Ever since his breakout turn on the TV series Moonlighting, Bruce Willis has been destined for big things, but few imagined just how big those things would end up being. Forty years later, I consider him one of the greatest movie stars America has ever produced, and as such, think he should be considered a national treasure.

With Die Hard, Willis established himself as one of the world's premiere action stars. He didn't have the physique of an Arnold Schwarzenegger or the training of a Jean-Claude Van Damme, but he was a man of the people, and the people have loved his various everyman heroes over the ensuring years. During that time, Willis has refused to rest on his laurels as an international action star, and has done his best to demonstrate his range. As both a leading man and an ensemble player, Willis has turned in some surprisingly good performances in many memorable movies, and hopefully the films on this list give you an idea of the many different things Willis can do.

To be honest, it was relatively easy to formulate this Top 10 list. As much as I enjoy Willis' 90s movies like The Fifth Element, The Jackal, The Last Boy Scout, The Siege, none of them ever really threatened to crack the list. Maybe I'm not the best judge here, since one of my personal favorites is Willis' kinky '90s thriller Color of Night, which is generally regarded as one of the more embarrassing films on his resume. Then again, maybe that irrational love for Color of Night makes me the perfect judge here -- because I had the presence of mind to know I couldn't get away with including that film on the list, which mind you, reflects both my own taste and plain old common sense.

Willis' career may have seen its best days, but at least the actor has a sense of humor about his recent VOD movies, as evidenced by his self-deprecating tone at 2018's Comedy Central Roast. And on Wednesday, March 30, 2022, Bruce Willis announced his retirement from acting after he was diagnosed with aphasia, bringing his career to its close. So unlike those on the dais that night, I'm not here to talk about Bruce's mistakes, I'm here to celebrate the cream of the Willis crop, so let's look back with tears in our eyes and glass in our feet at his big-screen highlights. Yippee-ki-yay, motherf***ers!

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Honorable Mention: Look Who's Talking

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I know it's just a voice role, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Look Who's Talking movies, and specifically the first film, as Willis delivers a hilarious voice performance that conveys the wonder of being a baby. Baby Mikey is an iconic movie baby thanks to Willis, who gets a fun sparring partner in the sequel in the form of Roseanne Barr.

I won't apologize for loving the first two Look Who's Talking movies. Kirstie Alley and John Travolta are both fantastic, and have really great chemistry together. But Willis gets majority of the punchlines and he makes the most of the opportunity. The guy is really funny when he wants to be, and even though Cop Out didn't work out, I'd love to see him do another big studio comedy one day.

10. Looper

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If this list were about my own favorite movies, I would've saved this spot for Color of Night, one of my favorite guilty pleasures. But Rian Johnson's smart sci-fi movie Looper is probably the best thing Willis has done in the last 15 years. The film allows him to play his age. He no longer has to be indestructible. It's a film about time, and what violence can do to a man, and though it was likely built on Joseph Gordon-Levitt, it was sold on Willis and the audience he brings in.

The diner scene where Old Joe meets his younger self is terrific, and I liked how Willis played this role with a bit of ambiguity. He's trying to prevent his wife's death by killing her murderer in the past, and you're never quite sure how far Old Joe will go for love. Who would the guy from Expendables consider to be expendable, at that point?

Johnson's script certainly elevates the film above several other competitors vying for the #10 slot, but it's Willis (and co-star Emily Blunt) who make the difference between this film and Brick. Aided by the magic of visual effects, Gordon-Levitt does a good job playing a younger Willis, and as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

9. Moonrise Kingdom

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Image via Focus Features

I feel like this 2012 movie doesn't get its due as far as Wes Anderson's oeuvre is concerned. I adore this movie, and even though Willis has a supporting role, it was great to see him fit right in with Anderson regulars like Frances MdDormand, Tilda Swinton and Bill Murray. This is another opportunity to experiment with comedy under the direction of major filmmaker.

Willis plays Duffy Sharp, the Police Captain in the small New England town of New Penzance, who agrees to temporarily house a young Khaki Scout named Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) when his adoptive parents no longer want him in their home. When Sam and his equally precocious girlfriend Suzy fall in love and run away together, it's up to Captain Sharp to lead the search.

Willis may not be the first person you'd think of when it comes to casting a Wes Anderson movie, but he's exactly what the doctor ordered in this case. Moonrise Kingdom needed a hero, and who's a better hero than Bruce Willis? They needed someone willing to climb on the roof of a church to save two lovestruck teens in the middle of a lightning storm, and then share a paternal moment with one of them. As always, when duty calls, Willis answers, and God bless him for that.

