Which 'Best Picture' is best?
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The Oscar "Best Picture" winners are ranked based on various criteria.
- Alex Greer, PrettyFamous.com
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Hulton Archive / Getty Images
Fans of "La La Land" should rejoice: the film pulled in an astounding 14 Oscar nominations on Tuesday morning, tying with "Titanic" and "All About Eve" for the most in Academy Award history.
The Hollywood-based musical is the favorite to win in the best picture category, but with enough momentum "Moonlight" or "Manchester by the Sea" could stage upsets. Even if it does win the top prize, will "La La Land" be remembered as one of the all-time greats?
With that question in mind, PrettyFamous, an entertainment data site by Graphiq, ranked every best picture winner from worst to best. To do so, PrettyFamous found the movie that won best picture each year since the Oscars began in 1929. These films were then ranked on their Smart Rating — a score out of 100 that takes into account a movie's IMDb rating, Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer and Audience Score, Gracenote rating, Metacritic Metascore and the inflation-adjusted U.S. box office gross.
Looking back at Oscar history, it's clear that some years have stronger contenders than others. Moreover, the Academy has been known to make some head-scratching decisions (does anyone remember "How Green Was My Valley," the film that beat "Citizen Kane"?). Even so, the 88 best picture winners feature timeless classics and modern cinema greats that are required viewing for any film buff.
Note: Movie descriptions are sourced (with minor edits) from Gracenote.
Compiled by Alex Greer, PrettyFamous.com
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Smart Rating: 73.72
Year won: 1930
Starring: Bessie Love, Anita Page, Charles King
Midwestern sisters (Bessie Love, Anita Page) go to New York, where one flirts with the other's dancer boyfriend (Charles King).
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Smart Rating: 77.56
Year won: 1932
Starring: Richard Dix, Irene Dunne, Estelle Taylor
Husband-and-wife homesteaders (Richard Dix, Irene Dunne) join the Oklahoma land rush of 1889 and stay on to build an empire.
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Smart Rating: 79.86
Year won: 1934
Starring: Diana Wynyard, Clive Brook, Una O'Connor
Upper-crust Londoners Robert and Jane Marryot (Clive Brook, Diana Wynyard) and their working-class counterparts, Alfred and Ellen Bridges, experience life's many triumphs and tragedies from the Boer War at the dawn of the 20th century up to 1930s.
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Smart Rating: 82.21
Year won: 1953
Starring: Betty Hutton, Charlton Heston, Cornel Wilde
A high-wire artist, the girlfriend (Betty Hutton) of a circus manager (Charlton Heston), falls for a French aerialist (Cornel Wilde).
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Smart Rating: 83.83
Year won: 1937
Starring: William Powell, Luise Rainer, Myrna Loy
The life and times of Broadway showman Florenz Ziegfeld (William Powell) and his two wives (Luise Rainer, Myrna Loy).
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Smart Rating: 84.47
Year won: 1957
Starring: David Niven, Cantinflas, Shirley MacLaine
Victorian Phileas Fogg (David Niven) bets members of his London club that he and his valet, Passepartout (Cantinflas), can circle the globe in 80 days.
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Smart Rating: 86.46
Year won: 1964
Starring: Albert Finney, Susannah York, Hugh Griffith
Henry Fielding's lusty foundling hero (Albert Finney) meets a series of attractive women in 18th-century England.
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Smart Rating: 86.51
Year won: 1986
Starring: Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Klaus Maria Brandauer
Married Baroness Blixen (Meryl Streep), pen name Isak Dinesen, loves British hunter Denys Finch Hatton (Robert Redford) in early 1900s Kenya.
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Smart Rating: 87.31
Year won: 1938
Starring: Paul Muni, Joseph Schildkraut, Gale Sondergaard
The 1800s French novelist (Paul Muni) defends Capt. Alfred Dreyfus (Joseph Schildkraut) against treason charges.
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Smart Rating: 87.35
Year won: 1959
Starring: Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan
An heir (Louis Jourdan) finds that he wants to marry the teen (Leslie Caron) groomed to be his mistress in '90s Paris.
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Smart Rating: 87.8
Year won: 1929
Starring: Clara Bow, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Richard Arlen
Two World War I pilots (Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Richard Arlen) woo a young woman (Clara Bow) and fight the Germans.
