10 Most Rewatchable Bruce Willis Movies, Ranked

Bruce Willis gained fame as an actor playing wise-cracking detective David Addison in the hit comedy-drama series Moonlighting alongside Cybill Shepherd. Since then, he’s appeared in more than a hundred films that have grossed over $5 billion worldwide and gained a huge amount of recognition. Willis is particularly renowned for his portrayal of gritty New York cop John McClane in no less than five Die Hard movies. But, not one to be type-cast, he’s also had great success with a broad spectrum of genres.

The actor’s retirement from movies after being diagnosed with aphasia in 2022 was a big blow to the industry and countless fans who have followed him over the years. Still, Willis has built a legacy that will live on for generations to come, largely thanks to the many enjoyable movies he made. These are Bruce Willis’ most rewatchable movies, cementing his place as a true icon of the silver screen.

10 ‘Blind Date’ (1987)

Directed by Blake Edwards

Workaholic Walter Davis (Willis) needs to find someone to accompany him to an important business dinner meeting, so his brother sets him up on a blind date with his wife’s cousin, Nadia (Kim Basinger). Walter is warned not to let Nadia drink too much because alcohol makes her lose control, but what harm can a little champagne do? In Walter’s’ case, a lot. Once the booze takes hold, timid Nadia becomes a wild party animal, and things go from bad to worse when her psychotic ex-boyfriend David (John Larroquette) shows up at every turn, determined to win her back.

Blind Date
often gets overlooked, especially in light of the release of

Die Hard

the following year.

Blind Date was the movie that helped Willis break into film, and while it made a respectable showing at the box office, it failed to win over critics. This film often gets overlooked, especially in light of the release of Die Hard the following year, but it’s a delightful, quirky rom-com with some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments. Willis is the perfect straight man to Kim Basinger’s wild antics, resulting in a film that might not be great but sure is a ton of fun.

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9 ‘Look Who’s Talking’ (1989)

Directed by Amy Heckerling

From the moment of his conception, Mikey (voiced by Willis) has a lot to say about the world, but only the audience gets to hear it. Mikey’s mom, Molly (Kirstie Allie), falls pregnant while having an affair with her married client, Albert (George Segal). Nine months on, the stress of catching Albert in an illicit tryst with another woman induces Molly’s labor, and she finds herself in the company of New York cabbie James (John Travolta). After Mikey is born, James offers to babysit if Molly helps him rehouse his elderly grandfather.

While he doesn’t appear on-screen, Willis’s distinctive voice and comedic timing shine through in little Mikey’s unique and unfiltered worldview. Look Who’s Talking is a funny and charming film and one of the best entries in Bruce Willis’s comedy career. The film is far from perfect, but it offers enough laughs to justify repeated viewings, especially as a perfect source of family entertainment.

8 ‘Death Becomes Her’ (1992)

Directed by Robert Zemeckis

Death Becomes Her is a macabre comedy about dowdy novelist Helen (Goldie Hawn), who loses her boyfriend, Ernest (Willis), to her glamorous actress frenemy, Madeline (Meryl Streep). Years later, Helen reemerges, looking unbelievably stunning and tries to seduce Ernest, suggesting the best way out of his loveless marriage is to kill Madeline. Unbeknownst to them, Madeline has taken a mysterious potion that stops the aging process in its tracks and grants eternal life.

The browbeaten Ernest is the farthest cry from Bruce Willis, the action hero, highlighting his incredible versatility as an actor. Death Becomes Her is an outrageously silly story with a serious moral message that the secret of eternal youth and eternal life lies in the memories and people we leave behind. Willis is funny as the meek Ernest, but the true stars are Streep and Hawn, whose hilarious antics make the film endlessly rewatchable.

7 ‘The Sixth Sense’ (1999)

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

The supernatural story behind The Sixth Sense is that Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) can see dead people. Although his visions are terrifying, Cole is reluctant to reveal his secret for fear of being labeled a freak. His mother, Lynn (Toni Collette), is at her wits’ end when dedicated child psychologist Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Willis) steps in and offers to help the young boy deal with his trauma. With Crowe’s help, Cole gradually realizes the scary ghosts are just people looking for help to pass on important messages to the living world.

The Sixth Sense is one of those movies that demand your full attention. Once the twist ending has been revealed (no spoilers), most viewers are compelled to rewind and check how they missed it the first time around. The Sixth Sense also shows that Willis can play the concerned parental figure just as well as the bicep-bulging tough guy.

6 ‘Unbreakable’ (2000)

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Inspired by the world of comic books, Unbreakable is the extraordinary story of David Dunn (Willis), a working-class guy who discovers he has amazing gifts. In the aftermath of a horrific train crash, David is revealed to be the sole survivor and is miraculously unharmed. As he struggles with what happened, David meets Elijah Price (Samuel L Jackson), a comic book-obsessed guy with a devastating brittle bone disease who believes that comic books are the last link to an ancient way of passing down history.

