★ = recommended, ♥ = personal favorite

Rain Man (1988) ♥

• starring Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino
• directed by Barry Levinson
• 133 minutes, color
• Won 4/8 Oscars, including Best Actor (Hoffman), Best Director and Best Screenplay

Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

• starring Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, Dan Aykroyd, Patti Lupone, Esther Rolle
• directed by Bruce Beresford
• 99-100 minutes, color
• Won 4/9 Oscars, including Best Actress (Tandy) and Best Screenplay
  • The last Best Picture winner with a PG rating.

Dances with Wolves (1990) ★

• starring Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney A. Grant
• directed by Kevin Costner
• 180-181 minutes, color
• Won 7/12 Oscars, including Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography

The Silence of the Lambs (1991) ♥

• starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine
• directed by Jonathan Demme
• 118 minutes, color
• Won 5/7 Oscars, including Best Actor (Hopkins), Best Actress (Foster), Best Director and Best Screenplay
  • The Silence of the Lambs, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and It Happened One Night have all won the Oscar grand slam (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay). Moreover, these were the only Oscars any of these films won.
  • The only horror film to win Best Picture.

Unforgiven (1992) ★

• starring Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris
• directed by Clint Eastwood
• 131 minutes, color
• Won 4/9 Oscars, including Best Supporting Actor (Hackman) and Best Director

Schindler's List (1993) ★

• starring Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagall, Embeth Davidtz
• directed by Steven Spielberg
• 195-197 minutes, predominantly black-and-white
• Won 7/12 Oscars, including Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography
  • Steven Spielberg was not paid for this film. He refused to accept a salary, citing that it would be "blood money". Instead, he gave the money to the Shoah Foundation.

Forrest Gump (1994) ♥

• starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, Sally Field
• directed by Robert Zemeckis
• 142 minutes, color
• Won 6/13 Oscars, including Best Actor (Hanks), Best Director and Best Screenplay

Braveheart (1995)

• starring Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan, Catherine McCormack
• directed by Mel Gibson
• 177 minutes, color
• Won 5/10 Oscars, including Best Director and Best Cinematography

The English Patient (1996) ♥

• starring Ralph Fiennes, Kristin Scott Thomas, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Colin Firth
• directed by Anthony Minghella
• 162 minutes, color
• Won 9/12 Oscars, including Best Supporting Actress (Binoche), Best Director and Best Cinematography

Titanic (1997) ♥

• starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Bernard Hill, Jonathan Hyde, Danny Nucci, David Warner, Bill Paxton, Gloria Stuart
• directed by James Cameron
• 194 minutes, color
• Won 11/14 Oscars, including Best Director and Best Cinematography
  • Titanic is the most Oscar-nominated film (with 14 nominations) not to win in any acting categories.
  • This was the first time that two actors, Kate Winslet and Gloria Stuart, were nominated for playing the same person in the same film. They both played Rose but neither won.
  • The first Best Picture winner to be produced, directed, written, and edited by the same person (James Cameron).