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Smart Rating: 87.91
Year won: 1950
Starring: Broderick Crawford, Joanne Dru, Mercedes McCambridge
Power and ambition corrupt an idealistic Southern politician.
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Smart Rating: 87.99
Year won: 1945
Starring: Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, Rise Stevens
Singing Father O'Malley (Bing Crosby) bails out crusty Father Fitzgibbon's (Barry Fitzgerald) financially strapped parish.
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Smart Rating: 88.2
Year won: 1948
Starring: Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, John Garfield
A journalist (Gregory Peck) moves to New York City and poses as a Jew to experience anti-Semitism for a magazine article.
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Smart Rating: 89.03
Year won: 1969
Starring: Ron Moody, Oliver Reed, Mark Lester
Dickens' Oliver Twist (Mark Lester) goes from parish boy to Fagin's (Ron Moody) pickpocketing school to the clutches of murderous Bill Sikes (Oliver Reed).
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Smart Rating: 89.09
Year won: 1982
Starring: Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, John Gielgud
Personal goals spur British runners Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) and Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson) to compete in the 1924 Olympics.
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Smart Rating: 89.17
Year won: 1933
Starring: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, John Barrymore
A ballerina (Greta Garbo), baron (John Barrymore), stenographer (Joan Crawford), bookkeeper and tycoon check into Berlin's Grand Hotel.
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Smart Rating: 89.98
Year won: 1952
Starring: Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant
An American soldier (Gene Kelly) stays in Paris after World War II to paint and falls in love with a French beauty (Leslie Caron).
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Smart Rating: 90.09
Year won: 1967
Starring: Paul Scofield, Robert Shaw, Orson Welles
Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield) opposes Henry VIII's (Robert Shaw) appointing himself head of the Church of England.
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Smart Rating: 90.14
Year won: 1949
Starring: Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Basil Sydney
A young Danish prince wrestles with his conscience when he is confronted with questions of treachery and madness.
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Smart Rating: 90.15
Year won: 1942
Starring: Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, Roddy McDowall
Five Oscars went to John Ford's adaptation of Richard Llewellyn's novel chronicling the life of a Welsh mining family.
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Smart Rating: 90.34
Year won: 1990
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, Dan Aykroyd
An Atlanta widow (Jessica Tandy) and her chauffeur (Morgan Freeman) reflect the changing times, from 1948 to 1973.
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Smart Rating: 90.52
Year won: 1943
Starring: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Dame May Whitty
William Wyler's Oscar-winning classic about the tensions faced by a family of hard-working Brits in war-torn England.
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Smart Rating: 90.69
Year won: 2006
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon
Racial tensions collide in a collection of intertwined stories involving residents (Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon) of Los Angeles.
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Smart Rating: 90.73
Year won: 1936
Starring: Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone
First mate Mr. Christian (Clark Gable) and his 18th-century shipmates overthrow cruel Capt. Bligh (Charles Laughton) and set him adrift in the Pacific.
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Smart Rating: 90.94
Year won: 1984
Starring: Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson
A strong-willed woman (Shirley MacLaine) and her equally independent daughter (Debra Winger) keep the lines of communication open as each deals with the curveballs life throws at them.
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Smart Rating: 90.97
Year won: 1954
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr
While a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor looms, an Army sergeant (Burt Lancaster), a former boxer (Montgomery Clift) and an officer's wife (Deborah Kerr) become entangled with others at an Army base on Oahu.
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Smart Rating: 91.13
Year won: 1991
Starring: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene
Costner's epic vision of the American frontier as seen through the eyes of a 19th-century U.S. Cavalry officer.
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Smart Rating: 91.16
Year won: 1970
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles
Texas hustler Joe Buck (Jon Voight) works 42nd Street with ailing con man Ratso Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman).
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Smart Rating: 91.16
Year won: 2003
Starring: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger, Richard Gere
A lawyer (Richard Gere) handles the cases of two murderous women (Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger) who are looking to gain celebrity from their public exposure.
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Smart Rating: 91.18
Year won: 1962
Starring: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn
Rival New York City gangs affect the love of a young man (Richard Beymer) and woman (Natalie Wood) from each side.
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Smart Rating: 91.22
Year won: 1939
Starring: Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart
An eccentric patriarch (Lionel Barrymore) meets the stuffy parents of his granddaughter's (Jean Arthur) fiance (James Stewart).
