Top 10 Best Oscar Winning Films Everyone Should See

Hollywood is the most popular area in the world where films are made. Every year, hundreds of films are produced and brought to the cinemas worldwide for people to watch and enjoy. Of course, all of these movies belong to different categories and genres of movie making. For example, we have comedies, romantic, dramas and action.
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Hollywood is the most popular area in the world where films are made. Every year, hundreds of films are produced and brought to the cinemas worldwide for people to watch and enjoy. Of course, all of these movies belong to different categories and genres of movie making. For example, we have comedies, romantic, dramas and action.

There are a large number of actors and actresses that make these movies successful and worth watching, some of which have become multi-millionaires due to their success in the industry. Due to everyone’s love of film decades ago, award systems were made to honor the best of the best each year. These award givers critically analyze the movies produced in a current year and rank them as best in different categories. One such category is the Best Picture award. Below we are providing a list of the top 10 Best Picture movie winners that everyone should see and enjoy:

1. The Godfather

The top of the list includes The Godfather. It is considered to be one of Hollywood’s greatest masterpieces of all time. The theme of the movie is based on crime and family drama that is intense and an epic. The movie was the first creation of the famous producer, director Francis Ford Coppola and gained him world fame and appreciation. However, he had already won awards for other films, such as the Academy Award for best original screenplay for Patton.

The film was received with high critical acclaim, leading to many wondering what else Francis had up his sleeve. He would not disappoint, and would continue the Godfather series. The story of the original movie revolves around the life of an Italian crime lord and entangles the various aspects of his character and relationships a with large number of family members. The aspect of the film truly was that you needed to always keep your family close, for if you did you would always be protected. If someone else messed with a member of the family or hurt them, the family would take care of it.

At the heart of this film is the key thing of life, relationships and love. While obviously this was built on the back of the mob and crime, there was more at play and that was why people loved it. It won the best picture award because of the amazing things it brought out like this.

2. Casablanca

Up next is one of Hollywood’s most classic and beloved films, Casablanca. It is a typical Hollywood oldie that has all the drama, romance, and action that were needed to make the movie a big hit then and now. Today, we’re so jaded by the thousands of romantic films that have come out afterward that it has been tough for today’s audience to appreciate Casablanca. However, it still ranks among the best in romantic movie history due to all it brought to the table.

To be fair, the movie did not go over the top and simply told a story that other movies have a tough time doing today. It is a simple love story but the melodramatic characters and the amazing performances by the actors made this film a super hit.

3. Lawrence of Arabia

Lawrence of Arabia is a legendary movie made by David Lean, a famous producer and director in Hollywood. The story of the movie revolves around the life of the late TE Lawrence and explains it through the narrative and reference of a reporter. It is one of the first movies outside film noir to tell things through the life of a seemingly reported incident after it has already happened. It is one of the very reasons why the film was so beloved, as firsts tend to catch the attention of award givers.

The movie has been dubbed an inspirational creation that has influenced a large number of ace movie makers in the industry including Steven Spielberg, and Martin Scorsese. It has an excellent quality of cinematography, a spellbinding screenplay, and amazing performances by all the actors and actresses.  The character of Lawrence played by Peter O’Toole, which to most made the film that much better.

To others, he was the key reason why the film ended up succeeding the way it did. Regardless of who or how, it is certainly one of the best films of all time and belongs on a list of must-watch movies any time one is formed.

4. The Godfather II

If you think that the glamour and magic of The Godfather ended with one movie, then you are definitely wrong. The Godfather II was the first sequel to this amazing blockbuster of Hollywood. Many critics considered this movie even better than the original film. If you ask anyone who has seen the series, they’ll agree with that assessment. The interesting thing is that this may be one of the few examples in the history of movies where the sequel was better than the original.

The movie intensified the plot of the original through a multi-generational influence on the storyline and focused on the rising of the famous Godfather character, Vito Corleone and the sad downfall of his predecessor, Michael Corleone. All of this was very important, as it led to a lot of copies for years to come based on how the plot was done and how brilliantly it was written out. The movie had some of the best performances by lead actors like Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, leading to both men getting worldwide recognition, despite having tremendous careers already.

5. Gone with the Wind

One from the Epics pool in Hollywood that you know about even if you’ve never seen it is the ever popular Gone with the Wind. Over so many years, the movie is still considered one of the best in the list. For years it held down the best gross in movie history and came out around the same time as Wizard of Oz, even using the same director, Victor Fleming. He would be recognized for his work in Gone with the Wind, but not Oz funny enough.

A romantic drama by genre, the movie had a real Hollywood touch with lifetime performances by the lead roles played Vivian Leigh and Clark Gable. Both were put on the map in a major way, and the film even outdid itself by literally burning down an old studio to simulate the burning of Atlanta. At the time, this was unheard of and to this day you would only see that in CGI. However, back then it was the only thing that could be done. It was a period historical flick and is remembered as one of the most famous creations of the industry.

