Denzel Washington films, ranked by your taste

Actor and director · 42 films on Boxlist

Known for Glory, Inside Man and Malcolm X.

See which ones match your taste

Glory
1989 · Film
7.5/10 · TMDB
Robert Gould Shaw leads the US Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates.
Where to watch:Rent or buy
Inside Man
2006 · Film
7.4/10 · TMDB
When an armed, masked gang enter a Manhattan bank, lock the doors and take hostages, the detective assigned to effect their release enters negotiations preoccupied with corruption charges he is facing.
Where to watch:Rent or buy
Malcolm X
1992 · Film
7.5/10 · TMDB
A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965...
Where to watch:Rent or buy
Training Day
2001 · Film
7.4/10 · TMDB
On his first day on the job as a narcotics officer, a rookie cop works with a rogue detective who isn't what he appears.
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
The Tragedy of Macbeth
2021 · Film
7.3/10 · TMDB
Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
Crimson Tide
1995 · Film
7.2/10 · TMDB
On a US nuclear missile sub, a young first officer stages a mutiny to prevent his trigger happy captain from launching his missiles before confirming his orders to do so.
Where to watch:Rent or buy
American Gangster
2007 · Film
7.6/10 · TMDB
Following the death of his employer and mentor, Bumpy Johnson, Frank Lucas establishes himself as the number one importer of heroin in the Harlem district of Manhattan. He does so by buying heroin directly from the source in South East...
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
Much Ado About Nothing
1993 · Film
7.0/10 · TMDB
In this Shakespearean farce, Hero and her groom-to-be, Claudio, team up with Claudio's commanding officer, Don Pedro, the week before their wedding to hatch a matchmaking scheme. Their targets are sharp-witted duo Benedick and Beatrice --...
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
Flight
2012 · Film
6.8/10 · TMDB
Commercial airline pilot Whip Whitaker has a problem with drugs and alcohol, though so far he's managed to complete his flights safely. His luck runs out when a disastrous mechanical malfunction sends his plane hurtling toward the ground...
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
Fences
2016 · Film
6.8/10 · TMDB
In 1950s Pittsburgh, a frustrated African-American father struggles with the constraints of poverty, racism, and his own inner demons as he tries to raise a family.
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
Highest 2 Lowest
2025 · Film
6.4/10 · TMDB
When a titan music mogul, widely known as having the "best ears in the business", is targeted with a ransom plot, he is jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma.
The Equalizer 3
2023 · Film
7.3/10 · TMDB
Robert McCall finds himself at home in Southern Italy but he discovers his friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends' protector by taking on the mafia.
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
The Hurricane
1999 · Film
7.4/10 · TMDB
The story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
Philadelphia
1993 · Film
7.8/10 · TMDB
Two competing lawyers join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries.
Where to watch:Rent or buy
Gladiator II
2024 · Film
6.8/10 · TMDB
Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his...
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
Courage Under Fire
1996 · Film
6.4/10 · TMDB
A US Army officer, who made a "friendly fire" mistake that was covered up, has been reassigned to a desk job. He is tasked to investigate a female chopper commander's worthiness to be awarded the Medal of Honor. At first all seems in...
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
The Manchurian Candidate
2004 · Film
6.4/10 · TMDB
Years after his squad was ambushed during the Gulf War, Major Ben Marco finds himself having terrible nightmares. He begins to doubt that his fellow squad-mate Sergeant Raymond Shaw, now a vice-presidential candidate, is the hero he...
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
The Equalizer
2014 · Film
7.2/10 · TMDB
McCall believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when he meets Teri, a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by – he has to...
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
Remember the Titans
2000 · Film
7.6/10 · TMDB
After leading his football team to 15 winning seasons, coach Bill Yoast is demoted and replaced by Herman Boone – tough, opinionated and as different from the beloved Yoast as he could be. The two men learn to overcome their differences...
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
Unstoppable
2010 · Film
6.5/10 · TMDB
A runaway train, transporting deadly, toxic chemicals, is barreling down on Stanton, Pennsylvania, and proves to be unstoppable until a veteran engineer and young conductor risk their lives to try and stop it with a switch engine.
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
Sidney
2022 · Film
7.7/10 · TMDB
This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.
Where to watch:
Antwone Fisher
2002 · Film
6.9/10 · TMDB
A sailor prone to violent outbursts is sent to a naval psychiatrist for help. Refusing at first to open up, the young man eventually breaks down and reveals a horrific childhood. Through the guidance of his doctor, he confronts his painful...
