Joey Magidson
Folks, another updated list is coming your way today! Continuing a tradition I’ve been keen on for years, I’m ranking the new crop of Academy Award winners. For nearly all of the Oscar categories, you’ll see me list the top 25 recipients of that prize. Sometimes, our newest winner will appear. Other times, they’ll be relegated to the Honorable Mention category. Who knows, maybe one or two won’t even make the cut? It’s a list series that I’ll do each and every single year, in the weeks after the ceremony concludes. So, while this is a fun way to think about the Oscars in the aftermath of the latest telecast, it’s also a beginning for another column here on the site. Of course, definitely show us your own lists as well, in the comments section below. We’re definitely keen to know what you think!
So, Best Visual Effects is the field that’s up to bat today, our first technical category for 2026, too. This category is a bit of an Oscar outlier, considering a lot of the films that win aren’t Best Picture contenders. There are exceptions, including Avatar, 1917, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Dunkirk, First Man, Forrest Gump, Gladiator, Gravity, Inception, Life of Pi, and Titanic, to be sure (plus two of our most recent winners in the Dune films). However, you’ll just as soon see Academy Award winners here who barely show up in other categories. It’s part of what makes Visual Effects a fun field, but perhaps one slightly lacking in prestige. For my money, Jurassic Park is the tops in this category, but your mileage may vary. Where does the most recent Visual Effects victor fall here in Avatar: Fire and Ash? What about last year’s winner in Dune: Part Two or the prior one in Godzilla Minus? Does the first Dune even crack the list still? What of the prior two Avatar films?Find out where the latest Avatar sequel ranks below, along with all of the rest…
Here are what I consider to be the 25 best winners of the Best Visual Effects Oscar, to date:
25. First Man
24. Inception
23. The Abyss
22. Blade Runner 2049
21. Alien
20. Aliens
19. Superman
18. The Empire Strikes Back
17. Interstellar
16. Dune
15. Dune: Part Two
14. What Dreams May Come
13. Gravity
12. Forrest Gump
11. The Matrix
10. Avatar: Fire and Ash
9. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
8. Avatar: The Way of Water
7. Star Wars
6. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
5. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
4. Titanic
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Avatar
1. Jurassic Park
Honorable Mention: 1917, Ex Machina, Godzilla Minus One, Independence Day, King Kong (2005), and Life of Pi
Stay tuned for another category early next week!
Look, obviously it was well-deserved, but it was also kind of a bummer seeing this category be such a foregone conclusion the moment Avatar: Fire and Ash‘s release date was locked in. No suspense. No debate. We all just knew this was locked-in from the word “Go.”
I have to admit, it’s nice heading into a season where this category will actually feel competitive again.
Agreed!
I look at to that too ! It will be nice to see it more competitive .
25 .Babe
24. Death Becomes Her
23. Hugo
22. Gladiator
21. Ex Machima
20. ET
19. The Empire Strikes Back
18. Instellar
17. Superman
16. Forrest Gump
15. Inception
14. Dune part 2
13. Avatar Fire and Ash
12. The Matrix
11. Alien
10. Aliens
9. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
8. Star Wars
7. Avatar the Way of Water
6. Avatar
5. Gravity
4 . Mary Poppins
3. Titanic
2. Jurassic Park
1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Agreed!
I vote v bts