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Smart Rating: 91.33
Year won: 1966
Starring: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker
A novitiate (Julie Andrews) leaves her convent and becomes governess to Capt. Von Trapp's (Christopher Plummer) seven children in Austria before World War II.
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Smart Rating: 91.35
Year won: 1977
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith
Heavyweight champ Apollo Creed gives Philadelphia club fighter Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) a title shot.
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Smart Rating: 91.38
Year won: 1997
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe
A Hungarian count's (Ralph Fiennes) fling with a British newlywed leads to tragedy in World War II North Africa.
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Smart Rating: 91.55
Year won: 1980
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Justin Henry
A New York adman (Dustin Hoffman) fights for custody of his son (Justin Henry) after his wife (Meryl Streep) walks out.
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Smart Rating: 91.57
Year won: 1960
Starring: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd
An enslaved Judean prince (Charlton Heston) meets his Roman betrayer (Stephen Boyd), a former friend, in a chariot race.
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Smart Rating: 91.61
Year won: 1988
Starring: John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole
The story follows the life of Pu Yi, the last Emperor of China. The film, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, won nine Oscars.
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Smart Rating: 91.7
Year won: 1956
Starring: Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Joe Mantell
A lonely, heavyset Bronx butcher (Ernest Borgnine), who lives with his mother, finds his soul mate in a shy schoolteacher (Betsy Blair).
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Smart Rating: 91.75
Year won: 1999
Starring: Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Geoffrey Rush
Young William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) falls for Viola (Gwyneth Paltrow), reawakening his creativity, but she is betrothed to Wessex.
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Smart Rating: 91.9
Year won: 1965
Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway
Oscar-winning adaptation of the Broadway hit about an English professor (Rex Harrison) who teaches a cockney merchant (Audrey Hepburn) to be a lady.
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Smart Rating: 91.9
Year won: 1983
Starring: Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, Edward Fox
Richard Attenborough's Oscar-winning portrait of the man whose policy of nonviolence won India's independence.
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Smart Rating: 92.1
Year won: 1989
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino
A wheeler-dealer (Tom Cruise) meets his brother (Dustin Hoffman), an institutionalized autistic-savant, heir to $3 million.
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Smart Rating: 92.15
Year won: 1931
Starring: Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray
A German youth eagerly enters World War I, but his enthusiasm wanes as he gets a firsthand view of the horror.
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Smart Rating: 92.18
Year won: 1968
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates
A black Philadelphia detective (Sidney Poitier) helps a white Mississippi sheriff (Rod Steiger) solve a murder.
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Smart Rating: 92.21
Year won: 1946
Starring: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Howard da Silva
Billy Wilder's Academy Award-winning portrait of an alcoholic writer facing a losing battle against the bottle.
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Smart Rating: 92.22
Year won: 1996
Starring: Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan
Enraged by the killing of his wife, Scotsman William Wallace (Mel Gibson) leads a revolt against the tyrannical English king (Patrick McGoohan) in the 13th century.
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Smart Rating: 92.23
Year won: 1981
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Timothy Hutton, Mary Tyler Moore
A suburban Chicago couple (Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore) and their son (Timothy Hutton) are torn apart by another son's death.
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Smart Rating: 92.44
Year won: 2002
Starring: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly
Mathematics genius John Forbes Nash Jr. (Russell Crowe) has paranoid schizophrenia but becomes a Nobel laureate late in life.
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Smart Rating: 92.51
Year won: 1998
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane
A society girl (Kate Winslet) abandons her haughty fiancé (Billy Zane) for a penniless artist (Leonardo DiCaprio) on the ill-fated ship's maiden voyage.
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Smart Rating: 92.56
Year won: 1947
Starring: Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews
A disabled serviceman and two other veterans (Fredric March, Dana Andrews) have difficulty adjusting to civilian life after World War II.
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Smart Rating: 92.59
Year won: 1958
Starring: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Sessue Hayakawa
A British POW colonel (Alec Guinness) orders his men to build their Japanese captor (Sessue Hayakawa) a railway bridge in the jungle.
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Smart Rating: 92.65
Year won: 1935
Starring: Claudette Colbert, Clark Gable, Walter Connolly
A newsman (Clark Gable) rides a bus and shares a cabin with a tycoon's (Walter Connolly) runaway daughter (Claudette Colbert).
