Rating: 
Summary: Denzel's Dark Side
Review: "Training Day" rambles at times, and is quite bleak. I can understand why it never took off at the box office. Also, Washington is playing against type, portraying a really repulsive character with great gusto. Denzel received a well-deserved Oscar for his lurid and gritty performance. Ethan Hawke is terrific, too, as the rookie on Washington's beat. Hawke makes a smooth transformation from eager puppy to disillusioned partner to horrified veteran that is both disturbing and convincing. The claustrophobic atmosphere is intensified by the uneasy, yet hypnotic rapport between Washington and Hawke. That said, "Training Day" is an interesting and totally absorbing film - but dark, dismal, and creepy.
Rating: 
Summary: a stuning performance
Review: this beautiful peace was made even better with the perfect work of denzel washington. even though a person named rob saffer said that it was bad. it really is the best movie I have ever seen
Rating:
Summary: Emotionally Charged
Review: "Training Day" was one of the more emotionally charged dramas I've seen in awhile. David Ayer's writing coupled with Antoine Fuqua's direction were very strong along with the two important pieces of the puzzle, Oscar-winning Denzel Washington and Oscar-nominated Ethan Hawke. Washington's performance was incredible. This guy can be the most likeable of protaganists and then be the antagonist you just love to hate. Washington is the villain in this movie, and he is one mean character. Hawke is making a name for himself, being able to hold lead roles and here complimenting a truly great actor.Washington plays Detective Alonzo Harris, a veteran cop who knows the streets - and literally lives by them and their rules. He is a corrupt cop with both ties nationally and inner-city gangs. Hawke plays Jake Hoyt, a LAPD rookie who wants to become detective. Hoyt finds out with his first meeting with Harris that it will not be a usual first day. It will be a training day to remember. Hoyt and Harris' peronalities conflict greatly; Harris' believes in street justice while Hoyt is on the side of street protocol where suspects must be read their rights and give statements. That is not the life Harris lives anymore. The duo meets the Wisemen - three other corrupt cops high on the ladder, as well as stage a break in, which is actually murder. The movie spans the entire day, which in itself is tragic, terrifying, and confusing to Hoyt. Washington delivers one of the best performances in his career, well worth the Oscar. His character runs through emotions like colors of the rainbow, one time being receptive and proud, while next being punishing and unrelenting. Hawke also impresses as the "good cop" having no idea how life is on the streets. His performance was also worthy of his Academy award nomination. "Training Day" is a true drama, with suspense, action, and heated dialogue. It's ironic, though, because most of Washington's lines were ad-libbed. The only drawback of this movie was that it was too emotional. That's all the movie fed on for the entire feature - raw emotion. You can only have so much of that before you hit overload. That time comes when Hoyt begins to hunt Harris near the end. By then, it's just too much. "Training Day" is a great film and was a surprise. Denzel certainly steals the show. Hawke also is great showing us how most of us would react to such a reality check that Hoyt gets. This is a very strong movie that solidified Washington as a truly great actor and is helping Hawke up the ladder to success.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome performances but incredibly unpleasant film
Review: The group of friends with whom I saw this film all rated this film much lower than I did. I am giving this movie three stars for one and only one reason: Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke are spectacular. Unfortunately, that is about the only positive thing I can say about this move. If not for their work, I would probably be giving this one star. Denzel Washington turns in one of his best performances ever, but unfortunately the character he plays is a dreadfully unattractive one. He is an amoralistic, out-of-control thug. Hawke holds his own with Denzel, and manages a more likable character. But watching this film was an intensely unpleasant experience. My friends and I watched it merely to see why Denzel won his Best Actor Oscar. We agreed he deserved it, but even near the very beginning we kept asking, "Is this thing going to get any better?" The day after I saw this film, I tried watching bits of two other Denzel Washington films I had previously seen and enjoyed. One was THE PELICAN BRIEF and the other COURAGE UNDER FIRE. I was quite surprised to find that I was responding very negatively to seeing Denzel on screen. I realized that this was testimony to his incredibly convincing job as a total slime ball in TRAINING DAY. I plan soon on doing a Denzel film festival, watching two or three of his best films, just so I can get back to liking the guy again. So I don't know whether to recommend this to others or not. I guess I'll say, it is worth seeing for two great performances, but don't expect to have a good time. In talking to others about this film, most people seem to have a similar response: Denzel and Ethan are great, but the film as a whole is just too depressing.
