Bruce Willis movies in order

Thanks to his action star status, as well as his on-screen likeability, Bruce Willis is one of the most beloved actors of all-time. Prior to his retirement in 2022, his career spanned decades and over the years he appeared in a wealth of movies including Die Hard (1988), Twelve Monkeys (1995), and Armageddon (1998), to name but a few.

His films ranged from comedies and thrillers, to sci-fi pictures and comic book adventures. However, his most iconic roles tended to be in the action genre, which helped him build up a legion of fans.

In this post I am taking a look back at the film portfolio of Bruce Willis, with a rundown of all his movies (including films he cameoed in). I will be going through his film career, decade-by-decade, to showcase all of the pictures he has featured in over the years.

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The 1980s

Prior to making a name for himself on the big screen, Willis got his first major breakthrough in television, specifically in the romantic drama series, Moonlighting. The show was a huge hit between 1985 and 1989, and this helped viewers become familiar with Willis as an actor.

But outside of television, Bruce Willis tried to break into the movie industry during the early ‘80s, with a series of uncredited roles in such movies as The First Deadly Sin and The Verdict. However, it wasn’t until 1988’s Die Hard where he really made his mark.

Playing the role of tough cop, John McClane in Die Hard, instantly turned Willis into a box office star. From here he went onto many, many other roles, but Die Hard was something which became a significant piece in his career jigsaw for decades to come.

Bruce Willis movies during the 1980s included:

• The First Deadly Sin (1980)*
• Ein Guru kommt (1980)*
• The Verdict (1982)*
• The Return of Bruno (1987)
• Blind Date (1987)
• Sunset (1988)
• Die Hard (1988)
• In Country (1989)
• Look Who’s Talking (1989)

*Uncredited roles

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1990s

Moving into the ‘90s now, and this is where Willis really started to come into his own. He kick-started the decade with roles in Die Hard 2 and Look Who’s Talking Too – both sequels to hit movies from the ‘80s – before moving onto other projects, such The Bonfire of the Vanities and The Last Boy Scout.

Not every movie worked, and he experienced some box office disasters, including the misjudged Hudson Hawk, but it was in this decade that he featured in some truly great pictures, including Pulp Fiction, Die Hard With a Vengeance, Twelve Monkeys, The Fifth Element, and The Sixth Sense.

Bruce Willis’ movies during the 1990s included:

• Die Hard 2 (1990)
• Look Who’s Talking Too (1990)
• The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
• Mortal Thoughts (1991)
• Hudson Hawk (1991)
• Billy Bathgate (1991)
• The Last Boy Scout (1991)
• The Player (1992)
• Death Becomes Her (1992)
• Loaded Weapon 1 (1993)*
• Striking Distance (1993)
• Pulp Fiction (1994)
• North (1994)
• Color of Night (1994)
• Nobody’s Fool (1994)
• Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995)
• Four Rooms (1995)*
• Twelve Monkeys (1995)
• Last Man Standing (1996)
• Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996)
• Bruno the Kid: The Animated Movie (1996)
• The Fifth Element (1997)
• The Jackal (1997)
• Mercury Rising (1998)
• Armageddon (1998)
• The Siege (1998)
• Breakfast of Champions (1999)
• The Sixth Sense (1999)
• The Story of Us (1999)

*Uncredited roles

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2000s

Onto the 2000s, and Willis continued to appear in a string of movies, with pictures ranging from the family-friendly Disney movie, The Kid, to comic book blockbusters, Unbreakable, Sin City, and Surrogates. The ‘00s was another busy decade for the actor, with Willis appearing in a seemingly endless amount of films.

