of German author Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, the gut punches come thick and fast as the naive optimism of a German youth falls apart in the horrors of the trenches.
Starring Lew Ayres and Louis Wolheim. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Binge.
Cimarron – 1932 winner
Film (1931). Wesley Ruggles’ epic Western follows a newspaper editor called Yancey as he tries to settle in an Oklahoma town with his less-than-pleased young wife during the land rush of 1889. Inky hands give way to bloody hands as Yancey adapts to his new way of life … and death.
Hailed as a critical success, it failed to make back its production costs, which topped $1.5 million (more than $35 million in modern money).
Starring Richard Dix, Irene Dunne, Estelle Taylor and Nance O’Neil. Watch the trailer.
Available to stream on Apple TV+ (rental).
Grand Hotel – 1933 winner
Film (1932). Edmund Goulding’s drama, among other notable high-points, includes the famous Greta Garbo line: ‘I want to be alone.’ It follows guests staying at a luxurious Berlin hotel and their respective dramas, including a disfigured World War One veteran, a jewel thief, a dying accountant and a Russian ballerina.
For the trivia lovers, it’s the only film to have won Best Picture without nominations in any other Oscar category.
Starring Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford and Lionel Barrymore. Watch the trailer.
Available to stream on Apple TV+ (rental).
Cavalcade – 1934 winner
Film (1933). Frank Lloyd’s epic focuses on life in England from New Year’s Eve in 1899 to New Year’s Day in 1933 – the particular ‘life in England’ being that of well-off Londoners Jane and Robert, as well as that of their children, friends and servants.
Historical events such as the death of Queen Victoria play out in the background as time, inevitably, marches on.
Starring Diana Wynyard, Clive Brook, Una O’Connor and Irene Browne. Watch the trailer.
Available to stream on Apple TV+ (rental).
It Happened One Night – 1935 winner
Film (1934). This romcom from Frank Capra tells the story of a mollycoddled socialite heiress trying to escape her father’s influence and her romance with a rakish reporter. Bordering on screwball in its comedy, it’s one of a small handful of films to win all five of the big awards – Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay – at the Oscars.
As such, it’s considered one of the best films ever made.
Starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. Watch the trailer.
Available to stream on Apple TV+ (rental).
Mutiny on the Bounty – 1936 winner
Film (1935). Frank Lloyd’s hugely successful historical adventure drama tells the story of disgruntled first mate Fletcher Christian, who leads a revolt against his nasty commander, Captain Bligh.
One of MGM’s biggest hits of the 1930s, it’s based (pretty loosely) on the real-life 1789 mutiny, and was nominated for eight Oscars.
Starring Charles Laughton, Clark Gable and Franchot Tone. Watch the trailer.
Available to stream on Apple TV+ (rental).
The Great Ziegfeld – 1937 winner
Film (1936). Robert Z Leonard’s musical drama blends a fictionalised account of the American Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld Jr with a cinematic adaptation of the impresario’s theatrical revue, Ziegfeld Follies, which ran on and off from 1907 to 1931.
For plot, we have the late Ziegfeld Jr. looking down from Heaven and arguing for a revival of the revue.
Starring William Powell, Myrna Loy and Luise Rainer. Watch the trailer.
Available to stream on Apple TV+ (rental).
The Life of Emile Zola – 1938 winner
Film (1937). William Dieterle’s biopic about the author Émile Zola was celebrated at the time as the greatest biographical film ever made.
Set in the mid-to-late 19th century, it covers Zola’s early friendship with the painter Paul Cézanne and his rise to writerly fame. It also explores his involvement in the scandalous Dreyfus affair.
Starring Paul Muni, Gloria Holden and Gale Sondergaard. Watch the trailer.
Currently unavailable for streaming.
You Can’t Take It With You – 1939 winner
Film (1938). Frank Capra’s romantic comedy centres on two lovers from opposite sides of the tracks, kind of: a man from a wealthy (and snobby) family and a woman from a loving but eccentric family.
A critical and commercial winner, and in addition to winning Best Picture, it gave Capra his third Best Director Oscar in five years, following It Happened One Night (1934) and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936).
Starring Jean Arthyr, Lionel Barrymore and James Stewart. Watch the trailer.
Available to stream on Apple TV+ (rental).
Gone With the Wind – 1940 winner
Film (1939). Victor Fleming’s epic historical romance set in the American South during the Civil War focuses on the strong-willed daughter of a plantation owner, Scarlet O’Hara, and – in time – her marriage to Rhett Butler.
The film had a troubled production, beset by delays, including for the casting of O’Hara. It was criticised on release by Black commentators for its depiction of Black people and for sanitising the realities of slavery – a concern that continues to this day.
In 2020, the film was removed from HBO Max in response to renewed concerns. It has since been reinstated on Max, now with an introductory disclaimer that discusses its historical context, particularly its racist depictions of slavery.
