'Best Picture' Oscar Winners

"Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn". The film that set the standards of all epic films made after it, 'Gone With the Wind' is a huge, breathtaking piece of cinema. With its beautiful cinematography and settings, it's hard to believe that it was made in 1939. The cast are also brilliant. Clark Gable is notably exceptional as the rugged gentlemen, but the film's major star is Vivien Leigh, who may just have given the greatest female performance of all time as the conniving Scarlet O'hara. Credit also goes to directors George Cuckor and Victor Fleming, the latter in particular is impressive seeing as he achieved the rare feat of directing two masterpieces in the one year (this and 'The Wizard of Oz').

An extremely quotable 1940s classic that has stood the test of time. Bogart and Bergman are magnificent in this tale of broken love.

Lemmon gives one of his best performances in this terrific film by Wilder that demonstrates how a man must decide where his morality lies. Lemmon, as Baxter, is the lovable loser who must make a stand against his boss who takes advantage of him.

A classic crime-mystery that explores the themes of racism in south USA. Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger are excellent as the odd-couple-type police officers who overcome hatred to crack the case.

One of the most iconic movies ever, tells the story of the youngest son of a mafia overlord whose initial refusal to become apart of the family's business of crime changes as he is thrown into it after his father is wounded in an attempted assassination. He slowly loses his innocence as he climbs the ranks to become the new leader of the family. This great story is shown in operatic fashion. The haunting music score drives this notion as does Coppola's direction, giving the film a mythical feel, somewhat Shakespearean. The cast is magnificent. Marlon Brando's Vito and Al Pacino's Michael were the two who stood out, but everybody gives career best performances, from James Caan to Dianne Keaton. While the sequel even surpasses this movie's brilliance, I will never forget the greatness of the original and the impact it had on me the first time I watched it. Cinematic royalty.

The best sequel ever made. Part I was about a man's inner struggle and change, how he attains power. In Part II he is a ruthless leader who rules with an iron fist. Pacino's portrayal as the tortured Michael is the best acting performance ever, while De Niro as young Vito is also compelling. Coppola's artistic direction excels that of Part I as he is able to weave two stories together in comparison with one-another. The film has a dark and sinister feel which is grimmer than Part I. It's a masterpiece.

Makes me sad, but it's great

Yo Adrian!

A witty and intelligent romantic-comedy in which Woody succeeds in using clever techniques to create classic humour. A cross between 'When Harry Met Sally' and 'Seinfeld', and has influenced many other comedies.

Another strong and powerful anti-war movie set during the 'Nam war. It focuses on how the war broke up the free-spirit the main characters showed at the start of the film. It achieves this by showing how happy they were at the start, then by contrast, showing some scenes of the war, then how depressed it left them. There is a shocking scene that will stand down in history as one of the most powerful in cinema. Also, De Niro, Walken and Savage are fantastic in delivering the emotions that soldiers feel during war.

What makes 'Platoon' such a remarkable war film is its realistic approach from director Oliver Stone. Stone was in the Vietnam war himself and brings a first-hand account on what went on in that dreadful war. The enemy is never clearly shown as they are always hiding, underneath the grass or in trenches or somewhere. You're never safe. Watching this film is like experiencing the war.

The story features the battle between two sergeants who are after the 'soul' of young 'grunt' Chris (Charlie Sheen). "The duality of man" as Chris puts it. Charlie Sheen is so good in this. This is his greatest performance.

It was a good film, I'm not doubting that, but the fact that this won best picture and director instead of the obvious choice, 'GoodFellas' and Scorsese just shows what a farce the Academy really is!! GoodFellas is one of the greatest films of all time, this is good but by no means great.

I just wanna eat it with some fava beans and a nice chianti!

Clint Eastwood's final western might well be his best. Strong moral themes, realistic cold heartless violence and shootouts, character depth, and stand-out performances from Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris and Gene Hackman, the latter bagging an Oscar, provides a must-see western.

A movie like this will always arouse attention, whether it be controversy, inspiration or sadness. It illustrates one of history's most notorious events with great direction and camera-work. The direction in particular is amazing and Spielberg shows the world that he is one of the greatest story-tellers ever.

The story of Forrest Gump and his amazing life is brilliantly presented by Zemeckis who uses special effects to put Forrest amongst some of America's most iconic events and people. Hanks gives the performance of his career, bagging his 2nd Oscar 2 years in a row. Very touching.