Rating: 
Summary: Load of baloney
Review: For a film built on the ambiguities of law enforcement and justice, Training Day degenerates after a promising start, into a Tony Scott shoot-em up complete with an predictable and highly unsatisfying ending. We like Alonzo Harris (Washington) when we meet him. He's not crooked, he's toughened. He's not just showing new guy Hoyt (Hawke) around the neighbourhood, he's showing him how not to get himself killed on the streets. It's this first forty minutes or so that makes the rest of the movie a gnarled and unpalatable mess, driven by a far-fetched plot which does Tinseltown proud - in that it's total baloney. We get the obligatory social commentary on gang-life and ahem, ethics. Slick and deftly directed by a fellow called Antoine Fuqua, who's apparently shot a number of rap videos in addition to another yawner, "The Replacement Killers". Did anyone else notice the unusually high number of cameos by rap stars??? And the point of this was? I thought Fuqua did a fine job in cutting out the fat from the meat of the story (the DVD comes with deleted scenes) but what results is a story about a crooked cop, but without any history of the character. We don't see what made Harris turn. This important facet of the film is ignored totally. I cannot fully recommend this film with warning you that you may experience outbreaks of incredulous head-shaking and bouts of groans. One example comes to mind involving a fighting scene, and when you think it's over...it isn't. Right then I knew that somewhere this film had taken a wrong turn. Training Day is a sometimes enjoyable flick, a real treat for the senses. Denzel Washington put in an Oscar-worthy performance and Ethan Hawke was up for one too. Yet the movie itself wasn't touted. That ought to tell you something.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping and real!
Review: "Training Day" is a raw, streety flick that packs nearly non-stop action over the course of its two hour length. It also has Denzel Washington playing a villain and he does so very convincingly. Up until this film, most of Washington's roles were as good-guy as Tom Selleck's fare...and Denzel Washington has the good looks and charm to pull off all those good guy roles. Here he's hard edged and viscious as a cop who's crossed over the line. Washington is Alonzo Harris, the training officer to Jake (Ethan Hawke) a rookie entering the Narcotics Unit of the L.A.P.D. Ethan Hawke is excellent as the naive recruit who gets an extremely harsh dose of reality. The story is down and dirty and the characters are not only sharply defined but vividly real as well. The story is as brutal as a train wreck and just as gripping. You just can't help but rubberneck. I saw this in the theater and was glad that Washington got the Oscar for this role. He was excellent in Malcolm X, but that was a character he didn't have to invent. Lee followed Alex Haley's biography in every detail and Washington had reels of archive film of Malcolm X to work off of. Denzel Washington had to invent Alonzo Harris and he did so with a powerful and penetrating realism. Like "L.A. Confidential" or "Pulp Fiction" this is a great story that's translated extremely well on film. If you haven't seen it, by all means check it out. If you already have, then you already know it's a keeper.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a the worst movie ive ever seen.
Review: The Movie itself wasn't that bad, Ethan Hawke was great. But just knowing that Denzel stole the oscar makes me hate it. If the acadamy wanted to "give" him the oscar than they could have done it one of the last five times he played the same character.
Rating:
Summary: Much to violent
Review: I have always enjoyed Denzel Washington in the movies he has done, but did not like this one at all. The movie was much to violent, and did not give a favorable protrayal of cops. I didn't think that he deserved the Oscar for this performance and for a movie of this nature.
I would not recommend this movie to anyone under the age of 18. If you have to see it, go to the theater or rent it, but don't buy it. I did and will probably not watch it again. There are alot of movies I would watch again and again, but this is certainly not one of them.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific movie- definitely worth buying
Review: I love this movie! Denzel Washington is an excellent bad guy(an even better good guy). This is one of those movies that you dont know what's gonna happen next and has an unpredictable ending.
Rating:
Summary: A movie with Realism, twists, and turns.
Review: An urban poem no-less. Withered flowers and stark reality. This movie was not as predictable as most Hollywood kicks at the can. A worthy DVD for any collection, and has decent re-play value. Although, it will never be a classic.
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