The 25 Best Denzel Washington Movies, Ranked

From blockbusters to Oscar-winning classics, we’re looking back at the legendary actor’s most iconic roles.

Is Denzel Washington thegreatestactor of all sentence ? With a handful of heroes , antiheroes , and realer than real roles to his name , he ’s sure enough one of the most versatile . manager likeSpike Lee , Jonathan Demme , Ridleyand Tony Scott , the Hughes brother , and Antoine Fuqua all rely on him . Washington is even sharp enough to directhimselfin acclaimed motion picture .

The legendary filmdom player and noted thespian has earned the iconicCecil B. DeMille Awardand has nine Best Actor Oscar nominations to his name , let in two win . Now that he ’s beenrecognized by the Academy yet againfor his work in 2021’sThe Tragedy of Macbeth , we ’re bet back at some of his best film performances . ( Sorry , St. Elsewherefans — TV work is not on this tilt . ) Here are Denzel Washington ’s 25 right part , from blockbuster fishgig to the consecutive - up classics .

25.The Manchurian Candidate(2004)

Director Jonathan Demme ( quiet of the Lambs ) on the face of it sought to make a bleaker version of John Frankenheimer ’s Cold War thriller . Washington assumes the Frank Sinatra role , a soldier out to prove that a decorated vice - presidential candidate he fought with in the Gulf War ( Liev Schreiber ) is part of a conspiracy engineered by a brawny corporation . It ’s because of Washington that his character feels get up to be far more than a pawn than he was in the original . — Craig D. Lindsey

24.Déjà Vu(2006)

Of all the movies Washington made with the later Tony Scott , Déjà Vumight be the most systematically underrated . As ATF agent Douglas Carlin , Washington is always fighting the clock as he attempts to puzzle out the murder of an unsung womanhood ( Paula Patton ) killed in a bombing . Less loud than the trigger-happy vigilante taleMan on Fireand more tangled than the locked - in train thrillerUnstoppable , this New Orleans - ready time - travel mystery use Washington ’s persistent focusing and smoldering sense of longing to mash a narration of quixotic obsession told in wild , challenging legal action picture beats . The movie might spin out of dominance without Washington ’s ability to deal both the mysterious techno - babble and the kinship at the movie ’s center . — Dan Jackson

23.He Got Game(1998)

honk against character as Jake Shuttlesworth , a convicted murderer released from prison to enroll his gamey schoool basketball star son ( Ray Allen ) to play for the preferred college of the evil governor , Washington finds nuanced bank bill to meet in one of the knavish theatrical role ever dreamed up by his frequent collaboratorSpike Lee . On and off the tourist court , he ’s believable as a man haunted by his past , and as a father reckon to attach with his son . As write by Lee , the grapheme can be tender and cruel , wise and film editing . Clearly enjoy the complexity of the material , Washington rarely come to a false note pilot the plot ’s parable - like twist and turns . — disk jockey

22.Flight(2012)

Flighthasn’t maintained a major cultural footprint since it opened in 2012 , but Washington gives a dish performance as an alcoholic pilot program who often drinks on the problem but manages to crash - land a woodworking plane despite his drunk nation . After being hailed for his fortitude , a toxicology report calls his courageousness into question and threatens to derail his skilled calling . Robert Zemeckis ' film is a complex character study about a man who is neither hero nor scoundrel — a Libra few actors can strike as rousingly as Washington , who received his sixth Oscar nod for the role . — Matthew Jacobs

21.Power(1986)

Although he ’s only in a few scenes in this Sidney Lumet - take aim all - wizard irony , the untested Washington makes quite an impression . With the menacing poise he would give us 20 age later inAmerican Gangster , he ’s a suave , dark lobbyist out to make certain Richard Gere ’s political advisor take his aim Senate campaigner ( the late J.T. Walsh ) all the way of life to the refinement line . — CL

20.Unstoppable(2010)

Maybe there ’s no more arrant idea for a movie than : two bozo spend 90 minutes render to stop a runaway wagon train before it sets off a bunch of explosive chemical . Even good when those two guys are played by two of the most effortless actors working today , Chris Pine and Denzel Washington , whose agonistic camaraderie provides the track that Tony Scott ’s last picture show careens around on . Frank Barnes ( Washington ) , an quondam handwriting railroad engineer with decennium of experience behind him and facing early retirement , is in the midst of record the ropes to youngblood music director Will Colson ( Pine ) when the two concoct a last - min plan to chase after a cannonball along locomotive against the wish of their unequal to superiors . It ’s a consummate white - knuckle thriller , anchored by the dynamic relationship between its two leads , perhaps the only two men in Hollywood we ’d bank to fascinate a runaway train . — Emma Stefansky

