A roaring epic that blended brawn and brains, Gladiator took home five Oscars, including best actor for Russell Crowe. The film also took the top prize at the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs.

A Russell Crowe-starring film took the best-picture statuette for the second year in a row, but Crowe missed out on repeating in the best actor race. Mind won four Oscars, including best director for Ron Howard.

Based on the stage musical, the crowd-pleaser became the first musical to be named best picture since 1968's Oliver! Chicago won six Oscars, including a supporting actress statuette for a then-pregnant Catherine Zeta-Jones.

The final film in Peter Jackson's sweeping trilogy batted a thousand at the Oscars, going 11-for-11, tying Ben-Hur and Titanic for the most Oscars ever won. (Ben-Hur and Titanic, however, didn't have perfect win records.) Return of the King is also the first — and so far only — fanstasy film and three-quel to win best picture.

Clint Eastwood's boxing drama knocked out Golden Globe and BAFTA champ The Aviator for the big prize. Eastwood also topped Aviator's Martin Scorsese for best director honors, while Morgan Freeman and Hilary Swank were named supporting actor and lead actress, respectively.

Pulling the upset of the decade, the ensemble film toppled the heavily favored Brokeback Mountain for best-picture bragging rights. Crash collected two other awards, best editing and best original screenplay.

A remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, The Departed may have won best picture, but it was most noted for being the source of Martin Scorsese's long-overdue first directing Oscar. The crime drama also won Oscars for adapted screenplay and editing.

There was no stopping No Country for Old Men from claiming the top prize as the Coen brothers' cat-and-mouse thriller ruled awards season. The film, based on Cormac McCarthy's novel, won four statuettes, including supporting actor for the unfortunately coifed Javier Bardem.

The feel-good rags-to-riches tale dominated the 81st annual Academy Awards, converting eight of its 10 nominations into wins. Fun fact: Slumdog and Return of the King are the only best picture winners this decade to earn the top prize without any acting nominations.