Available to stream on Max.
Rebecca – 1941 winner
Film (1940). Alfred Hitchcock’s first American film was a winner: a gothic tale about an aristocratic widower, the young woman who will become his second wife, and his dead but definitely not forgotten first wife, Rebecca.
It was nominated for 11 Oscars, winning two. Hitchcock himself was nominated in the Best Director category five times but didn’t ever win the prize.
Starring Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine and Judith Anderson. Watch the trailer.
Available to stream on Filmzie.
How Green Was My Valley – 1942 winner
Film (1941). This John Ford Drama, adapted from the novel of the same name by Richard Llewellyn, invites us into the lives of a Welsh mining valley, as seen through the eyes of their youngest son, Huw, in the late Victorian years, documenting the end of of an era.
It won five of the ten Oscars it was nominated for, winning Best Picture – amazingly – over the Orson Welles’ classic, and frequently described as the best film ever, Citizen Cane.
Starring Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O’Hara, Donald Crisp and Anna Lee. Watch the trailer.
Available to buy on Apple TV+.
Mrs. Miniver – 1943 winner
Film (1942). Again inspired by a novel of the same name, this time by Jan Struther, William Wyler’s romantic war drama takes a look at how the Second World War affects a British housewife in rural England.
It was the highest-grossing film in the year of its release, won six Oscars, and was the first World War Two film to win Best Picture.
Starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright and May Whitty. Watch the trailer.
Available to stream on Apple TV+ (rental).
Casablanca – 1944 winner
Film (1943). Michael Curtiz’s enduring romantic drama, set and filmed during World War Two, centres on an American expat torn between his love for a woman and helping a Czech resistance leader (who just so happens to be her husband) escape from Casablanca.
It was released without great expectations in 1943 but has since steadily grown in reputation and regularly sits atop ‘best ever’ movie lists.
Surely it must be one of the most commonly quoted films too, with lines such as ‘Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine,’ ‘We’ll always have Paris,’ and – of course – ‘Here’s looking at you, kid,’ still doing the rounds more than 80 years later.
Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid. Watch the trailer.
Currently not available for streaming.
Going My Way – 1945 winner
Film (1944). Leo McCarey’s musical dramedy centres on the changes that take place when a young up-and-coming priest inherits the parish of an ageing veteran. Its huge commercial and critical success paved the way for its star, Bing Crosby, who sings five of the songs, to become the hottest box-office star for years to come.
A sequel, The Bells of St. Mary’s, was released the following year, which – though popular – failed to hit the heights of its predecessor.
Starring Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman, Henry Travers and William Gargan. Watch the trailer.
Available to stream on Apple TV+ (rental).
The Lost Weekend – 1946 winner
Film (1945). The first of Billy Wilder’s two Best Picture Oscar-winning films (the second being 1960’s The Apartment), this film noir drama is based on Charles R Jackson’s novel of the same name about an alcoholic writer.
Groundbreaking for its all-too-realistic portrayal of alcoholism, we play witness to a four-day drinking binge of a man with a serious addiction.
Starring Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry and Howard da Silva. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Apple TV+ (rental)
The Best Years of Our Lives – 1947 winner
Film (1946). Directed by William Wyler, this drama takes up the stories of three US soldiers trying to come to terms with civilian life in a society that has changed in their absence, after coming home from active service during World War Two.
Their roles and ranks in different parts of the service jar with who they were, and are again now, in the so-called real world, a dissonance that gets to the heart of the confusion felt by returning servicemen, and secured seven Oscar wins for the film.
Starring Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews and Fredric March. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Prime Video.
Gentleman’s Agreement – 1948 winner
Film (1947). Like many Best Picture Oscar-winners, this drama was based on a novel, this time Laura Z Hobson’s work of the same name.
A widowed journalist pretends to be Jewish to help with an article he’s writing about antisemitism in New York City and other locations.
Starring Gregory Peck, Anne Revere, June Havoc and Dorothy McGuire. Watch the trailer.
Available to buy on Apple TV+.
Hamlet – 1949 winner
Film (1948). The first sound film of Shakespeare’s masterpiece in English, and star Laurence Olivier’s second of three Shakespeare films as director, this one has the honour of being the first British film to win the Best Picture Oscar.
Shakespeare purists bristled at the cuts he made in order to turn the unwieldy stage play into 155 minutes of cinema, but Olivier was feted, not for the first time, as one of the world’s greatest living actors.
Starring Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons and John Laurie. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on SBS On Demand.
All the King’s Men – 1950 winner
Film (1949). Based on Robert Penn Warren’s Pulitzer-winning novel of the same name, Robert Rossen wrote, produced and directed this drama about a politician in the American South whose idealism sees him rise … and then fall.
Starring Broderick Crawford, John Ireland and Mercedes McCambridge. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Apple TV+ (rental).
