Bruce Willisis most famous for being the protagonist of one of thebest Christmas movies without Santa Claus, which then became a franchise of five films, but he has other action features worth watching. As one of the most influential action films ever,Die Hardinspired new moviesthat tried to repeat the formula, and Bruce Willis will forever be John McClane to fans of his franchise and of action cinema in general. However, he has played many unique and memorable characters in the 100+ movies that Willis has starred in over the course of his storied career.
One of his most noteworthy roles outside theDie Hardfranchise is in M. Night Shyamalan’sThe Sixth Sense, where he plays a child psychologist who is more than meets the eye — if you know Hollywood cinema’s worst-kept spoiler. Willis even played a superhero in his next Shyamlan movie, althoughUnbreakableismore a thriller than an action film. However, as much as we’llforever rewatch his R-rated 1980s action movie, the currently retired actor has starred in some great action movies that aren’tDie Hard, some of which deserve more love than they get.
Directed by Edward Zwick
The Siege
The Siege is a thriller focused on an FBI senior agent and his team as they respond to a series of terrorist attacks in New York. Alongside a rogue Army General and a dubious CIA agent, the team must dismantle enemy cells linked to the abduction of a suspected terrorist.
Among celebrated cinematographer Roger Deakins' lesser-known works is the Edward Zwick-Denzel Washington collaboration,The Siege.It is the third collaboration between the actor and the director, who have previously worked together onGlory(1989) andCourage Under Fire(1996). WhileCourage Under Fire’s exploration of the Rashomon effect makes it compelling,The Siegecan feel too on-the-nose with its messaging at times, not to mention almost intentionally Islamophobic with its stereotypical portrayal of Arab terrorists.
Denzel Washington & Bruce Willis' Only Collaboration Was An Overlooked 1990s Action Movie That Caused Major Controversy
Despite being some of the biggest actors ever. Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis only had one movie together, which was clouded in controversy.
As is the case with Deakins' other works, the film has been shot beautifully to evoke the emotional response that the film’s themes necessitate. However, the exploration of racial prejudice among military officers often gets too preachy, with the tiring monologues by Denzel Washington, which though delivered well, sound too naive.Willis' character is like a case study in racist army generals, almost a caricature because of how far he’s willing to go, and while the film’s message is ever-relevant in today’s political climate, it lacks the nuance necessary.
Directed by Walter Hill
Last Man Standing
Last Man Standing is a 1996 action film starring Bruce Willis as John Smith, a mysterious stranger entangled in a violent conflict between two Prohibition-era gangs. Navigating a treacherous landscape, Smith manipulates alliances and takes the law into his own hands to survive.
Akira Kurosawa’s works are part of one of the most complete full-circle moments in Hollywood. Thebest of John Ford’s moviesinspired many of Kurosawa’s movies, which in turn inspired many Westerns. Of these, the most famous is obviously George Lucas' Space WesternStar Wars.There are other notable examples in the last six decades of Hollywood, including Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone’s seminal film,A Fistful of Dollars.
Walter Hill only madeLast ManStandingafter Kurosawa expressed support for an American remake ofYojimboand the producer agreed to his film noir interpretation of the story, because he didn’t want to remake it as a Western sinceA Fistful of Dollarsalready existed.
Last Man Standingis considered an unofficial remake of Kurosawa’sYojimbo, which led to a successful lawsuit by the production company. So, it’s not surprising that when Walter Hill decided to remakeYojimbo, he chose to give Kurosawa’s film credit as being his source of inspiration. Starring Bruce Willis and Christopher Walken,Last Man Standingis an exciting Western-style noir film set in the Prohibition era, where Willis plays a mysterious mercenary gunman. It may not be as good asYojimbo, but its exciting, gunsmoke-filled action sequences make it worth watching.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua
Tears of the Sun
Tears of the Sun is a military action film directed by Antoine Fuqua, featuring Bruce Willis as Lieutenant A.K. Waters. The plot centers on a U.S. Navy SEAL team sent into the Nigerian jungle to rescue Dr. Lena Kendricks, played by Monica Bellucci, amidst a brutal civil war. The mission evolves as Waters encounters moral dilemmas, challenging his orders and sense of duty.
WhileDenzel Washington’s movies where he’s played real-life peoplehave earned him widespread recognition, his only Academy Award for Best Actor is for his role inTraining Day.The film is by Antoine Fuqua, who’s also famous for makingOlympus Has Fallen, akaDie Hardin the White House. A decade before attempting his own remake of Bruce Willis' iconic movie, he directed Willis himself inTears of the Sun.
