Dave’s Top 5: Denzel Washington Movies

Don't confuse Crimson Tide with The Hunt For Red October. Denzel Washington squares off against his superior officer, submarine captain Gene Hackman. Washington is the new XO. Hackman is an old sea dog who uses gut instinct. Washington is more of a thinking man. They receive order to launch their nuclear missiles against Russia. Then they receive a partial message reversing the order. The two clash over what to do next. One of the cool parts is how Washington's character settles an argument between two crewmen over the Marvel Comics character The Silver Surfer.

This is one of the few movies I like Angelina Jolie in. This was the beginning of the whole CSI forensic genre. Washington plays quadriplegic investigator-consultant Lincoln Rhyme. First of all it's his one of his best performances because he's actually directing and narrating everybody else in the movie. He guides policewoman Jolie through her first steps from patrolwoman to crime scene investigator. He also has a pretty cool fight scene. It's a great mystery-suspense film that makes me believe that no one is really handicapped.

Right after Chris Pine achieved Warp Factor 10 as the new Captain Kirk in J.J. Abrams 2009 Star Trek reboot, he was in Unstoppable with Denzel Washington a year later. Based on a true event, Pine and Washington play two engineers that stop a runaway freight train. Did I mention that it's. Two. Guys. Stopping. A. Runaway. Fright. Train.

Mic drop.

This is a movie with a social message. Washington is Coach Herman Boone, introducing a racially diverse team at T C Williams High School in Alexandria, a suburb of Washington, DC in 1971. Although it does take some liberties with the true story it's based on, Washington and co-star Will Patton and the supporting cast are awesome butting heads until they figure out a way to work together or a way to walk away. It's almost as good as Dead Poets Society, if you substitute football for classic literature.

It's probably one of my favorite Denzel Washington movies. Okay he's great in films like Glory, A Soldier's Story, Malcolm X and Philadelphia. But this one isn't a movie with a social message. It's a an action-adventure-time travel movie. Washington investigates a river boat explosion in New Orleans. When he comes across a team of investigators with a unique method. It's got a great supporting cast; more importantly it's got a great chase scene, some cool explosions and a bunch of great twists and turns. I won't spoil the ending, but it's pretty cool.