Oldboy
Spike Leehas enjoyed an illustrious vocation , and here ’s every one of his movies ranked from worst to best . Over the class of 35 years , Spike Lee has limit himself as one of America ’s best , most influential , and often most dissentious film maker . One of the leading figures in bleak cinema , Lee ’s employment is out of the question to ignore , even at its creatively weak . He ’s a dependable agent provocateur who sparks heated conversation with each new moving picture and he continues to be a jar of life to the American film manufacture well into his LX .
Lee never does the same thing doubly . Intensely fertile , he often makes a movie a year , all while forge as a prof at NYU and take a leak documentary film , stand - up specials , commercials , and much more . All these age since his fervent debut , Lee has lost none of his rage or righteous fury at the ills of the humanity . His latest motion picture , Da 5 Bloods , now available to watch on Netflix , go through him on fine maddened form and receiving some of his best reviews in years , but where does the play heap up against the other fascinating and varied motion-picture show in his back - catalog ?
This article focalise specifically on Spike Lee ’s 23 feature flick and not include his broad and unbelievable body of work as a documentarian and music director of shoot theatre . If you are concerned in those work then be trusted to watchWhen The Levees go against : A lament in Four Acts , his four - part documentary of the devastating shock ofHurricane Katrinaon New Orleans , andPassing Strange , his movie of the Broadway melodic of the same name .
23. Oldboy
Park Chan - wook’sOldboyis a radical thriller that bring in a new geological era of Korean movie house to Hollywood . To this day , the movie casts a big tail over the industry and has provided influence for a whole generation of directors . It did n’t need to be remade . How could you capture that trick twice ? Even Spike Lee could n’t pull it off and the end result is a lifeless and queerly casual thing that descends into the laughable where the original made us wide - eyed with shock . TheOldboyremake was heavily recut by the studio , so the blame ca n’t be place entirely on Lee for this mess . It ’s all too depressingly formal in the death , and that may be the worst thing any movie directed by Spike Lee can be .
22. Girl 6
Pulitzer Prize - winning playwright Suzan - Lori Parks indite the screenplay forGirl 6 , the story of a sweet guiltless young char who go down into the world of phone sexuality manipulator , and it ’s sort of hard to believe that a cleaning lady wrote this moving-picture show that seems to totally misunderstand the distaff gender at every turn . The likely complexities of this topic are reduced to an queerly black - and - white Virgo - cocotte building complex . Neither Spike Lee nor Lori - Parks seems to like their protagonist much , and she is often side - lined by defective dialogue , a deficiency of focus on her electric discharge , and some really weird celebrity cameos , including Madonna and Quentin Tarantino . Its only saving grace is a soundtrack compile by Prince .
21. She Hate Me
When Spike Lee lose the mark , he does so in near - spectacular style . She Hate Mefollows a disgraced executive director who adjudicate to make money by offering his service as a sperm donor to lesbian couples . Lee has face criticism over the years for his ham actor - fisted take on gender government andShe Hate Memay be the most rank example of how bad his proceeds can be . It ’s not provocative or carry a larger societal message ; it ’s just offensive and variety of crude . It ’s a shame to see such gifted actresses like Kerry Washington be saddled with this borderline - mean cloth .
20. Get On The Bus
In 1995 , the Million Man March took position in Washington D.C. , a gathering of Black men from across America as part of a grassroots movement to collect attending from politicians and the medium at large regarding issues of Black voters . Lee uses this occasion to dramatize those very issues inGet On the Bus , Mostly consist of conversations between some top - notch actors as they bid differing belief on topics of race , masculinity , political relation , and more , the film is a minor effort but one that stands as an interesting prison term space capsule of a extremely specific moment in prison term in America of the 1990s . One for Lee completionists only .
19. Da Sweet Blood of Jesus
Lee strike to Kickstarter to fund his articulated lorry - remake of the data-based horrorGanja and Hess . It ’s entrancing to see a Black vampire movie given how overwhelmingly white the genre is and there ’s an impressively nightmarish feel to the entire piece that effectively capture the suffocating experience of miss control over one ’s dead body . Sadly , it ’s just not shuddery enough to truly work . For a vampire flick , it ’s inquisitively exsanguine . The good vampire motion-picture show use that central metaphor to explore wider event andDa Sweet Blood of Jesusfeels oddly lovelorn of that . Bonus manoeuver , however , for evil butler Rami Malek .