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Smart Rating: 92.68
Year won: 1961
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray
A corporate climber (Jack Lemmon), whose boss (Fred MacMurray) and others use his apartment for hanky-panky, aids a young woman (Shirley MacLaine).
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Smart Rating: 92.68
Year won: 1979
Starring: Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Savage
The horrors of Vietnam affect three Pennsylvania steelworkers (Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Savage), lifelong friends who serve together.
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Smart Rating: 92.71
Year won: 2015
Starring: Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton
Former cinema superhero Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) is mounting an ambitious Broadway production that he hopes will breathe new life into his stagnant career. It's risky, but he hopes that his creative gamble will prove that he's a real artist and not just a washed-up movie star. As opening night approaches, a castmate is injured, forcing Riggan to hire an actor (Edward Norton) who is guaranteed to shake things up. Meanwhile, Riggan must deal with his girlfriend, daughter and ex-wife.
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Smart Rating: 92.74
Year won: 1987
Starring: Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen
Two sergeants (Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe) and a private (Charlie Sheen) join others lost in war along the 1967 Cambodian border.
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Smart Rating: 92.84
Year won: 2001
Starring: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen
Condemned to arena fights by corrupt Roman leader Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), Gen. Maximus (Russell Crowe) seeks revenge for his family's deaths.
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Smart Rating: 92.88
Year won: 1974
Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw
To avenge a murder, two con men (Paul Newman, Robert Redford) bilk a mobster (Robert Shaw) with their betting-room scam in 1930s Chicago.
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Smart Rating: 92.93
Year won: 1941
Starring: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, Judith Anderson
A British gentleman's (Laurence Olivier) innocent bride (Joan Fontaine) grapples with intrusive reminders of his deceased wife.
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Smart Rating: 93.11
Year won: 1951
Starring: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm
A Broadway star (Bette Davis) takes a young and seemingly naive aspiring actress (Anne Baxter) under her wing.
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Smart Rating: 93.18
Year won: 1978
Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts
A New York comedian (Woody Allen) recalls his lost love, a kooky singer (Diane Keaton) with a style all her own.
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Smart Rating: 93.49
Year won: 2012
Starring: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman
The arrival of sound in motion pictures signals the end of one superstar's (Jean Dujardin) career, while a young ingenue (Bérénice Bejo) stands poised to hit the big time.
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Smart Rating: 93.65
Year won: 1971
Starring: George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Bates
Flamboyant Gen. George S. Patton (George C. Scott) receives accolades and censure as he fights World War II.
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Smart Rating: 93.83
Year won: 2010
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty
Members (Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty) of a bomb-disposal unit in Baghdad face increasingly perilous situations as their tour-of-duty winds down.
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Smart Rating: 93.87
Year won: 1972
Starring: Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider
New York Detective "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) and his partner (Roy Scheider) chase a French heroin smuggler.
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Smart Rating: 93.9
Year won: 1975
Starring: Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton
Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) rules his father's criminal empire, while flashbacks recall young Vito's (Robert De Niro) climb to power.
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Smart Rating: 93.94
Year won: 1993
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman
An old gunslinger (Clint Eastwood), his ex-partner (Morgan Freeman) and a quick-draw kid go bounty hunting in a town called Big Whiskey.
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Smart Rating: 94.06
Year won: 2005
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman
A deep bond develops between a cantankerous trainer (Clint Eastwood) and the female boxer (Hilary Swank) he reluctantly takes under his wing.
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Smart Rating: 94.11
Year won: 1955
Starring: Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden
A conscience-stricken ex-boxer (Marlon Brando) stands up to a corrupt union boss after unwittingly participating in a fellow longshoreman's murder.
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Smart Rating: 94.15
Year won: 2013
Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin
During the Iran hostage crisis, an extraction specialist (Ben Affleck) in the CIA poses as a Hollywood film producer to rescue six Americans who eluded Iranian militants and found refuge with the Canadian ambassador.
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Smart Rating: 94.4
Year won: 1944
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid
A cynical nightclub owner (Humphrey Bogart) protects an old flame (Ingrid Bergman) and her husband (Paul Henreid) from Nazis in Morocco.
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Smart Rating: 94.44
Year won: 2016
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams
In 2001, editor Marty Baron of The Boston Globe assigns a team of journalists to investigate allegations against John Geoghan, an unfrocked priest accused of molesting more than 80 boys. Led by editor Walter "Robby" Robinson (Michael Keaton), reporters Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Matt Carroll and Sacha Pfeiffer interview victims and try to unseal sensitive documents. The reporters make it their mission to provide proof of a cover-up of sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church.
