The 10 best Bruce Willis movies of all time - RANKED

Bruce Willis is one of the most iconic movie stars of all time, which makes his dementia diagnosis all the more tragic for film fans.

In 2022 Willis was diagnosed with aphasia and then frontotemporal dementia which can impact speech, behaviour and memory.

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Over the last few years, the actor has starred in a flurry of straight-to-streaming or straight-to-DVD projects, which is certainly a deviation from the Hollywood blockbusters he became known for in the 1990s into the 2000s.

Within our MovieMeter community, there are naturally various Bruce Willis movies that have received hugely positive responses. By subscribing to become a member of the MovieMeter community HERE, you can rate all of your favourite movies - and some of your least favourite ones.

According to our community, the best Willis movie is Pulp Fiction, directed by Quentin Tarantino. The non-linear storyline is split into different plots, and Willis' involved the character of Butch, a boxer who throws a fight and finds himself on the wrong side of some dangerous criminals. After fleeing, he must return home to claim his father's watch.

The movie in second place is the one which proved the most successful at the box office. The acclaimed horror The Sixth Sense earned $672.8 million and is the most successful movie of Willis' long career.

It is no surprise to see that the Die Hard franchise is well-represented in the top 10, as all of the first four movies are included.

The top five includes Lucky Number Slevin and Twelve Monkeys.

Best Bruce Willis movies

1. Pulp Fiction (1994)

4.26 (12435)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Three stories are woven together as Jules (Samuel L Jackson) and Vincent (John Travolta) must carry out the wishes of their boss Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) while dealing with an unfortunate dead body. Meanwhile, boxer Butch (Bruce Willis) is on the run from the mob after throwing a prize fight, and Vincent's night goes awry after taking Wallace's wife, Mia (Uma Thurman) out for dinner.

Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson and Uma Thurman

2. The Sixth Sense (1999)

3.87 (6512)

The Sixth Sense (1999)

Dr Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), a child psychologist, takes on the task of healing a boy who sees ghosts. The boy, Cole (Haley Joel Osment), has many problems at school and with his mother because of his gift. By helping Cole, Crowe hopes to come to terms with himself after failing to help sufficiently in a similar case in the past.

Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Stars: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette and Olivia Williams

3. Lucky Number Slevin (2006)

3.83 (4713)

Lucky Number Slevin (2006)

After losing his job and girlfriend, Slevin travels to New York. Once he arrives at his friend Nick Fisher's apartment, where he was supposed to be staying, he is "invited" to join The Boss. He sees him for Fisher, who himself is missing. And later that day, rival underworld boss The Rabbi demands his presence. This man also thinks he is Nick, who has quite a lot of gambling debts with both mafiosos. Still, Slevin decides to settle the debts, while the police try to make things difficult for him. The question is whether he will succeed, and who is the mysterious Smith who shows up at both The Rabbi and The Boss...

Directed by: Paul McGuigan
Stars: Josh Hartnett, Lucy Liu and Bruce Willis

4. Die Hard (1988)

3.82 (5068)

Die Hard (1988)

The only reason New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) is in Los Angeles is because he wants to be with his kids over Christmas. He finds himself at a party at his estranged wife's work when German terrorists led by the ruthless Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) take control of the skyscraper to open a safe with seven locks. Because of his concealed position, he manages to avoid the group of hostages in order to eliminate the terrorists and sabotage their plan.

Directed by: John McTiernan
Stars: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman and Bonnie Bedelia

5. Twelve Monkeys (1995)

3.78 (5010)

Twelve Monkeys (1995)

After five billion people were wiped out by a virus in 1996, humanity (or what is left of it) will be living underground by 2035. Convicted James Cole is sent back in time to research the virus so that a fight can be worked on. However, he ends up a few years early, in 1990, where of course nobody believes his story. He ends up in an institution where he finds Dr. Kathryn Railly met. She slowly begins to believe in his story. Cole, however, begins to doubt his own sanity more and more.

Directed by: Terry Gilliam
Stars: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe and Brad Pitt

6. Sin City (2005)

3.77 (6018)

Sin City (2005)

Basin City, also known as 'Sin City' is the city where murder and crime are the order of the day. The first story, ''The Hard Goodbye'', follows tough-as-nails street fighter Marv on a quest for revenge after being framed for the murder of prostitute Goldie, the only woman who ever cared about him. The second story, ''The Big Fat Kill'', revolves around Dwight and the tough girls of Old Town. He tries to protect the girls from the corrupt cop Jack Rafferty. The film's third and final story, "That Yellow Bastard," follows ex-cop John Hartigan. He has made a promise to protect Nancy Callahan from a disfigured pedophile, Junior.

Directed by: Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller and Quentin Tarantino
Stars: Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen and Bruce Willis

7. Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)

3.63 (3282)

Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)

An explosion takes place in a public place in New York, which is claimed by a man who calls himself Simon and wants to talk only to John McClane. McClane is a heavily alcoholic cop who no longer has his badge, but only if he carries out Simon's orders will the explosions stop.

Directed by: John McTiernan
Stars: Bruce Willis, Jeremy Irons and Samuel L. Jackson

8. Live Free or Die Hard (2007)

3.59 (3803)

Live Free or Die Hard (2007)

Police officer John McClane is tasked with collecting young hacker Matt Farrell. It seems like a routine job at first, but when McClane and Farrell are suddenly attacked in Farrell's apartment, it turns out that there is much more going on. They then discover that Thomas Gabriel is threatening the entire country with a plot to sabotage the computer system and engineering structure that drives the American economy. It's up to the shaggy and foul-mouthed McClane to stop Gabriel's scheme.

Directed by: Len Wiseman
Stars: Bruce Willis, Justin Long and Timothy Olyphant

9. Die Hard 2 (1990)

3.36 (2768)

Die Hard 2 (1990)

When Agent John McClane is back in Washington for Christmas, he sees something strange at the airport. He intervenes and discovers that these are very tough boys, although he does not know what they are planning. Once the police realize he's right, it's too late. Terrorists control the airport and the planes in the sky and in one of those planes is John's wife. He tries to stay hidden, take out the terrorists and certainly not die easily, just like last year.

Directed by: Renny Harlin
Stars: Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia and William Atherton

10. Unbreakable (2000)

3.36 (3373)

Unbreakable (2000)

David Dunn gets involved in a major train accident. None of the occupants survive the accident, except David who does not have a scratch. After the accident, he comes into contact with Elijah Price, a comics collector who has been plagued his entire life with ill health and rapidly breaking bones.

Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Stars: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson and Robin Wright