18. Miracle at St. Anna
Spike Lee making a World War II motion picture feel like a neat decision at the time , butMiracle at St. Annashows a director out of his depth . Based on the account of a group of Black soldiers who sought refuge in a Tuscan village , the movie is overstuffed and overlong and feel queerly provisional in a way that simply does not suit Lee ’s talents . It ’s a film that somehow feel simultaneously too much and not enough , and not in the ways that Lee can often wield for emotional and stylistic military force . Miracle at St. Annahas great intentions but he would go on to make a far better warfare motion picture this year .
17. Summer of Sam
Nobody would ever accuse Spike Lee of endeavor to simulate another auteur ’s style , butSummer of Samis probably the closest he ’ll ever get to making aMartin Scorsese moving-picture show , for better or worse . Set during the Summer of 1977 when New York was plagued by both an heroic amnesia and the killings of David Berkowitz , the movie is wittingly trashy and stark in a way that Lee often avoids . His outsider take on an Italian - American vicinity lacks the layers and affectionateness of his other films and borders on offense at meter . It ’s certainly a film that makes an impact , and the mould are splendid as expected ( John Leguizamo is particularly strong ) , butSummer of Samfeels like a picture show where you ’re not entirely trusted what the pointedness of it all was .
16. Red Hook Summer
Red Hook Summersaw Spike Lee return to his low - budget etymon , free of full-grown studio interference and devoid to tell whatever story he desire . Shot guerrilla - dash and often with the function of iPads , this class dramatic event has the ferociousness of a director off the trey . Clarke Peters , perhaps best - sleep with forThe Wire , yield a stellar performance as a preacher of a crumbling church service adjudicate to keep the good word alive . There ’s a grand energy toRed Hook Summerbut it ’s so unwieldy that you would n’t be shock to find out that Lee was making it up as he went . That ’s not needs a bad affair but it expose howRed Hook Summerwas only a few screenplay drafts aside from being something genuinely special .
15. Crooklyn
One of only two Spike Lee movies with a PG-13 evaluation , Crooklynis a semi - autobiographical home portraiture that is one of the director ’s warm efforts . Bolstered by a superb cast that includes Zelda Harris , Alfre Woodard , and Delroy Lindo , Crooklynallows its tale to quietly spread out by having its young female champion notice the world around her . It ’s a softer travail from Lee and one that may turn out enticing to watcher who are less inclined towards the director ’s usual style , but its inconsistent tone place it off the rail by the third act .
14. Chi-Raq
The first film to be produced by Amazon Studios , 2015’sChi - Raqsees Lee veer wildly between razor - abrupt amusement and awkward societal caustic remark . Based onLysistrata , a classic Greek clowning from 411 BC , Chi - Raqimagines a riotous answer to crowd violence in Chicago ’s south side - until the combat end , the women of the urban center will withhold sex indefinitely . Lee has seldom been more ambitious , taking on Greek satire and combining it with music , drollery , satire , and a story of anger that palpate tangible on every aspect . It ’s gloriously over - the - top but often difficult to keep up with , as it seems like even Lee does n’t know what he wants to say or do with this tale . The final number is especially mussy , but what a wonderful batch it all is . After a few years of quieter , less acclaimed efforts , Chi - Raqfelt like Lee was announcing his paying back to the forefront with a boom .
13. Mo’ Better Blues
How do you accompany upDo the Right Thing ? You make a musical funniness - drama with Denzel Washington . Critics at the time wroteMo ' Better Bluesoff as a minor effort , a Hellenic example of a film - Creator clamber to get over the immense pressure of their break - out movie . It is a quieter and less urgent try thanDo the ripe Thing , but how could it be anything else ? Instead , Mo ' Better Bluesis a more focussed fictitious character study on a prodigy whose value for succeeder above all else becomes his downfall . The depiction of the jazz scene of late 1960s New York is as vibrant and eclectic as anything else Lee has made .
12. Clockers
Originally intended as a Martin Scorsese motion-picture show , Spike Lee postulate overClockerswhen he dropped out in favor ofCasino , leaving Lee to re - write the handwriting to his gustatory sensation . base on a novel by Richard Price , Clockersis a suitably moody crime dramatic event about a small - time drug dealer trance up in a murder investigation that quickly fall into chaos . As is befitting of the motion picture ’s Saul Bass - inspired bill sticker , Clockersis Lee ’s hard - boiled noir , a study of the ecosystem of crime and penalty that has become increasingly inescapable for many Black men . Its curtain raising credit , a collage of the crimson execution scenes of young Black men , is one of Lee ’s most prominent moment as a manager .
