It’s difficult to adequately convey what Bruce Willis’ retirement has cost the film industry. His wide-ranging career came into stark relief when his family revealed in 2023 that he had been diagnosed with a rare type of dementia. When a star emerges with a fully developed persona, it’s always impressive, and Willis was the only one who did so when he initially became well-known in the middle of the 1980s. However, few celebrities take the same way he did, either in terms of his unique ascent to fame or his refusal to depend solely on his distinguishing qualities to maintain his notoriety.
Over the decades Bruce Willis performed in a wide variety of roles. This post is focused on performances in the genre of science fiction. We’ll also talk about how his career developed over time.
20. Apex (2021) as Thomas Malone
In Apex, Bruce Willis plays Thomas Malone, a former police officer serving a life sentence for a crime he didn’t commit. He can win his release by surviving a game where six killers hunt him on a remote island. Led by Rainsford (Neal McDonough) the men hunt down human beings. But once Malone shows up, mayhem breaks out. By setting traps and manipulating others, he eventually defeats the thugs who want his death.
For their third collaboration, Apex pairs actor Bruce Willis with co-writer/director Edward Drake (Breach, Cosmic Sin). Not much is good with this “The Most Dangerous Game” clone. There isn’t much activity. The plot is way underdeveloped. The characters are cartoonish caricatures that generally leave little to no impression. Although Bruce Willis is portrayed as being extremely tough, there is never anything in the film that suggests he is. He acts foolishly in every way (wearing a red jacket in the forest, for example) and is easily recognized. He doesn’t show any extreme toughness beyond a few brief actions that don’t tell us anything. He never comes across as this incredibly tough man who shows them all up.
This is a new low for Willis and there is very little to be proud of in this film, which was made on a notably small budget and carelessly edited and filmed. Unfortunately, there is a haphazardness to the filming, and despite Breach and Cosmic Sin being boring, forgettable, and uninspired, at least they appeared to be competent directors. This movie got the actor the “Worst Bruce Willis Performance in a 2021 Movie” Golden Raspberry Award (later rescinded).
19. Cosmic Sin (2021) as James Ford
At the center of this bland mess is Willis—once again collecting a paycheck—as James Ford, a disgraced but once-revered military leader. He’s called back into duty for the tried-and-true “one last job” with the discovery of a new alien civilization on another planet. According to the movie’s mythology, humans begin colonizing other planets in the 2100s. But these may not be friendly aliens. They may also be … zombies? And yet, the depiction of zombie aliens isn’t as gloriously deranged as one would hope.
It would be disrespectful to telephones, which can be a powerful tool for communicating both real emotion and crucial information, to imply that Bruce Willis is phoning in his performance in Cosmic Sin. This sci-fi horror movie won the actor the “Worst Bruce Willis Performance in a 2021 Movie” Golden Raspberry Award (later rescinded).
18. Breach (2020) as Clay Young
Cosmic Sin, as directed by Edward Drake, is simultaneously perplexing and dull. Drake and supporting actor Corey Large co-wrote the appalling script. Long and complicated title cards set the stage for its futuristic, sci-fi setting, implying that a captivating adventure is in store. Except for the inevitable flying automobiles and robot bartenders, the Earth of 2524 doesn’t appear or feel all that different from the one we live in today.
However, the movie effectively addresses PTSD and substance abuse through the character of Clay Young (Bruce Willis), a mechanic on the interstellar ark. It’s implied that he was a decorated war veteran but PTSD forced him out. Clay uses alcohol as a coping mechanism. It could have been a realistic portrayal of PTSD. But this movie, like many others, portrays alcoholics as weak and flawed characters. It’s not Willis’ strongest performance by far. The role won him his second “Worst Supporting Actor” Golden Raspberry Award (later rescinded) for this trash.
It was around this time that Hollywood began to notice his decline. Out of Death director, Mike Burns emailed in June 2020. Burns noticed a problem He wanted to avoid monologues and shorten Willis’s dialogue.
But before this, Bruce Willis was still a working actor. Movies like the next one didn’t help him though.
17. Vice (2015) as Julian Michaels
The premise of Vice is that not too far into the future, the privileged have access to a virtual reality playground. They can realize their most imaginative dreams with androids resembling actual people in appearance and behavior, a la Blade Runner. Have you ever wished to shoot your way out of a bank robbery? Visit Vice and be supervised by the law-abiding Julian Michaels (Bruce Willis). Naturally, as with all Hollywood denunciations of violent video game culture, which is essentially what this is, the violence of this fantasy world seeps into reality. It creates issues for the hard-bitten police detective Roy Tedeschi (Thomas Jane). Ambyr Childers plays a self-aware, artificial human named Kelly who gets caught in the crossfire between the two.
