• No Country for Old Men - Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
• Atonement - Joe Wright
• Juno - Jason Reitman
• Michael Clayton - Tony Gilroy
• There Will Be Blood - Paul Thomas Anderson

2006

• The Departed - Martin Scorsese
• Babel - Alejandro González Iñárritu
• Letters from Iwo Jima - Clint Eastwood
• Little Miss Sunshine - Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
• The Queen - Stephen Frears

2005

• Crash - Paul Haggis
• Brokeback Mountain - Ang Lee
• Capote - Bennett Miller
• Good Night, and Good Luck - George Clooney
• Munich - Steven Spielberg

2004

• Million Dollar Baby - Warner Bros. - Clint Eastwood
• The Aviator - Miramax & Warner Bros. - Martin Scorsese
• Finding Neverland - Miramax - Marc Forster
• Ray - Universal - Taylor Hackford
• Sideways - Fox Searchlight - Alexander Payne

2003

• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Peter Jackson
• Lost in Translation - Sofia Coppola
• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World - Peter Weir
• Mystic River - Clint Eastwood
• Seabiscuit - Gary Ross

2002

• Chicago - Rob Marshall
• Gangs of New York - Martin Scorsese
• The Hours - Stephen Daldry
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Peter Jackson
• The Pianist - Roman Polanski

2001

• A Beautiful Mind - Ron Howard
• Gosford Park - Robert Altman
• In the Bedroom - Todd Field
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Peter Jackson
• Moulin Rouge! - Baz Luhrmann

2000

• Gladiator - Ridley Scott
• Chocolat - Lasse Hallström
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long 臥虎藏龍) - Ang Lee
• Erin Brockovich - Steven Soderbergh
• Traffic - Steven Soderbergh

1999

• American Beauty - Sam Mendes
• The Cider House Rules - Lasse Hallström
• The Green Mile - CFrank Darabont
• The Insider - Michael Mann
• The Sixth Sense - M. Night Shyamalan

1998

• Shakespeare in Love - John Madden
• Elizabeth - Shekhar Kapur
• Life Is Beautiful (La vita è bella) - Roberto Benigni
• Saving Private Ryan - Steven Spielberg
• The Thin Red Line - Terrence Malick

1997

• Titanic - James Cameron, Jon Landau
• As Good as It Gets - James L. Brooks
• The Full Monty - Peter Cattaneo
• Good Will Hunting - Gus Van Sant
• L.A. Confidential - Curtis Hanson

1996

• The English Patient - Anthony Minghella
• Fargo - Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
• Jerry Maguire - Cameron Crowe
• Secrets & Lies - Mike Leigh
• Shine - Scott Hicks

1995

• Braveheart - Mel Gibson
• Apollo 13 - Ron Howard
• Babe - Chris Noonan
• Il Postino (The Postman) - Michael Radford
• Sense and Sensibility - Ang Lee

1994

• Forrest Gump - Robert Zemeckis
• Four Weddings and a Funeral - Mike Newell
• Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino
• Quiz Show - Robert Redford
• The Shawshank Redemption - Frank Darabont

1993

• Schindler's List - Steven Spielberg
• The Remains of the Day - James Ivory
• The Piano - Jane Campion
• In the Name of the Father - Jim Sheridan
• The Fugitive - Andrew Davis

1992

• Unforgiven - Clint Eastwood
• The Crying Game - Neil Jordan
• A Few Good Men - Rob Reiner
• Howards End - James Ivory
• Scent of a Woman - Martin Brest

1991

• The Silence of the Lambs - Jonathan Demme
• Beauty and the Beast - Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
• Bugsy - Barry Levinson
• JFK - Oliver Stone
• The Prince of Tides - Barbra Streisand

1990

• Dances with Wolves - Kevin Costner
• Goodfellas - Martin Scorsese
• The Godfather, Part III - Francis Ford Coppola
• Ghost - Jerry Zucker
• Awakenings - Penny Marshall

1989

• Driving Miss Daisy - Bruce Beresford
• Born on the Fourth of July - Oliver Stone
• Dead Poets' Society - Peter Wei
• Field of Dreams - Phil Alden Robinson
• My Left Foot - Jim Sheridan

1988

• Rain Man - Barry Levinson
• The Accidental Tourist - The Accidental Tourist
• Dangerous Liaisons - Stephen Frears
• Mississippi Burning - Alan Parker
• Working Girl - Mike Nichols

1987

• The Last Emperor (末代皇帝) - Bernardo Bertolucci
• Moonstruck - Norman Jewison
• Hope and Glory - John Boorman
• Fatal Attraction - Adrian Lyne
• Broadcast News - James L. Brooks

1986

• Platoon - Oliver Stone
• Children of a Lesser God - Randa Haines
• Hannah and Her Sisters - Woody Allen
• The Mission - Roland Joffé
• A Room with a View - James Ivory

1985

• Out of Africa - Sydney Pollack
• The Color Purple - Steven Spielberg
• Kiss of the Spider Woman - Hector Babenco
• Prizzi's Honor - John Huston
• Witness - Peter Weir