Top 10 Denzel Washington Movies

Posted on Dec 28, 2011 in Top-10's | 1 comment

In my opinion, one of the greatest actors of our time is Denzel Washington.  Every movie he is in is usually a box office hit and makes millions.  He is also a man of great character who has played great characters throughout his career.  In this day and age when actors in Hollywood are getting married and divorced every other day, Denzel has been married to the same woman his whole career – over 28 years.  For that we think reviewing 10 of his best movies is a fitting way to pay tribute to him around his birthday which is December 28.  These are in no paticular order

1.       Remember the Titans – 2000 – 113 minutes – Rated PG ($115 million in box office sales)

Based on a true story about an African-American high school football Coach in Virginia, played by Denzel Washington, who was appointed to a newly integrated school.  This movie takes us back in time when blacks and whites didn’t know much about one another.  The team starts out divided by color but then with the leadership of their Head Coach, come together as a team to show the town that they can coexist as a community.  This movie will truly touch your heart.

2.       Out of Time – 2003 – 105 minutes – Rated PG-13 ($40 million in box office sales)

This is an action thriller type movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole movie.  Denzel plays the part of Matthias Whitlock who is the police chief in a small town in Florida.  The movie takes a twist when the woman Matthias is seeing, seemingly dies in a house fire along with her abusive husband.  A homicide detective, who is Matthias’ ex-wife, is brought in to investigate the murders with signs pointing to her ex-husband as a potential suspect.  If you need to get up during this movie make sure you push pause or you will miss something and be lost.

3.       John Q – 2002 – 116 minutes – Rated PG-13 ($71 million in box office sales)

This movie touches your heart as a parent and makes you think about what you would be willing to do to save the life of your child.  In this movie Denzel plays John Q, a father who learns his son needs a heart transplant, but does not have the money or medical coverage to pay for the operation.  In his desperation, John Q takes hostages in an emergency room at the hospital that keeps telling him there is nothing else they can do for him.  The hostages are very upset at first, but as they learn about his situation they become more sympathetic to what is and has happened to him and his family.  I could personally only watch this movie once because I have a son and it was tough to watch and imagine what I would do in the same situation.  This movie really gets your emotions going on different levels.  First you are sad, then angry, then sad, and then happy.  If you have seen this movie, then you can understand, but if you haven’t, go and rent it today and enjoy.

4.       American Gangster – 2007 – 157 minutes – Rated R ($266 million in box office sales)

This movie is based on the real life story of Frank Lucas who is played by Denzel.  Frank started out as a driver for a big time drug dealer in the Newark,NJ area.  As the driver, Frank learned everything he needed to know about the drug trafficking trade.  When his boss died, Frank took over the business and started doing it bigger and better than the competition.  He did this by cutting out the middle man and going directly toVietnam and buying the drugs himself.  Then he had them smuggled into the United States on military planes.  As the story is told, Frank uses violence and strong tactics to become one of the biggest drug kingpins of that time in the area.  During his rise to prominence, a detective named Richie Roberts, played by Russell Crowe, starts to investigate drug trafficking after his partner is found dead of an overdose from “Blue Magic”.  Blue Magic was the name of Frank Lucas’ heroin.  Detective Roberts has a hard time trying to find out who the main drug dealer is behind Blue Magic until one evening when Frank breaks his own rule of being flashy in public.  While at the Ali vs. Frazier fight, Det. Roberts takes a picture of a man who is in better seats than most of the other prominent people and known criminals.  He is also wearing a flashy fur coat with a matching hat.  Then the heat is really turned on as Roberts and his group dig deep to try to find out who Frank Lucas and his family is.

5.       Man on Fire – 2004 – 146 minutes – Rated R ($130 million in box office sales)

In this action packed movie Denzel plays the role of a former CIA specialist named Creasy who takes a job as a private body guard for a wealthy family in Mexico.  The family fears their daughter might be kidnapped based on the fact that there were a number of kids who had been abducted in the area from wealthy families for ransom.  As the movie goes along the daughter named Pita (Dakota Fanning), who is being protected by Creasy, begin to develop a close relationship with each other. The action really picks up when Pita is taken and Creasy vows he will do anything and everything in his power to take revenge on the people who did this.  There are a couple of twists and turns in the story that makes it even more interesting.

