Special Report
Best of the Best: Oscar Winners for Best Picture Ranked
April 15, 2021 9:00 am
Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures
56. Out of Africa (1985)
> Director: Sydney Pollack
> Cast: Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Klaus Maria Brandauer
> RT Tomatometer: 62%
> IMDb rating 7.2 out of 10
> Domestic gross box office: $87 million
Sydney Pollack’s drama “Out of Africa” follows a wealthy woman and plantation owner who has an affair with a free-spirited hunter. The movie won Pollack’s only Oscar for Best Director in his career.
Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.
55. Chariots of Fire (1981)
> Director: Hugh Hudson
> Cast: Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Nicholas Farrell
> RT Tomatometer: 82%
> IMDb rating 7.2 out of 10
> Domestic gross box office: $59 million
“Chariots of Fire” is a biopic about two British track athletes in the religiously divided U.K. competing in the 1924 Olympics. One is Jewish and the other a devout Christian. The film “manages to make effectively stirring use of its spiritual and patriotic themes,” according to Rotten Tomatoes’ Critics Consensus.
Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
54. Terms of Endearment (1983)
> Director: James L. Brooks
> Cast: Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson
> RT Tomatometer: 78%
> IMDb rating 7.4 out of 10
> Domestic gross box office: $108 million
Tracing the loving but ill-fated relationship between a mother and daughter over the years, this classic tear-jerker moves from Houston to Des Moines to New York City. Along the way there are family conflicts, infidelities, and love stories that culminate in the daughter’s death from cancer.
Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.
53. Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
> Director: Bruce Beresford
> Cast: Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, Dan Aykroyd
> RT Tomatometer: 82%
> IMDb rating 7.3 out of 10
> Domestic gross box office: $107 million
“Driving Miss Daisy” tells the story of how an old Jewish woman (Jessica Tandy) who lives alone and her African-American chauffeur (Morgan Freeman) in the South become friends over the course of several years.
Source: Courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures
52. The Shape of Water (2017)
> Director: Guillermo del Toro
> Cast: Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Shannon
> RT Tomatometer: 92%
> IMDb rating 7.3 out of 10
> Domestic gross box office: $64 million
Guillermo del Toro’s sci-fi drama about the relationship between a janitor and an aquatic creature won four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. Forty-five movies grossed more than it did in 2017. These include “Star Wars Ep. VIII: The Last Jedi,” which took in nearly ten times as much at the domestic box office.
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