Yes, I realize this is a garbage B movie. The issue with Vice is that it falls short of even those modest hopes for pure escape. It’s one of those straight-to-VOD works that never rises above the description of obnoxious or dull. Just because it’s a VOD release doesn’t mean it has to be a total waste of time and skill.
Willis’ flat portrayal of a villain whose most fundamentally terrible impulses are left unanswered. The role is nothing like his brilliant performance as a villain in The Jackal (1997). Vice employs a common B-movie casting gimmick, employing well-known actors for a week of work and using their images on all promotional materials. Anticipate a significant amount of Childers and minimal screen time for Willis, who needs to limit his screen time to around ten minutes.
16. The Orville “Deflectors” as Groogen
Seth MacFarlane, who also plays the lead character Ed Mercer, an officer in the Planetary Union’s line of exploring spacecraft in the twenty-fifth century, is the creator of the American science fiction comedy-drama television series The Orville. The original Star Trek and its Next Generation successor, both of which it aggressively parodies and pays homage to, served as its main sources of inspiration. The Star Wars saga and video games like the Mass Effect series are further sources of influence for the show. Along with a serialized plot that unfolds throughout the entire series, it follows the crew of the spacecraft USS Orville on their episodic adventures.
Willis does a small cameo in the seventh episode of The Orville’s second season titled “Deflectors”. A disgraceful truth is revealed when a famous engineer boards the USS Orville to replace the Deflector Screens. Meanwhile, First Officer Kelly Grayson (Adrianne Palicki) ends her relationship with Cassius (Chris Johnson). As the show progresses, Cassius tries several times to persuade her to talk to him and maybe change her mind. He texts her and sends her a bouquet of cookies. Ultimately he sends a massive, sentient potted flower to her quarters. The plant, named Groogen, is voiced by Bruce Willis.
The role is small but works because of his everyman personality that directly conflicts with a giant flower. His comic timing also sells it. But the role is so small it’s not even noticeable.
15. Corrective Measures (2022) as Julius “The Lobe” Loeb
This movie is based on the 2014 independent graphic novel of the same name by Grant Chastain and Fran Moyano. Tensions rise to anarchy and destruction in the most hazardous maximum security prison in the world, home to supervillain prisoners and dishonest guards.
The movie made its Tubi premiere on April 29, 2022. One of the final movies starring Willis before he announced his acting retirement was Corrective Measures. “Tubi” is the platform that hosts a variety of classic original movies such as Shark Side of the Moon, Murder at the Murder Mystery Party, and Deadly Secrets of a Cam Girl.
The movie is set in an X-Men-like universe but with less interesting supervillains. Despite some unexpected moments of inspiration, the movie is not worth watching. Compared to other VODs, it is weak and not worth your time. By this time Bruce Willis’ career has been in the doghouse, making under-financed films for over a dozen years. Most of the scenes with Willis are shot alone and he barely interacts with the rest of the cast. It’s rumored by this time that all the dialogue is fed to him over an earpiece and it shows. It’s a sad end to an amazing career. But the next role is even slightly better.
14. Assassin (2023) as Valmora
It is, uh, somewhere, sometime in the future. Under Valmora’s direction, a private military organization develops cutting-edge microchip technology that allows an agent’s thoughts to take over another person’s body to carry out lethal, clandestine operations.
Married and serving on different tours of duty, Alexa (Nomzamo Mbatha) and Sebastian (Mustafa Shakir) don’t get to see each other as much as they would want. When he returns home in a persistent coma, it’s a sad reunion. She demands to know what happened and is told that Sebastian was shot while using a different body for a top-secret operation. Chief Valmora (Bruce Willis) snarls that this is “the future of drone warfare,” and Alexa must now follow his lead to save him. Therefore, Alexa continues hopping into strange bodies in strange situations to kill people she has never seen before at the behest of Valmora’s colleagues Olivia (Fernanda Andrade) and Marko (Barry Jay Minoff).
Regarding Willis, he appears on film quite a little more than in some previous “geezer teasers” where he made exaggerated cameos. However, he only appears in the same frame as another key actor during his climactic encounter with Mbatha, and even in that scene, he seems genuinely bored.
