The 25 greatest Oscar best picture winners, ranked (from 'Parasite' to 'The Godfather')

For film fans, choosing from the history of Oscar best picture winners offers a cornucopia of delicacies.

Like any buffet, there are some things you might want to avoid: "Crash" and "The Broadway Melody" are akin to some sketchy veggies that don't look entirely pleasing. Still, with 92 mostly splendid dishes served, there's bound to be some stuff you can dig into, from classic musicals ("My Fair Lady" and "Gigi") and war epics ("The Bridge on the River Kwai" and "Platoon") to Southern-fried charms ("Gone with the Wind," naturally) and strange tastes ("The Silence of the Lambs").

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Best picture: 15 films that didn't deserve the Oscar – and the ones that should have won instead

In honor of the upcoming 93rd Academy Awards S(ABC, 8 ET/PT), we're celebrating the greatest of the greatest in Oscar's long history in "no guts, no glory" style. (In other words, sorry not sorry to die-hard devotees of "Titanic," "Kramer vs. Kramer," "Ben-Hur" and other notables that didn't make the cut.)

So take the gun, leave the cannoli and strap in for the best 25 best picture winners, ranked.

Jack Nicholson (left) plays a Boston mobster and Leonard DiCaprio is the undercover cop tasked to infiltrate his gang in "The Departed."
Jack Nicholson (left) plays a Boston mobster and Leonard DiCaprio is the undercover cop tasked to infiltrate his gang in "The Departed."

25. 'The Departed' (2006)

Martin Scorsese finally snagged a best director Oscar for the twisty, star-studded and very rewatchable crime thriller with Matt Damon as a mob mole, Leonardo DiCaprio as an undercover cop and Jack Nicholson as a fearsome gangster.

Eliza (Audrey Hepburn) gets a makeover courtesy of Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) in "My Fair Lady."
Eliza (Audrey Hepburn) gets a makeover courtesy of Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) in "My Fair Lady."

24. 'My Fair Lady' (1964)

Who cares if Audrey Hepburn didn't get to do most of her own singing? She's an absolute gem as cockney Brit Eliza Doolittle given a high-class makeover – courtesy of Rex Harrison's Henry Higgins – in the showtune-filled tweak of the stage play "Pygmalion."

Chiwetel Ejiofor plays a free Black man who's cruelly tricked and enslaved in Louisiana in "12 Years a Slave."
Chiwetel Ejiofor plays a free Black man who's cruelly tricked and enslaved in Louisiana in "12 Years a Slave."

23. '12 Years a Slave' (2013)

Steve McQueen's pre-Civil War drama is not an easy watch at all but still an important one. Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as a free Black man tricked into servitude and Lupita Nyong'o wows as an enslaved woman brutalized by a cruel master (Michael Fassbender).

Catherine Zeta-Jones is a husband-killing jazz singer in the musical "Chicago."
Catherine Zeta-Jones is a husband-killing jazz singer in the musical "Chicago."

22. 'Chicago' (2002)

Two jazz-era convicts (Renée Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones) try to find fame, even behind bars, in this electric A-list musical – a rare one that treats its numbers as dream sequences rather than folks weirdly breaking into song every five minutes.

Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr's infamous kiss on the beach was an iconic shot from "From Here to Eternity."
Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr's infamous kiss on the beach was an iconic shot from "From Here to Eternity."

21. 'From Here to Eternity' (1953)

While Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr's infamous kiss on the beach is the iconic moment, the drama is filled with romantic story lines, some bittersweet, as it follows soldiers stationed in Hawaii in 1941 unaware of the looming tragedy to come.

An elevator operator (Shirley MacLaine) is the object of affection for a lonely office worker (Jack Lemmon) in Billy Wilder's 1960 film "The Apartment."
An elevator operator (Shirley MacLaine) is the object of affection for a lonely office worker (Jack Lemmon) in Billy Wilder's 1960 film "The Apartment."

20. 'The Apartment' (1960)

Fun fact: The romantic dramedy doubles as a holiday film! Jack Lemmon is an office drone who lends out his place for his boss (Fred MacMurray) to take mistresses, until he falls hard for an elevator girl (Shirley MacLaine) meant to be a Christmas Eve hookup.

Sylvester Stallone's first round as Rocky Balboa came in the Oscar-winning sports classic "Rocky."
Sylvester Stallone's first round as Rocky Balboa came in the Oscar-winning sports classic "Rocky."

