Born on the Fourth of July 

Tom Cruise’s powerful performance as Ron Kovic, the Vietnam veteran who became a prominent anti-war activist, earned the star his first Oscar nomination in Oliver Stone’s searing film version of Kovic’s memoir. This epic drama about the impact of the war on American soldiers and their families received eight nominations including Best Picture and winning for Directing (Stone) and Film Editing (David Brenner, Joe Hutshing). John Williams was nominated for his emotional score which combined stirring Americana with more experimental music for the film’s traumatic war sequences; he would work with Stone again on JFK (1991) and Nixon (1995), receiving nominations for both scores.