The 1988 Academy Awards were presented April 29, 1989 at the Shrine Civic Auditorium, Los Angeles.
| Best Picture | The Accidental Tourist, Lawrence Kasdan, Charles Okun and Michael Grillo, producers (Warner Bros.) |
| Dangerous Liaisons, Norma Heyman and Hank Moonjean, producers (Warner Bros.) |
| Mississippi Burning, Frederick Zollo and Robert F. Colesberry, producers (Orion) |
| Rain Man, Mark Johnson, producer (United Artists) |
| Working Girl, Douglas Wick, producer (Twentieth Century-Fox) |
| Actor in a Leading Role | Gene Hackman, Mississippi Burning |
| Tom Hanks, Big |
| Dustin Hoffman, Rain Man |
| Edward James Olmos, Stand and Deliver |
| Max von Sydow, Pelle the Conqueror |
| Actress in a Leading Role | Glenn Close, Dangerous Liaisons |
| Jodie Foster, The Accused |
| Melanie Griffith, Working Girl |
| Meryl Streep, A Cry in the Dark |
| Sigourney Weaver, Gorillas in the Mist |
| Actor in a Supporting Role | Alec Guinness, Little Dorrit |
| Kevin Kline, A Fish Called Wanda |
| Martin Landau, Tucker: The Man and His Dream |
| River Phoenix, Running on Empty |
| Dean Stockwell, Married to the Mob |
| Actress in a Supporting Role | Joan Cusack, Working Girl |
| Geena Davis, The Accidental Tourist |
| Frances McDormand, Mississippi Burning |
| Michelle Pfeiffer, Dangerous Liaisons |
| Sigourney Weaver, Working Girl |
| Directing | Charles Crichton, A Fish Called Wanda |
| Barry Levinson, Rain Man |
| Mike Nichols, Working Girl |
| Alan Parker, Mississippi Burning |
| Martin Scorsese, The Last Temptation of Christ |
| Writing | | Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen | Ronald Bass and Barry Morrow, screenplay; Barry Morrow, story, Rain Man | | John Cleese, screenplay; John Cleese and Charles Crichton, story, A Fish Called Wanda | | Naomi Foner, Running on Empty | | Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg, Big | | Ron Shelton, Bull Durham | | Screenplay Based on Material From Another Medium | Jean-Claude Carrière and Philip Kaufman, The Unbearable Lightness of Being | | Christine Edzard, Little Dorrit | | Frank Galati and Lawrence Kasdan, The Accidental Tourist | | Christopher Hampton, Dangerous Liaisons | | Anna Hamilton Phelan, screenplay; Anna Hamilton Phelan and Tab Murphy, story, Gorillas in the Mist |
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| Cinematography | Peter Biziou, Mississippi Burning |
| Dean Cundey, Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
| Conrad L. Hall, Tequila Sunrise |
| Sven Nykvist, The Unbearable Lightness of Being |
| John Seale, Rain Man |
| Art Direction | Albert Brenner, art direction; Garrett Lewis, set decoration, Beaches |
| Stuart Craig, art direction; Gerard James, set decoration, Dangerous Liaisons |
| Ida Random, art direction; Linda DeScenna, set decoration, Rain Man |
| Elliot Scott, art direction; Peter Howitt, set decoration, Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
| Dean Tavoularis, art direction; Armin Ganz, set decoration, Tucker: The Man and His Dream |
| Sound | Don Bassman, Kevin F. Cleary, Richard Overton and Al Overton, Die Hard |
| Les Fresholtz, Dick Alexander, Vern Poore and Willie D. Burton, Bird |
| Robert Knudson, John Boyd, Don Digirolamo and Tony Dawe, Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
| Robert Litt, Elliot Tyson, Rick Kline and Danny Michael, Mississippi Burning |
| Andy Nelson, Brian Saunders and Peter Handford, Gorillas in the Mist |
| Music | | Song | “Calling You,” Bagdad Cafe, Bob Telson, music and lyrics | | “Let the River Run,” Working Girl, Carly Simon, music and lyrics | | “Two Hearts,” Buster, Lamont Dozier, music; Phil Collins, lyrics | | Original Score | George Fenton, Dangerous Liaisons | | Dave Grusin, The Milagro Beanfield War | | Maurice Jarre, Gorillas in the Mist | | John Williams, The Accidental Tourist | | Hans Zimmer, Rain Man |
