Bruce's Best Bits
Moonlighting (1985-1989)
In the mid 1980s Walter Willis landed a lead role on prime time television, ditched his first name and became household heartthrob Bruce Willis. The prolonged on-screen sexual tension Bruce shared with his co-star Cybill Shepherd lasted for five steamy years, much to the delight of fans everywhere. However, in 1989 the show took a nose dive after its writers succumbed to fans’ wishes and made the on-screen duo official. In the closing episode of Moonlighting, characters David Addison Jr. and Maddie Hayes walk by a shop window where a poster of Die Hard – Bruce’s first big blockbuster movie - is being pulled down.
Die Hard (1988)
In 1988 a new threat began emerging in movies: The terrorist entrepreneur. With evil plots and explosive schemes, society needed a savoir to step up. After causing hearts to flutter in Moonlighting, Bruce was ready to ditch his guy-next-door image and bite back as the hard-man John McClane. Virtually unknown in the film community, Bruce was fifth in line to play McClane, behind Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Burt Reynolds, and Richard Gere. But luckily director John McTiernan was blown away by the TV star’s acting. The film spawned several sequels, cementing Bruce’s name on the A-List and coined that famous saying: “yippee ki yay!”.
Look Who’s Talking (1989)
After taking down Alan Rickman in Die Hard, everyone’s favourite action hero decided to divert his attention away from action and lend his vocals to the musings of baby Mikey. Starring John Travolta and Kirstie Alley, this 1989 comedy didn’t feature Bruce on-screen but instead saw a baby, played by quadruplets, sporting a slightly more mature voice than your average tot. Credited as “Baby Guess”, Joan Rivers also joined Bruce off-screen to bring another baby to life in this comedy caper. It has been since revealed, by director Amy Heckerling, that a set of tongue-in-cheek outtakes were put together by the Die Hard star.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
The part of Butch Coolidge in Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic, marked a significant turning point for Bruce – who up until 1994 was largely recognised for his talents in baby babbling or tearing up German terrorists. Tarantino’s stylish visuals, pop culture references and non-linear narrative earned the film a place on top 100 lists across the globe and rolled out an all-star cast – including John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson and Uma Thurman. Although it is hard to agree on the most iconic scene of the film - the moment Coolidge and Marsellus Wallace make a truce, after being captured by a sadistic hillbilly - is by far the best Bruce scene.
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
In 1995 Bruce was cast alongside Brad Pitt in Terry Gilliam’s sci-fi thriller, Twelve Monkeys, as time traveller James Cole. In a disease ridden future, Cole is brought forward to prevent an apocalyptic future from transpiring. Gilliam is said to have been so impressed with Bruce’s acting during a particular scene in Die Hard that he contacted the actor directly to audition for the part. It has also been reported that Gilliam gave Bruce a list of Willis-isms to avoid during filming - such as the steely blue-eyed and action hero look - to detract away from his famous Die Hard persona.
The Fifth Element (1997)
For The Fifth Element Bruce was required to brush up on his European lingo. French director Luc Besson (Leon, Taken) gathered his cast to shoot at Pinewood studios in London, England, for the best part of the film’s production. The story’s central plot focuses on taxi driver Korben Dallas (Bruce) and his quest to prevent the world from total destruction. Having worked with Besson as the proverbial bad guy in Leon, Gary Oldman joined the cast as wealthy industrialist Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg – hell-bent on bringing down Dallas. Interestingly, these two opposing characters never meet or share any screen time throughout the entire film.
Armageddon (1998)
After 10 years kicking butt as the all-American action hero, Bruce’s career continued to gain momentum. In 1998, the American star took on the role of blue-collar oil driller, Harry Stamper, in Michael Bay’s Armageddon. In true Bay style, the film pulled out all the stops with its exaggerated emotional scenes and impressive CGI. NASA allowed Bay, Bruce and the entire cast and crew into its normally restricted space base to film scenes, in the hope that its success would rally recruits onto national government programmes. They also allowed authentic NASA space suits to be worn by the actors, for the first time in cinematic history.
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Plot twister extraordinaire, M. Night Shyamalan set chins wagging in 1999 when he released his third film to critical acclaim. With Bruce on board as Dr. Malcolm Crowe, the film challenged audiences’ expectations with its clever script writing and jumpy scenes. Described by Shymalan as a cross between The Exorcist and Ordinary People, this film saw Bruce in one of his most thought-provoking and anti-action roles to date. Bruce’s co-star, young Haley Joel Osment has since made cinematic history for uttering that famous one liner, “I see dead people” – named the 44th best movie quote in by the American Film Institute.
Unbreakable (2000)
Less than a year after making The Sixth Sense, Bruce teamed up with Shymalan once more to play hero David Dunn, in a film which explores the idea of modern day superheroes and villains in everyday walks of life. More of anti-superhero type, Dunn is sceptical of his unbreakable abilities until he is called upon to use them to save a family being held hostage. The film was less of a success for Shymalan and Bruce than its predecessor, but it still managed to garner a throng of fans who praise the film for its refreshing take on the comic book superhero.
Sin City (2005)
Based on the popular graphic novels by Frank Miller, Bruce brought out the big guns to play good-cop Hartigan in Robert Rodriguez’s slick production, Sin City. With a cool cast that included; Benicio Del Toro, Mickey Rourke and Elijah Wood, and a stylish postmodern plot, Bruce was back to his ball-busting ways – but this time in a much more literal fashion. Bruce’s story sees the suave Hartigan on a mission to track down a paedophile, also known as “That Yellow Bastard”. In two separately told strands of the story Hartigan dismembers the “Bastard” twice to save little Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba). A sequel of Sin City is currently in production, but whether Bruce will be back to reprise his role as Hartigan has yet to be revealed.
September 23, 2009
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