Oscars: Every Best Picture Winner Ever Ranked From Worst To Best

24. The French Connection (1971)

The French Connection
20th Century Fox

The sobering, stunning classic that kick-started the 1970s' unprecedented run of edgy, provocative Best Picture winners, The French Connection sees William Friedkin bring incredible shade and ambiguity to a seemingly conventional procedural cop narrative, abetted by a never-better, Oscar-winning Gene Hackman,

The first R-rated Best Picture winner since the MPAA's ratings system was introduced in 1968, this is a thriller that dares to go to more than a few discomforting places and is all the better for it, while also delivering on the blistering set-piece front with the unforgettable car chase on 86th Street.

Some might insist it should be lower down on this list for its no-frills approach, but that's exactly why it's such a breath of fresh air.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.