76 thoughts on “Denzel Washington Movies”

1. Denzel Washington was the # 15 most connected actor of the 1990’s.

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2. Added Steve’s Denzel You Tube Video To Our Page. Our thoughts found on his channel.

   Hey Steve. Good subject and good video. Gotta agree with Flora….A Soldier’s Story is a vital Denzel movie….it was the movie that really got the ball rolling for him. Plus it is one of the few times he was the bad guy. I have seen all of these movies except for He Got Game and John Q. Seen many in theaters. Favorites would include #1 Glory, #5 Inside Man, #15 Remember The Titans, #16 Man on Fire and #23 Book Of Eli. Voted up and shared

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   1. Hi Bruce, thanks for the vote, share and comment, it is appreciated. Well so far only you and Flora are surprised that Soldier’s Story didn’t make the list, you may be the only two that remember it. My tally 27 of the 45, Flora 5, inc Soldier’s Story.

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3. 1/Along with the likes of Eddie Murphy, Sidney Poitier, Will Smith and Morgan Freeman, Denzel is undoubtedly among the most successful African American actors in movie history.

   2/He has had a long and consistent string of box office hits stretching back around 30 years. 17 of them have crashed the Cogerson magical 100 million dollar barrier, starting with 1992’s Malcolm X and ending [at least for now] with Equalizer 2 just last year [$184 million gross worldwide]. In 15 of those 17 he is the top-billed lead and in the other two he is the joint lead. He has topped the bill in many other movies besides, a lot of them being more minor hits.

   3/A few years back the movie business community voted Denzel the movie star who AMONG ALL OF THEM currently provided the “best box office return for money invested in motion pictures’’. PRESUMABLY they were looking at not just total grosses but total profits accrued by themselves.

   4/In his book the Top 50 movie stars of ALL TIME Bruce ranks Denzel a statistically-speaking 48th.

   5/In Bruce’s list of the 25 greatest male LEGENDS in just the period 1950-2010 Denzel does even better: a high 8th.

   6/When WH drew up that list hE mentioned that Denz had appeared 9 times in the annual lists of Quigley’s polls of the most popular movie stars

   7/IMDB in its self-proclaimed “Ultimate” list of the 100 Greatest movie ACTORS of all-time lists Denzel 10th.

   8/IMDB credits Denzel with 84 acting awards and 168 nominations -wow! He has a reported net worth of $220 million and according to Celebrity Net Worth he currently earns $60-80 million annually.

   9/Fly in the ointment? With a screen career starting in just 1981 Denzel was unfortunately “a day late and a dollar short” for potential love in the notorious 1983 Inquisition on movie stars with which this site is familiar. However-

   10/Saving the “best wine for the last”!: Denzel is one of my own very favourite movies stars along with the likes of Charlie Bill Stuart, The Duke, Laddie, Mr Mumbles and that great Brit Sir Maurice. Denz is my 2nd favourite black actor after Morg Freeman.

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   1. Best POSTERS entries 45-25 1/Heart Condition 2/Virtuosity 3/Preacher’s Wife 4/Ricochet 5/Fallen 6/Mo Better Blues 7/Taking of Pelham 123 8/Deja Vu 9/two for Equalizer 2 10/set for Magnificent 7, 11/two for Unstoppable 12/2 Guns [“One is enough if you know how to use it.” – Laddie to Little Joey in 1953’s Shane]

      Best STILLS – ALL entries: 1/Queen and Country 2/Safe House 3/Déjà Vu 4/The Siege [great to see him teamed with Mr Gimme More] 5/The Bone Collector [probably my own fave among Denz’s films] 6/2 Guns 7/Unstoppable [sadly Tony Scott’s final released film in his own lifetime. He and Denz had a great collaboration over the years.] 8/Book of Ely 9/with my Julia 10/The Equalizer 11/two for Man on Fire 12/Remember the Titans 13/Flight 14/Cry Brexit! 15/Malcolm X 17/Inside Man 12/ Book of Ely 8/Crimson Tide 19/Glory – good to see those two black icons and my favourites Denz and Morg together.

      Best POSTERS 1-24 1/John Q 2/set for the Book of Ely 3/The Manchestrian Candidate 4/Joel in a Blue Dress 5/The Equalizer 6/Man on Fire 7/foreign language one for Flight 8/two for Crimson Tide 9/two for US Gangster 10/Glory

      So consistent was the quality of entries throughout this presentation that I could have listed another dozen but I had to be super selective to draw the line. Suffice to say that the video mandated a 99% rating in my book. You and WH agree on 4 of Denzel’s top 6 best reviewed.

      Denz has 3 acting projects in the pipeline: A Journal for Jordan [also produces] Little Things and Macbeth. He is also producing-only Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – a rather odd title which has box office written all over it!

      My final word on Denz. Variety described 1972’s Godpop as “a blockbuster with brains”. I would paraphrase that into a description of Denzel that is “an action hero with brains” though no doubt you might call Jace an action hero with something else beginning with b.!