Seeing how many low-budget action films starring Bruce Willis have been released in the past three years has been very confusing. Assassin debuted nearly exactly a year after his family declared a retirement owing to a diagnosis of cognitive illness aphasia (and, eventually, frontotemporal dementia), bringing an end to that legacy-dimming run.
Similar to almost all previous works that showcased the former worldwide phenomenon in prominently billed but limited screen time roles, this mindless genre exercise amounts to nothing more than a passable diversion and, as such, represents a sad conclusion to a noteworthy career. The next role reunites Willis with an old friend.
13. The Astronaut Farmer (2007) as Col. Doug Masterson
In The Astronaut Farmer Billy Bob Thornton plays Charlie Farmer. He’s the father of 15-year-old Shepard (Max Thieriot), younger daughters Stanley (Jasper Polish) and Sunshine (Logan Polish), and husband to the loving Augie (Virginia Madsen).
Farmer was once an astronaut-in-training, but tragedy struck back at the ranch, as we soon find out. The space race lost steam in the decades that followed. But Farmer didn’t; in fact, he was able to put together a shiny, sizable, and perhaps working rocket ship in the barn using spare parts.
Bruce Willis makes a good cameo as an old Air Force friend who has been promoted to colonel. He also inquires about Farmer’s mental health in advance of the hearing that will determine whether or not Farmer will be permitted to carry out his mission. The Colonel laughs heartily when he discovers that the farmer has built himself a precision machine in the large wooden barn behind his house Naturally, the next time we see the Colonel, he’s in a phalanx of other officers, facing him down from the center of a draped table, about to throw the book at him for having the audacity to go into space without using official channels.
The Astronaut Farmer is a compelling story of a man with a mission and a family ready to support him, despite its clichés. Willis seems to be genuinely having fun with his old acting partner from films like Bandits (2001) and Armageddon (1998). We’ll talk more about that movie later but first a military film.
12. G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013) as General Joe Cotton
Based on the G.I. Joe toy line, G.I. Joe: Retaliation is a 2013 American military science fiction action film. It is the follow-up to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) and the second movie in the G.I. Joe film series. A group of actors, including Lee Byung-hun, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce, Channing Tatum, and Arnold Vosloo, return to their roles in the film, which is directed by Jon M. Chu and written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Luke Bracey and Robert Baker take over the role of Cobra Commander, replacing Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and D. J. Cotrona, Adrianne Palicki, Ray Stevenson, and Dwayne Johnson complete the main cast. Bruce Willis plays the creator and head of G.I. Joe Joseph Colton, popularly known as “Joe Colton”. He eventually retired and let others control the organization’s management.
Bruce Willis performs a terrible role. You can tell he isn’t interested in the film due to his unnatural dialogue reading and lack of authentic character moments. It seems like he was cast in this film merely out of availability, and it’s always good to have a well-known actor to round out the cast. But, he’s actively involved in the film and has some great action scenes. So it’s better than the previous film.
11. Surrogates (2009) as Tom Greer
The 2009 American science fiction action movie Surrogates is based on the comic book series, which ran from 2005 to 2006. Bruce Willis plays FBI agent Tom Greer in this Jonathan Mostow-directed film. Greer goes into the real world to look into the murder of surrogates, or humanoid remote-controlled robots. Ving Rhames, Rosamund Pike, Boris Kodjoe, and Radha Mitchell are also included. Bruce Willis plays FBI agent Greer; he appears to be in his mid-thirties and has a full head of hair. Greer is sent to investigate a messy murder late one night outside a club with his partner Jennifer Peters (Radha Mitchell). They are shocked to learn that the victim is the son of surrogate technology innovator Dr. Lionel Canter (James Cromwell). In the futuristic society depicted in Surrogates, most people live as robot avatars while remaining motionless in their homes. Since the avatars exercise at gyms rather than with their owners, I presume they also project a younger, more attractive, and more fit image to the outside world. Nobody you encounter is there.
Willis delivers a serious performance as an FBI agent attempting to solve a mysterious death and save his failing marriage. But the movie never goes beyond the stereotypical troubled hero trope. Including supporting roles, Willis’s earnings the next year ranked him 12th overall and eighth overall for actors in main roles.
