Will Smith and the Oscars were two separate words until they were not. Social media came crashing down when his and Chris Rock’s infamous drama unfolded at the 2022 Oscar awards event. What was supposed to be a joke turned terribly ugly when Will Smith slapped the host Chris Rock amidst the ongoing event. And ever since that dreaded night, the name, fame, and everything else Will worked for became a blur, and the only prominent thing people frantically searched for was “Will Smith at the Oscars”.

However, isn’t it enough time to bury that news? After all, he did publicly apologize to Chris Rock via his Twitter handle for his disgraceful behavior. Let bygones be bygones. It’s been 20 years – two whole decades – since we first saw Will Smith onscreen on NBC, starting out as a fictionalized and charming version of himself in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, a sitcom. Even today, despite the dramatic consequences, he is a talented actor acknowledged by his fans, a.k.a., the Willenniums, his frenemies, and his enemies alike.

He certainly is much more than a controversy gone wild! So, let’s go down memory lane and revisit all his fabulous works in the entertainment industry. This article will list the top 25 best movies ranked as per IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes.

Who is Will Smith?

Willard Carroll Smith II, also known as The Fresh Prince, his stage name, is an American actor, producer, rapper, and comedian. He is the founder of the following organizations –

• Overbrook Entertainment,
• New Village Leadership Academy,
• Treyball Development Inc., and
• Westbrook.

He was first nominated in 1991 for the Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite TV Actor but won his first award, the ShoWest Award for Male Star of Tomorrow, in 1995. Since then, he has been in 182 nominations, out of which he has won 89 accolades, including 1 Oscar. He has also been named as the most powerful actor in Hollywood by Newsweek in 2007.

Top 25 Best Will Smith movies and TV shows: Ranked

We have often seen Will playing rebellious and wise-cracking characters, but we have also witnessed his diversified pop culture portfolio in the ’90s. Although his popularity saw a hugely precipitous and significant decline after the reckless incident, you cannot deny that he did win the hearts of a whole lot of audiences with his goofy smile and impressive career. So, here are some of his finest works ranked best to better as per IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes.

We have also included trailers and which OTT platform you can watch them on!

20 Best Will Smith movies

1. The Pursuit of Happyness

IMDb: 8.0/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 67%

Google User rating: 94%

Released: 15 December 2006

Director: Gabriele Muccino

Starring: Will Smith, Jaden Smith, and Thandiwe Newton

Production companies: Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media, and Overbrook Entertainment

Watch on Amazon Prime Video or Sony Entertainment

2. Men in Black

IMDb: 7.3/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 92%

Google User rating: 88%

Released: 2 July 1997

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

Starring: Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino, and Tommy Lee Jones

Production companies: Columbia Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, and Parkes/MacDonald Image Nation

Watch on Amazon Prime Video

3. Seven Pounds

IMDb: 7.6/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 27%

Google User rating: 70%

Released: 19 December 2008

Director: Gabriele Muccino

Starring: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, and Woody Harrelson

Production companies: Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media, Escape Artists, and Overbrook Entertainment

Watch on Amazon Prime Video

4. Six Degrees of Separation

IMDb: 6.8/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 88%

Google User rating: 70%

Released: 8 December 1993

Director: Fred Schepisi

Starring: Will Smith, Stockard Channing, and Donald Sutherland

Production companies: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Maiden Movies, and New Regency Productions

Watch on Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV

5. Enemy of the State

IMDb: 7.3/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 70%

Google User rating: 87%

Released: 20 November 1998

Director: Tony Scott

Starring: Will Smith, Jon Voight, and Gene Hackman

Production companies: Touchstone Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, and Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films

Watch on Disney+Hotstar

6. I Am Legend

IMDb: 7.2/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 68%

Google User rating: 88%

Released: 14 December 2007

Director: Francis Lawrence

Starring: Will Smith, Charlie Tahan, and Alice Braga

Production companies: Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures, and Weed Road Pictures

Watch on Amazon Prime Video

7. Where the Day Takes You

IMDb: 6.5/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 80%

Google User rating: 73%

Released: January 1992

Director: Marc Rocco

Starring: Will Smith, Dermot Mulroney, Robert Knepper, and Laura San Giacomo

Production companies: Production companies, Cinetel Films, and John Cornett & Doc Productions

Watch on Amazon Prime Video

8. I, Robot

IMDb: 7.1/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 56%

Google User rating: 86%

Released: 13 August 2004

Director: Alex Proyas

Starring: Will Smith, Bruce Greenwood, and Bridget Moynahan

Production companies: Twentieth Century Fox, Mediastream Vierte Film GmbH & Co. Vermarktungs KG, and Davis Entertainment

Watch on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, or Apple TV

9. Independence Day

IMDb: 7.0/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 67%

Google User rating: 87%

Released: November 1996

Director: Roland Emmerich

Starring: Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, and Bill Pullman

Production companies: Twentieth Century Fox and Centropolis Entertainment

Watch on Apple TV

10. Spies in Disguise

IMDb: 6.8/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 77%

Google User rating: 74%

Released: 27 December 2019

Directors: Nick Bruno and Troy Quane

Starring: Will Smith, Rachel Brosnahan, Claire Crosby, and Jarrett Bruno

Production companies: Blue Sky Studios, Chernin Entertainment, and Twentieth Century Fox Animation