11. Jungle Fever
The big sweetener of 1991’sJungle Feveris the tumultuous affair between a marital Black designer , played by Wesley Snipes , and his white secretarial assistant , played by Annabella Sciorra . It is typically provocative and ambitious stuff and nonsense for Lee and a fortune of it has n’t aged well . What keeps the movie timeless and bracing in its importunity , however , is the subplot centered on Samuel L. Jackson ’s eccentric . He bet Snipes ’s cracking addict erstwhile comrade and Jackson sets the screenland on fire with his unflinching functioning of a military personnel at his lowest wane . He even won Best Supporting Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for his carrying into action , an award that is rarely given out by the jury .
10. He Got Game
Another collaboration with Denzel Washington , 1998’sHe Got Gamecasts the player as a captive serving a life conviction for pour down his married woman . The country ’s governor parole him for a week and promises him a reduced sentence if he can convince his son , one of the top - rank basketball medical prognosis in the country , to wager for his alma mater . He Got Gameis hailed as Lee ’s honorable movie sinceMalcolm X , and it certainly deserve more credit than it often receives in retrospectives of the managing director ’s career . As well as weaving a tricky but heartfelt portraiture of a deep complicated father - boy relationship , the movie offers a sharp depiction of the power of sports itself , both as a personal obsession and one that unites a nation .
9. Bamboozled
Spike Lee has reveled in being a divisive filmmaker but there may be no more controversial film in his catalog thanBamboozled . A scathing bill of indictment of late nineties and early 2000s medium and the break of day of reality TV , this satire imagines what would fall out if a internet commissioned a minstrel show , complete with blackface and every racist stereotype imaginable , and it became a countrywide success . Depending on who ’s asked , Bamboozledis either a stellar social critique or a wildly pure tone - deaf harangue . But really , it ’s the former . The movie forces white audiences to confront how happy they are to bear anti - pitch blackness as a sort of entertainment , viewing it as preferable to the actual thing , and how the media at prominent never stopped invest in the racism of minstrelsy . The terminal Montage of Hollywood ’s history of blackface is one of Lee ’s with child achievement .
8. She’s Gotta Have It
blast in smutty - and - snowy for only $ 175,000 over the course of 12 days , She ’s Got ta Have Itsignaled the arrival of Spike Lee with a boom . It ’s noteworthy how much of what we screw as Spike Lee picture show - making is present in his feature debut , from his visual grammar to the depiction of New York ’s vibrant neighbourhood . Some of the sexual politics of the motion picture have n’t aged well and Lee himself has noted rue about that but as a meter capsule of a metre , a place , and a director making his launching to the world of cinema , She ’s get ta Have Itis its own beast deserving celebrating .
7. School Daze
Made a yr beforeDo the Right Thing , School Dazeis arguably Lee ’s funniest movie as well as one of his most underrated . The musical comedy takes intake from Lee ’s experience as a scholarly person at the historically Black university Morehouse , and shows a rollicking humankind of frat house clashes , colorism , classism , political demonstrations , and life sentence - define parties . School Dazemay be tonally inconsistent - a key signature of Lee ’s work , for sound or speculative - but even as an example of a director still finding his feet , it ’s a riveting watch .
6. BlacKkKlansman
BlacKkKlansmanwas hail not only as a new bill for Spike Lee upon release but one of his most mainstream efforts in long time ( the movie made close to $ 100 million worldwide and finally bring Lee his long - sought - after Best Director nomination ) . It surely has the lark about musical note of a funniness with its concept of a Black police force ship’s officer who infiltrated the KKK ( a true story ) and there are laughs a - good deal throughout . The moral force between Adam Driver and John David Washington ( who gives a brilliant asterisk - is - bear performance ) is akin to the buddy cop drollery that overtop the ‘ 80s and ‘ 90s . Of course , that is only the draw for the real lick ofBlacKkKlansman ’s story , a forceful curse of a culture that appropriate white domination to predominate America to this day . The motion-picture show may be the best lesson we have of the world power of pop culture to steer bon ton , asBlacKkKlansmantakes a direct shot at D.W. Griffith’sThe parturition of a Nation , a man of KKK propaganda altogether embraced by the Klan that is still taught in film schools as an example of pioneer cinema . BlacKkKlansmanshows , through the laughs , how such conquest work .
5. Inside Man
think it or not , Inside Manwas supposed to be a Ron Howard movie , but once he stepped down , his acquire partner Brian Grazer had the superstar approximation to hire Spike Lee , a filmmaker who could not be more dissimilar from the old - schoolhouse studio style of Howard . It ’s rare that Lee is fundamentally a director - for - hire , but it turned out to be an amazing decision forInside Man , one of the best thrillers of the preceding 20 years .
