The 1985 Academy Awards were presented March 24, 1986 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles.
| Best Picture | The Color Purple, Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Quincy Jones, producers (Warner Bros.) |
| Kiss of the Spider Woman, David Weisman, producer (Island Alive) |
| Out of Africa, Sydney Pollack, producer (Universal) |
| Prizzi's Honor, John Foreman, producer (Twentieth Century-Fox) |
| Witness, Edward S. Feldman, producer (Paramount) |
| Actor in a Leading Role | Harrison Ford, Witness |
| James Garner, Murphy's Romance |
| William Hurt, Kiss of the Spider Woman |
| Jack Nicholson, Prizzi's Honor |
| Jon Voight, Runaway Train |
| Actress in a Leading Role | Anne Bancroft, Agnes of God |
| Whoopi Goldberg, The Color Purple |
| Jessica Lange, Sweet Dreams |
| Geraldine Page, The Trip to Bountiful |
| Meryl Streep, Out of Africa |
| Actor in a Supporting Role | Don Ameche, Cocoon |
| Klaus Maria Brandauer, Out of Africa |
| William Hickey, Prizzi's Honor |
| Robert Loggia, Jagged Edge |
| Eric Roberts, Runaway Train |
| Actress in a Supporting Role | Margaret Avery, The Color Purple |
| Anjelica Huston, Prizzi's Honor |
| Amy Madigan, Twice in a Lifetime |
| Meg Tilly, Agnes of God |
| Oprah Winfrey, The Color Purple |
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 Anjelica Huston, Prizzi's Honor Archive Photos |
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| Directing | Hector Babenco, Kiss of the Spider Woman |
| John Huston, Prizzi's Honor |
| Akira Kurosawa, Ran |
| Sydney Pollack, Out of Africa |
| Peter Weir, Witness |
| Writing | | Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen | Woody Allen, The Purple Rose of Cairo | | Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard and Charles McKeown, Brazil | | Luis Puenzo and Aida Bortnik, The Official Story | | Earl W. Wallace and William Kelley, screenplay; William Kelley, Pamela Wallace and Earl W. Wallace, story, Witness | | Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, Back to the Future | | Screenplay Based on Material From Another Medium | Richard Condon and Janet Roach, Prizzi's Honor | | Horton Foote, The Trip to Bountiful | | Kurt Luedtke, Out of Africa | | Menno Meyjes, The Color Purple | | Leonard Schrader, Kiss of the Spider Woman |
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| Cinematography | Allen Daviau, The Color Purple |
| William A. Fraker, Murphy's Romance |
| Takao Saito, Masaharu Ueda and Asakazu Nakai, Ran |
| John Seale, Witness |
| David Watkin, Out of Africa |
| Art Direction | Norman Garwood, art direction; Maggie Gray, set decoration, Brazil |
| Stephen Grimes, art direction; Josie MacAvin, set decoration, Out of Africa |
| Stan Jolley, art direction; John Anderson, set decoration, Witness |
| Yoshiro Muraki and Shinobu Muraki, art direction, Ran |
| J. Michael Riva and Robert W. Welch, art direction; Linda DeScenna, set decoration, The Color Purple |
| Sound | Les Fresholtz, Dick Alexander, Vern Poore and Bud Alper, Ladyhawke |
| Chris Jenkins, Gary Alexander, Larry Stensvold and Peter Handford, Out of Africa |
| Donald O. Mitchell, Rick Kline, Kevin O'Connell and David Ronne, Silverado |
| Donald O. Mitchell, Michael Minkler, Gerry Humphreys and Chris Newman, A Chorus Line |
| Bill Varney, B. Tennyson Sebastian II, Robert Thirlwell and William B. Kaplan, Back to the Future |
