Photo: Robin Marchant/Stringer(Getty Images)
Even if you don’t value the Academy Awards that much, and there is a proper reason for that due to their questionable choices recently, you have surely caught yourself upping a movie by saying it has won an Oscar. Regardless of what we might think of it, Oscars matter in our world and movies that have won best picture awards usually are the complete package. Some of them even had their promotions done properly as evident by these best movie posters from Oscars best picture winners.
Even though the majority of the best movie posters listed are from the more recent years, it still has to be noticed that artists had larger creative freedom in the more far away past. They deviated from the norms more, while some today (you won’t find them on this list), seem pretty lazy.
Best Movie Posters From Oscar Winners
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Best Movie Posters - Moonlight (2016)
The current winner of the best picture award has a very distinct visual look with the usage of not so common colors as turquoise and purple. Not only that, as it also manages to portray the different eras of a life that the movie tells. It's a personal, modern poster that will stand the test of time.
Image: A24
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Best Movie Posters - Amadeus (1984)
One of the most trippy, weirdest, and striking movie posters of all time, that goes so fittingly with the level of genius that is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The biopic movie of a man who is known for creating artistic masterpieces truly has a masterpiece as its face, seeing how many details there are in this poster.
Image: Orion Pictures
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Best Movie Posters - The Deer Hunter (1978)
Another poster that serves as one of the main symbols of the Vietnam war even though there are a lot of real life images from it. The mere action depicted on the poster is enough to draw attention, but the smart contrast of black and white with the bloody red headband hits the nail on the head.
Image: Universal Pictures
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Best Movie Posters - The Godfather (1972)
When an image is iconic as any in the modern culture, recreated numerous times, there's no question whether the movie poster it originated from is iconic. The puppet master icon would be enough on its own, but the minimalistic approach and the eye-catching contrast seal the deal.
Image: Paramount Pictures
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Best Movie Posters - A Man For All Seasons (1966)
A Man For All Season tells a story about Sir Thomas More who opposed King Henry VIII of England's, and his stance is depicted brilliantly on the poster. The man is going the other way than what the posters usually depict, and the wide variety of color on the characters showed on the side displays the amount of absurdity More had to deal with.
Image: Columbia Pictures
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Best Movie Posters - The Sound Of Music (1965)
An unskippable movie poster and one that is almost synonymous with the cinematographic art. The Sound of Music is one of those films that is still highly relevant today despite being more than 50 years old, and surely the poster played its role in it as it had the life of its own as a symbol of personal freedom.
Image: 20th Century Fox
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Best Movie Posters - Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
There probably wasn't a young man in the '60s that didn't want this badass poster on his wall, but it does a great deal of giving a glimpse about what Lawrence is like besides looking cool. Strong colors and the contrast draw the attention, while the charging cavalry detail in the bottom is a cherry on top for this well-thought off masterpiece.
Image: Columbia Pictures
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Best Movie Posters - Ben-Hur (1959)
Epic movies always needed to showcase that they are epic, and while today that is done mostly by overcrowding the poster with characters, Ben-Hur did it in an original, hardly copied way. And it's also worth nothing that the other posters for the movie are great.
Image: Loew's, Inc
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Best Movie Posters - Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
Older posters usually had far more details than the ones today, and they weren't just cut-out scenes from the movie, genuine effort was put into them. Poster of the Around the World in 80 Days movie is done in an old-timely cartoonish way, with the detailing providing for a lot of what the audience can expect. Compare it to the 2004 remake which just looks lazy.
Image: United Artists
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Best Movie Posters - The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
It's rare that a poster from such a long time ago looks so modern, and while The Life Of Emile Zola was made before World War II, we can see this image shared on Instagram easily. It's minimalistic, yet it demands attention from the passersby.
Image: Warner Bros.
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Best Movie Posters - Cavalcade (1933)
A true art piece of a movie poster, Cavalcade uses contrasting colors and contrasting imagery to attract the viewer's attention. Without the protective mother in the corner the poster wouldn't have the strength it has, but with her, it's charged with primal emotion a lot of people can relate to.
Image: Fox Film Corporation
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Best Movie Posters - Birdman (2014)
A different kind of a movie needs a different poster, that's why Birdman got one version of the poster which utilizes the retro style of painting. But it's the apparent symbolism of the image that makes the Birdman poster one of the best movie posters ever, with the character of Birdman pressuring the actor who portrayed him.
Image: Fox Searchlight Pictures
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Best Movie Posters - All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
The gripping, expresive face is enough on its own for other posters used by this classic movie, but with the added comic-book like illustrations of soldiers in action and trenches - it really elevates the whole poster.
Have some fun by looking at 20 of the worst movie posters.
Image: Universal Pictures
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Best Movie Posters: The King's Speech (2010)
Rarely do marketers and filmmakers go for the minimalist approach when making posters as they feel inclined to stuff it with content out of fear of selling the movie short. But a lot of independent movie poster creators do them, so there is an audience for them. The bright contrasting yellow draws the attention, and the closed mouth teases the audience.
Image: Momentum Pictures
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Best Movie Posters - The Hurt Locker (2009)
Even if you didn't enjoy the polarazing Kathryn Bielow movie you'll surely admit that The Hurt Locker's poster leaves a standing impresion. The font of the title matches the gritiness of the desert and with the different color stands out from the rest of the photo as much as the bombs stand out from the wasteland of the desert.
Image: Summit Entertainment
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Best Movie Posters - Gladiator (2000)
An amazing movie poster has to be memorable, and there are hardly any scene more memorable from any of these Oscar winners than the one of Maximus saying "Are you not entertained?". The artists of Gladiator used that and emphasized it with the contrasting image of the Elysium's sky.
Image: DreamWorks Pictures
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Best Movie Posters - American Beauty (1999)
American Beauty is one of the rare movie that had two versions of equally iconic posters and promotional images, and while the one with the nude stomach and a rose is more utalized, the bloody red wider shot is more striking. It's the only usage of (partial) nudity in any of these best movie posters, but one that has the reason to do it due to the themes of the film.
Image: DreamWorks Pictures
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Best Movie Posters - Forrest Gump (1994)
If a movie that is brimming with amazing, memorable shots decides to go for one of the most static, general ones as its main point of presentation and makes an iconic poster, the designers did something amazing. The use of neutral space in this one is outstanding, as is the utilization of the colors with whom Forrest merges with the background.
Image: Paramount Pictures
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Best Movie Posters - Schindler's List (1993)
Symbolism doesn't have to be covert or subtle when it comes to movie posters as their purpose is to draw the audience and give as much information about the movie without spoiling it. This poster isn't subtle on it's meaning, and yet it somehow manages to be highly artistic, reminiscing of The Creation of Adam, and surely having the same significance message-wise.
Image: Universal Pictures
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Best Movie Posters - Platoon (1986)
Even people who don't watch movies have seen this iconic image, it almost became a symbol of the Vietnam war in itself. The brilliant usage of dog-tags, which mostly symbolize dead soldiers, is brilliant, and the famed pose is haunting.
Image: Orion Pictures
