Movies with Positive Black Male Protagonists
by irondrake-02553 | created - 19 Apr 2017 | updated - 06 Sep 2021 | PublicMovies starring an African-American or black person who is portrayed in a positive or non-stereotyped manner.
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1. Coach Carter (2005)
PG-13 | 136 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Controversy surrounds high school basketball coach Ken Carter after he benches his entire team for breaking their academic contract with him.
Director: Thomas Carter | Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Rick Gonzalez, Robert Ri'chard, Rob Brown
Votes: 171,896 | Gross: $67.26M
Based on a true story, Coach Carter locks down his teams championship season when his team fails to honor their academic contract with him. When he is criticized by the players and their parents, he sticks to his guns, determined that they excel in class as well as on the court.
2. The Tuskegee Airmen (1995 TV Movie)
PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, History, War
The true story of how a group of African-American pilots overcame racist opposition to become one of the finest United States fighter groups in World War II.
Director: Robert Markowitz | Stars: Laurence Fishburne, Allen Payne, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Courtney B. Vance
Votes: 7,084
3. Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (2009 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 90 min | Biography, Drama
Biography of Ben Carson who grew up to be Dr. Ben Carson, a world famous neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins.
Director: Thomas Carter | Stars: Cuba Gooding Jr., Kimberly Elise, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Alora Adams
Votes: 15,884
Inspired by his mother (Kimberly Elise) to never give up, Detroit native Ben Carson (Cuba Gooding Jr.) overcomes poverty and prejudice to become a neurosurgeon.
4. Men in Black (1997)
PG-13 | 98 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
James, an NYC cop, is hired by Agent K of a secret government agency that monitors extraterrestrial life on Earth. Together, they must recover an item that has been stolen by an intergalactic villain.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld | Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D'Onofrio
Votes: 612,665 | Gross: $250.69M
A police officer (Will Smith) is recruited into a secret organization that polices and monitors extraterrestrial life. Together, with his straitlaced and crusty new partner (Tommy Lee Jones), he investigates a series of unauthorized events and discovers the deadly plot of an intergalactic terrorist.
5. Coming to America (1988)
R | 117 min | Comedy, Romance
An extremely pampered African prince travels to Queens, New York and goes undercover to find a wife that he can respect for her intelligence and strong will.
Director: John Landis | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Paul Bates, Garcelle Beauvais, Feather
Votes: 223,503 | Gross: $128.15M
6. Men in Black II (2002)
PG-13 | 88 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Agent J is sent to find Agent K and restore his memory after the re-appearance of a case from K's past.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld | Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Rip Torn, Lara Flynn Boyle
Votes: 403,472 | Gross: $190.42M
7. Black Panther (2018)
PG-13 | 134 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
T'Challa, heir to the hidden but advanced kingdom of Wakanda, must step forward to lead his people into a new future and must confront a challenger from his country's past.
Director: Ryan Coogler | Stars: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira
Votes: 837,340 | Gross: $700.06M
8. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
PG-13 | 121 min | Biography, Drama, History
Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager, houses over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda, Africa.
Director: Terry George | Stars: Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix, Xolani Mali
Votes: 372,177 | Gross: $23.53M
9. I, Robot (2004)
PG-13 | 115 min | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
In 2035, a technophobic cop investigates a crime that may have been perpetrated by a robot, which leads to a larger threat to humanity.
Director: Alex Proyas | Stars: Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, Alan Tudyk
Votes: 575,180 | Gross: $144.80M
In 2035, highly intelligent robots fill public service positions throughout the world, operating under three rules to keep humans safe. As Detective Del Spooner (Will Smith) investigates the alleged suicide of a U.S. Robotics founder, he begins to wonder how safe humanities dependence on robots really is.
10. Snow Dogs (2002)
PG | 99 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
When a Miami dentist inherits a team of sled dogs, he's got to learn the trade or lose his pack to a crusty mountain man.