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Smart Rating: 94.61
Year won: 2009
Starring: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Madhur Mittal
Flashbacks reveal how a poor youth (Dev Patel) came to be a prize-winning contestant on one of India's most popular game shows.
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Smart Rating: 94.69
Year won: 2008
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin
An aging lawman (Tommy Lee Jones) reflects on his past and laments a changing world while trying to find and protect a hunter who took the cash from a drug deal gone bad.
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Smart Rating: 94.69
Year won: 2011
Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter
An extraordinary friendship forms between England's King George VI (Colin Firth) and the Australian actor/speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush) who helps him overcome a stammer.
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Smart Rating: 94.75
Year won: 1985
Starring: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Jeffrey Jones
Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham), court composer in Vienna, confesses in old age to his sins against the young genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce).
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Smart Rating: 95.11
Year won: 2014
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch
In the years before the Civil War, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South. Subjected to the cruelty of one malevolent owner (Michael Fassbender), he also finds unexpected kindness from another, as he struggles continually to survive and maintain some of his dignity. Then in the 12th year of the disheartening ordeal, a chance meeting with an abolitionist from Canada changes Solomon's life forever.
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Smart Rating: 95.31
Year won: 1976
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Brad Dourif
Mental patients follow Randle P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), the social misfit hero of Ken Kesey's novel.
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Smart Rating: 95.34
Year won: 1963
Starring: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn
Controversial British officer T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) learns the culture of Arabs (Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn) and unites their tribes against the Turks.
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Smart Rating: 95.43
Year won: 2000
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch
A man (Kevin Spacey) in midlife crisis and at odds with his wife (Annette Bening) begins working out to impress his teenage daughter's (Thora Birch) friend.
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Smart Rating: 95.86
Year won: 1995
Starring: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise
JFK, LBJ, Vietnam, Watergate and other history unfold through the perspective of an Alabama man (Tom Hanks) with an IQ of 75.
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Smart Rating: 95.95
Year won: 2007
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson
In Boston, an undercover cop (Leonardo DiCaprio) gains a gangland chief's (Jack Nicholson) trust, while a career criminal (Matt Damon) infiltrates the police force for the mob.
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Smart Rating: 96.06
Year won: 1940
Starring: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard
A fiery Southern belle struggles to return her family's estate to its original magnificence after the Civil War.
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Smart Rating: 96.37
Year won: 1992
Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn
An FBI trainee (Jodie Foster) seeks advice from a brilliant, psychopathic prisoner (Anthony Hopkins) to catch a killer who skins his victims.
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Smart Rating: 97.46
Year won: 1994
Starring: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes
German industrialist Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) plots with his accountant (Ben Kingsley) to save Jewish prisoners from the Nazis.
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Smart Rating: 97.93
Year won: 2004
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler
Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam march toward Mount Doom to destroy the ring, while Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and warriors prepare for a final confrontation with Sauron and his allies.
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Smart Rating: 100
Year won: 1973
Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan
Crime boss Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) and his sons (Al Pacino, James Caan) rule their New York empire with Mafia justice.
More like this...
- Alex Greer, PrettyFamous.com
Hulton Archive / Getty Images
Fans of "La La Land" should rejoice: the film pulled in an astounding 14 Oscar nominations on Tuesday morning, tying with "Titanic" and "All About Eve" for the most in Academy Award history.
The Hollywood-based musical is the favorite to win in the best picture category, but with enough momentum "Moonlight" or "Manchester by the Sea" could stage upsets. Even if it does win the top prize, will "La La Land" be remembered as one of the all-time greats?
With that question in mind, PrettyFamous, an entertainment data site by Graphiq, ranked every best picture winner from worst to best. To do so, PrettyFamous found the movie that won best picture each year since the Oscars began in 1929. These films were then ranked on their Smart Rating — a score out of 100 that takes into account a movie's IMDb rating, Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer and Audience Score, Gracenote rating, Metacritic Metascore and the inflation-adjusted U.S. box office gross.
Looking back at Oscar history, it's clear that some years have stronger contenders than others. Moreover, the Academy has been known to make some head-scratching decisions (does anyone remember "How Green Was My Valley," the film that beat "Citizen Kane"?). Even so, the 88 best picture winners feature timeless classics and modern cinema greats that are required viewing for any film buff.
