10 Best Picture Oscar Winners That Are Indisputable

Though the Academy Awards often spark fierce debate, there are several Best Picture winners that can’t be contested. The Oscars held their first ceremony in 1929 and the category of Best Picture (then known as Outstanding Picture) has been a fixture of the show ever since. Because it aims to crown the best movie of the year, it’s understandably controversial.

The Oscars have a reputation for getting things wrong sometimes, and there are Best Picture winners that haven’t stood the test of time. Most of the major award shows tend to ignore genre films, meaning many of the best movies of each year are completely ignored. This has led to some odd winners, especially in decades with high-quality genre movies.

Conversely, the Oscars have also gotten things correct, and some of the most decorated films in history deserved all of their numerous accolades. The label of “Best Picture” is entirely subjective, but some winners were totally untouchable in their respective years. Not only did they deserve the award, but they had almost no competition on the path to Oscar glory.

Parasite (2019)

Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite was a revelation in 2019, and it blazed a path forward for foreign films at the Oscars. The creepy black comedy thriller earned six nominations and won four, including Best Director. Not only was it the first Korean film to win an Oscar, but it was the first foreign language movie to ever win Best Picture.

Parasite faced stiff competition that year, including genuine Best Picture bids from films like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and 1917. However, its win is still indisputable because of the richness of the movie’s narrative, and its importance to global cinema as a whole. Legacy is important in Oscar conversations, and Parasite‘s is still growing.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003)

Gandalf wearing Narya in The Lord of the Rings

Blockbuster genre movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King don’t usually get consideration for the major awards, but Peter Jackson’s epic was special. The trilogy-capping film wrapped up Frodo’s fantastic journey with the best film of the bunch, and was a perfect 11 for 11 at the Oscars.

Though there were some great films also nominated for Best Picture, such as Lost in Translation, there was no denying The Return of the King. In many ways, it was the pinnacle of Hollywood blockbuster cinema, and it was only fitting that it won the industry’s highest award. More than 20 years later, the film hasn’t lost its luster.

Schindler’s List (1993)

Schindler's list Iconic Black and White Image with Child In Red — Schindler’s List Iconic Black and White Image with Child In Red

Steven Spielberg was already decades into a brilliant career when he made Schindler’s List, but the war drama represented the best of what the director had to offer. The stunning portrait of redemption, heroism, and hope was a movie finely crafted to win awards, and it won seven of its 12 nominations in convincing fashion.

Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park was not nominated for Best Picture.

The only film that could have challenged Schindler’s List was Philadelphia, but the Tom Hanks vehicle was not nominated for Best Picture that year. Regardless, the scope and importance of the Holocaust movie made it a shoo-in for the highest honor, and it deserved the win. Considering the movie is still important, the win has only gotten stronger.

The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)

Horror has always been mistreated by major award shows, and The Silence of the Lambs was a movie that straddled the line between traditional horror and thriller. However, Jonathan Demme’s jarring classic was a big hit with the Academy, and it earned seven Oscar nominations. Stars Anthony Hopkins and Jody Foster took home the major acting awards, among others.

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast made a convincing argument to win Best Picture, but the Academy ultimately sided with the live-action film. In retrospect, it was the right choice, and The Silence of the Lambs opened the door for more subversive films to be considered. Furthermore, it has been accepted as an all-time classic in the horror and thriller genres.

The Godfather (1972)

Marlon Brando as Don Corleone touching his chest in The Godfather

Generally considered to be among the best films ever made, The Godfather was perhaps the most obvious choice for Best Picture in the entire history of the Academy Awards. The Frances Ford Coppola film was not only a blockbuster, but it earned universal acclaim on its way to securing 10 nominations and three wins.

Marlon Brando infamously refused his Oscar win for playing Vito Corleone.

Some great flicks were also nominated, but The Godfather was completely untouchable in the Best Picture category. Its legacy continues to grow more than 50 years later, and it is by far the most influential film in the gangster genre. The Oscars rarely hit the nail on the head, but giving the statue to The Godfather was the only option.

Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)

Lawrence looks on dramatically in Lawrence of Arabia

Arguably the best historical epic of all time, Lawrence of Arabia was the high point of Hollywood’s Golden Age just a few years before things came crashing down. David Lean’s nearly four-hour triumph was a character drama told on the largest scale possible, and the Academy responded with 10 nominations.

The 35th Academy Awards was packed with classic films, and the Best Picture category was particularly stuffed. However, Lawrence of Arabia beat out movies like To Kill a Mockingbird, and rightly so. The influence of the film was enough to cement its legacy, but its opulence and scope made Lawrence of Arabia the height of Hollywood’s bygone era.

Ben-Hur (1959)

Movie productions grew to unbelievable size in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and Ben-Hur was one of the best examples of that expansion. The biblical epic combined action and adventure with classic religious stories, and it scored 12 nominations on the way to a then-record 11 total wins.

Unlike many other indisputable wins, Ben-Hur had little competition during the 1960 Academy Awards ceremony. History has revealed Some Like it Hot to be a defining cinematic gem from that era, but it was ignored by the Oscars. Even so, Ben-Hur‘s Best Picture win was faultless because it showed just how far movies had come in a few short decades.

On The Waterfront (1954)

Marlon Brando stands in front of a large ship in On the Waterfront

Spearheaded by Marlon Brando’s realistic acting style, there was a reaction against traditional Hollywood filmmaking in the middle of the ’50s. On the Waterfront turned its gritty story of moral ambiguity and violence into 10 Academy Award nominations, and it won eight. Notably, three of the movie’s stars were nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

On the Waterfront put cracks in the veneer of the idyllic 1950s, and for that it deserved the Best Picture win over its more optimistic opponents. The 27th Academy Awards got a lot wrong, with films like Sabrina and Rear Window not even getting Best Picture consideration. However, Elia Kazan’s classic likely would have beat those aforementioned gems.

Casablanca (1942)

Rick and Ilsa look out a window in Casablanca

The early days of the Academy Awards saw the Academy make a lot of wrong choices for Best Picture, but Casablanca was not one of them. With its sweeping scope and epic romantic storyline, the Humphrey Bogart vehicle was Old Hollywood at its best, and its Best Picture win was joined by two other awards.

10 movies were nominated for Best Picture at the 16th edition of the Academy Awards, but Casablanca blew them all out of the water. While a few others have stood the test of time, none were as influential and beloved as Casablanca. Considering it’s one of the most recognizable movies ever made, the Academy made the right choice.

It Happened One Night (1934)

Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable look at one another in It Happened One Night

It Happened One Night was one of the first truly great films to win Best Picture, and it represented a major shift in film storytelling. The quirky romantic comedy made a star out of Clark Gable, and pushed boundaries right before strict censorship was enforced. The movie won all five Oscars it was nominated for, including Best Actor and Actress.

With its overt sex and raunchy humor, It Happened One Night was shocking and ahead of its time, and its mark grew much larger over time. Few films from the early sound era have retained their appeal all these years later, and It Happened One Night remains one of the most deserving Academy Award winners in history.