The 98th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, March 15th and by its conclusion a new film will be added to the exclusive list of Best Picture winners.
Over the previous 97 years, many classic movies have received this honor from 'In the Heat of the Night' to 'Titanic.' But for every 'Schindler's List' or 'Moonlight' there is a film like 'Driving Miss Daisy' or 'American Beauty' that has not aged well.
And let's not forget the all-time classic movies that were completely snubbed such as 'Pulp Fiction' or 'The Shawshank Redemption,' and did not receive the Academy recognition they deserved.
In honor or the upcoming Oscar ceremony, we've decided to countdown the 30 greatest Best Picture winners of all-time.
Let's begin!
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30. ‘The Sting' (1973)
A novice con man (Robert Redford) teams up with an acknowledged master (Paul Newman) to avenge the murder of a mutual friend by pulling off the ultimate big con and swindling a fortune from a big-time mobster (Robert Shaw).
29. ‘The Sound of Music' (1965)
In the years before World War II, a tomboyish postulant (Julie Andrews) at an Austrian abbey is hired as a governess in the home of a widowed naval captain (Christopher Plummer) with seven children and brings a new love of life and music into the home.
28. ‘Rain Man' (1988)
When car dealer Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) learns that his estranged father has died, he returns home to Cincinnati, where he discovers that he has a savant older brother named Raymond (Dustin Hoffman) and that his father's $3 million fortune is being left to the mental institution in which Raymond lives. Motivated by his father's money, Charlie checks Raymond out of the facility in order to return with him to Los Angeles. The brothers' cross-country trip ends up changing both their lives.
27. ‘Parasite' (2019)
All unemployed, Ki-taek's (Song Kang-ho) family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.
26. ‘Midnight Cowboy' (1969)
Joe Buck (Jon Voight) is a wide-eyed hustler from Texas hoping to score big with wealthy New York City women; he finds a companion in Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman), an ailing swindler with a bum leg and a quixotic fantasy of escaping to Florida.
25. ‘The Departed’ (2006)
To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop (Leonardo DiCaprio) curries favor with the mob kingpin (Jack Nicholson), a career criminal (Matt Damon) rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.
24. ‘On the Waterfront' (1954)
A prizefighter-turned-longshoreman (Marlon Brando) with a conscience goes up against labor leaders to expose corruption, extortion, and murder among the union ranks.
23. ‘The Hurt Locker' (2009)
During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.
22. ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once' (2022)
Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, collectively known as Daniels, the film is a hilarious and big-hearted sci-fi action adventure about an exhausted Chinese American woman (Michelle Yeoh) who can't seem to finish her taxes.
21. ‘Platoon' (1987)
As a young and naive recruit in Vietnam, Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.
20. ‘Anora' (2024)
Mikey Madison captivates as Ani, a young sex worker from Brooklyn whose life takes an unexpected turn when she meets and impulsively marries Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the impetuous son of a Russian billionaire. However, when Vanya's parents catch wind of the union, they send their henchmen to annul the marriage, setting off a wild chase through the streets of New York.
19. ‘Unforgiven’ (1992)
William Munny (Clint Eastwood) is a retired, once-ruthless killer turned gentle widower and hog farmer. To help support his two motherless children, he accepts one last bounty-hunter mission to find the men who brutalized a prostitute. Joined by his former partner (Morgan Freeman) and a cocky greenhorn, he takes on a corrupt sheriff (Gene Hackman).
18. ‘Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)' (2014)
A fading actor (Michael Keaton) best known for his portrayal of a popular superhero attempts to mount a comeback by appearing in a Broadway play. As opening night approaches, his attempts to become more altruistic, rebuild his career, and reconnect with friends and family prove more difficult than expected. Also starring Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, and Emma Stone.
17. ‘In the Heat of the Night' (1967)
African-American Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) is arrested on suspicion of murder by Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger), the racist police chief of tiny Sparta, Mississippi. After Tibbs proves not only his own innocence but that of another man, he joins forces with Gillespie to track down the real killer. Their investigation takes them through every social level of the town, with Tibbs making enemies as well as unlikely friends as he hunts for the truth.
16. ‘Casablanca' (1943)
In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate (Humphrey Bogart) meets a former lover (Ingrid Bergman), with unforeseen complications.
15. ‘Gladiator' (2000)
After the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris), his devious son takes power and demotes Maximus (Russell Crowe), one of Rome's most capable generals who Marcus preferred. Eventually, Maximus is forced to become a gladiator and battle to the death against other men for the amusement of paying audiences.
14. ‘Titanic' (1997)
101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater (Gloria Stuart) tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A young Rose (Kate Winslet) boards the ship with her mother and fiancé. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Fabrizio De Rossi (Danny Nucci) win third-class tickets aboard the ship. Rose tells the whole story from Titanic's departure through to its death—on its first and last voyage—on April 15, 1912.
13. ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975)
A petty criminal (Jack Nicholson) fakes insanity to serve his sentence in a mental ward rather than prison. He soon finds himself as a leader to the other patients—and an enemy to the cruel, domineering nurse (Louise Fletcher) who runs the ward.
12. ‘Argo’ (2012)
As the Iranian revolution reaches a boiling point, a CIA 'exfiltration' specialist (Ben Affleck) concocts a risky plan to free six Americans who have found shelter at the home of the Canadian ambassador. Also starring Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, and John Goodman.
11. ‘Moonlight' (2016)
The tender, heartbreaking story of a young man’s struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love, while grappling with his own sexuality.
10. ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ (2003)
Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) is revealed as the heir to the ancient kings as he, Gandalf and the other members of the broken fellowship struggle to save Gondor from Sauron's forces. Meanwhile, Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) take the ring closer to the heart of Mordor, the dark lord's realm.
9. ‘Rocky’ (1976)
When world heavyweight boxing champion, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) wants to give an unknown fighter a shot at the title as a publicity stunt, his handlers choose palooka Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) , an uneducated collector for a Philadelphia loan shark. Rocky teams up with trainer Mickey Goldmill (Burgess Meredith) to make the most of this once in a lifetime break.
8. ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)
Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.
7. ‘Oppenheimer' (2023)
The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer's (Cillian Murphy) role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.
6. ‘Schindler's List' (1994)
The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.
5. ‘Spotlight’ (2015)
The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core. The movie stars Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, and Rachel McAdams.
4. ‘The French Connection’ (1971)
Tough narcotics detective 'Popeye' Doyle (Gene Hackman) is in hot pursuit of a suave French drug dealer (Fernando Rey) who may be the key to a huge heroin-smuggling operation.
3. ‘The Godfather Part II' (1974)
In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.
2. ‘Lawrence of Arabia' (1962)
During World War I, English officer Thomas Edward 'T.E.' Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) sets out to unite and lead the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes to fight the Turks.
1. ‘The Godfather’ (1972)
Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael (Al Pacino) steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.