All About Eve – 1951 winner
Film (1950). Directed by Joseph L Mankiewicz, this drama focuses on Margo Channing, an ageing star of Broadway, and an eager young fan called Eve, who gets close to Margo, threatening to upend not just her career but life.
Like others on this list, All About Eve is widely regarded as one of the best films ever made and, among its many high points, helped usher Marlyn Monroe towards stardom, seen here in one of her earliest roles.
Starring Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders and Marilyn Monroe. Watch the trailer.
Available to buy on Apple TV+.
An American in Paris – 1952 winner
Film (1951). In this musical romcom for the ages, directed by Vincente Minnelli, Paris forms the backdrop to the story of WW2 veteran Jerry Mulligan, who’s trying to make his living as an artist in the city, but he and his friend face headwinds when they both fall for the same woman.
In some ways, the plot is secondary, interspersed as it is with spectacular dance numbers choreographed by the film’s star, Gene Kelly, set to music by George Gershwin, with lyrics by George’s brother Ira. So much so that the film culminates in a 17-minute dance number set to the tune An American in Paris.
A box-office smash, it was nominated for eight Oscars, winning six. In short, ‘S Wonderful …
Starring Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant and Nina Foch. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Apple TV+ (rental).
The Greatest Show on Earth – 1953 winner
Film (1952). Any film featuring James Stewart as a mysterious clown who never takes off his makeup is going to be a little too creepy for some viewers, but this Cecile B DeMille drama shot in Technicolor tells the intertwined story of a no-nonsense circus manager and a pair of trapeze artists jostling for the big time.
Set in, and featuring, the real-life Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s Circus, including nearly 1,500 people and hundreds of animals, the film is almost unbelievably lavish and includes genuine feats of circus derring-do.
Starring Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, James Stewart and Dorothy Lamour. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Apple TV+ (rental).
From Here to Eternity – 1954 winner
Film (1953). A romantic war drama from Fred Zinnermann, this one follows three US soldiers stationed in Hawaii in the months before the infamous Pearl Harbor attack. One, a former boxer, is sent to the stockade for not joining his unit’s boxing team, while his commanding officer and the unit’s top non-commissioned officer fall into a tumultuous affair.
It won eight Oscars from its 13 nominations, including Best Supporting Actress for Donna Reed.
Starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed and Frank Sinatra. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Apple TV+ (rental).
On the Waterfront – 1955 winner
Film (1954). Elia Kazan’s crime drama received 12 Oscar nominations and won eight, including Best Actor for its star Marlon Brando, who plays Terry Malloy, a prizefighter who threw a fight, and lost his career, at the behest of a mob boss called Johnny Friendly.
The focus here is union violence and the endemic corruption marring the lives of longshoremen in New Jersey, but also on redemption, as Terry develops a meaningful relationship with the sister of one of the union’s victims.
Starring Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J Cobb and Rod Steiger. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Apple TV+ (rental).
Marty – 1956 winner
Film (1955). Delbert Mann’s directorial debut spins a romantic drama from the story of an unmarried thirty-something Italian-American butcher (Marty) who lives with his mother amid clamouring calls from his friends to get married and have some kids.
It’s never going to happen, Marty thinks, but then he meets a jilted high-school teacher called Clara outside a dance hall and starts to revise his life plans.
Starring Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Prime Video.
Around the World in 80 Days – 1957 winner
Film (1956). Widely considered one of the worst, if not the very worst, Best Picture Oscar winner ever (Crash has also been in critics’ sights lately), Michael Anderson’s film – based on Jules Verne’s 1873 novel – follows upper-class English gentleman Phileas Fogg and his wager to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days. His servant Passepartout comes along for the laughs, as does Shirley MacLaine as, implausibly, an Indian princess.
Starring David Niven, Cantinflas and Shirley MacLaine. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Prime Video.
The Bridge on the River Kwai – 1958 winner
Film (1957). David Lean’s war epic, based on the novel of the same name, sets fictional characters against the torturous real-life construction of the Burma Railway by British prisoners of war in a Japanese camp during World War Two.
Regularly included in lists of the best films ever made, and the winner of seven Oscars, it remains as moving and disturbing as ever.
Starring William Holden, Alec Guiness, Jack Hawkins and Sessue Hayakawa. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on BritBox.
Gigi – 1959 winner
Film (1958). Vincente Minnelli’s romantic comedy musical won all nine of its Oscar nominations in 1959, including Best Picture and Best Director. It’s set at the turn of the 20th century in Belle Époque Paris and considered the last of the great MGM musicals.
With songs by Lerner and Loewe that have definitely not aged well – not least Thank Heaven for Little Girls – and costumes and set pieces that remain breathtaking for all the right reasons, we follow a wealthy playboy and a young trainee courtesan as their platonic relationship morphs into something else.
Starring Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier and Louis Jourdan. Watch the trailer.
Currently unavailable to stream.