10. Glass (2019) as David Dunn
David Dunn, a superhuman who survived a train wreck, now operates as the “Overseer” alongside his son Joseph. Three weeks after the incident in Split, they track down Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), the “Horde,” who’s holding four cheerleaders hostage.
Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson) imprisons them at the Raven Hill Memorial Mental Institute, along with Elijah Price / Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson), a domestic terrorist. They are placed in separate rooms with unique security measures based on their weaknesses. Staple explains that they suffer from delusions of grandeur and do not have superpowers.
While Glass has glimpses of M. Night Shyamalan’s most inventive world-building, it is ultimately a letdown as the wrap-up to the author-director’s ambitious trilogy.
Astonishingly, Bruce Willis provides another sleepwalking performance. The entire film seems to be edited around him. But after appearing in several direct-to-video films it’s his first theatrical film since the box office bomb Death Wish (2018). The role won him his first “Worst Supporting Actor” Golden Raspberry Award (later rescinded).
9. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014) as Detective John Hartigan
The 2014 American action crime anthology film Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, alternatively titled Frank Miller’s Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, is a sequel to the 2005 movie Sin City. Frank Miller wrote the screenplay, which was directed by Robert Rodriguez and is mostly based on Miller’s second book in the Sin City trilogy.
In Robert Rodriguez’s follow-up to the dark noir film, Willis plays a figurative ghost who primarily observes the action from the Great Beyond’s periphery. It’s a minor role, but everyone was excited to see Willis return. Unfortunately, 2014 is the year he started appearing in straight-to-DVD low-budget shlock films like The Prince.
8. Split (2017) as David Dunn
Starring James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Betty Buckley, Split is a 2016 American psychological thriller written, directed, and produced by M. Night Shyamalan. The movie centers on a dissociative identity disorder (also known as a split personality) sufferer who abducts and holds captive three young girls in a remote underground facility.
In a scene toward the end of the movie, Bruce Willis reprises his role as the superhuman security guard David Dunn, drinking coffee at a diner. He is witnessing a TV news anchor attempt to clarify the deeds of James McAvoy’s antagonist, “The Horde.” The patron cannot recall the name of the “guy in a wheelchair” they’re talking about. Dunn replies “Mr. Glass” with knowledge, alluding to the 2000 movie’s comic book-obsessed antagonist played by Samuel L. Jackson.
At this point in Willis’ career, he was in a slump. Since Sin City 2 in 2014, he has been involved in a series of low-budget straight-to-video films. The announcement received significant attention as it was the first confirmation that Shayalaman’s films are set in a shared universe. The cameo was a massive twist and led to Glass.
7. Armageddon (1998) as Harry S. Stamper
Disney’s Touchstone Pictures released Michael Bay’s 1998 science fiction disaster thriller Armageddon. The movie follows a group of skilled drillers who have been sent to space by NASA to stop a massive asteroid hurtling towards Earth.. Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Owen Wilson, Will Patton, Peter Stormare, William Fichtner, Michael Clarke Duncan, Keith David, and Steve Buscemi are among the ensemble cast members.
Towards the end of the 1990s, Willis’s career had slumped due to movies like The Jackal (which, despite its poor reviews, became a box office hit), Box office bombs like Mercury Rising, and Breakfast of Champions saw his career stall out. Additionally, the production of the film Broadway Brawler had collapsed. Rather than suing him, the studio made a discounted contract with Willis to work on three movies: The Kid (2000), The Sixth Sense (1999), and Armageddon (1998). The last two films were smash hits. He was nominated for a Saturn award and won his first Blockbuster Entertainment Award for this movie. On the other hand, he won his first Golden Raspberry Award for this one.
6. The Fifth Element (1997) as Korben Dallas
Luc Besson is the director and creator of the 1997 English-language French science fiction action picture The Fifth Element. It’s co-written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. Chris Tucker, Ian Holm, Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, and Milla Jovovich are among its stars. The film is primarily set in the 23rd century, and its main plot revolves around Korben Dallas (Willis), a former special forces major and taxi driver, having to save Earth after a young woman (Jovovich) falls into his cab. To do this, Dallas teams up with her to locate four mystical stones crucial to protecting Earth from an incoming hostile spacecraft.
Willis would completely embrace his funny, tough-guy image as Korben Dallas. while the movie did not do well critically or financially it developed a cult following. The Fifth Element’s sense of humor, which most big-budget science fiction movies never even try, much less succeed at, is by far its finest asset. Willis’s comic timing sells the role. The character is so popular a Slovak rock band from Bratislava named themselves after him. Not for nothing, but the film got him a nomination for an Online Film & Television Association Awards award for “Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror Actor”.