Director: Brian Levant | Stars: Cuba Gooding Jr., James Coburn, Sisqó, Nichelle Nichols
Votes: 28,596 | Gross: $81.17M
A successful Miami dentist learns that he is adopted and that his birth mother has died and left him an inheritance in Alaska. His inheritance- her beloved sled dogs. In this fun PG comedy, Ted Brooks (Cuba Gooding, Jr) must learn to work with his new team and in the process learns more about himself and his family.
11. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
PG | 117 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
Teen Miles Morales becomes the Spider-Man of his universe and must join with five spider-powered individuals from other dimensions to stop a threat for all realities.
Directors: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman | Stars: Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali
Votes: 671,064 | Gross: $190.24M
12. The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
PG-13 | 117 min | Biography, Drama
A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career
Director: Gabriele Muccino | Stars: Will Smith, Thandiwe Newton, Jaden Smith, Brian Howe
Votes: 560,528 | Gross: $163.57M
13. I Am Legend (2007)
PG-13 | 101 min | Action, Drama, Horror
Years after a plague kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure.
Director: Francis Lawrence | Stars: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Salli Richardson-Whitfield
Votes: 813,900 | Gross: $256.39M
14. Independence Day (1996)
PG-13 | 145 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind's best weapon is the will to survive.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell
Votes: 605,456 | Gross: $306.17M
15. To Sir, with Love (1967)
Approved | 105 min | Drama
Idealistic engineer-trainee and his experiences in teaching a group of rambunctious white high school students from the slums of London's East End.
Director: James Clavell | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Judy Geeson, Christian Roberts, Suzy Kendall
Votes: 20,413 | Gross: $42.43M
16. Wild Wild West (1999)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi
The two best special agents in the Wild West must save President Grant from the clutches of a diabolical, wheelchair-bound, steampunk-savvy, Confederate scientist bent on revenge for losing the Civil War.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld | Stars: Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, Salma Hayek
Votes: 167,268 | Gross: $113.81M
The world needs more Steampunk Westerns
17. The Magic of Belle Isle (2012)
PG | 109 min | Comedy, Drama
Monty Wildhorn, an alcoholic novelist of Westerns, has lost his drive. His nephew pushes him to summer in quiet Belle Isle. He begrudgingly befriends a newly single mom and her 3 girls who help him find the inspiration to write again.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Virginia Madsen, Madeline Carroll, Emma Fuhrmann
Votes: 20,334 | Gross: $0.10M
18. Men of Honor (2000)
R | 129 min | Biography, Drama
The story of Carl Brashear, the first African-American U.S. Navy Diver, and the man who trained him.
Director: George Tillman Jr. | Stars: Cuba Gooding Jr., Robert De Niro, Charlize Theron, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor
Votes: 125,117 | Gross: $48.82M
19. Miracle at St. Anna (2008)
R | 160 min | Action, Drama, War
Set in 1944 Italy, the story of four black American soldiers who get trapped in a Tuscan village during WWII.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso, Omar Benson Miller
Votes: 19,190 | Gross: $7.92M
20. Django Unchained (2012)
R | 165 min | Drama, Western
With the help of a German bounty-hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner in Mississippi.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington
Votes: 1,694,333 | Gross: $162.81M
The 'R' rating makes this a movie best viewed after the kids have gone to bed, but its fun to see a Western that deviates a little from the norm. The costumes are fabulous. Not every gentleman can pull off blue velvet suits.
21. Lethal Weapon (1987)
R | 109 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Two newly paired cops who are complete opposites must put aside their differences in order to catch a gang of drug smugglers.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Mitchell Ryan
Votes: 276,296 | Gross: $65.21M
22. Blade (1998)
R | 120 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
A half-vampire, half-mortal man becomes a protector of the mortal race, while slaying evil vampires.
Director: Stephen Norrington | Stars: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, N'Bushe Wright
Votes: 298,831 | Gross: $70.09M
23. The Magnificent Seven (2016)
PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Seven gunmen from a variety of backgrounds are brought together by a vengeful young widow to protect her town from the private army of a destructive industrialist.