Ben-Hur – 1960 winner
Film (1959). William Wyler’s religious epic isn’t as big as Ben-Hur, because it actually is Ben-Hur, the very yardstick of what ‘big’ means, with a bigger budget and sets than any film previously, and an estimated 10,000 extras.
The story follows a Jewish prince, sent into slavery by his backstabbing Roman friend in Jerusalem, 1AD, but you’d better believe he’ll gain his freedom and seek almighty revenge. The nine-minute chariot race sequence, directed by Andrew Marton and Yakima Canutt, is spectacular, but there’s plenty more to keep you gripped. I mean, it’s bigger than …
Starring Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet and Martha Scott. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Prime Video.
The Apartment – 1961 winner
Film (1960). Billy Wilder’s romantic comedy-drama zeroes in on an insurance clerk who tries to curry favour with his superiors, and thereby advance his career, by letting them use his apartment as a love nest for their illicit affairs. But then he falls for his office’s elevator operator, who is entangled already with the company’s head of personnel.
Not without controversy at the time for its lewd storyline, the film won five Oscars, was a critical and commercial hit, and is now feted as one of the all-time greatest films.
Starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on MGM.
West Side Story – 1962 winner
Film (1961). Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins’ adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name fits the bones of Romeo and Juliet with Tony and Maria, two lovestruck young adults whose worlds are at war – Maria being linked via family and social circumstances to The Sharks, a Puerto Rican street gang, and Tony to The Jets, a group of whites brawling with The Sharks for control of New York’s Upper West Side in the late 1950s.
Love, tragedy, dancing and an incredible score by Leonard Bernstein, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, combine in a story that became the highest-grossing film of 1961 and has endured in the decades since. The 2021 adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg is also worth your time.
Starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno and George Chakiris. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Prime Video.
Lawrence of Arabia – 1963 winner
Film (1962). David Lean’s sandy and sumptuous epic, based on the life of the British Army officer TE Lawrence as described in his 1926 book Seven Pillars of Wisdom, charts Lawrence’s time in Hejaz and Syria during World War One and his split loyalties between Arabia and his native Britain.
Winning seven Oscars from its ten nominations, it’s never far from the top of ‘best-ever’ film lists. And that score by Maurice Jarre!
Starring Peter O’Toole, Anthony Quinn, Alec Guinness and Omar Sharif. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Binge.
Tom Jones – 1964 winner
Film (1963). Tony Richardson directed this period comedy adaptation of Henry Fielding’s classic novel, bringing to the screen the romantic adventures of Tom in 18th-century England.
Starring Albert Finney, Susannah York and Hugh Griffith. Watch the trailer.
Currently unavailable on streaming services.
My Fair Lady – 1965 winner
Film (1964). George Cukor’s adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe stage musical of the same name caused some raised eyebrows for its casting – particularly as Julie Andrews had played the protagonist Eliza Doolittle to great acclaim in the stage version and was thought to be the obvious choice for the film – but few (except maybe Andrews) would think of Audrey Hepburn now as anything other than the embodiment of the poor Cockney flower-seller, who becomes part of an experiment by the pompous Henry Higgins, who wagers he can turn her into a refined lady worthy of Edwardian London.
A delight of a film (even when you’re hating on Professor Higgins and wishing Eliza would smack him round the head with something heavy), with songs such as I Could Have Danced All Night, Just You Wait and Wouldn’t it be Loverly …
Starring Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison and Stanley Holloway. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Binge.
he Sound of Music – 1966 winner
Film (1965). Robert Wise’s musical drama hardly needs an introduction, but if you’ve got this far in life without knowing much about it, it’s based on the 1949 memoir The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, and tells – and often sings – the story of Maria, a hapless would-be nun turned governess to seven children and her eventual marriage to their father, in Salzburg, Austria, against the backdrop of the surging Nazis.
On release, it broke box office records in dozens of countries and had a theatrical release spanning more than four years. From it, we learned not only that doe is a deer (a female deer) but that Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer had an onscreen chemistry that, for decades to come, would remain one of our favourite things.
Starring Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker and Richard Haydn. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Disney+ and Prime Video.
A Man for All Seasons – 1967 winner
Film (1966). Directed and produced by Fred Zinnemann, this historical drama focuses on the latter years of the 16th-century Lord Chancellor of England, Sir Thomas More, and his resistance to attempts by Henry VIII to to have his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled.
Considered one of the best British films ever made, it won – in addition to Best Picture – another five Oscars in 1967, including Best Director for Zinnemann and Best Actor for Paul Scofield.
Starring Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller and Leo McKern. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Apple TV+ (rental).
In the Heat of the Night – 1968 winner
Film (1967). Norman Jewison’s mystery drama is an adaptation of John Ball’s novel of the same name. It tells the story of a Black detective from Philadelphia who finds himself investigating a murder in Mississippi.
It won five of the seven Oscars it was nominated for, including Best Actor (Rod Steiger).