| Music | | Song | “Miss Celie's Blues” (Sister), The Color Purple, Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton, music; Quincy Jones, Rod Temperton and Lionel Richie, lyrics | | “The Power of Love,” Back to the Future, Chris Hayes and Johnny Colla, music; Huey Lewis, lyrics | | “Say You, Say Me,” White Nights, Lionel Richie, music and lyrics | | “Love Theme From White Nights” (Separate Lives), White Nights, Stephen Bishop, music and lyrics | | “Surprise, Surprise,” A Chorus Line, Marvin Hamlisch, music; edward Kleban, lyrics | | Original Score | John Barry, Out of Africa | | Bruce Broughton, Silverado | | Georges Delerue, Agnes of God | | Quincy Jones, Jeremy Lubbock, Rod Temperton, Caiphus Semenya, Andrae Crouch, Chris Boardman, Jorge Calandrelli, Joel Rosenbaum, Fred Steiner, Jack Hayes, Jerry Hey and Randy Kerber, The Color Purple | | Maurice Jarre, Witness |
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| Film Editing | John Bloom, A Chorus Line |
| Rudi Fehr and Kaja Fehr, Prizzi's Honor |
| Thom Noble, Witness |
| Henry Richardson, Runaway Train |
| Fredric Steinkamp, William Steinkamp, Pembroke Herring and Sheldon Kahn, Out of Africa |
| Costume Design | Milena Canonero, Out of Africa |
| Donfeld, Prizzi's Honor |
| Aggie Guerard Rodgers, The Color Purple |
| Emi Wada, Ran |
| Albert Wolksy, The Journey of Natty Gann |
| Makeup | Ken Chase, The Color Purple |
| Carl Fullerton, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins |
| Michael Westmore and Zoltan Elek, Mask |
| Visual Effects | Dennis Muren, Kit West, John Ellis and David Allen, Young Sherlock Holmes |
| Ken Ralston, Ralph McQuarrie, Scott Farrar and David Berry, Cocoon |
| Will Vinton, lan Wingrove, Zoran Perisic and Michael Lloyd, Return to Oz |
| Sound Effects Editing | Frederick J. Brown, Rambo: First Blood Part II |
| Charles L. Campbell and Robert Rutledge, Back to the Future |
| Bob Henderson and Alan Murray, Ladyhawke |
| Short Films | | Animated | Anna & Bella (Cilia Van Dijk, producer, Netherlands) | | The Big Snit (Richard Condie and Michael Scott, producers; National Film Board of Canada) | | Second Class Mail (Alison Snowden, producer; National Film and Television School) | | Live Action | Graffiti (Dianna Costello, producer; American Film Institute) | | Molly's Pilgrim (Jeff Brown and Chris Pelzer, producers; Phoenix Films) | | Rainbow War (Bob Rogers, producer; Bob Rogers and Co.) |
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| Documentary | | Short Subject | The Courage to Care (Robert Gardner, producer; United Way) | | Keats and His Nightingale: A Blind Date (Michael Crowley and James Wolpaw, producers; Rhode Island Committee for the Humanities) | | Making Overtures—The Story of a Community Orchestra (Barbara Willis Sweete, producer; Rhombus Media, Inc.) | | Witness to War: Dr. Charlie Clements (David Goodman, producer; Skylight Picture Production) | | The Wizard of the Strings (Alan Edelstein, producer; Seventh Hour Production) | | Feature | Broken Rainbow (Maria Florio and Victoria Mudd, producers; Earthworks Films Production) | | Las Madres—The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo (Susana Muñoz and Lourdes Portillo, producers; Film Arts Foundation) | | Soldiers in Hiding (Japhet Asher, producer; Filmworks, Inc. Production) | | The Statue of Liberty (Ken Burns and Buddy Squires, producers; Florentine Films Production) | | Unfinished Business (Steven Okazaki, producer; Mouchette Films Production) |
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| Foreign Language Film | Angry Harvest, Federal Republic of Germany—West |
| Colonel Redl, Hungary |
| The Official Story, Argentina |
| Three Men and a Cradle, France |
| When Father Was Away on Business, Yugoslavia |
| Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award | Charles “Buddy” Rogers |
| Honorary Awards | To Paul Newman in recognition of his many memorable and compelling screen performances and for his personal integrity and dedication to his craft |
| To Alex North in recognition of his brilliant artistry in the creation of memorable music for a host of distinguished motion pictures |
| To John H. Whitney, Sr. for cinematic pioneering |