Director: Antoine Fuqua | Stars: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio
Votes: 228,141 | Gross: $93.43M
24. Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
PG | 99 min | Comedy, Drama
An old Jewish woman and her African-American chauffeur in the American South have a relationship that grows and improves over the years.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, Dan Aykroyd, Patti LuPone
Votes: 117,522 | Gross: $106.59M
25. Wild Wild West (1999)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi
The two best special agents in the Wild West must save President Grant from the clutches of a diabolical, wheelchair-bound, steampunk-savvy, Confederate scientist bent on revenge for losing the Civil War.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld | Stars: Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, Salma Hayek
Votes: 167,268 | Gross: $113.81M
26. Remember the Titans (2000)
PG | 113 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
In 1971 Virginia high school football was everything to the people of Alexandria. But when the school board was forced to integrate an all-black school with an all-white one, the very foundation of football's tradition was put to the test.
Director: Boaz Yakin | Stars: Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Wood Harris, Ryan Hurst
Votes: 231,853 | Gross: $115.65M
27. Major Payne (1995)
PG-13 | 95 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
When a recently discharged Marine struggles to adjust to civilian life, his commanding officer brings him back to the military to train and lead a group of misfit JORTC cadets.
Director: Nick Castle | Stars: Damon Wayans, Michael Ironside, Bam Bam Bigelow, Joseph Blaire
Votes: 39,001 | Gross: $29.41M
Major Payne's entire life has been combat, but, when he runs out of wars to fight in, he must face his biggest challenge yet - civilian life. In this hilarious comedy, Major Payne must build a winning team out of a group of apathetic teenage boys.
28. Glory (1989)
R | 122 min | Biography, Drama, History
Robert Gould Shaw leads the U.S. Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices from both his own Union Army, and the Confederates.
Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, Morgan Freeman
Votes: 144,385 | Gross: $26.83M
Following the Battle of Antietam, Col. Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick) is offered command of the United States' first all-African-American regiment, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. aThey are a strong and proud unit, including the escaped slave Trip (Denzel Washington) and the wise gravedigger John Rawlins (Morgan Freeman).
29. The Preacher's Wife (1996)
PG | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
An angel comes to Earth to help a preacher save his church and his family.
Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, Courtney B. Vance, Gregory Hines
Votes: 13,726 | Gross: $48.10M
30. Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019)
PG | 104 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
In a world where people collect Pokémon to do battle, a boy comes across an intelligent talking Pikachu who seeks to be a detective.
Director: Rob Letterman | Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith, Kathryn Newton, Bill Nighy
Votes: 182,517 | Gross: $144.11M
31. Blade II (2002)
R | 117 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Blade forms an uneasy alliance with the vampire council in order to combat the Reapers, who are feeding on vampires.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman, Leonor Varela
Votes: 234,345 | Gross: $82.35M
32. Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words (2020)
PG-13 | 116 min | Documentary, Biography
A controversial figure, loved by some, reviled by others, few know much more than a few headlines and the recollections of his contentious confirmation battle with Anita Hill. A story truly and fully, without cover-ups or distortions.
Director: Michael Pack | Stars: Clarence Thomas, Joe Biden, Anita Hill, Ginni Thomas
Votes: 1,138
33. Soul (2020)
PG | 100 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Joe is a middle-school band teacher whose life hasn't quite gone the way he expected. His true passion is jazz. But when he travels to another realm to help someone find their passion, he soon discovers what it means to have soul.
Directors: Pete Docter, Kemp Powers | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Graham Norton, Rachel House
Votes: 379,474
34. The Tunnel (1940)
Not Rated | 76 min | Drama, Music
In a Welsh coal mining valley, a young man with a beautiful singing voice is called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice when a pit disaster threatens.
Director: Pen Tennyson | Stars: Paul Robeson, Edward Chapman, Simon Lack, Rachel Thomas
Votes: 611
35. The Last Dragon (1985)
PG-13 | 109 min | Action, Comedy, Drama
In New York City, a young man searches for a Master to obtain the final level of martial arts mastery known as the Glow.
