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In this box office hit, Jack Nicholson plays Randle McMurphy, a criminal who fakes mental illness to avoid prison time and ends up in an oppressive mental institution where he challenges the authority of martinet Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher).
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest impressively beat out Jaws for Best Picture, winning five Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
- Actors: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Brad Dourif, William Redfield, Michael Berryman
- Released: 1975
- Directed by: Milos Forman
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Rocky tells the story of Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), a small-time boxer who gets the chance to take on heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed. Shot in just 28 days and written by Stallone, Rocky was a sleeper hit, grossing over $100 million nationwide.
Rocky took home both Best Director and Best Picture, beating out contenders Taxi Driver and Network. Sylvester Stallone was also nominated by the Academy for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay.
According to Stallone, he was flat broke when he sold the movie. He was so broke, in fact, that he had to sell his dog at a 7-Eleven for 50 bucks. After Stallone sold his script, he tried to buy his dog back, and the man he sold him to demanded $1,500.
- Actors: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith, Burt Young, Carl Weathers
- Released: 1976
- Directed by: John G. Avildsen
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Woody Allen’s romantic comedy tells the story of neurotic New York comic, Alvy Singer, as he processes the ups and downs of his relationship with waspy, aspiring singer Annie Hall (Diane Keaton).
Annie Hall swept Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay and helped launch the careers of Sigourney Weaver, Jeff Goldblum and John Glover.
Keaton supplied most of Annie’s wardrobe herself, starting a bona fide fashion trend, or the signature “Annie Hall look.”
- Actors: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane, Paul Simon
- Released: 1977
- Directed by: Woody Allen
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The Deer Hunter is a three-hour epic war film starring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and John Savage. It garnered both praise for its depiction of the inhumanities of war and criticism for certain historical inconsistencies, i.e. the use of Russian roulette during the Vietnam War.
The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Sound.
- Actors: Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Savage, John Cazale, Meryl Streep
- Released: 1978
- Directed by: Michael Cimino
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Kramer vs. Kramer is a family drama film based on Avery Corman's novel. Directed by Robert Benton, it follows a couple's divorce and its impact on their son.
Kramer vs. Kramer faced off against Apocalypse Now and ended up taking home five Oscars, including a Best Actor win for Dustin Hoffman and a Best Director win for Benton. Meryl Streep also won Best Actress in a Supporting Role, her second nomination and first Oscar win.
- Actors: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Justin Henry, Jane Alexander, Howard Duff
- Released: 1979
- Directed by: Robert Benton
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While seasoned director Martin Scorsese seemed poised to win the Oscar for Raging Bull, Robert Redford shocked audiences as he took home Best Picture for Ordinary People, his directorial debut.
Starring Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, and Judd Hirsch, the film unpacks the struggles of an affluent family after their son's accidental death.
- Actors: Donald Sutherland, Timothy Hutton, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch, M. Emmet Walsh
- Released: 1980
- Directed by: Robert Redford
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Chariots of Fire chronicles the lives of two runners as they prepare for the 1924 Olympics in Paris. It's famed theme song has since been used for numerous Olympic Games and countless sporting events.
Screenwriter Colin Welland originally named the title of his script, "Runners." He was later inspired by William Blake's poem "Jerusalem" and decided to rename it the more lyrical Chariots of Fire.
- Actors: Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, John Gielgud, Nigel Havers, Nicholas Farrell
- Released: 1981
- Directed by: Hugh Hudson
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In Ben Kingsley's first starring role, he gives an indelible performance portraying Mahatma Gandhi. The bio-epic chronicles the heroic life of the political leader. The film dominated the 1982 Academy Awards, winning eight out of its eleven nominations.
- Actors: Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, Edward Fox, John Gielgud, Trevor Howard
- Released: 1982
- Directed by: Richard Attenborough
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Adapted from Larry McMurtry's 1975 novel, Terms of Endearment is a dramedy starring Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger. The film chronicles their fraught and loving mother-daughter relationship over the span of 30 years.
The film garnered eleven Academy Award nominations and won five. It also won four Golden Globes, including Best Actress for MacLaine, Best Screenplay, Best Drama Motion Picture, and Best Supporting Actor for Jack Nicholson.
- Actors: Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Jeff Daniels, Danny DeVito
- Released: 1983
- Directed by: James L. Brooks
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This fictionalized biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was nominated for 53 awards and received 40, including eight Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, four BAFTA Awards, and a DGA award for Miloš Forman.
In the making of the film, the performance of "Don Giovanni" took place on the same stage where the opera first premiered.
- Actors: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Jeffrey Jones, Elizabeth Berridge, Simon Callow
- Released: 1984
- Directed by: Milos Forman
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Sydney Pollack directed and produced this epic romantic drama, which garnered 28 film awards, including seven Academy Awards.
The script was based loosely on the autobiographical novel Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen.
- Actors: Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Michael Kitchen, Malick Bowens
- Released: 1985
- Directed by: Sydney Pollack
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Oliver Stone’s Vietnam War drama Platoon premiered to almost immediate critical acclaim, despite challenges during filming; the shoot was almost canceled due to political upheaval in the Philippines. Platoon went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture, and Stone was awarded the Oscar for Best Director.
Weird piece of Platoon trivia: according to interviews in the documentary “Making of Platoon: A Tour Of The Inferno,” the actors got legitimately lit while filming the underworld smoking scene.
- Actors: Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen, Forest Whitaker, Francesco Quinn
- Released: 1986
- Directed by: Oliver Stone
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This British-Italian bio-epic film chronicles the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of China. The film won all nine Oscars for which it was nominated.