19.Mo' Better Blues(1990)

In his first collaboration with director Spike Lee , Washington play jazz trumpeter Bleek Gilliam , a uprise musician who finds himself caught up in a series of romantic and professional entanglements . Given how often Washington now finds himself lead around in action hero mode , either seeking vengeance or hold launch the world , it ’s energize to look out him play a member of a Fort Greene creative class , working through a series of personal crisis . Along withThe Preacher ’s Wife , it ’s a great example of Washington ’s often underused skill as a romantic pencil lead . task with bet a character on a rocky path to maturity , he plays befuddlement , confusion , and trepidation just as well as he play dogged decision . — DJ

18.Courage Under Fire(1996)

The superimposed warfare plot of theRashomon - inspiredCourage Under Firecould well take a couple hundred words to classify out , but , much like the bottle up harm that Denzel Washington ’s Lieutenant Colonel Nat Serling carries throughout the plastic film , that would be obfuscate the point of Washington ’s simmer , powerful carrying into action . Washington plays a Gulf War Army Lieutenant who is tormented by his own atrocious deed of conveyance while digging up the truth about a Captain ’s ( Meg Ryan ) suspicious death in fight . With hindsight , the celluloid itself run a chip too far into third - wafture “ support cleaning woman fighting specialists ♥ ” feminism while graphically depicting the terror of war , but Washington ’s guiltiness - ridden Serling , who must bury his PTSD and pity lest they swallow him whole , is its rudder , steering the action through stormy waters until the reprieve on the other side . — Leanne Butkovic

17.A Soldier’s Story(1984)

For this rather unglamourous Oscar - name adaptation of the Off Broadway showA Soldier ’s Play , Washington returned to the role he assumed in the play , a cocksure private who ’s one of the many soldier and suspects in the murder of a ego - loathing Black sergeant ( the late Adolph Caesar ) . Howard E. Rollins , Jr. may direct the cast as the captain who gets called in to investigate and finds himself unpacking the complexities of racism and self - hate , but Washington shines in the defend character . — centilitre

16.Mississippi Masala(1991)

Denzel Washington has always been a sex symbol , but he ’s rarely been in movies that can cast him as a quixotic lead . Mississippi Masalais the exclusion to this rule . Mira Nair ’s film is more vast than its simplest logline about a carpeting dry cleaner named Demetrius ( Washington ) in Greenwood , Mississippi , who fall for an Amerindic daughter , Meena ( Sarita Choudhury ) , after she by chance hits his truck . It ’s also about the fallout from Idi Amin ’s projection of Asians from Uganda and the diaspora that resulted , as well as colorism and the tensions that can seethe over between minorities in a place where racism is prevalent . But at the nerve centre of that is Demetrius and Meena ’s nascent love , tenuous at first , since he first employ with her to make his ex jealous , but arise into a full - muff romance . Washington ’s charm is tangible opposite Choudhury in her first screen role , but he fleshes out Demetrius , as well , as a valet de chambre questioning his own stagnancy for the saki of steadiness . — Esther Zuckerman

15.Remember the Titans(2000)

One of Washington ’s greatest natural endowment as a movie adept is his power to immediately ship a jolt of electrical energy through conversant , over - bring textile . On the airfoil , retrieve the Titansis a middling predictable underdog sports narrative , a ' 70s set level of desegregation at a Virginia high schooling about a Black coach inspiring his thespian to victory . Despite the Disney - ready luster and some manipulative bit of hokum , Washington brings all of his personal magnetism and intensity to bear on the function of Herman Boone , raise the other performers and the movie around him . He ’s the most memorable part of a movie that might otherwise be mostly forgotten without his presence . — DJ

14.Much Ado About Nothing(1993)

Denzel is known for his intensity , but Kenneth Branagh spotted the charm behind the actor ’s heavy countenance when he disgorge him inMuch Ado About Nothing , arguably the most exuberant Shakespeare adaptation ever committed to film . As Don Pedro , a Lord who stands in contrast to his despiteful half - brother , Washington denote his respectability with the mere jiffy of a smile . His smooth elocution blends nicely with the pic ’s sprightly atmosphere , and in retrospect , one might wonder why Washington was n’t let in in the rom - com era that helped to define the ' 90 . — MJ

