On October 5, 2001, Training Day hit theaters across the United States. Twenty-five years later, Denzel Washington’s Detective Alonzo Harris is still one of the most quoted characters in hip hop culture, and the movie still holds up as one of the great L.A. crime films.
What It Was
Directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by David Ayer, Training Day follows two LAPD narcotics officers through one 24-hour evaluation in some of Los Angeles’ roughest neighborhoods. Ethan Hawke plays Jake Hoyt, a rookie trying to make the narcotics unit. Washington plays Alonzo, the veteran who is supposed to train him and turns out to be far more dangerous than the streets they patrol.
The cast had serious hip hop credibility. Snoop Dogg played Blue, a drug dealer in a wheelchair, and Dr. Dre played Paul, an LAPD officer. Eva Mendes, Macy Gray, Scott Glenn and Cliff Curtis rounded it out.
The Scenes Everybody Remembers
You already know the line: “King Kong ain’t got nothin’ on me!” Alonzo’s last stand in the street earned an MTV Movie Awards nomination for Best Line, and it has been quoted in barbershops, group chats and rap verses ever since. The diner scene, the ride through the neighborhood and Alonzo’s whole swagger made playing the villain look iconic.
The Numbers
Training Day opened at No. 1 at the box office with $22.5 million and went on to earn about $104.9 million worldwide on a $45 million budget, according to Wikipedia. The soundtrack, released by Priority Records on September 11, 2001, peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard 200 and included Nelly’s “#1” and Dr. Dre and DJ Quik’s “Put It on Me.”
The Oscar Moment
At the 74th Academy Awards in March 2002, Washington won Best Actor and Hawke was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. It was historic. Washington became only the second Black man to win Best Actor, after Sidney Poitier won for Lilies of the Field, and Halle Berry won Best Actress the same night, as ABC News reported. Washington saluted Poitier from the stage: “I’ll always be chasing you, Sidney. I’ll always be following in your footsteps.”
The Legacy
The film led to a CBS TV series in 2017 that lasted one season, and a prequel, Training Day: Day of the Riot, has been reported in development.
Most of all, Training Day showed Hollywood that Denzel could be the bad guy and still be the coolest person on screen. Snoop and Dre’s roles also showed the film world that rap stars belonged there too. For more Snoop on screen, watch his Reincarnated documentary.
Where does Alonzo Harris rank among the greatest movie villains? Top five, or number one?
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