Director: Michael Schultz | Stars: Taimak, Vanity, Christopher Murney, Julius Carry
Votes: 17,477 | Gross: $25.75M
36. Bad Boys (1995)
R | 119 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Two hip detectives protect a witness to a murder while investigating a case of stolen heroin from the evidence storage room from their police precinct.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Lisa Boyle, Michael Taliferro
Votes: 286,261 | Gross: $65.81M
37. The Karate Kid (2010)
PG | 140 min | Action, Drama, Family
Work causes a single mother to move to China with her young son; in his new home, the boy embraces kung fu, taught to him by a master.
Director: Harald Zwart | Stars: Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith, Taraji P. Henson, Wenwen Han
Votes: 205,443 | Gross: $176.59M
When 12-year-old Dre Parker's mother's latest career move has landed him in China he is left with no friends in a strange land. In order to combat the school bullies, Dre learns kung fu and self discipline from the maintenance man (Jackie Chan).
38. Selma (2014)
PG-13 | 128 min | Biography, Drama, History
A chronicle of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965.
Director: Ava DuVernay | Stars: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 95,454 | Gross: $52.08M
39. Invictus (2009)
PG-13 | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History
Nelson Mandela, in his first term as President of South Africa, initiates a unique venture to unite the Apartheid-torn land: enlist the national rugby team on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Tony Kgoroge, Patrick Mofokeng
Votes: 167,850 | Gross: $37.49M
40. Creed (II) (2015)
PG-13 | 133 min | Action, Drama, Sport
The former World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa serves as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Johnson, the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed.
Director: Ryan Coogler | Stars: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad
Votes: 310,787 | Gross: $109.77M
41. The Butler (I) (2013)
PG-13 | 132 min | Biography, Drama
As Cecil Gaines serves eight presidents during his tenure as a butler at the White House, the civil rights movement, Vietnam, and other major events affect this man's life, family, and American society.
Director: Lee Daniels | Stars: Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, John Cusack, Jane Fonda
Votes: 119,721 | Gross: $116.63M
42. Cool Runnings (1993)
PG | 98 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
When a Jamaican sprinter is disqualified from the Olympic Games, he enlists the help of a dishonored coach to start the first Jamaican Bobsled Team.
Director: Jon Turteltaub | Stars: John Candy, Leon, Doug E. Doug, Rawle D. Lewis
Votes: 113,728 | Gross: $68.86M
43. The Banker (2020)
PG-13 | 120 min | Biography, Drama
In the 1960s, two African-American entrepreneurs hire a working-class white man to pretend to be the head of their business empire while they pose as a janitor and chauffeur.
Director: George Nolfi | Stars: Anthony Mackie, Samuel L. Jackson, Nicholas Hoult, Nia Long
Votes: 35,658
44. Reggie's Prayer (1996)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Sport
White stars as Reggie Knox, a pro football player who retires, frustrated because he hasn't won a championship. Knox begins coaching a Portland, Ore., high school football program, where he befriends a troubled student.
Director: Paul McKellips | Stars: Cylk Cozart, Allan Creel, Emilio Delgado, Brett Favre
Votes: 195
45. Lean on Me (1989)
PG-13 | 108 min | Drama
The dedicated but tyrannical Joe Clark is appointed the principal of a decaying inner-city school he is determined to improve by any and all means.
Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Beverly Todd, Robert Guillaume, Alan North
Votes: 22,976 | Gross: $31.91M
46. Race (I) (2016)
PG-13 | 134 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Jesse Owens' quest to become the greatest track and field athlete in history thrusts him onto the world stage of the 1936 Olympics, where he faces off against Adolf Hitler's vision of Aryan supremacy.
Director: Stephen Hopkins | Stars: Stephan James, Jason Sudeikis, Eli Goree, Shanice Banton
Votes: 40,916 | Gross: $19.10M
47. 42 (2013)
PG-13 | 128 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
In 1947, Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era when he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and faces considerable racism in the process.
Director: Brian Helgeland | Stars: Chadwick Boseman, T.R. Knight, Harrison Ford, Nicole Beharie
Votes: 102,687 | Gross: $95.00M
48. Just Mercy (2019)
PG-13 | 137 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
World-renowned civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson works to free a wrongly condemned death row prisoner.
Director: Destin Daniel Cretton | Stars: Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Brie Larson, Charlie Pye Jr.
Votes: 75,708
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