Top Denzel Washington Movies

5 min read

Good to you have you here. Wanna check out something amazing? Glad you said yes.

Today I’ll talk to you about Denzel Washington’s most memorable and successful performances. When it comes to biographical characters of African American icons, Denzel Proved himself the king of it.

I’m giving out my Top 10 favorites of Denzel Washington Today and I’m convinced you gonna love it…


Malcolm x (1992)

Denzel got nominated for Oscar based on this performance, though the Oscar went to Al Pacino but this is the movie Denzel is most remembered for.

Malcolm X covers the important life events of a controversial black rights activist Malcolm X. The plot revolves around the criminal background of Malcolm and his conversion to Islam, then his political contribution to the Nation of Islam, then the movie puts some light on his personal life with his wife Betty X, and ends up showing his assassination back in 1965.

This movie went through a lot of controversies but finally made it to the theatres. No doubt this was the turning point in the life of Denzel.


The Great Debaters (2007)

A movie directed and acted by Denzel himself which covers the important historical point in the African American’s journey. This movie will take you back to the era where black people were lynched, insulted and were not accepted in society.

Denzel plays Melvin B. Tolson, a debate coach who is preparing his team for a debate, on rights of black people in America, against the whites. This movie shows the life of Melvin, James Farmer (a young student who is member of the debate team) and Samantha Brooke who is the only female member of the team. This movie shows the journey to the team from local colleges to debating on Harvard University.

The Great Debaters got nominated for 8 awards and won 5 out of them including Stanley Kramer awards and Image award.


The Hurricane (1999)

Denzel takes us with him to the life of a middleweight boxer Rubin Carter who was known as “The Hurricane”. He was sure to become one of the best boxers in the world. But one day when he and John Artis were driving back home, they get interrogated by police officers because of the three murders that happened in a nearby bar. Although they were taken to the police station but were released soon.

But a man named Alfred Bello testifies that they both were present at the crime site. Based on Alfred’s testimonial, they both get sentenced to prison.

On the other hand, the movie covers the life of Lesra Martin who, after reading Carter’s autobiography gets interested in his life and convinces the family to put a request to reconsider Rubin’s case. With the help of his family and few activists, she convinces judges to reopen his case which later turns out to be a success releasing Rubin Carter from prison after 20 years for the crime he didn’t commit.


American Gangster (2007)

American Gangster is a story of an honest cop and a new drugs lord who takes the power in his hand after his mentor and employer passes away. He brings new ways to smuggle drugs to America and sell it in low prices to locals. How will the cop stop the drug lord from exploiting the youth?


Fences (2016)

Troy Maxon is an African-American Man who once dreamed to be a basketball player but was considered too old for it. He lives his life in suppressed emotions and with the weight of unfulfilled dreams. But his emotions outburst when his son gets a chance to be a football player and he refuses to even meet the coach to consider him for the team.


Antwone Fisher (2002)

Antwone Fisher is a frustrated nay man. He lives a disturbed life and one day he ends up fighting a brutal fight with a fellow crewman. He is ordered to see a psychiatrist for help. At first a refuses to open up with him but after a series of events he tells horrifying childhood stories leaving everyone is shock.


Inside Man (2006)

A gang of robbers enter a bank in Manhattan and takes people as hostages. They get trapped by police who has covered the bank from every side. Police send their negotiator inside to get things sorted out. But the bank’s chairman has something to protect, so he sends his own negotiator to protect himself. This leads to clash between the negotiation.


Training Day (2001)

Jake applies for Los Angeles police department officer after retiring from security guard job. But in order to get accepted for the job he must have to go through a full day training from Alonzo Harris who is badly reputed for his behavior with the suspects. Films goes through ethical dilemmas for Jake to whether learn Alonzo’s methods of just let em’ pass.


Man on fire (2004)

Creasy has given up on life. He is a drinker, has no motive in life after retiring from CIA. Though he takes a job to guard a nine years old girl Peta. As he does his job, he starts to get his shit together. But one day some experienced kidnappers take Peta with them and flies to some other place. Creasy goes outrageously mad as he gets to know about it. Now he will do anything to get Peta back.


Flight (2012)

Whip is a commercial pilot. While he was flying his airliner from Orlando to Atlanta, something goes wrong with the plane and he was left with no other option than emergency landing the plane. He saves almost every life on the board but when on the way to his recovery from minor injuring in hospital a shocking news comes to his way as his blood test revealed use of drugs like heroin and cocaine. We have to fight for it or he’ll face criminal charges.


The Equalizer (2014)

Robert McCall fakes his own death to get out of US marines to life a low profile and quite life. He starts to work in a local hardware store. But one day he meets a girl who is controlled by a violent Russian Gang and couldn’t help himself doing justice with her. So he takes responsibility to free her from the trap of the gangs which leads him to new trouble.


The Equalizer 2 (2018)

In the sequel to the original movie, Robert McCall continues to life his ordinary life which he had chosen over US marine lifestyle and continues to help the helpless. But when his Friend Susan Plummer gets murdered while investigating a case in Brussels, he gets left with no other choice then taking revenge from her killers. But how will he do it when a bunch of professional assassins are after his life?


The Book of Eli (2010)

A story of a post-apocalyptic world in which Eli, a drifter, has the solution for this fast spreading disease which is turning normal people into zombies. But he has to save this book from the everyone else including zombies. He lives on abandoned goods and hunting animal for food. A crime lord finds about the book and wants to take it from him. He goes to into fight with the crime lord in order to protect the cure.


Final Words

You know what? I personally believe Denzel is a perfect fit for bad-ass cop or secret agent role. Just look at the films he did on same genre, aren’t they breathtaking?