13.The Pelican Brief(1993)

You could say Denzel ’s rise to hump to being , not just one of Hollywood ’s majuscule actors , but greatest movie stars , officially started when he starred alongside Julia Roberts in this adaptation of the John Grisham thriller . As the knight - in - skin - armor newsman ( who was originally written as a white-hot character reference in the source material ) who comes to the aid of Roberts ’s law student on the streamlet , Washington officially became a mainstream movie Heron . Having run into theaters just before the release ofPhiladelphia , it was inevitable he was on the way to superstardom with this one . — CL

12.American Gangster(2007)

When he worked with Tony ’s brotherRidley Scott , Denzel encapsulated being both bad and badass in his performance as veridical - life drug kingpin Frank Lucas . With an equally challenging cop ( Russell Crowe , his erstwhile challenger fromVirtuosity ) on his tush , Denzel was really memorable as a chilling - yet - advanced self - made entrepreneur , making a lot of money and a hatful of enemy as the No . 1 drug supplier during the ' 70s . — CL

11.Cry Freedom(1987)

For the first 60 minutes of this movie , Denzel is the ace of the show — and what a resplendent hour it is . As off African activist Steven Biko , Washington commands the screen with such sophistication and charisma , it ’s almost unnerving he did n’t win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar he was nominate for . This is probably because , unfortunately , Biko is killed midway through , and the motion picture turn over into a caper flick where his whitened journalist friend ( Kevin Kline ) tries to sneak out of Africa to tell Biko ’s report . Still , that time of day , though . — centilitre

10.The Tragedy of Macbeth(2021)

Joel Coen ’s pared - downMacbethadaptation use up the Scots play ’s dark , flex aura to extremes with perfect minimalist sets and shadowy bleak - and - blanched photography , but it ’s Denzel Washington ’s turn as the bally thane that grounds the film in one noble man ’s descent into rank madness . Playing up his characteristic powerful height and overlook voice , Washington is a terrific foe for those inauspicious enough to resist in his path , and a redoubtable adequate to co - star Frances McDormand ’s prickly twist on Lady Macbeth . While the endgame , as always , is a crimson , descent - spattered mess , the film , through Washington ’s layered performance , never loses sight of the cataclysm in its fib of one gravid man driven to the edge of saneness by unsighted aspiration . Toil and trouble , indeed . — ES

9.Fences(2016)

Before his death in 2006 , playwright August Wilson was intransigent that a mordant director helm the photographic film adaptation of the ' 50 Pittsburgh - hardening dramaFences , and Washington , serving as music director , manufacturer , and star , climb to the occasion , nab a Best Picture and Best Actor nom as former baseball player Troy Maxson . recapitulate his role , along with Viola Davis in an Oscar - winning Supporting Actress become , from the 2010 Tony - winning microscope stage resurgence , Washington ’s workings - class patriarch is a dwell - in public presentation of a complex man in a battle against his own past , pride , and present socioeconomic fate , hue with deep awe to Wilson ’s text . There is n’t a weak connectedness in this cast of characters , including Jovan Adepo in a fraught family relationship as his Word Cory and Stephen Henderson as his best bud , but Washington , as he often does , towers . — LB

8.Crimson Tide(1995)

There are few things better than a good old - fashioned submarine moving-picture show , andCrimson Tideis hands - down one of the best ever made , chronicling a fictional nuclear standoff inspired by the Cuban Missile Crisis . When a chemical group of Russian ultranationalists take command of a nuclear projectile instalment , the USSAlabamais sent to police the seas and launch a preemptive strike if the Russian extremist fortify their bombs . Onboard theAlabamaare its control officer , the battle - harden Captain Frank Ramsey ( Gene Hackman ) , and his choose XO , the young and philosophic Lieutenant Commander Ron Hunter ( Denzel Washington ) , who share picayune in common when it comes to the art of state of war . Their opponent view — Ramsey ’s " We ’re here to preserve democracy , not practice it " vs. Hunter ’s " The true enemy is war itself"—come to a boil when it looks like atomic arms might have to be used after all . The moving-picture show ’s strength is in its claustrophobic ordered series : atomic warfare comes down to the battle of humour between two ferocious thespian matching each other gust for blow . — ES