Starring Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates and Lee Grant. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Prime Video.
Oliver! – 1969 winner
Film (1968). Carol Reed’s musical is an adaptation of the 1960 stage musical, which itself was an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novel about Oliver Twist, an orphan who escapes the poor house only to find himself a new recruit for Fagin and his band of juvenile delinquents in grimy London.
Featuring songs such as Consider Yourself, You’ve Got to Pick a Pocket or Two and As Long as He Needs Me, it manages to convey squalor, murder and theft with knee-slapping, enduring show tunes.
Starring Ron Moody, Oliver Reed, Shani Wallis and Harry Secombe. Watch the trailer.
Midnight Cowboy – 1970 winner
Film (1969). Another adaptation – this time from James Leo Herligy’s novel of the same name – John Schlesinger’s drama, set in New York takes a close look at the budding friendship between a male sex worker and a con man who’s a little down on his luck.
It holds the distinction of being the first, and still only, X-rated film to win the Best Picture Oscar, and also scooped Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Starring John Voight, Dustin Hoffman and Brenda Vaccaro. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Apple TV+ (rental).
Patton – 1971 winner
Film (1970). Franklin J Shaffner’s biographical war film focuses on the military career of the US General George S Patton during World War Two, with a script by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North.
As well as Best Picture, it won six other Oscars in 1971, including Best Original Screenplay and Best Director. George C Scott won Best Actor for his titular role but refused the award, describing the Oscars as a ‘two-hour meat parade‘.
Starring George C Scott and Karl Malden. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Disney+.
The French Connection – 1972 winner
Film (1971). This gritty neo-noir action thriller from William Friedkin, based on Robin Moore’s book of the same name, pits New York drug detectives Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle and Buddy ‘Cloudy’ Russo against a wealthy French heroin smuggler, with crime and spectacular car chases galore.
As well as Best Picture, it won four other Oscars, including Best Director and Best Actor (Gene Hackman).
Starring Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey and Roy Scheider. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Disney+.
The Godfather – 1973 winner
Film (1972). The first in what would become Francis Ford Coppola’s trilogy of Godfather films, and co-written by Coppola and Mario Puzo, author of the bestselling novel of the same name, The Godfather remains definitive in the world of epic gangster movies.
The focus here is the Italian-American Corleone family, operating under the watchful eye, and soft-spoken voice, of Vito Corleone, and the move of his youngest son, Michael, from war hero to not-so-celebrated inheritor of the Godfather title.
Starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton and Robert Duvall. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Paramount+.
The Sting – 1974 winner
Film (1973). George Roy Hill’s American caper film follows two professional grifters and their convoluted attempt to con a mob boss.
A critical and commercial smash, with a memorable score and performances oozing charisma, it won seven Oscars from its ten nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
Starring Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Robert Shaw. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Binge.
The Godfather Part II – 1975 winner
Film (1974). Part two of Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather trilogy acts as both a prequel and sequel to part one, following the travails of the newly minted Godfather Michael Corleone in the 1950s as well as the backstory of his father Vito (a role played my Marlon Brando in the first film and picked up here with aplomb by Robert De Niro).
A rare case of a sequel that is considered even better than the film it follows, it was the first sequel to ever win Best Picture, as well as bagging a Best Supporting Oscar for De Niro.
Starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Talia Shire, Diane Keaton, John Cazale and Robert Duvall. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Paramount+.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – 1976 winner
Film (1975). In this psychological drama by Miloš Forman, a newly admitted mental patient, incarcerated for the statutory rape of a 15-year-old girl, sets his own – and his fellow patients’ – course against the no-nonsense Nurse Ratched.
Co-produced by Michael Douglas (his father Kirk was originally meant to star his father, Kirk), and based on the novel of the same name by Ken Kesey, the film took all five main Oscars (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay) in 1976.
Starring Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, William Redfield, Danny DeVito and Will Sampson. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on SBS On Demand.
Rocky – 1977 winner
Film (1976). Winning out over Taxi Driver and All the President’s Men in the Best Picture category, Sylvester Stallone’s portrayal of the Philadelphia ‘southpaw’ who took on the heavyweight boxing champion, Apollo Creed, in the ring and survived to shout ‘Adriannnnnn’ punched well above its weight and spawned many a sequel, continuing to this day in the Creed franchise.
Few of us, surely, have set out jogging at dawn without hearing the Rocky theme playing as we recreate his famous training montage.
Starring Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young and Carl Weathers. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Stan.
Annie Hall – 1978 winner
Film (1977). Woody Allen may have moved quite some distance from flavour of the month but he could barely put a foot wrong with his films in the 1970s – including this comedy drama, which was nominated for the Big Five Academy Awards.
Neurotic New York comedian Aly Singer conducts a post mortem on his failed relationship with Annie Hall, played by Diane Keaton in a role that was written specifically for her.