6.       Inside Man – 2006 – 129 minutes – Rated R ($184 million in box office sales)

This movie stars Clive Owen, William Dafoe, Jodie Foster and of course Denzel Washington.  Directed by Spike Lee, this crime film starts with Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) narrating his scheme about the perfect heist.  Watching this movie is like putting all the pieces of the best crime shows together with a narrator who walks you through the creative mind of the criminal. If you like action, there is some but most of the entertainment from this film is following the drama, twists and the battle of good versus evil or who we think is good or bad.  If you have seen the movie, then  you understand what we mean.  If you haven’t  then you must see this movie.  It is filmed on location in New York City with a gang of bank robbers taking over a bank with hostages.  The negotiations start with Detective Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) and the master mind behind this heist, Dalton Russell.  At the same time the bad guys come across information that the chairman of the bank used Nazi money to fund the bank during WWII.  The chairman then hires Madeline White (Jodie Foster) to hide, fix or barter with the robber to keep the contents secret.  Watch and enjoy.

7.       Training Day – 2001 – 122 minutes – Rated R ($105 million in box office sales)

For his role as Detective Alonzo Harris, Denzel Washington won an Academy Award for Best Actor.  Critics were impressed with his performance because of the role he played in this movie.  Usually Denzel plays the good guy or the hero, but in this movie you have to question his motives and tactics he uses as a narcotics detective.  This movie takes you through a day in the life of a seasoned LAPD narcotics officer who gets a rookie partner named Jake Hoyt, played by Ethan Hawke, who he must “train”.  With each situation that arises throughout the day, Detective Harris must explain why his questionable actions and ethics are acceptable in order to get the big fish in the drug game.  There is a lot of action and twists in the plot, along with ethical questions that will make you think.  But in the end as in real life, doing the right thing is always right.  See for yourself.

8.       The Pelican Brief – 1993 – 141 minutes – Rated PG-13 ($195 million in box office sales)

This movie is based on a crime thriller book with the same name by John Grisham.  It stars Julia Roberts who plays the role of a young law student named Darby Shaw from Tulane and Denzel Washington who is a Washington Herald reporter named Gray Grantham.  The story starts when two Supreme Court Justices are murdered by a hired assassin.  Since the FBI doesn’t seem to know why they were murdered, it makes the young law student Darby Shaw investigate for herself.  After she comes across some valuable evidence, Darby writes her findings into a document known as the Pelican Brief.  It is called the Pelican Brief because Darby finds out that a well known oil tycoon wants to drill for oil in Louisiana on a marshland that is home to an endangered species of pelicans.  All evidence points to the oil tycoon.  Seems he had the Supreme Court justices murdered because he feared they would block him from being able to drill in the marshland because of their previous voting record of being in favor of the environment.  The thriller part is when Darby and Grantham team up to bring the evidence to light but at the same time the bad guys try to kill them and destroy any evidence that may implicate the oil tycoon and his relationship with the President of the United States.

9.       The Book of Eli – 2010 – 118 minutes – Rated R ($157 million in box office sales)

This is a futuristic movie in which a post nuclear America is in search of this special book that holds the utmost power.  Eli, Denzel Washington, is in possession of this book and must get it to the West Coast.  Along the way he encounters a power hungry man named Carnegie, Gary Oldman, who finds out Eli has this powerful book and wants it and all its power.  You can bet the plot thickens as violence and struggles erupt as Carnegie and his henchmen try to get the book which turns out to be the King James Version of the Bible.  Eli must use fighting skills and violence to make sure he gets the Book to Alcatraz.  Watch for yourself and see how it ends.

10.   Déjà Vu – 2006 – 126 minutes – Rated PG-13 – ($180 million box office sales)

This is by far one of my favorite movies of all time.  You have to make sure there are no interruptions while watching this one because you will miss something and be lost the rest of the movie.  You almost need to watch it twice to appreciate it to the fullest.  The movie starts out with an explosion on a ferry carrying service men and women and their families to an event and kills 543 on board.  Special Agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington) from BATF is called in to investigate the explosion.  He quickly finds evidence that the attack was done by a domestic terrorist.  FBI Agent Paul Pryzwarra, who is played by Val Kilmer, likes Doug’s work and asks him to join his special group.  The group is working with new technology that allows you to see back in time – 4 days, 6 hours, 3 minutes – to be exact.  They call it “Snow White” and are using it for the first time to help solve this crime.  As they find clues to the crime from the past, Doug wants to see if they can stop the crime from even happening at all.  It is a must see film if you haven’t seen it yet.  Also starring in this movie is Paula Patton, who is also starring in the new Mission Impossible movie, and James Caviezel, who played Jesus in the movie Passion for Christ.

Other Movies Denzel starred in:

Malcolm X, Philadelphia, Ricochet, Glory, Crimson Tide, The Preacher’s Wife, He Got Game, The Bone Collector, The Hurricane, Antwone Fisher, The Manchurian Candidate, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 and Unstoppable.

Let us know what your favorite is.