62nd Academy Awards

Richard D. Zanuck, Best Picture co-winner

Oliver Stone, Best Director winner

Daniel Day-Lewis, Best Actor winner

Jessica Tandy, Best Actress winner

Denzel Washington, Best Supporting Actor winner

Brenda Fricker, Best Supporting Actress winner

Alfred Uhry, Best Adapted Screenplay winner

Giuseppe Tornatore, Best Foreign Language film winner

Alan Menken, Best Original Score winner and Best Original Song co-winner

Ben Burtt, Best Sound Effects Editing co-winner

Dennis Muren, Best Visual Effects co-winner

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double-dagger ().[14]

• Akira Kurosawa[15]

• Howard W. Koch[16]

At the time of the nominations announcement on February 14, the combined gross of the five Best Picture nominees at the US box office was $244 million with an average of $48.9 million.[31] Dead Poets Society was the highest earner among the Best Picture nominees with $95.8 million in the domestic box office receipts. The film was followed by Field of Dreams ($64.4 million), Born on the Fourth of July ($48.6 million), Driving Miss Daisy ($35.6 million) and My Left Foot ($2.1 million).[31]

Of the 50 grossing movies of the year, 43 nominations went to 14 films on the list. Only Parenthood (8th), Dead Poets Society (9th), When Harry Met Sally... (10th), Field of Dreams (17th), Born on the Fourth of July (25th), Driving Miss Daisy (36th) and Sex, Lies, and Videotape (45th) were nominated for Best Picture, acting, directing, or screenwriting. The other top 50 box office hits that earned nomination were Batman (1st), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (2nd), Lethal Weapon 2 (3rd), Back to the Future II (6th), The Little Mermaid (12th), The Abyss (22nd), and Black Rain (27th).[32]

The show received a mixed reception from media publications. Some media outlets were more critical of the show. Film critic Janet Maslin of The New York Times gave an average review of Crystal but lamented, "The effort to make this year's Academy Awards show an international media miracle led to nothing but headaches."[25] The Washington Post television critic Tom Shales bemoaned, "while Crystal's opening monologue seemed to hit the right notes, he hit fewer and fewer as the evening wore on; his interjected quips between awards were mostly uninspired." He also criticized the dance numbers and numerous "Around the World" cutaways calling it pointless.[33] Howard Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times quipped that the broadcast was "a conventional telecast that was arguably an extension of an industry calcified by convention." He gave positive remarks toward Crystal but felt that "The Oscarcast was an old kid on the block."[34]

Other media outlets received the broadcast more positively. USA Today television critic Matt Roush lauded "To the glib and savvy Billy Crystal, who kept things as lively and funny as he could all night long. What a chore, too." He concluded that, "Hollywood no doubt went to bed happy (maybe early), because for a change Oscar didn't embarrass himself."[35] Mike Drew of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel remarked, "While too "inside" and not as funny as Hollywood thinks he is, Crystal was an efficient host."[36] Film critic Carrie Rickey of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, "It was encouraging that director Gilbert Cates took the opportunity to emphasize films instead of chorus girls." She also extolled Crystal's performance acknowledging that his "nimble opening number set a Johnny Carson comic tone."[37]

The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 40.24 million people over its length, which was a 5% decrease from the previous year's ceremony.[38] An estimated 69.31 million total viewers watched all or part of the awards.[39] The show also drew lower Nielsen ratings compared to the previous ceremony with 27.82% of households watching over a 49.42 share.[40]

In July 1990, the ceremony presentation received five nominations at the 42nd Primetime Emmys.[41] Two months later, the ceremony won one of those nominations for Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety or Music or Programming (Roy Christopher and Greg Richman).[42]