Note: Movie descriptions are sourced (with minor edits) from Gracenote.
Compiled by Alex Greer, PrettyFamous.com
Smart Rating: 79.86
Year won: 1934
Starring: Diana Wynyard, Clive Brook, Una O'Connor
Upper-crust Londoners Robert and Jane Marryot (Clive Brook, Diana Wynyard) and their working-class counterparts, Alfred and Ellen Bridges, experience life's many triumphs and tragedies from the Boer War at the dawn of the 20th century up to 1930s.
Smart Rating: 82.21
Year won: 1953
Starring: Betty Hutton, Charlton Heston, Cornel Wilde
A high-wire artist, the girlfriend (Betty Hutton) of a circus manager (Charlton Heston), falls for a French aerialist (Cornel Wilde).
Smart Rating: 84.47
Year won: 1957
Starring: David Niven, Cantinflas, Shirley MacLaine
Victorian Phileas Fogg (David Niven) bets members of his London club that he and his valet, Passepartout (Cantinflas), can circle the globe in 80 days.
Smart Rating: 86.51
Year won: 1986
Starring: Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Klaus Maria Brandauer
Married Baroness Blixen (Meryl Streep), pen name Isak Dinesen, loves British hunter Denys Finch Hatton (Robert Redford) in early 1900s Kenya.
Smart Rating: 90.73
Year won: 1936
Starring: Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone
First mate Mr. Christian (Clark Gable) and his 18th-century shipmates overthrow cruel Capt. Bligh (Charles Laughton) and set him adrift in the Pacific.
Smart Rating: 90.94
Year won: 1984
Starring: Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson
A strong-willed woman (Shirley MacLaine) and her equally independent daughter (Debra Winger) keep the lines of communication open as each deals with the curveballs life throws at them.
Smart Rating: 90.97
Year won: 1954
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr
While a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor looms, an Army sergeant (Burt Lancaster), a former boxer (Montgomery Clift) and an officer's wife (Deborah Kerr) become entangled with others at an Army base on Oahu.
Smart Rating: 91.16
Year won: 2003
Starring: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger, Richard Gere
A lawyer (Richard Gere) handles the cases of two murderous women (Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger) who are looking to gain celebrity from their public exposure.
Smart Rating: 91.33
Year won: 1966
Starring: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker
A novitiate (Julie Andrews) leaves her convent and becomes governess to Capt. Von Trapp's (Christopher Plummer) seven children in Austria before World War II.
Smart Rating: 91.75
Year won: 1999
Starring: Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Geoffrey Rush
Young William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) falls for Viola (Gwyneth Paltrow), reawakening his creativity, but she is betrothed to Wessex.
Smart Rating: 91.9
Year won: 1965
Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway
Oscar-winning adaptation of the Broadway hit about an English professor (Rex Harrison) who teaches a cockney merchant (Audrey Hepburn) to be a lady.
Smart Rating: 92.22
Year won: 1996
Starring: Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan
Enraged by the killing of his wife, Scotsman William Wallace (Mel Gibson) leads a revolt against the tyrannical English king (Patrick McGoohan) in the 13th century.
Smart Rating: 92.23
Year won: 1981
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Timothy Hutton, Mary Tyler Moore
A suburban Chicago couple (Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore) and their son (Timothy Hutton) are torn apart by another son's death.
Smart Rating: 92.51
Year won: 1998
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane
A society girl (Kate Winslet) abandons her haughty fiancé (Billy Zane) for a penniless artist (Leonardo DiCaprio) on the ill-fated ship's maiden voyage.
Smart Rating: 92.56
Year won: 1947
Starring: Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews
A disabled serviceman and two other veterans (Fredric March, Dana Andrews) have difficulty adjusting to civilian life after World War II.
Smart Rating: 92.59
Year won: 1958
Starring: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Sessue Hayakawa
A British POW colonel (Alec Guinness) orders his men to build their Japanese captor (Sessue Hayakawa) a railway bridge in the jungle.
Smart Rating: 92.68
Year won: 1961
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray
A corporate climber (Jack Lemmon), whose boss (Fred MacMurray) and others use his apartment for hanky-panky, aids a young woman (Shirley MacLaine).
