Ranking Every Denzel Washington/Spike Lee Collaboration

5. Highest 2 Lowest (2025)

I haven't seen this movie, and it comes out soon, so this isn't a real ranking. The movie premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and follows Washington and Lee tackling a modern reimagining of Akira Kurosawa's 1963 classic High and Low.

The film currently holds a promising 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, which would put it toward the top of this list if it holds.

4. Mo' Better Blues (1990)

The film that started it all, Mo' Better Blues, is a stylish and atmospheric exploration of the life of a talented but self-absorbed jazz trumpeter, Bleek Gilliam.

It has so much style, and the music in it is so sexy and sumptuous.

This is a compelling character study that allowed Denzel to find his character and just be himself, while Lee finds his own groove watching and moving the camera with the rhythm of the music.

The film grossed a respectable $16.2 million at the box office, and its soundtrack received a Grammy nomination, solidifying its place as a noteworthy first outing for the pair.

3. Inside Man (2006)

It's so funny to try to rank a list of movies that are all so good. And the slick and intelligent heist thriller, Inside Man, comes right in the middle of it, when it would be tops on a lot of other movie lists.

This movie proved that Washington and Lee could master a mainstream genre with their own unique flair. No voice or ideas are lost here; they're carefully woven into this movie as part of New York and its people.

Washington stars as Detective Keith Frazier, a sharp and witty hostage negotiator pitted against a brilliant and enigmatic bank robber.

The film is a suspenseful cat-and-mouse game that keeps audiences guessing until it's over.

2. He Got Game (1998)

I think this movie gets better every time I watch it. It's a blistering critique of the commodification of young Black athletes, and in the new era of NIL deals, it holds up.

He Got Game features Washington in a powerful performance as Jake Shuttlesworth, a convicted felon temporarily released from prison to persuade his estranged son, the nation's top basketball prospect, to play for the governor's alma mater.

It's a visually inventive and emotionally charged drama that explores themes of exploitation, fatherhood, and the false promise of the American dream.

1. Malcolm X (1992)

An undisputed masterpiece, Malcolm X is the towering achievement of the Washington-Lee collaboration. In a monumental and career-defining performance, Denzel Washington embodies the fiery and complex civil rights leader with breathtaking accuracy and emotional depth.

Lee's epic direction masterfully chronicles Malcolm X's life from his troubled youth to his transformative pilgrimage to Mecca.

Washington received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his powerful portrayal. The film's cultural significance and its lasting impact on cinema are immeasurable. Spike Lee should have won the Oscar.

Summing It All Up 

This was a fun ranking, even if it was hard, because it showed the evolution of these two men's work together and how they have really challenged each other to be better and to make some of the best movies of all time.