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Is Denzel the greatest American actor of the 20th century?

mansoor1980

Member
yes

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Mr Hyde

Member
Denzel is great, but of his generation Gary Oldman and Tom Hanks I would say are much better and have turned in far more memorable performances with a lot more depth and range. Denzel is no slouch though, one of his best and most underrated roles is in Flight, where he plays a troubled, alcoholic pilot who manages to do something incredible with his malfunctioning airplane that saves a lot of his passengers. But an investigation shows he was under the influence and he gets in trouble. He was Oscar nominated for that role and he should've won. It's a much better performance than Training Day.
 

Fatmanp

Member
Denzel is my clear GOAT but I think his 21st century films are better than his 20th century films. Hanks, Pacino and De Niro all have superior pre 2000 libraries than him.
 

Blade2.0

Member
You know what, I think I thought of another GOAT that no one has mentioned yet and is one of my personal favorites:

Tim Curry

The dude can act.

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BadBurger

Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
He's certainly up there IMO, like top five to ten, but I don't think I can choose a single one. My opinion changes depending upon what I've watched lately
 

dorkimoe

Member
Denzel had a string of absolute bangers. Some great movies. 7 year span

Remember The titans
Training Day
John Q
out of time
Man on Fire
Inside Man
Deja Vu
American Gangster
 

BadBurger

Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
Denzel had a string of absolute bangers. Some great movies. 7 year span

Remember The titans
Training Day
John Q
out of time
Man on Fire
Inside Man
Deja Vu
American Gangster

I don't think I've ever seen a film that he starred in that I didn't enjoy.
 

bitbydeath

Member
All the really good actors I can think of aren’t American. 🙈

Daniel Day-Lewis or Tom Hanks for me personally.
Daniel isn’t American, I guess that just leaves Tom….

Actually I’m going to throw John Lithgow into the mix.

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He’s got a wide range from being funny to downright sinister.
 

Big Baller

Al Pachinko, Konami President
He's a good solid actor, American Gangster and Training Day are his best movies imo.
 
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RJMacready73

Simps for Amouranth
The Fifth Element Movie GIF

This guy is just fucking amazing in everything he does, from really hamming it up to being psychotically frightening in his roles.. his latest in Slow Horses playing a thoroughly unlikeable cunt is just sublime. For me its Gary Oldman who has a far greater range than Denzel who always seems to play Denzel
 
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kurisu_1974

Member
I feel like this seems to be the consensus. No one really comes close. Pacino and Deniro are great but they don't really have the range and depth that Denzel at his best has

Ooff no. Dude plays the exact same dude with the exact same mannerism in every role.
 
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