Six Degrees of Separation is a 1993 American comedy-drama film directed by Fred Schepisi and based on John Guare's Pulitzer Prize-nominated 1990 play of the same name.

The plot of the film was inspired by the true story of David Hampton, a con man and robber who convinced a number of people in the 1980s that he was the son of actor Sidney Poitier. Hampton paid a visit to Inger McCabe Elliott's and her husband Osborn Elliott's New York apartment in October 1983, and they allowed him to spend the night. The next morning, Inger discovered Hampton in bed with another man and called the police. The Elliotts told their friend, writer John Guare, the story, which inspired him to write the play years later.

Smith had only recently emerged from his Fresh Prince phase when he found his most substantial and satisfying success in director Fred Schepisi's film adaptation of John Guare's play. Smith plays a charming Mr. Ripley figure, a young man who connives his way into the lives of two wealthy high-society types, played by Stockard Channing and Donald Sutherland, by claiming to be Sidney Poitier's son and thus cunningly and tacitly playing on their liberal white guilt about race. Smith's performance is both charismatic and unsettling; it remains his masterpiece.

Detailed information:

Directed by: Fred Schepisi

Release date: December 8, 1993
Running time: 112 minutes

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108149

Aladdin is a 2019 American musical fantasy film directed by Tim Burton and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. It is a live-action/CGI adaptation of Disney's 1992 animated film of the same name, which is based on the eponymous tale from One Thousand and One Nights, directed by Guy Ritchie from a script he co-wrote with John August. Will Smith stars in the film, alongside Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, Marwan Kenzari, Navid Negahban, Nasim Pedrad, Billy Magnussen, and Numan Acar, as well as Alan Tudyk and Frank Welker, who reprise their roles from previous media. The story follows a street urchin named Aladdin as he falls in love with Princess Jasmine, befriends a wish-granting Genie, and battles the evil Jafar.

Many were concerned that Smith would take over as the genie from Robin Williams in the Disney live-action remake of Aladdin in 2019; others were concerned about the possibility of tone-deaf orientalist offense. Smith's signature goofy charm, on the other hand, is allowed to flourish in this likably zany, high-energy comedy in which Smith is allowed to steal every scene he's in. A reminder that comedy was his first love.

Detailed information:

Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Release dates: May 8, 2019 (Grand Rex)
Running time: 128 minutes

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6139732

Michael Mann co-wrote, produced, and directed Ali, an American biographical sports drama film released in 2001. From 1964 to 1974, the film follows boxer Muhammad Ali, played by Will Smith, as he captures the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston, converts to Islam, criticizes the Vietnam War, and is banned from boxing, returns to fight Joe Frazier in 1971, and finally reclaims the title from George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle fight in 1974. It also mentions the great social and political upheaval that occurred in the United States following the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.

Smith played Muhammad Ali in Michael Mann's virile biopic with care, gravitas, and charm, taking viewers from the boxer's defeat of Sonny Liston in 1964 to his conscientious stand against the Vietnam draft and the "Rumble in the Jungle" against George Foreman the following decade. It's a powerful and heartfelt performance, a rare and possibly one-of-a-kind example of Smith being technically challenged as an actor.

Detailed information:

Directed by: Michael Mann

Release date: December 25, 2001
Running time: 157 minutes

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0248667

Independence Day (also known as ID4) is a 1996 American science fiction action film directed and written by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, Margaret Colin, Randy Quaid, Robert Loggia, James Rebhorn, Harvey Fierstein, and Harry Connick Jr. star in the film. The plot revolves around disparate groups of people who come together in the Nevada desert in the aftermath of a worldwide attack by an extraterrestrial race. On July 4—Independence Day in the United States—they launch a counterattack on the rest of the world.

The clunky 2016 sequel to this film is now best known for Boris Johnson using it as a pro-Brexit rallying cry, but the original is a very enjoyable, brash piece of entertainment: an alien invasion disaster movie with the (almost shocking) spectacle of the White House being zapped. Jeff Goldblum played the eccentric computer genius, and Bill Pullman played one of the many quasi-Bill Clinton-like US presidents of the time. Smith, on the other hand, stole the show as the cocky hotshot fighter pilot who takes on the creepy invaders.

Detailed information:

Directed by: Roland Emmerich

Release date: July 3, 1996
Running time: 145 minutes

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116629

The Pursuit of Happiness is a 2006 American biographical drama film directed by Gabriele Muccino and starring Will Smith as homeless salesman Chris Gardner. Smith's son Jaden Smith co-stars as Gardner's son, Christopher Jr., in his feature film debut. Steven Conrad's screenplay is based on Gardner's best-selling memoir of the same name, which she co-wrote with Quincy Troupe in 2006. It is based on Gardner's nearly year-long struggle with homelessness. Gardner notices a mural on the wall outside the daycare facility where his son attends, which inspired the unusual spelling of the film's title.

For once, Smith stars in a heartwarming film that isn't completely sickening, making this unfashionable film genre appear to be quite good. This is the true story of American businessman Chris Gardner, who faced adversity and homelessness on his way to the top, a la Horatio Alger. Smith portrays him as a regular guy with ideals and high standards, a single father who falls into poverty and fights his way out.

The film was released on December 15, 2006, by Columbia Pictures, and received moderately positive reviews, with Smith’s performance and emotional weight of the story garnering universal acclaim. Smith was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Actor.

