Want to know the best Denzel Washington movies? How about the worst Denzel Washington movies? Curious about Denzel Washington’s box office grosses or which Denzel Washington movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Denzel Washington movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place.
Denzel Washington is a two time Academy Award® winner actor. He first rose to prominence when he appeared in the television drama St. Elsewhere, playing Dr. Philip Chandler for six years. In the late 1980s he left television and became one of the most popular movie stars. He has been nominated seven times for the Academy Awards®….winning twice (Glory and Training Day). He has been nominated seven times for the Golden Globe® award….winning twice (Glory, and The Hurricane). This page will rank most of his movies from Best to Worst…including his latest movie, The Equalizer. Cameos, television appearances, videos and shorts were not included in the rankings. His remaining 44 movies are ranked by 6 different columns of information.
His IMDb page shows over 60 acting credits since 1977. In the table below Ultimate Movie Rankings ranks 47 of his movies in 6 different sortable columns. Television roles, cameos, shorts and straight to dvd movies were not included in the rankings.
Denzel Washington Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Denzel Washington Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort Denzel Washington movies by co-stars of his movies
- Sort Denzel Washington movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Denzel Washington movies by adjusted worldwide box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Denzel Washington movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Denzel Washington movie received.
- Sort Denzel Washington movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
Check out Steve’s Denzel Washington You Tube Video
I thought for a twist let’s do someone modern and someone who is currently on the list and moved up. Denzel Washington just had the #1 picture last weekend. In 2000 he was #643 but has moved up to 361. Obviously he should be working with numerous legends, people on the decline and young up and comers. For trivia’s sake, Kristen Stewart who is #960 now is the youngest actor on the current list at 26 which in itself is pretty amazing. Denzel has not worked with Kristen yet though he might. I know you’ll be disappointed but Denzel shares no credits with Bess Flowers, Arthur Tovey, George Chandler, James Flavin, akim Tamiroff, Paul Bryar, Peter Brocco and other strange people on the old list but there are some humdingers on his co-performers. Herewith all actors currently in the Oracle of Bacon top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe list.
2 Guns (2013) – 295 Mark Wahlberg, 406 Ritchie Montgomery, 525 Robert John Burke, 698 James Marsden, 916 John McConnell
A Soldier’s Story (1984) – 744 David Alan Grier
American Gangster (2007) – 98 Armand Assante, 173 Josh Brolin, 204 Kevin Corrigan, 212 Jon Polito (just passed away), 344 Russell Crowe, 378 Cuba Gooding Jr., 381 John Hawkes, 443 Carla Gugino, 487 Yul Vasquez, 507 Ted Levine, 618 John Ortiz, 641 Norman Reedus, 680 John Cenatiempo, 719 Joe Morton, 854 Idris Elba, 877 Chiwetel Ejifor
Antwone Fisher (202) – 325 James Brolin, 827 Viola Davis, 875 Jenifer Lewis
Carbon Copy (1981) – 427 George Segal, 762 Jack Warden, 861 Lee Garlington
Courage Under Fire (1996) – 46 Matt Damon, 119 Bruce McGill, 170 Scott Glenn, 531 Zeijko Ivanek, 658 Sean Astin, 740 Tim Guinee, 922 Lou Diamond Phillips
Crimson Tide (1995) – 127 Gene Hackman, 286 Chris Ellis, 463 Viggo Mortensen, 468 Jason Robards, 569 James Gandolfini, 749 Sean O’Bryan, 853 Jacob Vargas, 889 Matt Craven
Cry Freedom (1987) – 518 Kevin Kline, 627 Garrick Hagon, 815 William Morgan Sheppard
Death Wish (1974) – 64 Jeff Goldblum, 472 Olympia Dukakis, 673 Paul Dooley
Déjà Vu (2006) – 143 Val Kilmer, 216 Bruce Greenwood, 406 Ritchie Montgomery, 577 Gary Grubbs, 616 David Jensen, 773 Douglas M. Griffin, 889 Matt Craven, 916 John McConnell, 952 Lew Temple
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) – 17 Tom Sizemore, 266 Don Cheadle, 431 Maury Chaykin, 575 Steven Randazzo, 929 Jennifer Beals