Much like the average Fuqua film, the action is concentrated at points, specifically the final 30 minutes in the case ofTears of the Sun. However, the brutality and the intensity of the action make it worth the wait, and there are memorable scenes that lead up to the climactic altercation as well. Itfollows a squad of commandos, led by a Navy SEAL played by Bruce Willis, as they attempt to extract a doctor, played by Monica Bellucci, who delivers the best performance in the film, from an anarchistic Nigeria whose government has collapsed.
Directed by Robert Schwentke
RED
Loosely based on the comic series of the same name, RED tells the story of a former CIA black ops agent who rallies his team back together for one last mission: eliminating the assassin who is out to kill him.
Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, Dame Helen Mirren, Mary-Louise Parker, Karl Urban, and Brian Cox make up Robert Schwentke’sRed. A raremovie starring both Morgan Freeman and Bruce Willis, its sequel also has an equally strong cast, including, among other recurring actors, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and David Thewlis.
The action and the comedy are balanced well to create a relatively coherent thriller.
While every cast member has been in other great action movies,Redis still a fun and entertaining watch that deserves more recognition as one of Willis' more underrated action films.Redfollows a retired team of CIA operatives on a wild adventure that involves breaking into their former workplace. The action and the comedy are balanced well to create a relatively coherent thriller that hits some of the emotional beats as well. However, if not for Dame Helen Mirren and Karl Urban’s performances, it would be rather boring.
Directed by Michael Bay
Armageddon
In Michael Bay’s sci-fi action thriller Armageddon, a colossal asteroid is found barrelling toward Earth, guaranteed to wipe out all life. To stop it, NASA concocts a plan that involves drilling into its core to denote a nuclear bomb inside of it - and to make that happen; they’ll need the right crew. Led by the head of an oil drilling company, Harry Stamper, a group of blue-collar workers are given the crash course for Astronaut preparation as the crew races against time to save the planet.
Michael Bay is most famous for bringing thecoolest Autobots and Decepticons in theTransformersfranchiseto the screen in live-action. However, his second-best movie, afterThe Rock, which is his version ofDie Hard, is arguably his third directorial feature film. Starring Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton, and Liv Tyler in important roles, it is a sci-fi adventure thriller with an apocalyptic premise.
Letterboxd ratings for movies directed by Michael Bay
1995
3.23
1996
3.57
1998
3.11
2001
2.85
2003
3.22
2005
2.93
2007
3.21
2009
2.52
2011
2.66
2013
3.04
2014
2.10
2016
3.34
2017
1.92
2019
2.51
2022
2.97
The end of the world isn’t a new scenario for Michael Bay fans today or for fans of sci-fi action movies, which include the entire MCU canon. However,Armageddonis from a time when the premise wasn’t as common in movies as it is today. While there are awful examples of movies from way before the first Marvel Studios film which oversimplify the stakes,Armageddonisn’t one of them. It is aware of the implications of a world-ending asteroid crash, and the sentimental writing is often effective. Like any Bay movie though, it is longer than it needs to be.
16 Blocks
Cast
16 Blocks is a 2006 action thriller directed by Richard Donner, featuring Bruce Willis as an aging cop tasked with escorting a witness, portrayed by Mos Def, to a courthouse. The seemingly straightforward assignment escalates into a life-threatening challenge when unforeseen adversaries obstruct their journey.
Most famous for directingSuperman(1978), one of the mostperfect non-animated action movies for kids to watch, the late Richard Donner was one of the most influential Hollywood directors of all time. In his career spanning five decades, he’s made more blockbuster hits than any director with that long a career. From adventure movies that still hold up today to action films, he made some of the most financially successful feature films of the ’70s and ’80s.
Richard Donner’s Final Film 16 Blocks Should Have Been Die Hard 4
16 Blocks stars Bruce Willis and was the final movie from director Richard Donner, and it serves as a better Die Hard 4 than the eventual sequel did.
So, even though it’s not as great as some of his past work, it’s no surprise that Donner’s final film, his only time working with Bruce Willis, is one of the actor’s finer action movies. Willis plays an aging cop tasked with safely escorting an important witness to the courthouse. In many ways, his character feels like what John McClane would have become by then, andWillis is in his most natural elementas the action hero in16 Blocks.
Directed by Tony Scott
The Last Boy Scout
The Last Boy Scout follows detective Joe Hallenback and the boyfriend of a murdered woman as they investigate her death. Their inquiry uncovers a network of corruption involving a crooked politician and a pro football team owner. Released in 1991, the film stars Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans.