Chinese authorities gave Director Bernardo Bertolucci total access to shoot in The Forbidden City, which had never before been used in Western film.
- Actors: John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole, Ying Ruocheng, Victor Wong
- Released: 1987
- Directed by: Bernardo Bertolucci
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Rain Man is a dramedy directed by Barry Levinson about two brothers on a road trip, starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. The movie won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Dustin Hoffman), Best Director and Best Writing, Original Screenplay.
Director Levinson later described the film as, "the most independent movie that you could possibly make" and shared he discovered much of the film on the road.
- Actors: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino, Gerald R. Molen, Jack Murdock
- Released: 1988
- Directed by: Barry Levinson
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This Oscar darling tracks the relationship of an elderly Jewish woman (Jessica Tandy) and her black chauffeur (Morgan Freeman) in the American South. The film took home four golden statuettes at the 1989 Academy Awards.
Jessica Tandy had a $100 bet with her agent she wouldn't win the Oscar. She later admitted it was the best bet she had ever lost. At 81, she's still the oldest winner in the Best Actress category.
- Actors: Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, Dan Aykroyd, Patti LuPone, Esther Rolle
- Released: 1989
- Directed by: Bruce Beresford
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Kevin Costner starred in, produced, and directed the epic western, which won him his first Oscar for Best Director. In total, the film won seven Academy Awards.
Michael Blake, who penned the original book, also wrote the script, which won him Best Adapted Screenplay.
- Actors: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney A. Grant, Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman
- Released: 1990
- Directed by: Kevin Costner
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The breakout horror-thriller film The Silence of the Lambs starred Jodie Foster and Sir Anthony Hopkins. The film, directed by Jonathan Demme, was adapted from the original novel by Thomas Harris and curiously released on Valentine’s Day.
The film tells the story of an FBI trainee, Clarice Starling, who attempts to catch a serial killer by getting inside the head of cannibal, Hannibal Lecter.
Gene Siskel didn’t quite get the film's appeal, writing that The Silence of the Lambs was “a case of much ado about nothing.” Ebert and the Academy saw differently. The film is the third to win all the “big five” Oscars: Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, and Screenplay.
- Actors: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald
- Released: 1991
- Directed by: Jonathan Demme
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The Western was produced and directed by Clint Eastwood and written by David Webb Peoples. The film follows gunfighter and outlaw William Munny as he takes on one last job. At the Oscars, Eastwood won for Best Actor and Best Director.
The movie was dedicated to Eastwood's deceased mentors Don Siegel and Sergio Leone.
- Actors: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris, Jaimz Woolvett
- Released: 1992
- Directed by: Clint Eastwood
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In Steven Spielberg's masterful drama shot on black-and-white film, Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) saves the lives of more than a thousand Jewish refugees from the Holocaust.
Spielberg didn’t accept a salary for directing the film, saying it would be “blood money.” The film won a total of seven Academy Awards, including a Best Director win for Spielberg.
- Actors: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Segal
- Released: 1993
- Directed by: Steven Spielberg
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Forrest Gump chronicles the American zeitgeist from the Kennedy Era to Watergate through the eyes of a man with an IQ of 75.
The film won six Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Director, Best Visual Effects, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. Roger Ebert gave it four stars, saying it was simply a "magical movie."
- Actors: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, Sally Field
- Released: 1994
- Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
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Braveheart is an epic war film directed by Mel Gibson, who also plays the lead character, William Wallace. The film grossed $210.4 million worldwide and was nominated for ten academy awards, taking home five.
Mel Gibson initially refused to play William Wallace, claiming he was too old; the role was going to go to Brad Pitt. However, after Paramount Pictures threatened to pull out financing, Gibson agreed to play the lead.
- Actors: Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan, Catherine McCormack, Brendan Gleeson
- Released: 1995
- Directed by: Mel Gibson
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The epic romance The English Patient features sweeping vistas of the Sahara, ill-fated love, and one doctor's quest to save his beloved. Inspired by the 1992 novel by Michael Ondaatje, the drama dominated the Academy Awards with nine Oscar wins.
- Actors: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Kristin Scott Thomas, Naveen Andrews
- Released: 1996
- Directed by: Anthony Minghella
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James Cameron was the "King of the World" (as said in his acceptance speech) when he won Best Director for Titanic. The epic historical drama was Romeo and Juliet on the Titanic, and the highest grossing film of all time until Cameron bested himself with Avatar.
- Actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher
- Released: 1997
- Directed by: James Cameron
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The romantic period comedy-drama was written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard and imagines a love affair between the Bard and his muse.
The movie won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Gwyneth Paltrow), Best Supporting Actress (Judi Dench), and Best Original Screenplay.
Dame Judi Dench won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role as Queen Elizabeth, despite the fact she she was on screen for less than six minutes and in a total of four scenes.
- Actors: Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Geoffrey Rush, Judi Dench, Simon Callow
- Released: 1998
- Directed by: John Madden
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Never was a plastic bag more prominently featured in an Oscar-winning film.
In Sam Mendes's hard look at suburban life via a father infatuated with his daughter's best friend, Mendes reveals the cynicism seeping below American materialism. The title refers to a breed of roses that are prone to rot underneath, despite their beauty.
The film won five Academy Awards, despite not being an immediate favorite among critics. It is still a divisive film among critics and fans alike.
- Actors: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari
- Released: 1999
- Directed by: Sam Mendes
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In Ridley Scott's epic drama, a slave becomes more powerful than the Emperor of Rome. Gladiator won the crowd on Hollywood's biggest night when it took home five Academy Awards, beating out Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
- Actors: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Derek Jacobi
- Released: 2000
- Directed by: Ridley Scott