While it may not have all the expected markers of a Spike Lee joint , there are still enough of the director ’s quirks to satisfy all , from the Terence Blanchard grade to a video game scene that could have come up straight out ofBamboozled . Moreover , Inside Manis a lot of sport and as near as Lee has amaze to create a grimy 1970s - style heist flick . This is hisDog Day Afternoon , a flick that ranks as one of Lee ’s personal favorites . Lee may not be a typical studio apartment theatre director but when he want to , he can keep up with the best of them and flap them at their own game .
4. Da 5 Bloods
As if befitting a keen Spike Lee picture show , Da 5 Bloodsis a shade too long , feels like six account explode at once , and has the subtlety of a jackhammer . That ’s what take a shit it so terrific . Da 5 Bloodsfeels as much like Spike Lee ’s old man picture show asThe Irishmandid for Scorsese , a scorching portrayal of feeling out of stead and out of meter . Where Scorsese plump for melancholy , Lee conk out for righteous anger , focusing his vigor on the intersection of America ’s military fetish and hundred of anti - Blackness in the context of the Vietnam War . Even as the film embrace the pulp lineament of its primal story , a cross betweenApocalypse NowandTreasure of the Sierra Madre , Lee never takes his fundament off the gas .
While theDa 5 Bloodscastis fantabulous , particular care must be given to Delroy Lindo ( The Good Fight ) . His character , a Trump - supporting Black Vietnam vet with PTSD and decade of compose - up emotions , is one of Lee ’s most gripping creations and Lindo brings him to lifespan with such fervency and subtlety . If he is deny an Oscar nominating address for his carrying out here then it will be one of the honest snubs of the 2020 award season . Da 5 Bloodsis already one of the sound movies of the year as well as one of Lee ’s top achievements .
Related : Da 5 Bloods Post - Credits Scene ( & Spike Lee Appearance ) Explained
3. 25th Hour
establish on a novel by pre - Game of ThronesDavid Benioff,25th Hourwas in the early provision degree when New York was devastated by the September 11 attacks . While most of Hollywood decided not to take on the world - changing result ( many movies simply CGI - vitamin D the Twin Towers out of apparent horizon shots with no account ) , Lee was never going to be the kind of film - maker who would do that . As one of the nifty New York directors , it fell upon Spike Lee ’s shoulders to show how 9/11 impacted the urban center and he did it with lyrical and thematic gusto . He captures the confusion , the ire , and the futile fury that accompanies tactual sensation of travail and confusion not only over one ’s own life but that of a world in state of flux . What ’s it like to sense so suppress by one ’s intragroup and external difference that all one can do is howl ? Spike Lee knows .
2. Malcolm X
This opulent three - and - a - half - hours long biopic ofMalcolm Xwas one of Lee ’s long - time heat projects and one he fought to direct after the task was ab initio given to Norman Jewison . The finished merchandise is one of immense scale and ambition , an uncompromising portrayal of an oft - misunderstood historical figure that reject to dampen or sugar - pelage his scratchy edges . Often , when biopics decide to take on their subject ’s entire life , they become overwhelmed by the story or begin cutting corners in favor of speedy expo , butMalcolm Xnever lowers itself to such punk tricks . At the heart of the floor is Denzel Washington ’s powerhouse performance , on that stands as one of the greats of American film and one of the most egregious Oscar snubs in history .
1. Do the Right Thing
1989’sDo the Right Thingwill be the film that not only delineate Spike Lee ’s career for the rest of his life but one that will stand as one of the large achievements of 20th C American cinema . It ’s almost startling how vibrant and timeless this astounding dramatic play is . Lee create a pitch - perfect slicing - of - life in the street of bottom - Stuy over the course of one stifling red-hot Summer day . As the time of day legislate and the heat increases , we see how simmer racial tensions in the city can not help but detonate . Every aspect ofDo the Right Thingis almost smother in its diversion of this mood , from the eye - burning red of the cinematography to the fourth - wall - part monologue that became the clobber of cinematic legend to Rosie Perez ’s ferocious dancing in the opening credits . To this day , audience indicate over whether Mookie did the right-hand thing in the end , an outcome that stay on depressingly relevant even in 2020.Do The Right Thinglives on as a dishearteningly timeless monitor of how the more thing exchange , the more they stay the same .
Next : Every Kenneth Branagh Movie Ranked From Worst To Best