FromCrimson TideandEnemy of the StatetoMan on FireandTop Gun, Tony Scott has directed some of the best action movies in Hollywood history. Just a year after the release ofDie Hard 2, thedisappointing second film that theDie Hardfranchisebounced back from, Bruce Willis worked with the famed director forThe Last Boy Scout.
Featuring Willis and Damon Wayans as the protagonists, the film is a buddy-cop action thriller with more vulgar language and brutal violence on display than is usual for the genre. It’s intense, its comedy comes from the ugliness of the criminal underground, and there’s no dearth of stylish action sequences – in many ways,TheLast Boy Scoutfeels like a less refined and more entertainingDie Hard with a Vengeance, which it predates by four years.
Directed by Rian Johnson
Looper
In the sci-fi action thriller Looper, time travel is possible, but illegal and only available on the black market. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target 30 years into the past, where a “looper,” a hired gun, is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich as a Looper and life is good… until the day the mob decides to “close the loop,” sending back Joe’s future self for assassination.
Rian Johnson is best known for the controversialStar WarsmovieThe Last Jedi, about which fans remain divided. When he was starting his directorial career, though, hemade two good movies before an amazing third. Johnson’s Looper features stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a younger version of Willis' character.
At less than two hours, it’s a tight, economical sci-fi thriller with unforgettable action sequences.
It has a lean and clean premise ofa hitman who kills targets from the future, sent to the past by the mob he works for. The film’s compelling twist comes in the form of the hitman meeting his past self as a target. Realizing the repercussions of going through with this job, the man is faced with the conundrum of whether to abandon his post or not. At less than two hours, it’s a tight, economical sci-fi thriller with unforgettable action sequences.
Directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller
Sin City
Based on the original graphic novel by Frank Miller, Sin City is a dark and gritty crime-noir action movie that tells several different stories, all set at the same time in the same city. The lines of good and evil are blurred, with vigilantism being the new norm, as a city rife with corruption slowly swallows its citizens whole. Each protagonist is loosely connected to one another’s stories as the movie paints a bigger picture through each new point of view.
After her breakout role inDark Angel, Jessica Alba appeared in many successful movies of various genres, but 2005 was the year of comic book movies for her. Along with playingSue Storm in the first 20th Century FoxFantastic Fourmovie, a performance that’s become iconic today, she also played Nancy Callahan in the movie adaptation of Frank Miller’sSin City.
Alba and Willis reprised their roles fromSin Cityin the 2014 sequel,Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, but despite having the same director-writer duo, the sequel is far too messy and inferior to the first movie.
Famed action movie director Robert Rodriguez, who has directed multiplehorror movies with incredible ensemble casts, made the film with Miller, also co-wrote the screenplay with him. A noir anthology of stories set in a seedy fictional city, it follows characters from various walks of life, as they go about their dark and shady lives.Bruce Willis plays Detective John Hartigan, the protagonist of the only story told in two parts. It is one of the most stylish action movies ever made, and perhaps Willis' best in the genre outsideDie Hard.
Directed by Luc Besson
The Fifth Element
Set in 23rd-century New York City, The Fifth Element stars Bruce Willis as Korben Dallas, an ex-army major turned cab driver who unwittingly becomes part of a fight to protect Earth from an approaching evil after a strange woman named Leeloo accidentally falls into his cab. Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, and Chris Tucker also star.
Bruce Willis' best action movie is a bonkers and campy film set in an over-the-top fictional world in space,The Fifth Element. The movie’s visual design reflects the chaotic energy of its narrative, which one must watch to believe actually exists. Extravagant and flamboyant characters fill up every scene, and irrespective of some of the films glaring flaws, it’s one of the most entertaining action movies ever made.
The Fifth Element Review: Luc Besson’s Sci-Fi Spectacle Is Still Brilliantly Bonkers
Released in 1997, it’s remarkable how well Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element still holds up, nearly three decades after its initial release.
However, it’s hard to overlook the fact that Milla Jojovich’s character should really be the protagonist, since she holds the key to humanity’s survival. Excessive sexualization and reduction of female characters to stereotypes are major problems inThe Fifth Element. However, Gary Oldman’s campy villain is such an entertaining sight to behold, that the actor’s infectiously fun energy is bound to improve the viewing experience.Bruce Willis, as the hero, is just as charming and makes one wish he’d done more space operas and campy action movies.