Willis’ mild-mannered hero also appears in two other movies. The first is a short cameo in the surprise ending of Split, followed by the sequel, Glass, which brings together David, Jackson’s Mr. Glass, and James McAvoy‘s The Hoard for a final epic showdown. Still, Unbreakable is the best of the trilogy, an intriguing love letter to comic books that ponders what it truly means to be a hero.

5 ‘Red 2’ (2013)

Directed by Dean Parisot

Red 2 follows Frank Moses (Willis) and the rest of the Retired and Extremely Dangerous crew on a mission to Moscow to try and stop the mentally unstable Dr. Bailey (Anthony Hopkins) from setting off a bomb laden with Red Mercury. Along with dangerous terrorists, Frank has to deal with relationship troubles with his girlfriend Sarah (Mary Louise Parker), which get even more complicated when his old flame, dusky Russian agent Katja (Catherine Zeta-Jones), makes an appearance.

The first movie in the series, Red, is a fantastic action flick and well worth seeing, but Red 2 has the edge. There’s just something more entertaining about a lethal assassin desperately trying to rekindle the passion of his relationship in the midst of a deadly mission. It’s a real shame Red didn’t become a bigger franchise because it had all the elements for great success. Red 2 is funnier and more action-packed, acting as one of the most enjoyable efforts from Willis’ late career.

4 ‘Die Hard With a Vengeance’ (1995)

Directed by John McTiernan

In Die Hard with a Vengeance, Detective John McClane is toyed with by a terrorist known as Simon (Jeremy Irons). A bomb has been set, time is ticking, and McClane is forced to complete a series of tasks and riddles to find the bomb’s location. While walking in the New York hood wearing a sign designed to illicit a violent beating, McClane meets store owner Zeus (Samuel L. Jackson), who gets pulled along for the ride.

This may stir up some debate in the Die Hard fandom, but in terms of rewatchability, Die Hard with a Vengeance slightly edges out others in the franchise. The film’s effortless appeal is mostly due to the chemistry between Willis and Jackson, whose acting styles play off each other so well. The two actors appeared together in four other movies, including National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon, where Willis makes a hilarious cameo.

3 ‘Armageddon’ (1998)

Directed by Michael Bay

With an enormous asteroid hurtling toward Earth, world destruction is imminent. On the advice of “pretty much the smartest man in the world,” the government comes up with a plan to send a drilling team into space, land on the asteroid, drill a hole and drop in a nuke that will blow it apart. With generations of drilling experience behind him, Harry Stamper (Willis) is called to assist, only agreeing if he can pick his team of ragtag yet reliable friends.

Stamper is an immature man-child, but still the most loyal and brave person anyone could meet and Willis excels at bringing out both aspects of this character. With notable supporting performances by Ben Affleck as AJ and Steve Buscemi as Rockhound, Armageddon offers just the right mix of humor, high-octane action, and drama that make for a great sci-fi action movie.

2 ‘Pulp Fiction’ (1994)

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

The unique and eclectic ensemble-cast movie Pulp Fiction follows several people whose lives become weirdly intertwined in a series of violent and pop culture-filled situations in 1990s Los Angeles. Willis plays a boxer named Butch, who’s paid to take a dive in his upcoming match by crime boss Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) but double-crosses him and attempts to skip town with his girlfriend.

A game-changing entry in ’90s cinema and indie filmmaking, Pulp Fiction is a modern masterpiece with arguably Quentin Tarantino‘s best screenplay. Few movies have broken the conventional storytelling structure as successfully as this now-iconic gangster saga. Tarantino has a knack for bringing out the best in his cast, including Willis, who is brutally thuggish yet oddly likable.

1 ‘The Fifth Element’ (1997)

Directed by Luc Besson

More than 200 years in the future, evil threatens to destroy the Earth, and the only weapon to defeat it is the divine light of a supreme being known as the Fifth Element. When a strange woman crashes through the roof of his cab, driver Korben Dallas (Willis) becomes entangled in a daring mission to save the world. The mystery woman, Leeloo (Milla Jovovich), is the supreme being the world has been waiting for, but her power can only be unleashed via an ancient ritual involving 4 sacred stones representing the elements (earth, air, fire, water).

As well as featuring one of Willis’ most memorable roles, The Fifth Element is one of the most rewatchable 90s sci-fi movies. It’s kind of comforting to see into the future and know that some things will always be around, like erratic cab drivers, disappointed mothers and, of course, the Big Mac. The Fifth Element is silly and campy yet undeniably thrilling, featuring Willis at his most charismatic and confident.

NEXT: The 10 Most Rewatchable Samuel L. Jackson Movies, Ranked