8. Death Becomes Her

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Image via Universal

Again, Willis gets to show off his low-key knack for comedy in this 1992 cult classic from director Robert Zemeckis. Willis is paired with legends Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn, and really, the movie belongs to them. Willis is just along for the ride. But he also goes holds his own against his formidable co-stars.

Streep and Hawn play bitter rivals who think nothing of drinking a magic potion that promises eternal youth. Of course, immortality isn't all it's cracked up to be, and when Streep's actress character gets into an argument with Willis' reconstructive mortician and falls down the stairs, no amount of plastic surgery is going to be able to fix it.

Zemeckis does right by Willis, who is playing an alcoholic here, and is wisely never made out to be the villain, though he's certainly not a "good person." It's just a different kind of madcap role for Willis, who compliments the film's visual effects nicely.

7. 12 Monkeys

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Image via Universal Pictures

There are people who prefer The Fifth Element, which came out two years later and was a bit more "fun," but I preferred Terry Gilliam's oddball sci-fi movie 12 Monkeys. Willis plays James Cole, a prisoner who is chosen to be sent back in time to find the origin of a killer virus so that scientists in the future can devise a cure. It's kind of the perfect movie for our current times in corona-induced quarantine.

Though it was Brad Pitt who snagged an Oscar nomination for his wacko supporting performance, Willis is a solid anchor for this futuristic tale, and this is the rare film where Willis actually has romantic chemistry with his co-star -- in this case, Madeleine Stowe.

12 Monkeys may not be a perfect movie but Willis lends the film gravitas when it needs it most. He's dedicated to the idea of this movie, no matter how out there things get, and I appreciate his commitment to this frighteningly plausible story. Willis doesn't work with a ton of arthouse filmmakers, let alone those with Gilliam's unique sensibilities, so it's simply refreshing to see him do something different for a change, but something that still has an edge to it.

6. Armageddon

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Image via Buena Vista Pictures

This is one of two Michael Bay movies that are part of the Criterion Collection, and while I may personally prefer The Rock, the big-ass rock movie Armageddon still rocks on its own, and so does Willis' performance as Harry Stamper.

This is another great character for Willis, as Stamper is considered the foremost deep sea oil driller in the world. When he realizes that an incoming asteroid threatens to wipe out life on earth as we know it, including that of his daughter Grace (Liv Tyler), he knows he has no choice but to head into space and blow that asteroid up.

Willis' final moments opposite Ben Affleck belong in the Tough Guy Hall of Fame. You rarely see the hero of the movie forced to make a sacrifice like the one Harry makes for his country and his kin, and Willis sells the emotion behind that moment, his eyes conveying the hope he has that Affleck's A.J. will provide a better life for Grace. Armageddon may be just a little bit ridiculous, but for those who dismiss it as a summer popcorn movie, I got just five words for you: This movie kicks ass, boy!

5. Sin City

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Image via Miramax Films

As far as comic book movies go, Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller's adaptation of the latter's graphic novel Sin City ranks among the very best, and though the film is ensemble-driven in nature, Willis is clearly positioned as the star. His John Hartigan is positioned as a hero early on, when he tries to stop a child murderer (Nick Stahl) from raping and killing young Nancy Callahan. This may be a heightened world, but Willis is still the good guy, the one who not only wants to protect Nancy, but is willing to lay his life --and his freedom -- on the line to ensure her safety.

Years later, after being framed into silence, Hartigan is fresh out of prison and eager to reconnect with Nancy (Jessica Alba), who has grown up to be an exotic dancer. The child killer he stopped earlier is back and hungry for revenge, and as long as Hartigan is alive, she'll always be in danger. He's forced to make an impossible choice, one that Willis sells quite well for an actor who doesn't have a whole lot of death scenes.

Mickey Rourke may have been the scene-stealer as the heart and soul of Sin City, but Willis served as the spine on which its story was built. It's Hartigan who more or less introduces us this violent black-and-white world, and Willis does an excellent job with the hard-boiled narration. There's a certain rhythm to his speech pattern that serves him well as Hartigan. "An old man dies. A young woman lives. A fair trade." I wouldn't have it any other way, and neither would he.

4. Unbreakable

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Image via Disney

Willis knew that M. Night Shyamalan had gotten a special performance out of him, and I suspect he jumped at the chance to work with the director again on his follow-up Unbreakable, which is my personal favorite of M. Night's movies. Willis plays David Dunn, a former football star whose dream of going pro is shattered, along with his leg, in a horrific car accident. Years later, he's working as a security guard at a Philadelphia sports stadium, trying to save his failing marriage and shield his son from the ensuing fallout, when he emerges as the sole survivor of a deadly train wreck. David is completely unscathed, yet he's hungry for answers, something to explain his mint condition.