While both the main actors went on to have great success, Gable had a much more notable one. As for the film, it is recognized as one of the best films ever. Historically, films were much longer back then but nothing was quite as big as GWTW to movie fans. Interestingly, if you take out the intermission of the film, the movie is about as long as The Dark Knight and Man of Steel films by Chris and Jonathan Nolan. It only beats them by about 30 minutes or so, removing the credits.

6. Schindler’s List

Released in the year 1993, this movie is a true representation of the versatility and diversity that was possessed by famous film maker, Steven Spielberg. He actually had two movies come out this year. We of course know of one major one known as Jurassic Park. Meanwhile the other was Schindler’s List. The latter one was based on the storyline from the Holocaust period that truly caught the attention of not only award givers, but the world at large. While Jurrasic Park made a lot of people happy and was one of the top film franchises of the 90’s, Schindler’s List was able to deliver in everything that movie goers truly want to see.

The movie was one of the most amazing films of all time due to how truly the movie represented the Holocaust period. It was dramatic movie that had a documentary styled tone to it, with the lead character being played by Liam Neeson. It is noted as one of his best acting performances of all time and one that really put him on the map as an actor.

7. The Bridge on River Kwai

Another creation by the maker of the famous Lawrence of Arabia, David Lean, is The Bridge on the River Kwai. The story is about the making of a railroad bridge during the World War II period. This bridge was constructed by prisoners of war from the British Army who were imprisoned in a Japanese Detention Camp.

The leading roles of the movie were played by actors, Alec Guinness and William Holden. The movie is remembered as being an amazing story that grabbed your attention and didn’t let you go until the very end. Movies have had difficulty wit this over the years, but David Lean was able to secure your love throughout. This very well could be why the movie won a large number of awards that year. To this day, the nominations and wins for it were still among the most in history. It won 7 out of 8 of the Oscars it was nominated for in fact. It would have won more if there were more categories like there is today.

8. On the Waterfront

Starring the famous Marlon Brando you know mostly from The Godfather franchise, as well as the great Eva Marie Saint, the movie known as On the Waterfront truly changed cinema for its time. Well before Brando was known for being the head of the Italian mob, he was starring as the brooding Terry Malloy in this film.

The movie was directed by Elia Kazan and released in 1950’s. The movie has a storyline revolving around the corrupt wrong-doings of the Longshoremen’s Union and how one insider testimony changed the entire situation. It has similarities to films you might know of the last few years like Spotlight among others.

The movie emphasizes more on the risks and involvement of the testifier in the case. The acting and performances by all the actors were superb and made the movie an instant success both at the box office and critically. It would win the Golden Globe and Oscar, but the same could also be said for Marlon Brando who won both for Best Actor.

9. Ben Hur

Hollywood had an obsession with what we know today as “Epic movies.” These movies base themselves in period times and run for near three hours or more. They tend to revolve around periods of war or major historical times. The movie Ben Hur chose the focus on the Roman times when they were at their height centuries ago.

It won a large number of awards, and for good reason. When we tell you it was ahead of its time, we aren’t doing the movie the justice it deserves. The sequences of the chariot racing and amazing costumes and sets is what made this movie so popular and realistic. The lead roles in the movie were played by some of the finest actors of the time, including Jack Hawkins, Chartlon Heston, Hugh Griffith and Richard Boyd.

Combined with an all-star cast and brilliant story, combined with massive appeal of everything brought to the table…it’s not a wonder Ben Hur was so beloved. It was nominated for an amazing 12 Academy Awards and won an unheard of, at the time, 11 of them. Only Titanic and Lord of the Ring: The Return of the King, have matched them. Understand that, it took decades for any film to get there despite the awesome films the came during those time periods. There was a remake made in the last few years, but sadly the movie just didn’t seem to land as well with movie fans.

10. Unforgiven

When you talk about some of the greatest Westerns ever, a few might come up. However, no list of “top five” ends without the movie Unforgiven being spoken about. One of the finest films of the Western era, Unforgiven focused on a lot of the same things that other wild west films focused on. However, it was simply done better.

This masterpiece, starring actor Clint Eastwood, became one of the best western movies in the world. While Clint had a lot of massive roles, his work as Will Munny may go down as of his greatest. It is a classic Hollywood action and drama movie that exhibited some of the best performances, cinematography, and direction in the entire history of movie making.

It is still remembered and watched as an epic western masterpiece that was also directed by Clint Eastwood. Famous actor, Gene Hackman, also played a memorable role in the super hit blockbuster of its time. Gene would win the Academy award in 1994 for his role as supporting actor. Meanwhile Eastwood would win best actor and best director for his work on the film. It is one of the few times in movie history that an actor has won both best actor and director for the same picture.