The ‘90s were a groundbreaking and thrilling time for the entertainment world, with some of cinema’s finest and most revered films making their debut. Directors, performers, and production studios were joining forces in order to create innovative and compelling pictures, adopting modern techniques and effects to further elevate their projects. The decade was notorious for its experimentation and out-of-the-box concepts and approaches to filmmaking, and many of the current industry’s top directors released critically-acclaimed early movies during this period. Both independent flicks and blockbusters had their moments, treating audiences to memorable and cutting-edge content.

Some of Hollywood’s most prestigious visionaries were awarded highly-coveted Best Director Oscars, with respected names like Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and Clint Eastwood taking home the sacred statuette. Beloved performances like the 1994 Tom Hanks portrayal of Forrest Gump and Anthony Hopkins’ thrilling depiction of a cannibalistic serial killer in the Hannibal Lecter adaptation The Silence of the Lambs took moviegoers by storm and cemented their status in cinema history. Here is every Best Director Oscar winner of the ‘90s, ranked.

10 Sam Mendes, American Beauty

A girl in a red rose bath in American Beauty
DreamWorks Pictures

Sam Mendes made his directorial debut with the critically-acclaimed 1999 drama American Beauty, which stars Kevin Spacey as a sexually frustrated suburban father experiencing a midlife crisis, who then becomes infatuated with his teenage daughter’s best friend. Steven Spielberg reached out to the aspiring filmmaker to direct the picture, after having been impressed by his productions of Oliver! and Cabaret.

Mendes won the Best Director Oscar at the 2000 ceremony, beating out fellow renowned visionaries like M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) and Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich) for the prestigious accolade; he became just the sixth director to earn the Academy Award for his feature film debut. American Beauty’s legacy as an esteemed film has waned in recent years (especially in light of Spacey's sexual misconduct allegations, combined with the themes of a middle-aged man lusting after a teenager, which was unfortunately true to life), with many having since declared it overrated. Mendes himself actually acknowledged such criticism in 2008, saying: “I thought some of it was entirely justified – it was a little overpraised at the time.”

9 Anthony Minghella, The English Patient

Fiennes and Scott-Thomas lock eyes in The English Patient
Miramax Films

The 1996 romantic war drama The English Patient takes place at the tail end of World War II and follows a young nurse as she tends to a badly-burned plane crash victim, who recalls his past through a series of flashbacks and reveals to the audience his true identity. The film is based on the Michael Ondaatje novel of the same name, who worked closely with director Anthony Minghella on the big-screen adaptation.

The filmmaker believed the drama was the pinnacle of his career at the time, having told The Associated Press in 1996, “I feel more naked and more exposed by this piece of work than anything I’ve ever been involved with. This film absolutely goes against that grain…The story will constantly rethread itself and will be elliptical, but there are enormous rewards in that.” His proclamations proved to be correct, as The English Patient went on to win 9 Academy Awards including Best Director for Minghella and Best Picture.

8 Mel Gibson, Braveheart

Braveheart
Paramount Pictures

Mel Gibson directed, produced and starred in the 1995 historical epic Braveheart, in which the actor portrays late-13th-century Scottish warrior Sir William Wallace as he leads his countrymen in a rebellion to free his homeland from the tyranny of King Edward I of England. Gibson initially had Brad Pitt in mind to play Wallace and was solely interested in directing only, but he reluctantly agreed to take on the lead as well.

The star delivered a stoic and impassioned performance as the fierce Scottish knight, and despite being extremely violent and historically inaccurate (or dodgy at best), both Gibson’s direction and portrayal were lauded by critics. Braveheart won four Academy Awards, with the filmmaker notably nabbing Best Director and Best Picture for his impressive efforts for the film. Gibson proved that he was not only a gifted performer and innovator in front of the camera but also behind it.

7 Kevin Costner, Dances with Wolves

Costner in Dances With Wolves
Orion Pictures

Like his future fellow actor-turned-director Mel Gibson, the dynamic Kevin Costner directed and appeared in the 1990 epic Western Dances with Wolves, telling the tale of Union Army Lieutenant John J. Dunbar, who travels to the American frontier to find a military post and depicts his dealings with a group of Lakota. The drama’s breathtaking cinematography, intimate relationships and poignant social commentary helped make it both a critical and financial success, earning over $400 million at the box office.

Due to Dances with Wolves’ lasting impact and popularity on the image of Native Americans, members of the Lakota Sioux Nation held a ceremony in Washington D.C. to honor Costner and the film shortly after its release, with the actor even being adopted into a Lakota elder’s family, though in years since the film has been considered to depict the "white savior complex." Dances with Wolves earned 12 Oscar nominations and won seven, including Best Director for Costner.

6 Robert Zemeckis, Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump Impersonator Has Been Spotted Running Across California

America’s sweetheart Tom Hanks stars as the endearing titular character in Robert Zemeckis’ 1994 dramedy Forrest Gump, and follows the slow-witted yet kindhearted man over several decades of his fascinating life, as he witnesses and influences defining historical events of the twentieth century. Adapted from the Winston Groom novel, the picture is a cinematic darling primarily due to the brilliant and refined performance of Hanks, who captured the hearts and attention of audiences across the world.