Sad but true.

I still can't understand how this movie won Best Picture while 'American History X' wasn't even nominated at the Oscars. Huge proof that the Academy is a farce. It's a good movie but not worthy of an Academy Award. Judy Dench was in the movie for a total of 8 minutes yet won an Oscar as well...

Terrific analysis on family life and shows how the perfect setting may not necessarily bring happiness. Sam Mendes' film debut is a brilliant dissection of a man's mid-life crisis and how he seeks redemption. The cast is brilliant but it's Spacey and Bening who stand tall among the great ensemble.

It's a tragic story with the lead character (Crowe) enduring hell throughout the movie. The fight scenes were what made this film great. Phoenix is so good at being bad.

Intriguing story with some interesting theories. But how did this beat 'The Fellowship...' at the Oscars???

Good dance choreography and singing, especially from Catherine Zeta-Jones and John C. Reilly. It's like the 21st century's Cabaret. But did this really deserve the Best Picture Oscar?

The final chapter to 'The Lord of the Rings' is a magnificent finale to the legendary trilogy. The well built-up climax is thrilling and jaw-dropping. The fight scenes are as good as the previous films (thanks to state of the art SFX). The characters that we know and love from the previous films, have grown and evolved into much deeper personalities. This is fantastic movie-making at its peak. This redefines the word EPIC.

A simple rags-to-riches story which then has some horrifying twists, and so becomes a complicated situation. Swank, Eastwood and Freeman all shine acting, but it's Eastwood's directing that makes the film so good. Very dramatic, very violent, very emotional. Eastwood says it best: "It's not a boxing movie. It's a father-daughter love story."

Quite disappointing. I'm surprised that this won the Best Picture Oscar. I guess I shouldn't though, the Academy seems to favour films about racism.

Marty uses his trademark techniques and camera-work to try construct another 'GoodFellas'. Unfortunately it's nowhere near as good as that masterpiece and it's a real shame that when one looks back at his career his first Oscar is for this instead of his more deserving classics. The acting from DiCaprio Damon and Wahlberg was impressive and the film's structure was good. It did however improve on 'Infernal Affairs'.

'No Country for Old Men' is another dark thriller masterpiece directed by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen. In 1980, Lewellyn Moss, while hunting deer in the Texas desert, comes across what seems to be the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong. There he finds a satchel containing two million dollars, which he takes. On his trail is Anton Chigurh, a hitman who is hired to recover the money. Following this case is the old experienced sherrif Ed Tom Bell, who tries to reach Moss and save him before Chigurh can get to him. This sets up for a great cat-and-mouse chase film. Josh Brolin gives a wonderful performance as Moss. A lot of the movie's focus is on him, and shows in great detail how he is able to avoid Chigurh and a Mexican gang who is also after the money. The direction from the Coens and the editing from Roderick Jaynes is very precise in following and showing Moss' methods of stashing the money, hiding in hotel rooms, and running/driving from his predators. Tommy Lee Jones is perfect in the role of Sherrif Bell. Who else could play the part of an ageing Sherrif who questions the world he's living in and laments the increasing violence in it. But the undisputed star in 'No Country for Old Men' is Javier Bardem's Academy Award-winning performance as Chigurh. Sporting an odd haircut throughout the film and using a cattle stun-gun as his weapon of choice, Bardem is cold and remorseless, stopping at nothing to fullfill his mission. He's like other great movie villains like Michael Myers from 'Halloween' or Arnold Schwarenegger's Terminator, only he isn't just a one note character, Chigurh has depth. Like another great villain, Two-Face of the Batman universe, Chigurh uses a coint-toss to make fateful decisions. And 'No Country for Old Men' 's underlining theme is fate. Something the Coen brothers have previously explored in 'Blood Simple' and 'Fargo'. 'No Country for Old Men' is a beautiful looking film, being set in Texas we are shown the wide open landscapes of the desert creating a feeling of eerie isolation for Moss, just like the Minnesota snow did in 'Fargo'. This is a crime thriller of the best kind and one of the best films to come out of the 2000s.

Hard-hitting depiction of life in the slums of India, much like the depiction of the hood in Boyz 'n the Hood. Great acting, directing and an amazing story with emotional sequences make this must-see viewing.