5. Unbreakable (2000) as David Dunn
Unbreakable is a 2000 American superhero thriller film written, produced, and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright, Spencer Treat Clark, and Charlayne Woodard. In the movie, David Dunn (Willis) survives a train crash with no injuries, leading to the realization that he harbors superhuman abilities. As he begins to grapple with this discovery, he comes to the attention of disabled comic book store owner Elijah Price (Jackson), who manipulates David to understand him.
Unbreakable did not have as great a box office run as The Sixth Sense. Even though the movie had twice the budget of its predecessor, at the time, people just weren’t into it. Today it’s considered one of the best superhero movies as well as one of M. Night Shyamalan’s best pictures in the nearly two decades since its premiere.
David Dunn is an ordinary guy who has to deal with the possibility that he possesses superpowers. However, the main focus of the movie is David’s struggle to come to terms with this reality. Although there isn’t much of a plot, the character development is quite satisfying. Willis won his second Blockbuster Entertainment Award for this movie.
4. The Twilight Zone (1985) “Shatterday” as Peter Novins
The “Shatterday” segment was included in “The New Twilight Zone” premiere episode. Willis is New York City dweller Jay Novins, who seems uncomfortable and out of place. Things seemed unusual until one day, when he called his number and was surprised to discover who answered—Jay Novins, of course! As the audience observes, Jay has a dual personality that causes him to feel bad about his life and the way he has treated other people. Jay’s ego guilt gets in the way as he gradually descends to a point where his other half takes over and becomes the Jay Novins he has always wanted to be.
“Shatterday” was released a few years before Willis’s rise to fame in the film industry. The actor portrays Peter in both roles perfectly, flitting between the two distinct personas with skill. Willis portrays Peter B in the brief scenes where both Peters are on screen simultaneously, with Peter A being replaced by a body double. Even though he wasn’t a leading man, Willis gave the part his all.
3. Sin City (2005) as Detective John Hartigan
Based on Frank Miller’s eponymous comic book series, Sin City (also known as Frank Miller’s Sin City) is a 2005 American neo-noir crime anthology film directed by Robert Rodriguez and Miller. An investigation into the gloomy and dismal Basin City and its three inhabitants, who are all entangled in terrible corruption.
Sin City, a groundbreaking film, was made memorable by Bruce Willis’ performance as Detective John Hartigan. Willis’ nuanced and powerful performance, blending world-weariness and grit, perfectly anchored the complex, often surreal narrative. Although not his most famous role, it is one of his best. He and the rest of the cast won a Critics’ Choice Movie and Gold Derby Award for this film.
2. 12 Monkeys (1996) as James Cole
Inspired by Chris Marker’s 1962 short film La Jetée, Terry Gilliam’s 1995 American science fiction thriller picture 12 Monkeys was written and directed by David and Janet Peoples. Brad Pitt, Christopher Plummer, Madeleine Stowe, and Bruce Willis star. The movie, which is set in a post-apocalyptic future where sickness has ravaged society, centers on a prisoner who is taken back in time to learn more about the virus that killed most of humanity.
Brad Pitt was expected to win an Oscar for his role in Gilliam’s film. But Willis’ portrayal of an everyday man struggling to maintain wit in a topsy-turvy world has stood the test of time, proving his versatility as a character actor. The actor received his first nomination for the Saturn Awards due to his role in this film.. 12 Monkeys proved he was more than a cliche-spouting cowboy. He told the director he wanted to do the film to be taken more seriously as an actor. It worked.
1. Looper (2012) as Joe
Time travel has been developed in the future, but it is only accessible on the black market and is prohibited. A “looper”—a hired gun similar to Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)—waits to mop up in the past thirty years ago when the mob wishes to get rid of someone. Things are going well for Joe; that is until the day the mob decides to “close the loop”, bringing back Willis, Joe’s future self, to be killed.
At 57 this film uses Willis’s age to embrace and enhance his performance. Bruce Willis bids adieu to serious acting with Moonrise Kingdom and Looper paving the way for the latter, less esteemed phase of his film career.
Bruce Willis’s movie career is over due to tragic circumstances. But he left behind a body of work unparalleled by another actor.
Which is your favorite Bruce Willis science fiction film? Is there one you hate?
