35 Best Picture Oscar Winners, Ranked From Worst to Best
Updated March 14, 2023 with this year's winner
Over the past three decades, we've seen a diverse range of films earn the award for Best Picture at the Oscars. The winners represent all genres and epochs, from dark thrillers to historical epics to modern westerns, offering a little something for everybody.
But with such a broad selection of films, it's tough to decide which ones are really the best of the best. Each title has earned the most prestigious award in entertainment, so it's a given that they're all great — but the reality is that some are still better than others.
To determine the ultimate hierarchy of Best Picture Oscar winners in the last 30 years, we've ranked every winner by Metascore, which represents the consensus of top professional critics.
Wondering where your favorite movie landed on our list? Scroll through the slideshow on this page to see our countdown of Best Picture winners, ranked from worst to best.
Additional content by Jason Dietz.
(1990) This film beat Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas for best picture in 1990. Let that sink in. Kevin Costner directed and starred in the 1990 film that became the first western to win best picture at the Oscars since Cimarron 59 years earlier.
"Ultimately, this film is more interesting than rousing; missing is a John Ford-ian wealth of idiosyncratic characters." — Mike Clark, USA Today
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