For his Schnappszahl birthday on September 25th, TECHBOOK remembers the best films with actor Will Smith (55) and reveals where you can stream them.
From slapstick comedies to nail-biting thrillers, Will Smith has made a slew of films. Below you will find an overview of the best of them – and a brief reminder of how it all began for the current Oscar winner.
Will Smith – first a cult series, then blockbuster films
In the 1980s, Will Smith aka The Fresh Prince was primarily active as a rapper. He would soon embody this “role” comedically in one of his first acting engagements: in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” (original title: “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”). The cult sitcom must have accompanied many people between 1990 and 1996 and sometimes made them laugh out loud. Six seasons are still available on Amazon Prime and Apple TV +. Amusing tidbits if you don’t want it to be one of Will Smith’s many films.
Also interesting: Cult series from the 1990s is to be continued
Bad Boys (1995)
In the action comedy “Bad Boys,” Mike Lowrey (played by Will Smith) and his partner Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) have to get back a chunk of confiscated heroin that was stolen from the police. As if the job wasn’t tricky enough, they only have around 72 hours to do it – if they don’t succeed, their department will be shut down. In order to achieve their goal, the unconventional drug investigators don’t always stick to the rules. This makes the film very entertaining and earned the “bad guys” two sequels. “Bad Boys II” came in 2003, “Bad Boys for Life” in 2020.
Stream: Netflix and Wow customers can stream all three “Bad Boys” films starring Will Smith for free. Amazon Prime offers them for rent or purchase for a fee.
Also interesting: The best films with Cameron Diaz to stream
Independence Day (1996)
Top-class blockbuster from director Roland Emmerich. In it, Earth is faced with an alien invasion. What initially seems exciting and exciting – albeit in a scary way – soon turns out to be a serious threat to humanity. The President of the United States calls for a counterattack: On Independence Day, the brave participants in the mission (including Will Smith as Captain Steven Hiller) are supposed to penetrate the alien mothership.
Stream: “Independence Day” is included in the Disney + streaming offer. You can rent it for around 4 euros each from Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV + and buy it for around 10 euros.
Men in Black (1997)
Aliens again, but this time funny. Agent Jay (played by Will Smith) is hired as an alien hunter by a secret government agency and becomes the partner of Agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones). It is an extremely sensitive service – people should under no circumstances become aware of the existence of extraterrestrial life. Numerous peaceful aliens have long been living unnoticed among them… This makes Jay and Kay’s mission against a very vicious giant cockroach, which is pursuing a special mission and risking completely destroying planet Earth, all the more challenging.
Stream: “Men in Black” is available for streaming on Netflix. Some other services (e.g. Sky, Amazon Prime Video) offer it for a fee.
Public Enemy No. 1 (1998)
Robert Clayton Dean (played by Will Smith), a lawyer by profession, unexpectedly comes across a video recording with highly explosive content while shopping for lingerie for his wife. He himself has no idea of this, but is already in the sights of the NSA and declared “Public Enemy No. 1” (original title: “Enemy of the State”). The video leaked to Dean shows the murder of a Republican US Senator who was eliminated for political reasons. The aim is to destroy the evidence and silence its owner.
Stream: “Public Enemy No. 1” is available with a subscription on Disney +.
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Wild Wild West (1999)
The action of “Wild Wild West” takes place in America shortly after the Civil War. The focus is on agents James West (played by Will Smith) and Marshal Artemus Gordon (Kevin Klein), who have little in common on a personal level but must work together to solve the disappearance of several renowned scientists on behalf of the president. They soon come across the person responsible: millionaire Dr. Arliss Loveless, who plans to use futuristic weapons to destroy the entire country and subjugate it to the former colonial powers.
Parallel to the movie, the soundtrack was incredibly successful: In the song of the same name, “Wild Wild West,” Will Smith once again showed what he could do musically and was number 1 on the US Billboard charts for weeks.
Stream: “Wild Wild West” is included in the Wow and Sky Go subscription.
I, Robot (2004)
Science fiction film about a reality of life to which robots are an integral part: They work as service staff in bars, as dog sitters, in garbage collection – in short, they are programmed to support people in everyday life. Special settings (“the three basic laws of robotics”) are intended to reliably ensure that robots never pose a threat. But Detective Del Spooner (Will Smith) doesn’t trust the machines. When one of them is suspected of murdering a renowned robot designer, Spooner’s case is clear. But initially he is alone.
Stream: On Disney+, “I, Robot” is available to stream as part of the subscription. Other services (Apple TV+, Amazon Prime) offer the film for a fee.
The Pursuit of Happiness (2006)
In “The Pursuit of Happyness,” Christopher Gardener, abandoned by his wife and overwhelmed by financial problems, ends up on the street with his son. The situation seems hopeless. But the single father doesn’t lose hope and, on the contrary, does everything he can to improve the life of the small family. To do this, he takes on an initially unpaid internship that is intended to give him a lucrative job on the stock exchange.
The film father and son are also in real life: the role of Christopher Gardner Jr. is played by Jaden Smith, the eldest of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s three children.
Stream: “The Pursuit of Happiness” is available for streaming on Netflix.
I Am Legend (2007)
The virologist Dr. Robert Neville (Will Smith) believes he is the only human survivor of a viral pandemic. This had turned the population of Manhattan into murderous vampires who soon tore each other apart. He himself is immune, so he was not infected with the pathogen. Neville is always alone. His only “contact person” – besides e.g. B. mannequins and stray wild animals – is his dog, which he takes care of devotedly. He also spends his days looking for food and also tries to use his blood to develop an antidote for the virus. At night there is an end to loneliness and peace – that’s when Neville’s fight against bloodthirsty mutants who are trying to kill him begins.
Stream: “I am Legend” is available to stream for free on Netflix, WOW and Sky Go.
Hancock (2008)
Hancock (Will Smith), the eponymous main character of the action comedy, has superpowers, but a polarizing personality due to his high aggression potential. Although he uses his supernatural abilities to keep Los Angeles safe and fight crime, he always leaves devastating chaos in his wake. The city hates him. PR expert Ray Embrey (played by Jason Bateman) takes care of him and soon actually helps Hancock gain more public reputation. As the plot progresses, the superhero will have to help him – and we also learn that Hancock is not the only one of his kind…
Stream: Netflix and Wow subscribers can stream “Hancock” as part of their subscription.
Aladdin (2019)
The 2019 adaptation of “Aladdin” is about the street thief Aladdin (played by Mena Massoud), who – with the help of his little monkey Abu – enriches himself on the streets of Agrabah. When he finds a mysterious magic lamp, unexpected possibilities open up for Aladdin, or more precisely: wishes that the magic lamp genie Genie (played by Will Smith) can fulfill. He allows himself to be enchanted by the Genie into a prince so that he can be close to the beautiful Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott) and convince her father, the king, of himself.
Stream: Sure, “Aladdin” is included in the Disney + streaming offer.
King Richard (2021)
“King Richard” deals with the early careers of tennis players Venus and Serena Williams. The focus is on the great and sometimes critically viewed commitment of the strict father Richard Williams, for whom discipline and ambition were always the highest educational maxim. Richard is said to have sent his daughters to training when they were four years old – knowing that class obstacles would stand in their way on the way to a tennis career.
Will Smith received an Oscar in 2022 for his performance in “King Richard”.
Stream: The film is included in the Netflix streaming subscription.