10 Best Denzel Washington Movies of All Time

Glory is one of the oldest movies in this list but it is an important one. This movie bagged Washington his first ever Oscar for his performance in a supporting role as Private Trip. It was directed by Edward Zwick in 1989 in which Denzel Washington starred alongside Matthew Broderick. The film tells the true-life story of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War — the Union’s second African-American regiment in that war. The story goes like this – Broderick is a Union Captain who accepts a promotion to colonel to lead the Regiment. Washington stars as a recruit by the name of Silas Trip, a free African-American. Despite learning that the Confederacy declared that all African-American soldiers are to be executed, the Regiment fights on. As the troubled Private Trip, Washington delivers a rage-filled performance that by the end becomes heartbreakingly inspiring.

Directed by Ridley Scott in the year 2007, American Gangster is a biographical crime drama  Here, Washington portrays a true-life crime lord Frank Lucas, a gangster who smuggles drugs into the United States. It also stars Russel Crowe as a police detective who sets out to bring Lucas down. The film shows Lucas as a smart businessman and family man who tries to stay out of the spotlight but unfortunately, makes one mistake when he attracts the attention of Detective Richie Roberts. But as the movie ends the audience gets to know that when corruption in the police department rises to the top, it turns out that the drug dealer might not be the worst criminal of the bunch.

It should come as no surprise that the highest-rated movie of Denzel Washington’s career would be one based in the world of inspirational sports stories. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Boaz Yakin, Remember the Titans is a high school football movie based in Virginia. As with many of Washington’s best performances, this too is based on a true-life story. Washington portrays a successful high school football coach named Herman Boone, who sets out to integrate his football team as an act of protest against the true to life racism that was prevalent in his part of the country during the ’70s .

In 1992, Denzel Washington teamed up with Spike Lee to tell the story of Malcolm X in this biopic. This was the second Spike Lee movie that Denzel Washington appeared in following Mo’ Better Blues. Based on Alex Haley’s 1965 Malcolm X biography, the film follows the life of Malcolm X, focusing on several key events that led to his eventual death. Washington picked up an Oscar nomination for his role in the film. In 2010, the Library of Congress added the movie to its National Film Registry. Black Panthers co-founder Bobby Seale, Rev. Al Sharpton, and Nelson Mandela all made cameo appearances.

Directed by Carl Franklin, Devil in a Blue Dress is an American neo-noir mystery thriller film. It is one of Denzel’s most popular 90s films. Washington turns up the heat as a L.A. private eye in this steamy mystery. This period piece, based on the novel of the same name, follows WWII veteran Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins (Washington) as he searches for a “mysterious woman.” Part of this film’s charm is the nostalgia of 1940s Los Angeles, combined with the desire to know not whodunnit, but as one film critic said, “whydunnit?” Flight co-star Don Cheadle is also a part of this one as “Mouse,” stealing the show every time he’s on-screen.

In a slightly surprising addition to this list, Denzel Washington enjoyed a string of films that have him starring as an older action hero, usually setting out to protect people in need. Directed by Tony Scott, Man on Fire stars Washington as a former U.S. Marine Corps officer John Creasy, who is down on his luck. However, when a wealthy businessman hires him as a bodyguard to his nine-year-old daughter (Dakota Fanning), he starts to bond with the girl and finds a new purpose in life. When the girl is kidnapped, Creasy makes it his life’s mission to find the people responsible and make them pay.

Released in 1993 by director Jonathan Demme, Philadelphia has the honor of being one of the first mainstream Hollywood movies to deal with homosexuality, homophobia, and the AIDS virus. It ended up as a massive critical success, winning Tom Hanks the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance and Washington shouldering equal responsibility to bring gravitas to their story. Hanks starred as a gay attorney who contracted the AIDS virus. His firm fires him after learning of his condition, and people start to treat him differently. An initially homophobic attorney named Joe Miller (Denzel Washington) takes his case because he sees similarities in the discriminatory actions. Together they lead the battle not only inside the courtroom but on the movie-front too. Their chemistry and friendship seems authentic and makes you root for their characters that much harder.

Washington’s first love is theater, a fact that clearly shines through in his painstakingly crafted adaptation of this August Wilson play. Fences is his most finely wrought directorial effort. The film was chosen by the American Film Institute as one of the top ten films of 2016, and was nominated for numerous awards. It is worth a watch for Washington’s cool demeanor opposite Derek Luke’s hotheaded breakout performance. In fact, it is one of Washington’s finest recent acting performances. Washington stars as Troy, a minatory garbage collector whose failed dreams turn him into an abusive father and philandering husband to his wife Rose (Viola Davis, who won an Oscar for her performance). He is so worn down by life that he lashes out at everyone in his own, with Washington imbuing the character with a haunting fury.

In 1999, Denzel Washington took on the role of real-life boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter. The film tells the story of a former middleweight boxer who was wrongly convicted of a triple murder in New Jersey. To prepare for this role, Washington underwent long, intensive boxing training. The movie shows Carter’s arrest and his time in prison. It also deals with the teenager who helped get Carter released after reading his biography, The Sixteenth Round: From Number 1 Contender to 45472. Washington picked up an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globes win for his performance.

This movie tops the list of best Denzel Washington movies of all time as this movie made him win an Oscar. In almost every movie that Denzel Washington appeared in, he was the good guy or at least the protagonist. However, the one time that he went completely against type, he nailed it. In the movie Training Day, Washington is a veteran LAPD narcotics officer who takes in a younger officer played by Ethan Hawke. Alonzo Harris is a crooked cop, taking payoffs, but sure that his way is the best when it comes to dealing with the crime on the streets. Washington is scary and dominates every scene that he appears in, earning his Oscar win for this Antoine Fuqua film.

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