Detailed information:

Directed by: Gabriele Muccino

Release date: December 15, 2006
Running time: 117 minutes

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454921

I Am Legend is a 2007 American post-apocalyptic action thriller film loosely based on Richard Matheson's 1954 novel of the same name. The film, directed by Francis Lawrence and written by Akiva Goldsman and Mark Protosevich, stars Will Smith as US Army virologist Robert Neville. It is set in New York City after a virus designed to cure cancer has wiped out most of humanity, leaving Neville as the only human in the city other than nocturnal mutants. Neville is immune to the virus, and he works to develop a cure while defending himself from hostile mutants. It is the third feature-length adaptation of Matheson's novel, following The Last Man on Earth in 1964 and The Omega Man in 1971.

Based on Richard Matheson's novel (and previously filmed as The Omega Man in 1971 with Charlton Heston), this dystopian sci-fi got a new version in 2007, starring Smith as the last man alive in an eerily empty, ruined Manhattan, an urban jungle with zoo-bred animals roaming around. The film plays to Smith's strengths as the good-natured everyman hero under impossible circumstances. The film received generally positive reviews, with Smith's performance being singled out for praise, while criticism focused on its divergences from the novel, particularly the ending. In 2022, a sequel was revealed to be in development, with Smith set to reprise his role as Neville and co-produced the film with Michael B. Jordan, who will also have a starring role.

Detailed information:

Directed by: Francis Lawrence

Release date: December 14, 2007 (United States)
Running time: 101 minutes

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480249

Enemy of the State is a 1998 American political action thriller film directed by Tony Scott and written by David Marconi. It was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Tony Scott. Will Smith and Gene Hackman star in the film, which also stars Jon Voight, Lisa Bonet, Gabriel Byrne, Dan Butler, Loren Dean, Jack Black, Jake Busey, Barry Pepper, and Regina King. The film depicts a group of National Security Agency (NSA) agents plotting to assassinate a congressman and the subsequent cover-up after a tape of the murder ends up in the possession of an unsuspecting lawyer.

Smith played a very likable lead in this decent and watchable conspiracy thriller, reminiscent of Tony Scott's The Firm, which starred Smith and Gene Hackman. Smith is the ambitious young lawyer who accidentally obtains a video showing the murder of an outspoken congressman – and then is framed by shadowy forces, losing his job and his marriage. Then comes Hackman's maverick intelligence officer, a man who despises government corruption and helps the decent Smith in an "odd couple" way.

Detailed information:

Directed by: Tony Scott

Release date: November 20, 1998
Running time: 132 minutes

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120660

Bad Boys is a 1995 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Michael Bay in his feature directorial debut. It was produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and starred Martin Lawrence and Will Smith as two Miami narcotics detectives, Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey. Critics gave the film mixed reviews, but it was commercially successful and gained a cult following.

Producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer gave viewers what is arguably the final of the big guilty-pleasure dumb action comedy-thriller franchises in 1995, teaming Smith with that lost superstar of bad-taste comedy Martin Lawrence as two squabblings Miami cops, Smith as the cool single ladies' man and Lawrence as the harassed husband and father. The overlong and obnoxious sequel Bad Boys II (2003) comes in last in the micro-ranking, while the threequel, Bad Boys for Life (2020), acknowledges the passage of time. But the original Bad Boys (1995) is the best, with its outrageous action staples of guns, car chases, and clever tag lines.

Detailed information:

Directed by: Michael Bay

Release date: April 7, 1995
Running time: 119 minutes

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112442

Wild Wild West is a 1999 American steampunk Western film co-produced and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and written by S. S. Wilson and Brent Maddock, with Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman, based on a story by brothers Jim and John Thomas. It is the only production since the television film More Wild Wild West (1980) to feature the characters from the original series. It is loosely adapted from The Wild Wild West, a 1960s television series created by Michael Garrison.

Smith's steampunky western comedy-thriller took a critical and commercial beating at the end of the 1990s. It's supremely irritating, but occasionally amusingly daft, and Smith sings the catchy theme song (sampling Stevie Wonder) over the closing credits. He plays sexy government agent James "Wild Wild" West in the post-Civil War United States, taking on Kenneth Branagh's evil genius Dr. Loveless, who has access to 23rd-century technology. Warner Bros. released it theatrically in the United States on June 30, 1999, on a $170 million budget (making it one of the most expensive films ever made when adjusted for inflation at the time of its release), Wild Wild West was a commercial flop, grossing only $113.8 million domestically and $108.3 million internationally for a total of $222.1 million worldwide.

Detailed information:

Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld

Release date: June 30, 1999 (United States)
Running time: 106 minutes

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120891

Men in Black 3 is a 2012 American science fiction action comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and starring Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, and Josh Brolin. It is the third installment in the Men in Black film series and the final film in the original trilogy, which is loosely based on Lowell Cunningham's comic book series The Men in Black. It came out fifteen years after the first Men in Black film (1997) and ten years after the first sequel, Men in Black II (2002). Sonnenfeld and Steven Spielberg both returned as directors and executive producers.

Will Smith proposed the film's premise to director Barry Sonnenfeld during the filming of Men in Black II in 2002, suggesting that his character, Agent J, travel back in time to save his partner, Agent K, while also exploring Agent K's backstory. Sonnenfeld stated that the concept "turned out to be a very long process of development, primarily due to the knotty issues of time travel". According to reports, Smith and executives were hesitant to bring Sonnenfeld back due to conflicts on the set of Men in Black II.

Detailed information:

Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld

Release dates: May 14, 2012 (Berlin)

Running time: 106 minutes

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1409024