This is a list of films that won and were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
Winners and nominees
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1920s
- 1927-1928 — Wings
1930s
- 1938 — Spawn of the North
- 1939 — The Rains Came
- Gone with the Wind
- Only Angels Have Wings
- The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
- Topper Takes a Trip
- Union Pacific
- The Wizard of Oz
1940s
- 1940 — The Thief of Bagdad
- The Blue Bird
- Boom Town
- The Boys from Syracuse
- Dr. Cyclops
- Foreign Correspondent
- The Invisible Man Returns
- The Long Voyage Home
- One Million B.C.
- Rebecca
- The Sea Hawk
- The Swiss Family Robinson
- Typhoon
- Women in War
- 1941 — I Wanted Wings
- Aloma of the South Seas
- Dive Bomber (nomination withdrawn; replaced with The Sea Wolf).
- Flight Command
- The Invisible Woman
- The Sea Wolf
- That Hamilton Woman
- Topper Returns
- A Yank in the R.A.F.
- 1942 — Reap the Wild Wind
- The Black Swan
- Desperate Journey
- Flying Tigers
- Invisible Agent
- Jungle Book
- Mrs. Miniver
- The Navy Comes Through
- One of Our Aircraft Is Missing
- The Pride of the Yankees
- 1943 — Crash Dive
- Air Force
- Bombardier
- The North Star
- So Proudly We Hail
- Standby for Action
- 1944 — Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
- The Adventures of Mark Twain
- Days of Glory
- Secret Command
- Since You Went Away
- The Story of Dr. Wassell
- Wilson
- 1945 — Wonder Man
- Captain Eddie
- Spellbound
- They Were Expendable
- A Thousand and One Nights
- 1946 — Blithe Spirit
- 1947 — Green Dolphin Street
- Unconquered
- 1948 — Portrait of Jennie
- Deep Waters
- 1949 — Mighty Joe Young
- Tulsa
1950s
- 1950 — Destination Moon
- 1951 — When Worlds Collide
- 1952 — Plymouth Adventure
- 1953 — The War of the Worlds
- 1954 — 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
- Hell or High Water
- Them!
- 1955 — The Bridges at Toko-Ri
- The Dam Busters
- The Rains of Ranchipur
- 1956 — ''The Ten Commandments'
- 1957 — The Enemy Below
- The Spirit of St Louis
- 1958 — Tom Thumb
- Torpedo Run
- 1959 — Ben Hur
1960s
- 1960 — The Time Machine
- 1961 — The Guns of Navarone
- 1962 — The Longest Day
- 1963 — Cleopatra
- 1964 — Mary Poppins
- 1965 — Thunderball
- 1966 — Fantastic Voyage
- Hawaii
- 1967 — Doctor Dolittle
- 1968 — 2001: A Space Odyssey
- 1969 — Marooned
- Krakatoa: East of Java
1970s
- 1970 — Tora! Tora! Tora!
- 1971 — Bedknobs and Broomsticks
- 1972 — The Poseidon Adventure
- 1974 — Earthquake
- 1975 — The Hindenburg
- 1976 — King Kong and Logan's Run (TIE)
- 1977 — Star Wars
- 1978 — Superman: The Movie
- 1979 — Alien
1980s
- 1980 — The Empire Strikes Back
- 1981 — Raiders of the Lost Ark
- 1982 — E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
- 1983 — Return of the Jedi
- 1984 — Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
- 1985 — Cocoon
- 1986 — Aliens
- 1987 — Innerspace
- 1988 — Who Framed Roger Rabbit
- 1989 — The Abyss
1990s
- 1990 — Total Recall
- 1991 — Terminator 2: Judgment Day
- 1992 — Death Becomes Her
- 1993 — Jurassic Park
- 1994 — Forrest Gump
- 1995 — Babe
- 1996 — Independence Day
- 1997 — Titanic
- 1998 — What Dreams May Come
- 1999 — The Matrix
2000s
- 2000 — Gladiator
- 2001 — The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
- 2002 — The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
- 2003 — The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
- 2004 — Spider-Man 2
- 2005 — King Kong
- 2006 — Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
- 2007 — The Golden Compass
- 2008 — The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- 2009 — Avatar
2010s
- 2010 — Inception
- 2011 — Hugo
- 2012 — Life of Pi
- 2013 — Gravity
- 2014 — Interstellar
- 2015 — Ex Machina
- 2016 — The Jungle Book
- 2017 — Blade Runner 2049
- 2018 — First Man
- 2019 — 1917
2020s
- 2020-21 — Tenet
- 2021 — Dune
- 2022 — Avatar: The Way of Water