Fallen (1998) – 9 Donald Sutherland, 36 John Goodman, 197 Elias Koteas, 422 Michael Shamus Wiles, 569 James Gandolfino, 965 Gary Rodriguez
Glory (1989) – 12 Morgan Freeman, 25 Richard Riehle, 135 Mark Margolis, 227 Cary Elwes, 273 Bob Gunton, 522 Jay O. Sanders, 689 Matthew Broderick, 795 Afemo Omilami, 846 Bob Minor
He Got Game (1998) – 31 John Turturro, 225 Ned Beatty, 351 Rosario Dawson, 756 Milla Jovovich, 985 Arthur J. Nascarella
Heart Condition (1990) – 121 Bob Hoskins
Inside Man (2006) – 7 Willem Dafoe, 26 Christopher Plummer, 489 Jodie Foster, 586 Peter Gerety, 621 Stephen Weisz, 713 Robert Bizik, 845 Clive Owen, 877 Chiwetel Ejifor
John Q (2003) – 68 Ray Liotta, 71 Robert Duvall, 217 James Woods, 603 Jay Leno
Malcolm X (1992) – 26 Christopher Plummer, 208 Richard Schiff, 250 William Fichtner, 366 Giancarlo Esposito, 485 Debi Mazar, 575 Steven Randazzo, 683 Martin Donovan, 727 Angela Bassett, 746 Peter Boyle, 777 Delroy Lindo, 789 Wendell Pierce, 837 Michael Imperioli
Man on Fire (2004) – 28 Christopher Walken, 87 Mickey Rourke, 404 Giancarlo Giannini
Mississippi Masala (1991) – 663 Charles S. Dutton
Mo’ Better Blues (1990) – 4 Samuel L. Jackson, 31 John Turturro, 366 Giancarlo Esposito, 851 Wesley Snipes
Much Ado About Nothing (1993) – 314 Keanu Reeves, 551 Emma Thompson, 666 Michael Keaton
Out of Time (2003) – 582 Antoni Corone, 783 Nora Dunn
Philadelphia (1993) – 113 Tracey Walter, 144 Tom Hanks, 160 Antonio Banderas, 232 Charles Napier, 306 Adam Lefevre, 421 Mary Steenburgen, 468 Jason Robards
Power (1986) – 127 Gene Hackman, 380 Richard Gere, 909 Julie Christie, 921 D.B. Sweeney, 986 J.T. Walsh
Remember the Titans (2000) – 479 Will Patton, 795 Afemo Omilami, 942 Brett Rice
Ricochet (1991) – 55 Thomas Rosales Jr., 259 George Cheung, 340 Kevin Pollak, 394 John Lithgow, 690 Miguel Sandoval, 752 Jorge Caya, 965 Gary Rodriguez
Safe House (2012) – 179 Robert Patrick, 512 Brendan Gleeson, 558 Sam Shepard, 893 Ryan Reynolds
The Bone Collector (1999) – 93 Luis Guzman, 336 Michael Rooker, 453 Angelina Jolie, 615 Michael Arthur, 629 David Warshofsky, 797 Bobby Cannavale, 1000 Leland Orser
The Book of Eli (2010) – 8 Malcolm McDowell, 41 Gary Oldman, 388 Michael Gambon, 929 Jennifer Beals
The Equalizer (2014) – 14 Joseph Oliviera, 138 Diezol Ramos, 231 Bill Pullman, 330 Melissa Leo, 383 Rosemary Howard, 724 Martin Csokas
The Great Debaters (2007) – 114 Forest Whitaker, 211 John Heard, 406 Ritchie Montgomery, 915 J.D. Evermore
The Hurricane (1999) – 112 Rod Steiger, 195 Vincent Pastore, 307 David Paymer, 318 Dan Hedaya, 324 Liev Schreiber, 466 Harris Yulin, 640 Clancy Brown
The Magnificent Seven (2016) – 137 Vincent D’Onofrio, 406 Ritchie Montgomery, 428 Ethan Hawke, 761 Peter Sarsgaard
The Manchurian Candidate (2004) – 88 Jon Voight, 113 Tracey Walter, 198 Dean Stockwell, 232 Charles Napier, 279 Meryl Streep, 294 Anthony Mackie, 306 Adam Lefevre, 324 Liev Schreiber, 507 Ted Levine, 516 Jeffrey Wright, 531 Zeijko Ivanek, 743 Jude Ciccolella, 811 Miguel Ferrer, 998 Bruno Ganz
The Mighty Quinn (1989) – 115 M. Emmet Walsh, 650 Mimi Rogers, 884 James Fox
The Pelican Brief (1993) – 45 Stanley Tucci, 171 Julia Roberts, 211 John Heard, 242 Joe Chrest, 394 John Lithgow, 558 Sam Shepard
The Preacher’s Wife (1996) – 875 Jenifer Lewis
The Siege (1998) – 18 Bruce Willis
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009) – 31 John Turturro, 93 Luis Guzman, 409 John Travolta, 569 James Gandolfini, 583 Paul Thornton, 615 Michael Arthur, 654 John Farrer, 700 Adrian Martinez, 928 Bill Walters, 941 Michael Rispoli
Training Day (2001) – 170 Scott Glenn, 192 Noel Gugleimi, 223 Greg Bronson, 265 Tom Berenger, 415 Raymond J. Barry, 428 Ethan Hawke, 466 Harris Yulin, 715 Terry Crews, 965 Gary Rodriguez
Unstoppable (2010) – 70 Mark Falvo, 204 Kevin Corrigan, 224 Kevin Dunn, 351 Rosario Dawson, 625 John W. Iwanonkiw, 629 David Warshofsky, 952 Lew Temple
Virtuosity (1995) – 33 Frank Welker, 183 William Forsythe, 223 Greg Bronson, 250 William Fichtner, 344 Russell Crowe, 609 Louise Fletcher, 672 Costas Mandylor
There are very few actors who have fallen off from the 2000 list who worked with Denzel.