Bruce Willis films throughout the 2000s included:

• The Whole Nine Yards (2000)
• The Kid (2000)
• Unbreakable (2000)
• Bandits (2001)
• Hart’s War (2002)
• Grand Champion (2002)
• True West (2002)
• Tears of the Sun (2003)
• Rugrats Go Wild (2003)
• Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003)*
• The Whole Ten Yards (2004)
• Ocean’s Twelve (2004)*
• Hostage (2005)
• Sin City (2005)
• Alpha Dog (2006)
• Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
• 16 Blocks (2006)
• Over the Hedge (2006)
• Fast Food Nation (2006)
• The Astronaut Farmer (2006)
• Grindhouse (2007)
• Planet Terror (2007)
• Perfect Stranger (2007)
• Die Hard 4.0 / Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
• Nancy Drew (2007)
• The Assassination (2008)
• What Just Happened (2008)
• Surrogates (2009)

*Uncredited roles

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2010s

Heading into the 2010s and Willis’ workload continued at a very considerable pace. He was appearing in multiple movies, year-after-year, with notable pictures including RED, Looper, Death Wish, and Glass.

Bruce Willis’ movies throughout the 2010s included:

• Cop Out (2010)
• The Expendables (2010)*
• I’m Still Here (2010)
• RED (2010)
• Setup (2011)
• Catch .44 (2011)
• Lay the Favourite (2012)
• The Cold Light of Day (2012)
• Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
• The Expendables 2 (2012)
• Looper (2012)
• Fire with Fire (2012)
• A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)
• G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)
• RED 2 (2013)
• Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014)
• The Prince (2014)
• Vice (2015)
• Rock the Kasbah (2015)
• Extraction (2015)
• Precious Cargo (2016)
• Marauders (2016)
• Split (2016)*
• Once Upon a Time in Venice (2017)
• First Kill (2017)
• Acts of Violence (2018)
• Death Wish (2018)
• Reprisal (2018)
• The Bombing (2018)
• Glass (2019)
• The LEGO Movie 2 (2019)
• Motherless Brooklyn (2019)
• Between Two Ferns: The Movie (2019)
• 10 Minutes Gone (2019)
• Trauma Center (2019)

*Uncredited roles

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2020s

And finally, moving into the 2020s, Willis continued to appear in a large succession of movies. The movies were of varying quality (often quite poor), with his roles usually being bit-parts or walk-ons; but he continued to push ahead with them regardless.

However, in 2022, Bruce Willis announced that he was retiring from acting due to a decline in his health. As such, he would no longer be taking on any further roles, other than those already in production.

His films in the 2020s included: 

• Survive the Night (2020)
• Hard Kill (2020)
• Anti-Life (2020)
• Cosmic Sin (2021)
• Midnight in the Switchgrass (2021)
• Out of Death (2021)
• Survive the Game (2021)
• Apex (2021)
• Deadlock (2021)
• Fortress (2021)
• American Siege (2021)
• Gasoline Alley (2022)
• A Day to Die (2022)
• Fortress: Sniper’s Eye (2022)
• Corrective Measures (2022)
• Vendetta (2022)
• White Elephant (2022)
• Wrong Place (2022)
• Wire Room (2022)
• Detective Knight: Rogue (2022)
• Paradise City (2022)
• Detective Knight: Redemption (2022)
• Assassin (2023)

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So, those are all the Bruce Willis movies, but what are your favourites? Are you a fan of Die Hard or is Unbreakable your No.1 movie? Perhaps Death Wish is the film for you, or possibly Disney’s The Kid?

Whatever your favourite Bruce Willis movie, be sure to drop a comment below and show some love for Willis. He has made a wealth of great pictures, including a number of truly iconic ones!

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And if you are a fan of Bruce Willis you might like to know that many of his hit movies are available to buy on DVD and Blu-ray, including one of his most acclaimed films, The Fifth Element.

If you’ve not watched The Fifth Element before, you’re in for a real treat, as the film is a sci-fi blockbuster from director Luc Besson.

The Fifth Element DVD is available from all good entertainment stockists, including Amazon US and Amazon UK.

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Thank you for stopping by It’s A Stampede! to read this post about Bruce Willis movies. For more movie-related content, be sure to check out the recommended reads below.

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