19. 'Rocky' (1976)

Almost every underdog sports drama of the past 45 years is compared to Sylvester Stallone's boxing classic. It still holds up, too, as both an exceptional romantic tale and a gripping drama about an improbable success story who doesn't throw away his shot.

Clark Gable's out-of-work journalist and Claudette Colbert's runaway heiress meet cute in the Frank Capra romantic comedy "It Happened One Night."
Clark Gable's out-of-work journalist and Claudette Colbert's runaway heiress meet cute in the Frank Capra romantic comedy "It Happened One Night."

18. 'It Happened One Night' (1934)

Charming and pretty sexy for its time, Frank Capra's romantic comedy is all about its two fantastic leads – Clark Gable's out-of-work journalist and Claudette Colbert's runaway heiress – going from meet-cute to winning each other's hearts (and yours, too).

The anti-war picture "All Quiet on the Western Front" explored carnage during World War I and the disillusionment of American soldiers.
The anti-war picture "All Quiet on the Western Front" explored carnage during World War I and the disillusionment of American soldiers.

17. 'All Quiet on the Western Front' (1930)

One of the most powerful anti-war films ever. Director Lewis Milestone's drama shows the carnage of World War I battle through the eyes of soldiers inspired to enlist due to patriotism but who later become disillusioned and question the point of it all.

16. 'Spotlight' (2015)

Based on a real-life exposé, this generation's "All the President's Men" features Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams as crusading Boston Globe journalists who investigate child abuse by local priests and a shady Catholic Church cover-up.

Natalie Wood starred as Maria and Rita Moreno played Anita in the 1961 movie musical "West Side Story."
Natalie Wood starred as Maria and Rita Moreno played Anita in the 1961 movie musical "West Side Story."

15. 'West Side Story' (1961)

Get past the finger-snapping 1950s dance warfare of the Jets and the Sharks and you'll be all in for the wondrous Romeo-and-Juliet love story of Tony (Richard Beymer) and Maria (Natalie Wood) powered by phenomenal songs and a fiery Rita Moreno.

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Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh are the romantic leads of "Gone With the Wind," based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell.
Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh are the romantic leads of "Gone With the Wind," based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell.

14. 'Gone with the Wind' (1939)

Like other Hollywood classics, the Civil War epic brings up righteous objections for modern audiences, especially with its depiction of Black people and slavery. At the same time, it's hard to knock the sheer big-screen spectacle or its central unrequited romance.

Trevante Rhodes plays the grownup version of the central character in 'Moonlight.'
Trevante Rhodes plays the grownup version of the central character in 'Moonlight.'

13. 'Moonlight' (2016)

Barry Jenkins’ multilayered character study is a piece of beautiful elegance, with great turns from Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes about an African American man struggling to find his identity and sexuality across three time periods.

Choi Woo-shik (from left), Song Kang-ho, Jang Hye-jin and Park So-dam star as a scheming South Korean family in the black comedy "Parasite."
Choi Woo-shik (from left), Song Kang-ho, Jang Hye-jin and Park So-dam star as a scheming South Korean family in the black comedy "Parasite."

12. 'Parasite' (2019)

Bong Joon-ho's exquisitely crafted social thriller, the first foreign-language film to win best picture, takes on class warfare – with a poor Korean family cleverly worming their way into the lives of a wealthy clan – in a manner that sticks with you far beyond the credits.

Peter O'Toole (left, with Omar Sharif) is the title character of the sweeping, Oscar-winning epic "Lawrence of Arabia."
Peter O'Toole (left, with Omar Sharif) is the title character of the sweeping, Oscar-winning epic "Lawrence of Arabia."

11. 'Lawrence of Arabia' (1962)

Movies don't get much more sweeping than this majestic historical drama, which proved influential to later filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Peter O'Toole amazes as the title British officer, torn between his homeland and his new Arabian allies.

Jack Nicholson (front) leads a crew of disorderly mental patients in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."
Jack Nicholson (front) leads a crew of disorderly mental patients in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

10. 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest' (1975)

Milos Forman’s classic straddles the line between hilarious and serious business in chronicling the goings-on at a mental institution. And Jack Nicholson's pitch-perfect as a patient locked in a battle of wills with a tyrannical nurse (Louise Fletcher).

