As recommended by Haigin88
Milos Forman's 1996 account of pornographer Larry Flynt's First Amendment fight against the taboos and moral squeamishness of mainstream society earned Oscar nominations for both its director and Woody Harrelson's lead – and according to Haigin88 deserved a placing on our list Photograph: PR
As recommended by UrbanSombrero, MagpiesView and Simon92
While relatively light on the narrative twists and hard-left turns typical to this format, Otto Preminger's adaptation of Robert Traver's novel is dense with philosophical quandaries. Based upon a real-life case this story of murder and (possible) rape brings a steely realism and a welcome moral grey to a genre often concerned with black and white: there are no heroes here, and few certainties beyond the disquieting strength of the film itself Photograph: Everett /Rex Features
As recommended by Haigin88, IvorEngine and KingCranky
Earning Oscar nods both for its screenplay and for Al Pacino's intense performance as a lawyer riled by injustice, Norman Jewison's courtroom drama presents an all-too-rare depiction of an attorney motivated by ethics rather than greed. "Awesome," says IvorEngine Photograph: Rex Features
As recommended by IvorEngine
While "possibly not in the class of some of the choices in the article", IvorEngine was also pleasingly surprised by this 1996 vehicle for Richard Gere and an early-career Edward Norton in which an altar boy is accused of murdering a priest Photograph: Moviestore Collection/Rex Features
As recommended by Hoppo
Benefiting from novelist Scott Turow's experience of the American justice system, Alan J Pakula's morally ambiguous murder narrative is, as Hoppo puts it, "a good one" Photograph: Everett/Rex Features
As recommended by SteveParadis
The surprise ending still shocks, but not as much as learning that Cher can act and that Liam Neeson, here playing a deaf-mute homeless man accused of the murder of a judge's secretary, doesn't need his gravelled tones to make an impact Photograph: Moviestore Collection/Rex Features
As recommended by Steven Chivers, emevans29
"In what world does My Cousin Vinny not make this list?" asks Steven Chivers, perhaps understandably given the film's slew of awards, including an Oscar for Marisa Tomei's Best Supporting Actress. This is no dry courtroom procedural, however, with Joe Pesci earning a gong for Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture from the American Comedy awards for his take on an inexperienced lawyer struggling to keep his cousin and a friend from state execution Photograph: Rex Features
As recommended by Corrigan90
"There is a distinct lack of Sleepers on this list," says Corrigan90, and one glance at the cast list does seem to suggest a terrible omission. Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Bacon, Brad Pitt, Minnie Driver and Billy Crudup – whatever the issues of veracity surrounding this ostensibly 'true story' of youthful incarceration, abuse and revenge there's little arguing with the show of talent on screen, not least from De Niro in uncharacteristically restrained form Photograph: Moviestore Collection/Rex Features
As recommended by SteveParadis
This 1988 TV movie, described as "pretty brilliant" by SteveParadis, was adapted from the stage play first performed 35 years earlier that's often considered the touchstone for pretty much every court-martial drama since Photograph: PR
As recommended by lostttheremote
Sure, it's not strictly a courtroom drama, but the Senate Committee scenes within Coppola's gangster epic contain more suspense in a few minutes than many films in the genre harness in two hours, as Michael Corleone contends with the threat of disloyalty from within his own family Photograph: Moviestore Collection/Rex Features