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| Film Editing | Stuart Baird, Gorillas in the Mist |
| Gerry Hambling, Mississippi Burning |
| Stu Linder, Rain Man |
| Arthur Schmidt, Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
| Frank J. Urioste and John F. Link, Die Hard |
| Costume Design | James Acheson, Dangerous Liaisons |
| Milena Canonero, Tucker: The Man and His Dream |
| Deborah Nadoolman, Coming to America |
| Patricia Norris, Sunset |
| Jane Robinson, A Handful of Dust |
| Makeup | Rick Baker, Coming to America |
| Tom Burman and Bari Dreiband-Burman, Scrooged |
| Ve Neill, Steve La Porte and Robert Short, Beetlejuice |
| Visual Effects | Richard Edlund, Al DiSarro, Brent Boates and Thaine Morris, Die Hard |
| Dennis Muren, Michael McAlister, Phil Tippett and Chris Evans, Willow |
| Ken Ralston, Richard Williams, Edward Jones and George Gibbs, Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
| Sound Effects Editing | Ben Burtt and Richard Hymns, Willow |
| Charles L. Campbell and Louis L. Edemann, Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
| Stephen H. Flick and Richard Shorr, Die Hard |
| Short Films | | Animation | The Cat Came Back (Cordell Barker, producer; National Film Board of Canada) | | Technological Threat (Bill Kroyer and Brian Jennings, producers; Kroyer Films, Inc.) | | Tin Toy (John Lasseter and William Reeves, producers; Pixar) | | Live Action | The Appointments of Dennis Jennings (Dean Parisot and Steven Wright, producer; Schooner Productions, Inc.) | | Cadillac Dreams (Matia Karrell and Abbee Goldstein, producers; Cadillac Dreams Production) | | Gullah Tales (George deGolian and Gary Moss, producers; Georgia State University) |
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| Documentary | | Short Subject | The Children's Storefront (Karen Goodman, producer; Simon and Goodman Picture Company Production) | | Family Gathering (Lise Yasui and Ann Tegnell, producers; Lise Yasui Production) | | Gang Cops (Thomas B. Fleming and Daniel J. Marks, producers; University of Southern California Center for Visual Anthropology and the School of Cinema/Television) | | Portrait of Imogen (Nancy Hale and Meg Partridge, producers; Pacific Pictures Production) | | You Don't Have to Die (William Guttentag and Malcolm Clarke, producers; Tiger Rose Production in association with Filmworks, Inc.) | | Feature | The Cry of Reason—Beyers Naude: An Afrikaner Speaks Out (Robert Bilheimer and Ronald Mix, producers; Worldwide Documentaries, Inc.) | | Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (Marcel Ophuls, producer; The Memory Pictures Company) | | Let's Get Lost (Bruce Weber and Nan Bush, producers; Little Bear Films, Inc.) | | Promises to Keep (Ginny Durrin, producer; Durrin Productions, Inc.) | | Who Killed Vincent Chin? (Renee Tajima and Christine Choy, producers; Film News Now Foundation and Detroit Educational Television Foundation Production) |
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| Foreign Language Film | Hanussen, Hungary |
| The Music Teacher, Belgium |
| Pelle the Conqueror, Denmark |
| Salaam Bombay!, India |
| Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Spain |
| Special Achievement Awards | | Animation Direction | Richard Williams, Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
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| Honorary Awards | To the National Film Board of Canada in recognition of its 50th anniversary and its dedicated commitment to originate artistic, creative and technological activity and excellence in every area of filmmaking |
| To Eastman Kodak Company in recognition of the company's fundamental contributions to the art of motion pictures during the first century of film history |
