Oscar-winning films don’t always stand the test of time – some disappear from memory almost instantly while others become classics celebrated for decades to come. But, for sure, they will always be the films that won that particularly coveted award.
Here are the Best Picture winners from 1986 to 1995 and where to stream them currently.
Enjoy!
Oscar-winning films: quick links
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.
