Die Hard movie, Willis was offered a large fee to take the movie, which had a seismic impact on both his career and the genre. In the years that followed, Willis would often mix action movies with riskier roles, such as Butch in Pulp Fiction or dark drama Mortal Thoughts.
One thing Willis brought to the table as an action star was his sense of humor and vulnerability. The '80s were dominated by the muscle-bound likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, but many of Bruce Willis' characters presented a more human side, and they often had to bleed and struggle to win. Of course, Willis has his share of bad action films too, but even then, his charisma alone was usually enough to inject them with some personality.
15 Paul Kersey (Death Wish)
One of the weaker entries on this list is Eli Roth's tepid remake of '70s thriller Death Wish. In an apparent effort to avoid controversy, the 2018 redo sands down the rough edges of the original Charles Bronson Death Wish and made the concept as tame as humanly possible. That said, Death Wish 2018 is one of Willis' last leading roles in a theatrical action movie, and in his best scenes, conveys both the heartache and rage driving his surgeon to turn vigilante after his family is attacked.
14 Jeff Talley (Hostage)
Another lesser Bruce Willis action movie, but Hostage still features one of his most underrated turns. Hostage cast the actor as a sheriff who quit his previous role as a hostage negotiator following a traumatic event. Willis' Talley is later forced by the mafia to intervene in a messy hostage situation, under the threat of his own family being killed. Hostage is a generic thriller with lurid violence, but Willis is clearly engaged by the material. Talley's desperation to save his family pushes him to extremes, and it may have helped that his own daughter Rumer Willis plays his character's kidnapped child too.
13 Tom Hardy (Striking Distance)
A 1993 thriller that even Willis has spoken of disparagingly, Striking Distance cast him as a detective assigned to river rescue duty. When the serial killer who murdered his father resurfaces, Willis' Tom Hardy (no relation) teams up with new partner Jo (Sarah Jessica Parker) to stop them. Hardy is a character very much in the Everyman vein of past Willis action characters, and by the time he made Striking Distance, it was a mode he was clearly comfortable in. Having his character come from a family of cops also gives Hardy an interesting dynamic, as it makes the case even more personal.
12 Mr. Church (The Expendables 2)
After Kurt Russell ed on Expendables it was Bruce Willis who took on his planned role as the mysterious Mr. Church. Willis' role in the first Expendables amounts to a cameo, but for The Expendables 2, Church puts up an assault rifle in the finale and gets his hands dirty. Willis doesn't have much in the way of screentime in the 2012 sequel and it's not the most taxing role, but when he s up with Stallone and Schwarzenegger in the finale, it's kind of joyous.
11 John Smith (Last Man Standing)
Walter Hill's terse 1996 Western is a loose remake of Yojimbo, which had previously been reworked as Clint Eastwood's A Fistful of Dollars. Last Man Standing has a great cast, but is - fittingly, considering the desert setting - a tad too dry for its own good. That said, it's got some great, John Woo-influenced gunplay, and Willis' gunslinger Smith is one of his most morally ambiguous heroes.
10 Lieutenant Waters (Tears of the Sun)
Tears of the Sun was noted for its tough production, with Willis clashing with director Antoine Fuqua constantly over its tone. This story involves Willis' team of Navy SEALs leading a rescue mission in Nigeria and being impacted by the horrors they witness. Fuqua also stages some intense action sequences, including an elaborate firefight in the finale. Waters is a character who keeps his emotions close to the vest, but the more violence he witnesses, the more he's moved to do the right thing and guide a group of refugees to safety.
9 Frank Moses (Red)
Red cast Willis as a retired black ops agent who reunites with his old - in more ways than one - teammates when they're targeted for assassination. Red is based on a comic series of the same name, and while it can be too goofy at times, the first film gets by on its incredible cast, including Helen Mirren, John Malkovich and Morgan Freeman. Willis' Moses has the moves of an action hero, but there's an odd sweetness and melancholy to the way the actor plays the part too.
8 The Jackal (The Jackal)
Bruce Willis didn't play that many villains in his career, but his titular assassin in The Jackal gave him a great one. The movie itself is flawed, but the chameleonic role lets Willis dress up in a multitude of elaborate disguises, and the star ranges from hammy overacting to downright sinister. Viewers don't get much of an insight into what drives Willis' killer, but the little glimpses of ego and professional pride he conveys keep the character intriguing.
7 Korben Dallas (The Fifth Element)
The Fifth Element is a 1997 sci-fi adventure that made a star of Milla Jovovich. While Milla and co-stars Gary Oldman and Chris Tucker get the flashier roles, it's actually Willis' taxi driver Dallas who keeps The Fifth Element rooted in some version of reality. That's not to suggest it's a dull role though; Dallas has all the dry quips and charm Willis fans could ask for.
6 John Hartigan (Sin City)
Sin City creator Frank Miller is a big fan of Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry but was so disappointed with the character's final appearance in The Dead Pool that it inspired him to write That Yellow Bastard as his own final sequel. The film adaptation cast Willis as Hartigan, a magnum-wielding cop who pays a heavy price for saving a young girl's life, and who then has to save her again years later. Despite Sin City's hyper-stylization and the uncomfortable love story at its core, Willis still invests a lot of emotion and grit into Hartigan, who is one of his most compelling action hero characters from this era.
