Ahead of the 95th Academy Awards on March 12, a new survey by Morning Consult asked American adults to rate the 94 feature films that have won the Oscar for Best Picture throughout the history of the awards.
Robert Zemeckis’ “Forrest Gump” emerged the top choice with the highest net favourability rating. The comedy-drama, released in 1994, was a hit at the following year’s Oscars, winning six awards including Best Director, Best Actor for Tom Hanks, and Best Screenplay.
According to the study, baby boomers are the biggest fans of this US movie hit, with the highest net favourability rating (84%), followed by Gen Xers (76%).
Nevertheless, Americans who see themselves as avid film fans rate it in second place behind “Titanic” by James Cameron, which has only just been rereleased in conjunction with its 25th anniversary. This feature film won no less than 11 Oscars, a record it shares with “Ben-Hur”.
The rest of the two rankings remain quite similar, with “Rocky”, directed by John G Avildsen, and “The Godfather” by Francis Ford Coppola in the top five of both lists.
“The Sound of Music”, “Braveheart”, “The Godfather Part 2”, “Rain Man”, “Schindler’s List”, and “Gone with the Wind” all rank highly, despite their relative age.
Generation Z respondents are more likely to choose more recent films such as “Parasite” by Bong Joon Ho (52nd place out of 94), or “CODA”, the most recent winner of the Best Picture Oscar, the survey showed.
Younger generations are nonetheless interested in seeing Oscar-winning films from the 1990s and even earlier. Moreover, Gen Zers (60%) and millennials (60%) are the groups most likely to say they are interested in seeing films that have taken home the Best Picture prize.
Best Picture Oscar winners ranked by net favourability rating among US adults:
- “Forrest Gump” (1994) – 76%
- “Titanic” (1997) – 65%
- “Rocky” (1976) – 62%
- “The Godfather” (1972) – 61%
- “Rain Man” (1988) – 57%
- “The Sound of Music” (1965) – 54%
- “Gone with the Wind” (1939) – 53%
- “Braveheart” (1995), “Dances with Wolves” (1990), “The Godfather Part 2” (1974) – 52%
- “Driving Miss Daisy” (1989), “Schindler’s List” (1993) – 51%
- “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991) – 50%
- “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975) – 49%
- “Casablanca” (1943), “Gladiator” (2000), “West Side Story” (1961) – 48%
- “Ben-Hur” (1959) – 45%
- “Platoon” (1986) – 44%
- “In the Heat of the Night” (1967), “Kramer vs Kramer” (1979),
- “My Fair Lady” (1964) – 42%
Best Picture Oscar winners ranked by net favourability rating among avid film fans:
- “Titanic” (1997) – 80%
- “Forrest Gump” (1994) – 79%
- “Rocky” (1976) – 72%
- “The Godfather” (1972) – 70%
- “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991) – 69%
- “Braveheart” (1995), “Gladiator” (2000), “The Sound of Music” (1965), “The Godfather 2” (1974) – 68%
- “Rain Man” (1988) – 66%
- “Schindler’s List” (1993) – 64%
- “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003) – 62%
- “Casablanca” (1943) – 61%
- “Gone with the Wind” (1939), “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975) – 58%
- “Driving Miss Daisy” (1989), “Unforgiven” (1992) – 55%
- “Ben-Hur” (1959), “Dances with Wolves” (1990) – 54%
- “Platoon” (1986) – 53%
- “Kramer vs Kramer” (1979), “Gandhi” (1982), “In the Heat of the Night” (1967), “Patton” (1970), “West Side Story” (1961) – 51%