Smart Rating: 92.68
Year won: 1979
Starring: Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Savage
The horrors of Vietnam affect three Pennsylvania steelworkers (Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Savage), lifelong friends who serve together.
Smart Rating: 92.71
Year won: 2015
Starring: Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton
Former cinema superhero Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) is mounting an ambitious Broadway production that he hopes will breathe new life into his stagnant career. It's risky, but he hopes that his creative gamble will prove that he's a real artist and not just a washed-up movie star. As opening night approaches, a castmate is injured, forcing Riggan to hire an actor (Edward Norton) who is guaranteed to shake things up. Meanwhile, Riggan must deal with his girlfriend, daughter and ex-wife.
Smart Rating: 92.84
Year won: 2001
Starring: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen
Condemned to arena fights by corrupt Roman leader Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), Gen. Maximus (Russell Crowe) seeks revenge for his family's deaths.
Smart Rating: 93.49
Year won: 2012
Starring: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman
The arrival of sound in motion pictures signals the end of one superstar's (Jean Dujardin) career, while a young ingenue (Bérénice Bejo) stands poised to hit the big time.
Smart Rating: 93.83
Year won: 2010
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty
Members (Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty) of a bomb-disposal unit in Baghdad face increasingly perilous situations as their tour-of-duty winds down.
Smart Rating: 94.06
Year won: 2005
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman
A deep bond develops between a cantankerous trainer (Clint Eastwood) and the female boxer (Hilary Swank) he reluctantly takes under his wing.
Smart Rating: 94.11
Year won: 1955
Starring: Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden
A conscience-stricken ex-boxer (Marlon Brando) stands up to a corrupt union boss after unwittingly participating in a fellow longshoreman's murder.
Smart Rating: 94.15
Year won: 2013
Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin
During the Iran hostage crisis, an extraction specialist (Ben Affleck) in the CIA poses as a Hollywood film producer to rescue six Americans who eluded Iranian militants and found refuge with the Canadian ambassador.
Smart Rating: 94.44
Year won: 2016
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams
In 2001, editor Marty Baron of The Boston Globe assigns a team of journalists to investigate allegations against John Geoghan, an unfrocked priest accused of molesting more than 80 boys. Led by editor Walter "Robby" Robinson (Michael Keaton), reporters Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Matt Carroll and Sacha Pfeiffer interview victims and try to unseal sensitive documents. The reporters make it their mission to provide proof of a cover-up of sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church.
Smart Rating: 94.69
Year won: 2008
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin
An aging lawman (Tommy Lee Jones) reflects on his past and laments a changing world while trying to find and protect a hunter who took the cash from a drug deal gone bad.
Smart Rating: 94.69
Year won: 2011
Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter
An extraordinary friendship forms between England's King George VI (Colin Firth) and the Australian actor/speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush) who helps him overcome a stammer.
Smart Rating: 94.75
Year won: 1985
Starring: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Jeffrey Jones
Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham), court composer in Vienna, confesses in old age to his sins against the young genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce).
Smart Rating: 95.11
Year won: 2014
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch
In the years before the Civil War, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South. Subjected to the cruelty of one malevolent owner (Michael Fassbender), he also finds unexpected kindness from another, as he struggles continually to survive and maintain some of his dignity. Then in the 12th year of the disheartening ordeal, a chance meeting with an abolitionist from Canada changes Solomon's life forever.
Smart Rating: 95.34
Year won: 1963
Starring: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn
Controversial British officer T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) learns the culture of Arabs (Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn) and unites their tribes against the Turks.
Smart Rating: 95.43
Year won: 2000
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch
A man (Kevin Spacey) in midlife crisis and at odds with his wife (Annette Bening) begins working out to impress his teenage daughter's (Thora Birch) friend.
Smart Rating: 95.95
Year won: 2007
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson
In Boston, an undercover cop (Leonardo DiCaprio) gains a gangland chief's (Jack Nicholson) trust, while a career criminal (Matt Damon) infiltrates the police force for the mob.
Smart Rating: 96.37
Year won: 1992
Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn
An FBI trainee (Jodie Foster) seeks advice from a brilliant, psychopathic prisoner (Anthony Hopkins) to catch a killer who skins his victims.
Smart Rating: 97.93
Year won: 2004
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler
Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam march toward Mount Doom to destroy the ring, while Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and warriors prepare for a final confrontation with Sauron and his allies.
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