Starring Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane and Paul Simon. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Prime Video.
The Deer Hunter – 1979 winner
Film (1978). If nothing else, anyone who has ever seen this American epic war drama knows Russian Roulette is not a game you want to play, ever, under any circumstances, and especially not against your best friend after weeks of being kept in a cage under water during the Vietnam War.
Co-written and directed by Michael Cimino, it follows the travails of three Slavic-American steel workers whose lives are changed forever by the war, with performances that haunt long after the credits.
Starring Robert De Niro, John Cazale, Meryl Streep and Christopher Walken. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Apple TV+ (rental).
Kramer vs. Kramer – 1980 winner
Film (1979). This weepie legal drama, written and directed by Robert Benton, covers a couple’s drawn-out divorce and its impact on their young son, taking in issues such as single parenting and gender roles.
Taking in more than $173 million on a budget of $8 million, it was a gigantic commercial and critical success, with stars Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep cementing (even more) their status as top-tier actors of their generation.
Starring Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep and Jane Alexander. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Prime Video (rental).
Ordinary People – 1981 winner
Film (1980). Robert Redford’s debut as a director, based on the novel of the same name by Judith Guest, certainly doesn’t shy away from tragedy.
A wealthy Illinois family implodes following the death of one of their two sons and the attempted suicide of the other. In addition to Best Picture, it won Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (for 20-year-old Timothy Hutton).
Starring Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch and Timothy Hutton. Watch the trailer.
Chariots of Fire – 1982 winner
Film (1981). Hugh Hudson’s sports drama is based on the real-life story of two British competitors at the 1924 Olympic Games: one, a devout Christian who runs for God’s glory; the other, a Jew who runs, in part, to overcome prejudice.
As with Rocky, the theme tune – this time by Vangelis – is as famous, if not more so, than the film itself, lending an epic air to this tale of human sporting endeavour.
Starring Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Nigel Havers and Cheryl Campbell. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Disney+.
Gandhi – 1983 winner
Film (1982). Directed and produced by Richard Attenborough, this epic biographical film centres – as the title suggests – on the life of Mahatma Gandhi and his crucial role in the Indian independence movement from the British Empire in the early 20th century.
It won eight (from 11 nominations) Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Actor (for Ben Kingsley).
Starring Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen and Edward Fox. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on BritBox.
Terms of Endearment – 1984 winner
Film (1983). This adaptation of Larry McMurtry’s novel was written, directed and produced by James L Brooks, brings a tragicomic lens to three decades of life between a widowed mother and her daughter, who finds herself married to a philandering husband.
In addition to Best Picture, it won Oscar for Best Director, Best Actress (Shirley MacLaine), Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson).
Starring Debra Winger, Shirley MacLaine, Jack Nicholson and John Lithgow. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on Netflix and Prime Video.
Amadeus – 1985 winner
Film (1984). Another winner from director Miloš Forman, this biographical drama imagines an intense rivalry between to vienna composers working in the 18th century: Mozart and Antonio Salieri. Hatred and jealousy abound.
The film won eight Oscars among a slew of international awards and huge commercial success.
Starring F Murray Abtaham, Rom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge and Simon Callow. Watch the trailer.
Streaming on SBS On Demand.
Out of Africa – 1986 winner
Film (1985). Sydney Pollack’s romantic epic is set in 20th-century Kenya under colonisation, where a Danish plantation owner embarks on a love affair with a big-game hunter.
Starring Meryl Streep, Robert Redford and Klaus Maria Brandauer.
Streaming on Foxtel Now and Binge.
Platoon – 1987 winner
Film (1986). Oliver Stone’s Vietnam war drama centres on a new American army recruit in the Vietnam war who finds himself caught between two sergeants with very different views on combat and life.
Starring Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe.
Streaming on Stan and SBS On Demand.
The Last Emperor – 1988 winner
Film (1987). In this historical epic, Bernardo Bertolucci brings his director’s eye to the life and times of Emperor Puyi, China’s eleventh and final leader of the Qing dynasty.
Starring John Lone, Joan Chen and Peter O’Toole.
Streaming on Apple TV+ (rental)
Rain Man – 1989 winner
Film (1988). Barry Levinson’s road-trip drama unites an LA yuppie with his previously unknown autistic savant brother and their journey to – hopefully – extract a larger inheritance from his estranged dad.
Starring Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise and Valeria Golino.
Streaming on Prime Video and Stan.
Driving Miss Daisy – 1990 winner
Film (1989). Bruce Bereford’s period comedy-drama charts the developing relationship between an elderly Jewish woman and her African-American chauffeur in the American South.
Starring Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy and Dan Aykroyd.
Streaming on Prime Video.
Dances With Wolves – 1991 winner
Film (1990). Kevin Costner directs and stars in this Western epic in which a US lieutenant at a remote Civil War outpost makes contact with the neighbouring Sioux settlement and starts to reevaluate his life.