Al Pacino (center) plays Michael Corleone, the new don of the crime family, in "The Godfather: Part II."
Al Pacino (center) plays Michael Corleone, the new don of the crime family, in "The Godfather: Part II."

9. 'The Godfather Part II' (1974)

Some folks like the original better, others dig the outstanding prequel/sequel. The performances stand out here, with Al Pacino's Michael Corleone taking the reins of the crime family interspersed with his father (Robert De Niro) coming up in Hell's Kitchen.

Anthony Hopkins (right, with Anthony Heald) is the cannibalistic serial killer – and horror icon – Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs."
Anthony Hopkins (right, with Anthony Heald) is the cannibalistic serial killer – and horror icon – Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs."

8. 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991)

“The Exorcist,” “Jaws” and “Get Out” didn’t win their respective best picture races, so “Lambs” is still the freakiest best picture ever, with an unnerving Anthony Hopkins as cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter and a tremendous Jodie Foster as FBI rookie Clarice Starling.

Gene Hackman plays narcotics detective Popeye Doyle in the cop thriller "The French Connection."
Gene Hackman plays narcotics detective Popeye Doyle in the cop thriller "The French Connection."

7. 'The French Connection' (1971)

Gene Hackman is aces as the no-nonsense narcotics detective Popeye Doyle on the case of a French heroin smuggler, and, armed with an all-time cool car chase through Brooklyn, William Friedkin's fast-paced cop thriller is the epitome of the genre.

Tom Hulce (center) stars as the enigmatic musical genius Mozart in "Amadeus."
Tom Hulce (center) stars as the enigmatic musical genius Mozart in "Amadeus."

6. 'Amadeus' (1984)

The over-the-top biopic focuses on the hedonistic life and early death of Mozart (Tom Hulce), a cackling dude with endless vices and musical talent. It’s great fun for those allergic to stuffy period pieces yet still has some meat to its narrative to go with the frills.

An ambitious understudy (Anne Baxter, left) sets her sights on the stardom of a Broadway actress (Bette Davis) in "All About Eve."
An ambitious understudy (Anne Baxter, left) sets her sights on the stardom of a Broadway actress (Bette Davis) in "All About Eve."

5. 'All About Eve' (1950)

In one of her greatest roles, Bette Davis plays a Broadway star fretting about her age (at 40!). She gets an equal foil in Anne Baxter as a supremely ambitious understudy, and the film’s cutting exploration of ageism and celebrity ego remain fascinating.

Marlon Brando (center) stars as boxer-turned-longshoreman Terry Malloy in "On the Waterfront."
Marlon Brando (center) stars as boxer-turned-longshoreman Terry Malloy in "On the Waterfront."

4. 'On the Waterfront' (1954)

A New Jersey boxer-turned-longshoreman (played by a brilliant Marlon Brando) who “coulda been a contender” instead becomes embroiled in the mob murder of a friend, steps up against corruption, and navigates the complications of a blooming romance.

Ben Kingsley (left) plays Itzhak Stern and Liam Neeson is Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List."
Ben Kingsley (left) plays Itzhak Stern and Liam Neeson is Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List."

3. 'Schindler’s List' (1993)

Spielberg’s black-and-white Holocaust tale about hope and kindness, told through the lens of an empathetic German businessman (Liam Neeson), brings new respect for those who lived during this haunting chapter in world history.

Humphrey Bogart (left) and Ingrid Bergman play former lovers in a complicated situation in "Casablanca."
Humphrey Bogart (left) and Ingrid Bergman play former lovers in a complicated situation in "Casablanca."

2. 'Casablanca' (1942)

Armed with World War II intrigue, humor and some schmaltz, the beloved tale of an expatriate nightclub owner (Humphrey Bogart) who tries to remain neutral in war until love and righteousness walk through his doors and back into his life is indeed timeless.

Marlon Brando stars as Don Vito Corleone in 1972's "The Godfather."
Marlon Brando stars as Don Vito Corleone in 1972's "The Godfather."

1. 'The Godfather' (1972)

The sprawling gangster epic centered on the Corleone crime family is simply masterful, from the acting (chef’s kiss to both Brando and Pacino as two generations of mafia dons) to a narrative filled with violence, betrayal, drama and emotion worth every bit of its three-hour run time.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Oscars: 25 greatest best picture winners, including 'The Godfather'