Related: Tom Hanks Reunites With Forrest Gump Team After Three Decades for New Film

The actor revealed that he accepted the role of Forrest Gump after only an hour and a half of reading the script and spent three days crafting his approach to the character. Director Robert Zemeckis and writer Eric Roth wanted to deviate from the novel’s portrayal of Gump, instead focusing on its love story and his adventures: “In the movie, Gump is a completely decent character, always true to his word. He has no agenda and no opinion about anything except Jenny, his mother and God.” Zemeckis won out over Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction for the Best Director Oscar.

5 Clint Eastwood, Unforgiven

Clint Eastwood as a cowboy in a doorway in Unforgiven
Warner Bros.

Silver screen legend Clint Eastwood directed, starred and produced the 1992 Revisionist Western Unforgiven, in which he portrays retired gunslinger William Munny as he reluctantly agrees to take on one last job, with the help of his former partner Ned Logan and a young man named The Shofield Kid. Seasoned actor Gene Hackman appears as the film’s sadistic antagonist Sheriff “Little” Bill Daggett, and despite wanting to avoid violent roles Eastwood convinced the hesitant Hackman to join the picture.

Unforgiven proved fruitful for both actors, as Hackman won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor while Eastwood was awarded for Best Picture and Best Director. The Los Angeles Times described the film as “the finest classical western to come along since perhaps John Ford’s 1956 The Searchers." It is only one of three Westerns to win the Oscar for Best Picture, the other two being Cimarron and Dances with Wolves.

4 Steven Spielberg, Saving Private Ryan

The cast waits on a boat to dock in Normandy in Saving Private Ryan
DreamWorks Pictures

Arguably the most renowned visionary in Hollywood history, Steven Spielberg directed the emotionally-jarring epic war drama Saving Private Ryan, which features an impressive ensemble cast including Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, and Tom Sizemore. The film depicts the efforts of United States Army Rangers Captain John H. Miller (Hanks) and his squad as they search for a paratrooper, Private first class James Francis Ryan (Damon) during the Invasion of Normandy. Spielberg was no stranger to taking on World War II movies, having previously demonstrated his interest with films like Empire of the Sun and Schindler’s List.

The second scene in Saving Private Ryan is a 20-minute sequence that intensely and graphically recounts the landing on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, and Spielberg chose the violent sequence in order “to bring the audiences on stage with me” and did not want “the audience to be spectators” but instead he wanted to “demand them to be participants with those kids who had never seen combat before in real life, and get on top of the Omaha Beach together.” The Oscar-winning drama is widely regarded as one of the greatest war films of all time.

3 James Cameron, Titanic

Kate Winslet in Titanic
Paramount Pictures

James Cameron’s juggernaut masterpiece Titanic was both a critical and commercial triumph, with the 1997 epic romance disaster movie taking the world by storm upon its release. It famously tells the heartrending tale of star-crossed lovers Jack and Rose, who find romance aboard the ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage in 1912. The spectacular picture propelled stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet to superstardom, and cemented Cameron’s status as a revolutionary and groundbreaking filmmaker.

Related: These Movies Made 1997 a Great Year for Cinema

Titanic was the first film to reach the billion-dollar mark at the box office, and it was the highest-grossing film of all time until Cameron’s Avatar surpassed it in 2010. It was a gamble for both the director and the studio, as it became the most expensive movie ever made with a production budget of $200 million; critics predicted it would be a significant box office disappointment and Cameron himself was expecting a disaster. Titanic defied expectations with its unprecedented box office performance and was nominated for a record-tying 14 Oscar nominations, winning 11, including Best Director for Cameron.

2 Jonathan Demme, The Silence of the Lambs

Hopkins in a creepy muzzle mask in Silence of the Lambs
Orion Pictures

Acting greats Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster engage in a psychological battle in the 1991 horror thriller The Silence of the Lambs, which follows FBI trainee Clarice Starling as she seeks advice from the imprisoned cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter to catch a disturbing killer. Based on the Thomas Harris novel, the film is the second project to feature the character Hannibal Lecter, the first being 1986’s Manhunter.

After Sean Connery turned down the lead role, Hopkins was approached by director Jonathan Demme and after reading the first 10 pages of the script he called his agent, saying, “This is the best part I have ever read.” The Silence of the Lambs was a sleeper hit that gradually gained widespread recognition for the brilliant performances of Hopkins and Foster, thrilling screenplay, and superb direction from the underrated master Demme; it went on to win The Big Five Oscars and is the only Best Picture winner widely considered a horror film. Silence of the Lambs is a cinematic classic that is regularly cited as one of the greatest and most influential films of all time.

1 Steven Spielberg, Schindler’s List

girl-red-schindlers-list-1993-amblin
Amblin Entertainment

Steven Spielberg has gifted the world with some of the most enduring and beloved cinematic staples, dazzling and captivating audiences for nearly 50 years; nominated for eight Academy Awards for Best Director, he oddly won his only two during the '90s, just five years apart. His monumental repertoire is packed full of adored classics and riveting pictures, and his 1993 historical drama Schindler’s List is no exception. The emotionally-gripping film tells the harrowing true story of Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist who saved more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees from the Holocaust by employing them in his factories during World War II.

The astounding director was initially unsure if he was mature enough to make a film on the Holocaust but ultimately felt compelled to helm the project when he noticed that Holocaust deniers were being given serious consideration by the media. Spielberg famously forwent a salary for Schindler’s List, calling it “blood money.” The historical drama is a breathtaking masterpiece that is hauntingly moving and emotionally harrowing, and went on to earn a rightly-deserved seven Oscars; The New Yorker proclaimed that it “will take its place in cultural history and remain there.”