Enter Samuel L Jackson's Elijah Price, who has the answers that he seeks, as well as those he does not. Willis is once again terrific as an average father who learns he may not be so average after all, and his scenes with his onscreen son Spencer Treat Clark are incredibly touching. Shyamalan knows how to get Willis to do his best work, and the same may have to be said for Willis, who seems to be Shyamalan's good luck charm. Remember, I'm the guy who loved Glass -- though I greatly prefer Willis' first performance as Dunn.

There's just something special about this movie, and it's more than the brilliant screenplay and the clever color palette and Jackson's amazing performance. It's the quietness of Willis' performance, the way he can stand in a crowd with his arms stretched out and have us riveted. The silent fight scene in the film's third act is rarely talked about, but it's a beautiful scene with a beautiful score, and Willis makes us feel David's power -- the power of good. David's weakness may be water, but I often cry watching Unbreakable, and suspect that if you open yourself up to its powerful themes, you may shed a tear as well.

3. The Sixth Sense

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Image via Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

Willis practically reinvented himself with this 1999 classic from M. Night Shyamalan. He plays Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist who begins working with a young boy named Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment), who claims he can see dead people. To say that Malcolm has his work cut out for him would be an understatement. Fortunately, Willis is up to the task, and he does a great job helping Shyamalan elicit one of the great child performances in movie history from Osment. It isn't always easy directing children, and one thing that helps is having a patient veteran co-star.

Willis is flexing completely different muscles this time around, showing off his dramatic chops in a deeply felt performance that stuck the landing. Seriously, there's a reason The Sixth Sense has one of the best endings in the history of movies, and that reason is Willis, who does a fantastic job selling the twist in Shyamalan's script. That's the thing that people don't think about in talking about that ending. It's one thing to write a brilliant twist ending, as Shyamalan did, but it's another thing completely to sell that twist and convince and audience to believe it.

Willis' subtle performance here is note-perfect, and it never gets the credit it deserves because the two "stars" of this movie are Osment and Shyamalan, and particularly the latter's script, since the success of this film hinged on word-of-mouth. The two of them deserve a ton of credit, but I beg you not to forget how surprised you were by this performance, which many people didn't think Willis had in him.

2. Pulp Fiction

I wonder who thanked their lucky stars more when Bruce Willis agreed to co-star in Quentin Tarantino's magnum opus -- Tarantino, or Willis himself. The film surely benefitted from Willis' global profile, but the role of Butch Coolidge must've come as nourishment for Willis' soul at that point in his career, which followed several high-profile flops.

The chance to play a boxer who's equal parts lover and fighter, and work with a red-hot wunderkind like Tarantino doesn't come around every day, especially after films like Hudson Hawk, Billy Bathgate, and Bonfire of the Vanities. While we never get to see Butch throw a single punch in the ring, we do get to see him wield a samurai sword when two hillbillies abduct and rape him as well as his foe-turned-friend Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames).

Pulp Fiction may be my favorite movie, and by that all-important criteria, perhaps it should've been #1 on this list, but you can't argue with John McClane being Willis' signature character. Pulp Fiction isn't a Bruce Willis movie, so as good as it is, I could only put it as high as #2 here, though Butch is certainly an integral part of the narrative and he lends the film a bit of added romance thanks to his scenes with Fabienne (Maria de Medeiros). I love Willis' work here, and even though he's at the bottom of the cast list on the poster instead of at the top, his supporting performance deserves this spot.

1. Die Hard

Image via Twentieth Century Fox

I mean, what else were you expecting? This is the ultimate Bruce Willis movie. And just to be clear, this #1 ranking encompasses Die Hard 2 and Die Hard With a Vengeance, both of which are a blast in their own right. But yeah, the OG Die Hard is the best one. You're literally watching a movie star be born.

I know Willis had a lot of fans thanks to Moonlighting, but he'd never been an action star before, and the role of John McClane fit him like a glove. Willis imbued the New York cop with a wicked sense of humor and an underdog's persistence. I've seen Die Hard dozens of times, and every now and then I still wonder if McClane is going to make it out of Nakatomi Tower alive. That's how invested I am in Willis' performance.

Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Who cares? Watch it whenever you want, because it's perfect for any time of year. The same way that Sylvester Stallone will be remembered as Rocky Balboa and Arnold Schwarzenegger will be remembered as the Terminator, John McClane will go down as Willis' defining role. And with that very necessary ode to Die Hard out of the way, welcome to the party, pal...