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

6. The Deer Hunter (1978)

Michael Cimino's three-plus-hour Vietnam War drama is easily one of the most ambitious and haunting Best Picture winners, a shattering character-driven war film that spans countries and years, as it tells the devastating tale of how life in the field changed a trio of Russian American steelworkers.

The central performances from Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale and Meryl Streep are easily among their respective best, Stanley Myers' music is absolutely heart-rending (especially the iconic title song "Cavatina") and Cimino's direction reached a peak he was never able to get close to for the rest of his career.

Some might argue it's too long and drawn-out, but the patient pacing only makes the end result that much more devastating. A stone-cold masterpiece.