Starring Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell and Graham Greene.
Not available for streaming.
The Silence of the Lambs – 1992 winner
Film (1991). In this psychological thriller by Jonathan Demme, an FBI cadet has no choice but to seek help from an imprisoned cannibal killer in her bid to track down a nasty piece of work.
Starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins and Scott Glenn.
Streaming on Stan, SBS On Demand and Prime Video.
Unforgiven – 1993 winner
Film (1992). Clint Eastwood directs and stars in this Western as a retired gunslinger who agrees at pains to take on one last job with his old partner and a fresher outlaw known as The Schofield Kid.
Starring Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman.
Streaming On Netflix and Binge.
Schindler’s List – 1994 winner
Film (1993). Steven Spielberg’s World War II epic is set in In German-occupied Poland, where the rich industrialist Oskar Schindler starts to worry for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution.
Starring Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Ben Kingsley.
Streaming on Foxtel Now and Binge.
Forrest Gump – 1995 winner
Film (1994). Robert Zemeckis directs this comedy-drama-romance, presenting us with a potted history of the US from the 1950s to the 1970s through the eyes of a man with a low IQ.
Starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Gary Sinise.
Streaming on Paramount+ and Stan.
Braveheart – 1996 winner
Film (1995). In Mel Gibson’s action epic, a fictionalised version of Scottish warrior William Wallace leads his fellow Scots in a rebellion to free his homeland from the influence and control of King Edward I of England.
Starring Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau and Patrick McGoohan.
Streaming on Disney+ and Stan.
The English Patient – 1997 winner
Film (1996). Anthony Minghella’s screen adaptation of the Michael Ondaatje’s novel of the same name, charts the relationship between a young nurse near the end of World War II and her patient, a badly burned plane crash victim whose past is shown in flashbacks.
Starring Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche and Willem Dafoe.
Streaming on Apple TV+ (rental).
Titanic – 1998 winner
Film (1997). James Cameron’s watery disaster epic sets a complicated love story between a 17-year-old aristocrat and a penniless artist against the backdrop of the infamous Titanic disaster.
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet and Billy Zane.
Streaming on Disney+.
Shakespeare in Love – 1999 winner
Film (1998). Period drama meets romantic comedy in John Madden’s film imagining a love story between a young and struggling Shakespeare and the woman who inspires him to write one of his most celebrated plays.
Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes and Geoffrey Rush.
Streaming on Apple TV+ (rental).
American Beauty – 2000 winner
Film (1999). In this psychological drama by Sam Mendes, a suburban dad finds himself in something of a midlife crisis after falling in love with his daughter’s best friend.
Starring Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening and Thora Birch.
Streaming on Stan.
Gladiator – 2001 winner
Film (2000). Ridley Scott’s action epic follows a one-time Roman general looking for revenge against the emperor who killed his family and made him a slave.
Starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Pheonix and Connie Nielsen.
Streaming on Netflix, Prime Video, Paramount+ and Stan.
A Beautiful Mind – 2002 winner
Film (2001). Ron Howard presents the life of maths genius John Nash who seemed unstoppable in his early career until his ego took over.
Starring Russell Crowe, Ed Harris and Jennifer Connelly.
Streaming on Stan.
Chigaco – 2003 winner
Film (2002). Crime, comedy and music combine in Rob Marshall’s film in which two female murderers compete for the limelight and a lawyer’s affections.
Starring Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere.
Streaming on Stan and Paramount+.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – 2004 winner
Film (2003). The third and final film in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy sees Gandalf and Aragorn leading the World of Men against Sauron’s army whole Frodo and Sam hotfoot it to Mount Doom with the Ring.
Starring Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen and Ian McKellen.
Streaming on Netflix.
Million Dollar Baby – 2005 winner
Film (2004). Clint Eastwood directs and stars in this sports drama, playing a grumpy coach who trains Maggie, an aspiring boxer. The two develop a close bond and, for a while, it seems nothing can go wrong.
Starring Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman.
Streaming on Stan.
Crash – 2006 winner
Film (2005). Directed and co-written by Paul Haggis, Crash follows the lives of seemingly unconnected Los Angeles citizens in a dramatic story of loss, race and redemption.
Starring Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock and Thandiwe Newton.
Streaming on SBS On Demand.
The Departed – 2007 winner
Film (2006). Martin Scorcese’s crime drama sees an undercover cop and a mole in the police try to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in Boston.
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson.
Streaming on Netflix, Stan, Binge nd Prime Video.
No Country for Old Men – 2008 winner
Film (2007). The Coen Brothers turn their hands to a contemporary Western come psychological thriller, in which a hunter inadvertently stumbles on the bloody aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong and decides to make off with the money.
Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin.
Streaming on Stan and Paramount+.
Slumdog Millionaire – 2009 winner
Film (2008). A teenager from Mumbai’s slums come under heavy investigation after outperforming expectations on a quiz show with a huge cash prize, and revisits the life events that led to him knowing the answers.