Where to watch:Rent or buy
The Great Debaters
2007 · Film
7.2/10 · TMDB
The true story of a brilliant but politically radical debate team coach who uses the power of words to transform a group of underdog African-American college students into a historical powerhouse that took on the Harvard elite.
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
Mo' Better Blues
1990 · Film
6.5/10 · TMDB
Opens with Bleek as a child learning to play the trumpet, his friends want him to come out and play but mother insists he finish his lessons. Bleek grows into adulthood and forms his own band - The Bleek Gilliam Quartet. The story of...
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
Roman J. Israel, Esq.
2017 · Film
6.3/10 · TMDB
Hard-nosed liberal lawyer Roman J. Israel has been fighting the good fight forever while others take the credit. When his partner – the firm's frontman – has a heart attack, Israel suddenly takes on that role. He soon discovers some...
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
The Pelican Brief
1993 · Film
6.5/10 · TMDB
Two Supreme Court Justices have been assassinated. One lone law student has stumbled upon the truth. An investigative journalist wants her story. Everybody else wants her dead.
Where to watch:Rent or buy
Man on Fire
2004 · Film
7.4/10 · TMDB
Jaded ex-CIA operative John Creasy reluctantly accepts a job as the bodyguard for a 10-year-old girl in Mexico City. They clash at first, but eventually bond, and when she's kidnapped he's consumed by fury and will stop at nothing to save...
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
The Equalizer 2
2018 · Film
6.6/10 · TMDB
Robert McCall, who serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed, embarks on a relentless, globe-trotting quest for vengeance when a long-time girl friend is murdered.
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
Déjà Vu
2006 · Film
6.8/10 · TMDB
Called in to recover evidence in the aftermath of a horrific explosion on a New Orleans ferry, Federal agent Doug Carlin gets pulled away from the scene and taken to a top-secret government lab that uses a time-shifting surveillance device...
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
The Book of Eli
2010 · Film
6.8/10 · TMDB
A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind.
Where to watch:Rent or buy
The Siege
1998 · Film
6.3/10 · TMDB
The secret US abduction of a suspected terrorist from his Middle East homeland leads to a wave of terrorist attacks in New York. An FBI senior agent and his team attempt to locate and decommission the enemy cells, but must also deal with...
Where to watch:Rent or buy
Out of Time
2003 · Film
6.3/10 · TMDB
Matt Lee Whitlock, respected chief of police in small Banyan Key, Florida, must solve a vicious double homicide before he himself falls under suspicion. Matt Lee has to stay a few steps ahead of his own police force and everyone he's...
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
2 Guns
2013 · Film
6.5/10 · TMDB
A DEA agent and an undercover Naval Intelligence officer who have been tasked with investigating one another find they have been set up by the mob -- the very organization the two men believe they have been stealing money from.
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
Ricochet
1991 · Film
6.1/10 · TMDB
An attorney is terrorized by the criminal he put away years ago when he was a cop.
Where to watch:
The Little Things
2021 · Film
6.4/10 · TMDB
Deputy Sheriff Joe "Deke" Deacon joins forces with Sgt. Jim Baxter to search for a serial killer who's terrorizing Los Angeles. As they track the culprit, Baxter is unaware that the investigation is dredging up echoes of Deke's past...
Where to watch:Rent or buy
Safe House
2012 · Film
6.4/10 · TMDB
A dangerous CIA renegade resurfaces after a decade on the run. When the safe house he's remanded to is attacked by mercenaries, a rookie operative escapes with him. Now, the unlikely allies must stay alive long enough to uncover who wants...
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
2009 · Film
6.3/10 · TMDB
Armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for dispatcher Walter Garber into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime.
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
2020 · Film
8.4/10 · TMDB
A tribute to Chadwick Boseman, celebrating his life and legacy.
The Bone Collector
1999 · Film
6.8/10 · TMDB
Rookie cop, Amelia Donaghy reluctantly teams with Lincoln Rhyme – formerly the department's top homicide detective but now paralyzed as a result of a spinal injury – to catch a grisly serial killer dubbed 'The Bone Collector'. The...
Where to watch:+ rent/buy
John Q
2002 · Film
7.2/10 · TMDB
John Quincy Archibald is a father and husband whose son is diagnosed with an enlarged heart and then finds out he cannot receive a transplant because HMO insurance will not cover it. Therefore, he decides to take a hospital full of...
Where to watch:Rent or buy
Virtuosity
1995 · Film
5.5/10 · TMDB
The Law Enforcement Technology Advancement Centre (LETAC) has developed SID version 6.7: a Sadistic, Intelligent, and Dangerous virtual reality entity which is synthesized from the personalities of more than 150 serial killers, and only...
Where to watch:+ rent/buy