Bruce Willis in five films

After becoming known to the general public in 1985 thanks to the television series Moonlighting, Bruce Willis was given the star of a few films. However, it was in 1988 that he was crowned on the big screen thanks to the resounding success of the action film diehard (crystal trap), by John McTiernan.

Willis plays John McClane, a New York policeman who, passing through Los Angeles, succeeds in thwarting the plans of a terrorist. Among the hostages is McClane’s wife, with whom all is not well.

” diehard remains the greatest American action film since its release 30 years ago,” said Scott Tobias in a 2018 commemorative article. from Guardiannothing less.

The mixture of action and humor made, indeed, school. After this film, Willis could boast of being now associated with one of the most famous lines in the history of cinema: ” Yippee Ki Yay, motherfucker ! »

The beginning of the 1990s was difficult for the star, who, after the honorable receipts of the sequel to diehard, appeared in a series of failures. The most spectacular of them is undoubtedly The Bonfire of the Vanities (The bonfire of vanities), an adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s bestselling book directed by Brian De Palma.

The film, narrated by a cynical journalist played by Willis, recounts the carnivalesque trial of a wealthy white financier accused of snatching a black teenager to death. Even before its release, the film was preceded by catastrophic echoes. Present throughout filming, journalist Julie Salomon wrote, with De Palma’s blessing, The Devil’s Candy. The Bonfire of the Vanities Goes to Hollywooda book that recounts in detail a production made nightmarish in particular because of the whims of Willis.

Notoriety intact, but popularity faded, Bruce Willis accepted in 1994 to play in pulp Fiction, the second feature film by a certain Quentin Tarantino. He plays Butch, a worn-out boxer chased by gangsters. We know the rest.

Admittedly, the film especially revived the career of John Travolta, a memorable hoodlum in a suit, but observing the filmography of Bruce Willis, we note that it experienced a net resurgence thereafter.

It was also the following year that the star found one of her best roles in one of her best films: 12 Monkeys (The army of the twelve monkeys), by Terry Gilliam. Against a background of back and forth in time, Willis is James Cole, survivor of a devastated future sent back to the past in order to prevent the appearance of a virus. In a furiously inventive staging, the actor moves like a tragic hero.

Finally, it is impossible not to mention The Sixth Sense (The sixth sense), in which Bruce Willis plays a child psychiatrist struggling with the complex case of a child who confides in him “to see people who are dead”.

With a brilliant revelation, a process that director M. Night Shyamalan then took up to autoparody, this captivating and moving fantasy drama shows a restrained Bruce Willis, and all the more touching. The actor also lets his partner shine, the young Haley Joel Osment, 10 years old.

Admittedly, for a while now, Bruce Willis has been chaining series B or even Z productions, but he continued to shoot a lot – seven films completed or in progress in 2022! Obviously, the taste for the game was still there. Sadness.

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