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      1. Hi Bob, thanks for the review, generous rating, info, trivia, observation and comparison, much appreciated. Happy you liked the posters and stills.

         I think I first noticed Denzel Washington in the movie Glory, 30 years ago. I may have seen Carbon Copy, his first film, but I can’t remember for sure. An excellent actor who can switch from high drama to action hero with ease. Not sure if he can do comedy though. I did see Heart Condition, a supernatural comedy with Bob Hoskins but can’t remember it much.

         Some actors look uncomfortable in comedy roles, e.g. Richard Widmark, Alan Ladd, Charles Bronson, Charlton Heston. While other legends like – John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas and Lee Marvin seem to enjoy making fools of themselves on screen. Would you agree?

         For Queen and Country looks interesting, one reviewer saying that Denzel plays a soldier who “returns to London after a tour of duty in Northern Ireland and the Falklands, where he was decorated as a war hero. Within time, he realises his illustrious army record holds no sway in everyday life.This film makes you realise how easy it is to fall into the criminal side of life as Reuben becomes a body guard to a drug dealer. The ending is as grim as his life has become.”

         “Washington’s British accent is impeccable, you would believe he was born, and lived his life in Milwall.”

         Two Denzel films scored 10 out of 10 from my sources – Philadelphia and Glory. One more scored 9 out of 10 – Malcolm X. Ten more films scored 8 including – American Gangster, Crimson Tide and Inside Man.

         Denzel on Training Day – “My son talked me into doing that movie. He was like, ‘Dad, you’ve never done anything like this’. I just hadn’t been asked before. The only film that was sort of dark that I’d turned down was Se7en. They offered me the Brad Pitt part, but I was like, “This is so dark and evil.” Then when I saw the movie, I was like, “Oh, shoot”.

         “Tony Scott was a great director, a genuine friend, and it is unfathomable to think that he is now gone. He had a tremendous passion for life and for the art of filmmaking, and was able to share this passion with all of us through his cinematic brilliance.”

         “The secret to a happy marriage? Do whatever your wife tells you ‘Yes dear.’ And breathe.”

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         1. HI STEVE

            I certainly agree that Wayne could do slapstick. Mud-fighting brawl scenes in McClintock and North to Alaska are as comic as anything in Chaplin. A dry sense of humour runs through many of Kirk’s roles and he was very directly funny in Their Secret Affair [aka Top Secret Affair] with Susan Hayward. I still vividly remember queuing up for it way back in 1957.

            I agree with you that Laddie, Widmark etc were not best suited to comedy though Dickie could often give us a wry sense of humor in his dramatic roles. Also “Brando can do anything but comedy – he’s hopeless at that.” – Richard Harris.

            Big Bob was OK in 1947’s Holiday Affair which was a romantic comedy with Janet Leigh. However most film historians feel that Mitch’s stock in trade was the loner who is relentlessly victimised by individuals, systems or life events – Raul Walsh’s 1949 Pursued is often cited as an prime example of that Mitchum persona.

            As usual you provide interesting quotes. Regarding Training Day for which he got the Oscar, my Julia Roberts supported his bid for that one. However Russell Crowe was the bookies’ heavy fave that year for A Beautiful Mind until he ruined his chances with another public display of bad behaviour. I hope that such behaviour doesn’t deny him a Lensman video to complement his Cogerson page.

            Anyway thanks for the feedback and keep safe.

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            1. Apologies – you and Bruce agree on jut 2 of Denzel’s Top 6 best reviewed – Glory and Inside Man. This is your Top 6 least harmony for some time.

4. 1 Denzel has just one movie that nudges over the 200 mil mark in the above table [and Julia Roberts was the main star in that] so he is obviously not a man for great blockbusters. However 14 of his movies crashed the legendary Cogerson 100 mil with The Magnificent Seven remake projected to be no 15 and over the years he has produced a consistent stream of other movies that had respectable grosses and/or were critically acclaimed.

   2 On top of that a survey last year found that Denzel was the No 1 American star who provided movie producers with the greatest VALUE FOR MONEY. It is claimed that a number of other top stars are minimising the profits of film companies by commanding massive fees as well as a lion’s share of the profits with Tom Cruise being cited a a prime example, and the survey worried that some stars could soon price themselves out of the market as it is alleged Demi Moore did in the 90s In Old Hollywood Shirley MacLaine and Paul Newman were often cited as big stars who were always reasonable in their salary demands.

   3 Denzel’s movies normally contain something unusual or surprising as in Flight which I initially assumed would be just a sound adventure yarn but which was actually a study of alcoholism. I welcome this update as Denzel always entertains me and he is of course well up in my recently posted list of all time faves.

   BOB

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   1. Hey Bob.
      1. I agree…about the only thing Denzel is missing from his awesome resume…is a gigantic box office smash……but I feel he will get one of those in the next few years.
      2. Good to know that money invested in a Denzel movie is well spent….the budgets for his movies have always been reasonable…so when they become hits…..the producers get very happy.
      3. This was actually one of the first pages done….all the way back in my HubPage days….it has been updated many many times…glad you enjoyed this one.

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