A Soldier’s Story (1984) – 949 John Hancock
Carbon Copy (1981) – 678 Paul Winfield, 690 Parley Baer, 822 Carmen Filpi
Courage Under Fire (1996) – 631 Meg Ryan, 727 Diane Baker
Crimson Tide (1995) – 677 Daniel Von Bargen
Cry Freedom (1987) – 837 Gerald Sim, 999 Julian Glover
Death Wish (1974) – 53 Charles Bronson, 607 Vincent Gardenia
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) – 983 Beau Starr
He Got Game (1998) – 622 Jim Brown
Heart Condition (1990) – 893 Ray Baker
Malcolm X (1992) – 378 Billy J. Mitchell, 577 Ossie Davis, 912 Beatrice Winde
Philadelphia (1993) – 833 Harry Northup, 904 Roger Corman
Power (1986) – 139 E.G. Marshall
The Hurricane (1999) – 912 Beatrice Winde
The Manchurian Candidate (2004) – 833 Harry Northup, 904 Roger Corman
The Mighty Quinn (1989) – 278 Keye Luke
The Pelican Brief (1993) – 555 Hume Cronyn, 872 Robert Culp
Oscar Winners he worked with, I count 24 (films they were in are listed above unless they have never been ranked) – Russell Crowe, Cuba Gooding Jr., Gene Hackman, Jason Robards, Kevin Kline, Olympia Dukakis, Morgan Freeman, Christopher Plummer, Jodie Foster, Robert Duvall, Christopher Walken, Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Mary Steenburgen, Joanne Woodward (Philadelphia), Julie Christie, Angelina Jolie, Melissa Leo, Forest Whitaker, Rod Steiger, Jon Voight, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Louise Fletcher 24
Hey Dan….very cool….new blood…lol.
List 1…..I would think on the next update…he might go down….as he seems to have slowed down when it comes to making movies…but he is in his 60s now….I think he is aging like Sean Connery. When Connery made The Rock…people could not believe how old he was in that one….I have not heard anything about Denzel being too old for Magnificent Seven….though he is 21 years old than Yul Brynner was when they made his Magnificent Seven.
I am sure Denzel regrets not working with Bess Flowers, Arthur Tovey, George Chandler, James Flavin, Akim Tamiroff and Paul Bryar….lol. Ricochet with 8 on the list is surprising….good to see my boy Bruce with his 18th ranking….I am guessing all of Willis’ cheap movies will help his score…seems every 3 months a new Willis cheapie arrives at RedBox….it worked for Trejo…lol.
List two: 24 is a little less than average….though I suspect that number will rise in time. Thanks for doing these lists on a current active Oracle member…..good stuff as always. Wow….think I have caught up on all of my comments.
This man is a gift to this EARTH…he has so much to give to all his viewers!…and he is magical in dramatic performances…He ranks above the best! Denzel Washington.. your voice rings!!!!
Hey Katrina….I agree with you 100%…greatly appreciated your comment and the visit.
Equalizer,The preacher Wife, DeJaVu, The Book of Eli , Magnificent Seven, Training Day, More better Blues, He got game, Great Debaters, Safe House, I can go on and on
He man does not seem capable of making a bad movie. You named some of his best movies for sure…thanks for the feedback.
Denzel is the man
I agree Puffy 4 ever. Wow this page needs a facelift.
Denzel is the man.
I agree Margot.