Watch on Disney+Hotstar

11. Bad Boys

IMDb: 6.8/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 42%

Google User rating: 87%

Released: 7 April 1995

Director: Michael Bay

Starring: Will Smith, Lisa Boyle, and Martin Lawrence

Production companies: Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films

Watch on Netflix

12. Ali

IMDb: 6.7/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 68%

Google User rating: 73%

Released: 25 December 2001

Director: Michael Mann

Starring: Will Smith, John Voight, and Jamie Foxx

Production companies: Columbia Pictures, Forward Pass, and Initial Entertainment Group (IEG)

Watch on Amazon Prime Video

13. Hitch

IMDb: 6.6/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 69%

Google User rating: 84%

Released: 18 March 2005

Director: Andy Tennant

Starring: Will Smith, Kevin James, Eva Mendes, and Amber Valletta

Production companies: Columbia Pictures and Overbrook Entertainment

Watch on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, or Apple TV

14. Bad Boys for Life (also known as Bad Boys 3)

IMDb: 6.5/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 76%

Google User rating: 84%

Released: 17 January 2020

Directors: Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi

Starring: Will Smith, Vanessa Hudgens, and Martin Lawrence

Production companies: Columbia Pictures, 2.0 Entertainment, and Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films

Watch on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video

15. Focus

IMDb: 6.6/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 56%

Google User rating: 74%

Released: 13 March 2015

Directors: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa

Starring: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Gerald McRaney, and Adrian Martinez

Production companies: RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Kramer & Sigman Films, Di Novi Pictures, Overbrook Entertainment, and Zaftig Films

Watch on Amazon Prime Video and Netflix

16. Hancock

IMDb: 6.4/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 41%

Google User rating: 82%

Released: 11 July 2008

Director: Peter Berg

Starring: Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Eddie Marsan, and Jason Bateman

Production companies: Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media, and Blue Light

Watch on Netflix

17. The Legend of Bagger Vance

IMDb: 6.7/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 43%

Google User rating: 85%

Released: 3 November 2000

Director: Robert Redford

Starring: Will Smith, Matt Damon, Bruce McGill, and Charlize Theron

Production companies: Twentieth Century Fox, Dreamworks Pictures, and Epsilon Motion Pictures

Watch on Amazon Prime Video

18. Shark Tale

IMDb: 6.0/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 35%

Google User rating: 72%

Released: 1 October 2004

Directors: Rob Letterman, Vicky Jenson, and Bibo Bergeron

Starring: Will Smith, Robert De Niro, Jack Black, and Renée Zellweger

Production companies: DreamWorks Animation and Dreamworks Pictures

Watch on Amazon Prime Video or Youtube

19. Suicide Squad

IMDb: 5.9/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 26%

Google User rating: 75%

Released: 5 August 2016

Director: David Ayer

Starring: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, and Joel Kinnaman

Production companies: Atlas Entertainment, DC Comics, and DC Entertainment

Watch on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Youtube

20. Gemini Man

IMDb: 5.7/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 26%

Google User rating: 72%

Released: 11 October 2019

Director: Ang Lee

Starring: Will Smith, Clive Owen, Benedict Wong, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Production companies: Skydance Media, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, and Fosun Group Forever Pictures

Watch on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, or Youtube

5 Best Will Smith TV shows

1. One Strange Rock

IMDb: 8.7/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 83%

Google User rating: 95%

Released: 26 March 2018

Directors: Glenn Barden and Nigel Walk

Starring: Will Smith, Jerry Linenger, Nicole Stott, and Chris Hadfield

Production companies: Nutopia, Protozoa Pictures, and Overbrook Entertainment

Watch on Youtube

2. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

IMDb: 7.9/10

Google User rating: 95%

Released: 10 September 1990

Ended: 20 May 1996

Directors: Andy Borowitz and Susan Borowitz

Starring: Will Smith, Alfonso Ribeiro, Tatyana Ali, and James Avery

Production companies: NBC Productions, Quincy Jones Entertainment, and Quincy Jones-David Salzman Entertainment

Watch on Netflix

3. Welcome to Earth

IMDb: 7.9/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 100%

Google User rating: 77%

Released: 8 December 2021

Director: Michael Mann

Starring: Will Smith, Cory Richards, and Diva Amon

Production companies: National Geographic, Nutopia, and Westbrook Studios

Watch on Disney+Hotstar

4. Amend: The Fight for America

IMDb: 7.7/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 100%

Google User rating: 71%

Released: 17 February 2021

Starring: Will Smith, Larry Wilmore, and Bryan Stevenson

Production companies: Makemake, Netflix, and The Documentary Group

Watch on Amazon Prime Video or Netflix

5. Best Shape of My Life

IMDb: 6.1/10

Google User rating: 72%

Released: 2021

Starring: Will Smith

Production company: Westbrook Media

Watch on Amazon Prime Video or Youtube

Did you know?

Some interesting facts about our Bel Prince are –

• Will likes to don a head guard to indulge in a bout of fencing with his friends, even including David Beckham and Tom Cruise.

• Smith can solve a Rubik’s cube in ONLY 55 seconds!

• Will is the ONLY actor to gross 100 million dollars (domestically) with eight consecutive movies in a row!

• Smith’s famous running catchphrase is Aw, hell no!  – he makes sure to use this line in almost every movie and TV series.

• Will is a BIG fan of professional wrestling (now, common on, do not connect it with the Oscar slap incident)

• Today he surely is a billionaire, but he was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1990 (unbelievable, right?)

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