Bruce Willis is synonymous with action, even though he got his start as a romantic lead in television. His legendary everyman role in the Die Hard series cemented him as an icon in the industry and he continues to play into the standards he set now nearly thirty years on. One of the most recognizable film stars in modern cinema, his movies have long been some of the most popular ever made, including a ton of great movie moments. Here are 7 times Bruce Willis went next level in classic movies. Yippee-ki … you know the rest.
Cole Meets The Doctor
THE MOVIE: 12 Monkeys (1995) is a sci-fi thriller from director Terry Gilliam about a a deadly virus that wipes out most of humanity, forcing survivors underground where, forty years later, a prisoner is sent back in time to try and find the original strain so doctors can create a cure. Makes sense. Famous for Brad Pitt‘s Academy Award-nominated performance as a whacko, this movie is a trippy headcase of huh?, which translates to … this movie is da bomb. 90s youth cultural reference anyone?
THE MOMENT: Willis plays James Cole, an observant criminal given the chance to save the world by traveling back in time to track down the start of the epidemic. He’s meant to arrive in 1996 but, as the tech ain’t so perfect yet, instead pops up in 1990 where his rantings get him arrested and confined to a mental hospital under the care of Dr. Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe). Chained to the floor, drooling like Pavlovian dog, and spastic with twitch like he’s seeing flutterbys in his eyes, Cole tries to figure out where the heck he is as Railly looks on in bemused wonder. Willis plays it full-bore crazy and is wildly convincing as a disturbed and naive prisoner completely out of his element in this sensational moment that proved Willis was more than a gun-totting terrorist killer. And speaking of which …
McClane Goes Boom
THE MOVIE: Die Hard 2 (1990) is the sequel to the hugely influential Die Hard, this one seeing the return of intrepid hardcore cop John McClane (Willis) back in action, this time in Washington D.C. in an effort to stop terrorists who have taken over the airport on Christmas Eve because terrorists just don’t get that whole family thing. Action is the name of the game as already the realism of the first starts to bleed away in favor of fantasy as the iconic character begins to ascend into the the realm of the gods.
THE MOMENT: Facing off against rogue US Army Colonel Stuart (William Sadler), McClane ends up trying to intercept a diverted military plane with a South American drug lord aboard, instead, finding himself trapped in the cockpit as Stuart and his men first empty their machine guns at it and then tossing in a volley of armed hand grenades just to be sure, ’cause you’ve got to be sure. McClane’s escape is, yes, creative, but also so damned bat-s*t crazy, it altered the course of the character from everyman to legend. And if you’re thinking he can survive anything …
Down Goes The Orangeman
THE MOVIE: Unbreakable (2000) is the follow-up film from controversial filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, after his Sixth Sense caused an international phenomenon that forever tagged the director as the king of twist-endings, a curse that has plagued his work since. Either way, with this pseudo-superhero story about two men of opposite powers who grow into their respective roles, he delivered another solid thriller that was smart and clever. And featured Samuel L. Jackson in a Frederick Douglass wig.
THE MOMENT: Willis plays David Dunn, a security guard who, after realizing he’s never been sick a day in life, has other powers of supernatural abilities, such as increased levels of strength, stamina, and invulnerability, as well as seeing crimes people have committed by simply touching them. In this scene, he’d made contact with a maniacal killer who has murdered a mother and father and kidnapped their young children. Dunn tests his powers by donning a dark rain poncho and attacking the man, getting a little help from the kids. A staggering moment of identity and truth in a film that tells a familiar story in unexpected ways. This is one of the best superhero origin stories ever made, without ever feeling like one. But if you’re more into a vulnerable Willis …
The Old Man Dies
THE MOVIE: Sin City (2005) is a hyper-stylistic neo-thriller masterpiece from Frank Miller, based on his own graphic novel and comics about three converging stories in a town full of trouble involving prostitutes, police, mercenaries, and the mob. Dark and moody, it was a huge box office success and established Miller as a directorial force even though most every just remembers Jessica Alba in leather chaps and a lasso.
THE MOMENT: Willis plays John Hartigan, an aging police detective who once saved an eleven-year-old girl named Nancy from a serial killer but is shot in the process and thinks he’s going to die, content that an old man’s death is a fair trade for the life of a young girl. Years later, recovered and paroled from prison for crimes he didn’t commit, he finds Nancy again, now an adult (played by Alba), with whom the two have shared correspondence for some time. However, realizing it was trap in order for him to lead a killer to her, Hartigan makes a fateful choice to end his life to keep her out of danger, once again claiming an old man’s death is a fair trade. Epic death. And speaking of epic deaths …
THE MOVIE: Armageddon (1998), a really bad film about a potential world-ending astroid hit, is a schlocky adventure film from Micheal Bay that set a new standard for the term with its manipulative plot twists and illogical premise, but thanks to some good performances and a genuine attempt at pure buttery popcorn entertainment, has evolved into a guilty pleasure for most. Don’t deny it.
Harry Detonates The Bomb
THE MOMENT: As is necessary for such a movie, anything that can go wrong does, and as Harry Stamper (Willis) and his crew of oil drillers recruited by NASA to save the world by burrowing a nuclear bomb on the incoming celestial doomsday, find out, even the bomb itself fails, requiring someone to stick around and manually set it off. Stamper’s daughter Grace (Liv Tyler) is in love with A.J. Frost (Ben Affleck), who is on the mission with Harry, and he draws the short straw to be the one, but Harry’s not having it and tricks the young man, taking his place, calling him son and telling him to take care of his daughter. Awww. Then, in one of cinema’s most celebrated sacrifices, Harry takes to the heroic task, bidding a touching farewell to Grace and A.J and the world. We’re not crying. It’s just something in our eyes. Look over there …
Butch And Marsellus Are Cool
THE MOVIE: Pulp Fiction (1994) is a benchmark film from visionary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino that changed the cinematic landscape with its disjointed narrative, stylistic violence, and seedy characters. Intersecting a number of stories in non-chronological order, the movie was a huge box office success and to this day, more than twenty years later, is one of the most dissected films ever made. Deciding what was in the briefcase alone has become practically a religion.
THE MOMENT: Willis plays Butch Coolidge, a champion boxer who double-crosses Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), a powerful gangster who Butch double-crosses by not taking a dive in his last fight. It puts him on the run, but when the two are captured in a pawnshop by two sadistic rapists and a gimp in bondage, all bets are off. Butch manages to escape one room, and intends to run off leaving the gangster in the hands of the psychos, but has second thoughts and goes back to rescue Marsellus in an epic moment that begins with a hammer and ends with a samurai sword. You simply can’t top that. Unless you count …
Yippee-Ki-Yay
THE MOVIE: Die Hard (1988) is the grandfather of all modern action thrillers, it being the the pitch name for every action hero movie since and is by all rights, one of the best ever made in the genre, even with its flaws. Establishing the every man as hero, it pretty much single-handedly ended the muscle-man movie trope, effectively opening up a whole new genre of film that to this day still leads the way. That’s some impressive history right there.
THE MOMENT: Willis is John McClane in the movie that started it all, playing a New York City cop in L.A., visiting his estranged wife on Christmas, only to find himself battling terrorists in a skyscraper. The leader of that bunch is Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), and he is, in this classic moment, learning that one man does have the power to spoil his best-laid plans. As the two banter over walkie-talkies, Gruber taunts him by asking him if he thinks he really has a chance against them, capping it by calling him ‘cowboy.’ McLane’s response is so legendary, it has become the calling card of the entire genre. You’re saying it right now.