Best Denzel Washington Movies Ranked, and Where to Watch Them Online

New York-born actor Denzel Washington is a generational talent with a plethora of award-winning performances and iconic roles to his name. The iconic actor has two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Tony Award and even a Presidential Medal of Freedom. In this guide, we'll share 30 of the best Denzel Washington movies and where you can find them on streaming services.

Having begun his career in the early 1980s, it wasn't long before Washington gained his first nomination for an Academy Award, starring in the Richard Attenborough-directed Cry Freedom. He went on to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor only two years later in the movie Glory. The 1990s saw Washington play two major figures in American history, Malcolm X in theSpike Lee-directed biopic and Rubin Carter in The Hurricane, both of which garnered him the Silver Bear for Best Actor. He solidified his position as one of the most impressive actors in Hollywood by winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in the 2001 movie Training Day.

After a string of impressive performances and collaborations with the likes of Ridley Scott, Robert Zemeckis, and Antoine Fuqua, Denzel Washington stepped into the role of director, helming Antwone Fisher, The Great Debaters, and Fences. A true actor at heart, Denzel Washington is as much the grand thespian of The Tragedy of Macbeth as he is the cold-blooded action hero of The Equalizer. Here's where you can watch the very best performances from Denzel Washington.

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  1. Malcolm X

    Malcolm X

    1992

    IMDB 7.7 (100k)

    #1

    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 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.

  2. Training Day

    Training Day

    2001

    IMDB 7.7 (472k)

    #2

    A rookie cop spends his first day as a Los Angeles narcotics officer with a rogue detective who isn't what he appears to be.

  3. Fences

    Fences

    2016

    IMDB 7.2 (117k)

    #3

    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.

  4. The Hurricane

    The Hurricane

    1999

    IMDB 7.6 (101k)

    #4

    The story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.

  5. The Tragedy of Macbeth

    #5

    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.

  6. The Equalizer

    The Equalizer

    2014

    IMDB 7.2 (419k)

    #6

    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 help her. Armed with hidden skills that allow him to serve vengeance against anyone who would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement and finds his desire for justice reawakened. If someone has a problem, if the odds are stacked against them, if they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.

  7. Roman J. Israel, Esq.

    #7

    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 unsettling truths about the firm – truths that conflict with his values of helping the poor and dispossessed – and finds himself in an existential crisis that leads to extreme actions.

  8. Inside Man

    Inside Man

    2006

    IMDB 7.6 (397k)

    #8

    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.

  9. Devil in a Blue Dress

    #9

    In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright, a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the disappearance of a missing white woman named Daphne Monet, who he suspects is hiding out in one of the city's black jazz clubs. Strapped for money and facing house payments, Easy takes the job, but soon finds himself in over his head.

  10. The Equalizer 2

    The Equalizer 2

    2018

    IMDB 6.7 (197k)

    #10

    Robert McCall, who serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed, embarks on a relentless, globe-trotting quest for vengeance when his former partner is murdered.

  11. American Gangster

    American Gangster

    2007

    IMDB 7.8 (415k)

    #11

    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 Asia and he comes up with a unique way of importing the drugs into the United States. Partly based on a true story.

  12. The Book of Eli

    The Book of Eli

    2010

    IMDB 6.8 (339k)

    #12

    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.

  13. Flight

    Flight

    2012

    IMDB 7.3 (375k)

    #13

    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. Whip pulls off a miraculous crash-landing that results in only six lives lost. Shaken to the core, Whip vows to get sober -- but when the crash investigation exposes his addiction, he finds himself in an even worse situation.

  14. Remember the Titans

    Remember the Titans

    2000

    IMDB 7.8 (231k)

    #14

    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 and turn a group of hostile young men into champions.

  15. Glory

    Glory

    1989

    IMDB 7.8 (144k)

    #15

    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.

  16. Man on Fire

    Man on Fire

    2004

    IMDB 7.7 (389k)

    #16

    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 her life.

  17. The Manchurian Candidate

    #17

    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 remembers him being. As Marco's doubts deepen, Shaw's political power grows, and, when Marco finds a mysterious implant embedded in his back, the memory of what really happened begins to return.

  18. Unstoppable

    Unstoppable

    2010

    IMDB 6.8 (207k)

    #18

    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.

  19. Mo' Better Blues

    Mo' Better Blues

    1990

    IMDB 6.7 (13k)

    #19

    Talented but self-centered trumpeter Bleek Gilliam is obsessed with his music and indecisiveness about his girlfriends Indigo and Clarke. But when he is forced to come to the aid of his manager and childhood friend, Bleek finds his world more fragile than he ever imagined.

  20. The Magnificent Seven

    The Magnificent Seven

    2016

    IMDB 6.9 (228k)

    #20

    A big screen remake of John Sturges' classic western The Magnificent Seven, itself a remake of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. Seven gun men in the old west gradually come together to help a poor village against savage thieves.