7.Inside Man(2006)

Washington is at his sharpest ( and sharp - dressed ) as he teams up once again with Spike Lee for this wildly flirt with heist thriller . represent an NYPD surety negotiator who discovers a apparently sempiternal serial of twist when a gang of robbers ( led by Clive Owen ) holds a money box hostage for 24 - hours , we ’re meant to finger all of the precede man ’s anxiousness and air pressure with each and every twist . bring in a blandness to the moving picture that ’s as much of a blockbuster action movie as it is a tense thriller set in a post-9/11 NYC , there was never a man good for this problem than Denzel . — CL

6.Devil in a Blue Dress(1995)

In a staring world , there would have been dozens of movies made where Denzel played Walter Mosley ’s prized hawkshaw Easy Rawlins . Unfortunately , Devil in a Blue Dressis the only one . ( So far ! ) Still , the film from Carl Franklin is a good firearm of Black noir , which gives us a smashing carrying into action from Washington , as well as an impressive turn from Don Cheadle , who plays his deadly but loyal protagonist Mouse . — CL

5.The Hurricane(1999)

While this movie is ill-famed for its inaccuracies , one thing is for sealed : Denzel is incredible in it . ultimately have the chance to make a pugilism flick ( as many leading doer eventually get to do ) , he present actual - life boxer Rubin " Hurricane " Carter , who was wrongfully imprisoned for 20 years on a treble - homicide hip-hop and had to pass most of his aliveness clearing his name . And there goes the fourth Oscar nod for Washington . — CL

4.Glory(1989)

Though it ’s frame around the perspective of Matthew Broderick ’s Colonel Robert Gould Shaw , the commanding officer leading the first all - Black Tennessean regiment during the Civil War , the most enduring aspect ofGloryremains Washington ’s Oscar - winning turn as defiant enslaved - human beings - turned - soldier Trip . So much of the performance ’s power make out from Washington ’s ability to find a stillness amid the violence , rancor , and melodrama that director Edward Zwick stages around him . As an actor , Washington remains talented at locating small human moment against the backcloth of history or the chaos of spectacle . No matter what ’s give way on around him , whether it ’s appal or objectionable , you ’re drawn to him . — disk jockey

3.Philadelphia(1993)

DoesPhiladelphiahold up ? That ’s probably the question that first comes to mind when thinking about Jonathan Demme ’s drama about a lawyer with AIDS ( played by Tom Hanks ) who sue his business firm for wrongful end point , represented by a initially homophobic personal trauma attorney , portrayed by none other than Washington himself . The resolution is thatPhiladelphia , thanks to the great performances and Demme ’s dextrous direction , does n’t seem as dated as one might think . It remains a nuanced and emphatic portrait of favoritism . Hanks , of class , won the Oscar for his oeuvre , but Washington carry the motion picture equally , and it ’s dumfounding to determine two of the expectant screen actors of all time bouncing off each other . Washington toy his fiber Joe Miller with a dogged determination that is forced to pause as Hanks ' Andrew Beckett contemplates his own mortality . It ’s not just the lifting of his preconception , but the expanding of his empathy . — EZ

2.Training Day(2001)

Let ’s bury for a minute that Washington win his 2d Oscar play a bit of shit . His Detective Alonzo Harris is a chain - smoke , whip - riding , perfectly tainted LA copper who takes a naïve white - boy copper ( Ethan Hawke ) for an ever - consequential drive . Let ’s remember rather the devilish layers Washington lend to that role . For most of the movie , he had audience wondering if he ’d take Hawke on a crooked - but - at last righteous path or send him to Inferno along with him . Yeah , he was a bad guy , but he was one of the most fascinating bad guys anyone has ever determine . — chlorine

1.Malcolm X(1992)

Was there ever any uncertainty thatMalcolm Xwouldn’t be No . 1 ? This is the persona Denzel Washington is the most famed for , and for safe ground . Spike Lee ’s heroic biopic is not just a cinematic chronicle of the slain polite - rights leader , but an chance for Washington to explore every facet of a fictional character ’s personality . From zoot - beseem hustler , to immure searcher , to reborn militant , to enlightened militant , he gave us every part of Malcolm — as well as every part of himself . It ’s perhaps one of the neat Oscar snubs of all sentence that he did n’t gain Best Actor for the role . — centiliter

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