The most popular movie rental for Netflix subscribers from every year since 1998

Netflix has increasingly focused itself on streaming and original content, but it used to be known for DVD rentals — and users can still rent physical movies from the service if they prefer.

But which movies do Netflix users love the most?

Netflix revealed its most popular movies among DVD subscribers that were released in each of the last 20 years. They range from cult classics to Oscar winners to blockbusters, with some unexpected movies in between.

The list is sorted by the film's release date rather than the number of rentals in a year. The winner for a particular year is the most-rented title (of all time) among movies came out in that year.

For instance, "The Hurt Locker" is listed as the most popular movie from 2008, even though it wasn't available on DVD until 2009. But because it premiered in 2008 at the Venice Film Festival, it is the most popular movie among Netflix DVD subscribers for titles marked as released in 2008."

Four Oscar best-picture winners topped their respective years, including "The Hurt Locker," with other Oscar darlings making it on the list, as well.

Movies with big box office showings like "Wonder Woman" and "The Hunger Games" were also popular among DVD renters, as were cult classics like "The Big Lebowski" and Christopher Nolan's "Memento."

With that in mind, movies like "The Bucket List" and "The Lincoln Lawyer" are surprise entries, but audiences must have been interested in a change of pace.

Below are the DVDs most rented from Netflix in the last 20 years:

1998: "The Big Lebowski"

1999: "Office Space"

2000: "Gladiator"

2001: "Memento"

2002: "The Bourne Identity"

2003: "Mystic River"

2004: "The Notebook"

2005: "Crash"

2006: "The Departed"

2007: "The Bucket List"

2008: "The Hurt Locker"