Directed by Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan. Starring Dev Patel, Freida Pinto and Suarabh Shukla.
Streaming on Foxtel Now.
The Hurt Locker – 2010 winner
Film (2009). Kathryn Bigelow’s tense psychological drama is set during the Iraq War, and follows a maverick sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad.
Starring Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty.
Streaming on Apple TV+ (rental)
The King’s Speech – 2011 winner
Film (2010). This period-slash-political drama by Tom Hooper tells the story of King George VI in the UK, his hasty ascension to the throne in 1936, and his work with a speech therapist to lessen his debilitating speech impediment.
Starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter.
Streaming on Stan.
The Artist – 2012 winner
Film (2011). Michel Hazanavicius’s black-and-white showbiz drama charts the love story of a silent movie star and an up-and-coming dancer, and how their relationship and fortunes change after the introduction of talking pictures.
Starring Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo and John Goodman.
Streaming on Stan.
Argo – 2013 winner
Film (2012). Ben Affleck directs and stars in this period drama in which a CIA agent posing as a Hollywood producer leads an operation to free six American hostages from Tehran in 1979.
Starring Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston and John Goodman.
Streaming on Stan and SBS On Demand.
12 Years a Slave – 2014 winner
Film (2013). Steve McQueen’s period drama tells the story of Solomon Northup, a free Black man from upstate New York who is abducted and sold into slavery.
Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Kenneth Williams and Michael Fassbender.
Streaming on Stan.
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) – 2015 winner
Film (2014). in this dark comedy from Alejandro G. Iñárritu, a washed-up superhero actor tries to write, direct and star in a Broadway show.
Starring Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis and Edward Norton.
Streaming on Disney+ and Stan.
Spotlight – 2016 winner
Film (2015). Tom McCarthy’s legal drama tackles the true story of how reporters at the Boston Globe uncovered widespread child sexual abuse at the city’s local Catholic Archdiocese, and the repercussions for the Catholic church more broadly.
Starring Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton and Rachel McAdams.
Available to on Apple TV+ (rental)
Moonlight – 2017 winner
Film (2016). In this coming-of-age drama from director Barry Jenkins, a young African-American man tries to come to terms with his sexuality and personality during his childhood, teens and young adulthood.
Starring Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris and Trevante Rhodes.
Streaming on Stan.
The Shape of Water – 2018 winner
Film (2017). Guillermo del Toro’s dark romance fantasy tells the story of a lonely janitor in a top secret 1960s research facility who falls in love with an amphibious creature in captivity.
Starring Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer and Michael Shannon.
Streaming on Disney+.
Green Book – 2019 winner
Film (2018). In this period drama from director Peter Farrelly, a working-class Italian-American bouncer becomes the driver for an African-American classical pianist on a concert tour in the American South of the 1960s.
Starring Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali and Linda Cardellini.
Streaming on Netflix.
Parasite – 2020 winner
Film (2019). Boon Joon Ho’s dark Korean comedy follows the strangely co-dependent relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan, examining greed and class discrimination.
Starring Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun and Cho Yeo-jeong.
Streaming on Netflix and Stan.
ScreenHub: Parasite review
Nomadland – 2021 winner
Film (2020). Chloé Zhao’s road-trip film follows a woman in her sixties, who embarks on a journey through the American West after the Great Recession, living as a modern-day nomad.
Starring Frances McDormand, David Strathairn and Linda May.
Streaming on Disney+.
CODA – 2022 winner
Film (2021). Sian Heder’s coming-of-age comedy drama in which a young woman finds herself torn between pursuing her musical passion and her fear of abandoning her deaf parents when the family’s fishing business is threatened.
Starring Emilia Jones, Maree matlin and Troy Kotsur.
Streaming on Apple TV+.
ScreenHub: CODA deserved the Oscar as a tribute to its process
Everything Everywhere All at Once – 2023 winner
Film (2022). A mindbending adventure epic from directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinart in which a middle-aged Chinese immigrant to the US discovers she alone can save existence by exploring other universes and connecting with the lives she could have led.
Starring Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Streaming on Netflix and Stan.
ScreenHub: Everything Everywhere All at Once review
Oppenheimer – 2024 winner
Film (2023). Christopher Nolan’s star-studded epic dramatises the life story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the scientist who played a decisive role in developing the atomic bombs used on Japan in World War II.
Starring Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt and Matt Damon.
Streaming on Paramount+.
ScreenHub: Oppenheimer review
Anora –2025 winner
Film (2024). Sean Baker’s dark and raunchy comedy follows a young stripper from Brooklyn who meets and marries the son of a Russian oligarch. But her fairy tale is threatened as her new husband’s parents head to New York to get the marriage annulled.
Starring Mikey Madison, Paul Weissman and Yura Borisov.
Streaming on Prime Video and Disney+.
