Bruce Willis Announced His Retirement, Ending The Era of Veteran Action Stars

At the end of March last year, Bruce Willis and his family issued a joint statement announcing that he decided to retire from acting because of aphasia.

Unexpectedly, less than a year later, his family announced another bad news. He was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). His aphasia is only one of the symptoms. Today, there is still no cure for this disease in the world.

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It is slightly different from Alzheimer's disease. In addition to aphasia, there may be other significant complications as changes in temperament and loss of interest in others. As a superstar of a generation, Bruce Willis bid farewell to the screen in such an unexpected way, which made me feel very sorry.

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Today, veteran action stars such as Harrison Ford (Raiders of the Lost Ark) and Sylvester Stallone (The Expendables 4) are still active on the screen, and Willis had to retire early as an actor of the same period.

In Hollywood, inevitably, heroes will gradually go to old age, leaving a lonely figure. Today, let me take this opportunity to review this great actor.

1. From A Comedian to A Tough Guy

When it comes to Bruce Willis, I will first think of Die Hard, from which many fans began to know him.

A little bald, muscular, tight vest, and evil smile, Willis' image has long been deeply rooted in people's hearts. Interestingly, as a tough guy, he debuted as a comedian in his early years.

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Die Hard

In 1985, Willis became hot for his role in the detective romance comedy Moonlighting. He plays Detective David Addison, a humorous white-collar worker who forms a pair of enemies with his strong female boss. There are many funny and romantic interactions between the two in the drama. Willis also won the Golden Globe and Emmy for Best Actor in 1987.

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Moonlighting

He went on to star in two comedy films, Blind Date and Sunset. He then turned to movies. If it were not for Die Hard, maybe he would have become a comedy star like Bill Murray.

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Blind Date

Willis was not the first choice for Die Hard because his appearance and positioning did not meet their requirements. The film production team wanted the image of Stallone and Schwarzenegger, but director John McTiernan insisted on using him.

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Schwarzenegger,Stallone,Bruce Willis

Because McTiernan was tired of shooting heroes and wanted to create an anti-hero image, not only a tough guy but also an amiable ordinary person.

Willis fits this role definition perfectly. In the film, he plays Detective John McClane, a tired middle-aged man who deals with midlife crises such as career dilemmas and marital problems.

Not only does he not have the ambition to save the world, but he is a bit timid when things happen. He fights terrorists just to save his wife. Like many middle-aged people, McClane needs an opportunity to prove himself and bring new possibilities to his career and marriage.

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Die Hard

John McTiernan pioneered the "bleeding and getting hurt" civilian hero model with this role. Willis became a hot action star, topping the lists of "the best 20 policemen" and "the top 25 action heroes" in film history.

Die Hard also created a new series, with four sequels in succession, which became Bruce Willis' masterpiece.

2. As an Action Superstar, Not Just Can Fight

Born into an ordinary family, Willis relied on his efforts to become a Hollywood action superstar, but he did not seem to be favored by the mainstream media. When Die Hard was in vogue in the 1980s, they defined him as "a muscle stick that can only fight and kill."

For Willis, the "tough guy" label is a double-edged sword. While making him famous and bringing him a good income, it also limits his acting career. He said in various interviews that he was tired of action movies. He hoped to break away from the label and change people's perceptions of him.

To this end, he made many efforts in those years. He carefully selected scripts and starred in many classic movies, such as Pulp Fiction, 12 Monkeys, The Fifth Element, and The Sixth Sense, covering extensive genres, including comedy, sci-fi, thriller, and literature.

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Pulp Fiction

Compared with Stallone and Schwarzenegger, Willis' achievements in other types of movies are even better. For example, his gloomy temperament in The Sixth Sense is heartbreaking, quite different from other action stars.

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The Sixth Sense

Many people think Willis contributed his best performance in The Sixth Sense, showing his delicate acting skills. Even though he never won an academy award in the film category, in my mind, he has long been an accomplished actor in both literary and action films.

3. Continuous Bad Movies, A Hero Bid Farewell

In recent years, when it comes to Bruce Willis, people always say he starred in too many bad movies. Therefore, he became a regular at the Razzie. He even won the "Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 Movie" award.

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Razzie Awards

Even more inconceivable, Willis directly sold the right to use his portrait to a Russian communications company, appearing in various advertisements in the form of AI face-changing in exchange for income.

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An advertisement for the Communications Company

However, when people learned that Willis was sick and worked so hard to earn money to secure his family's future life, everything became excusable. And even the usually harsh Razzie withdrew the award for Willis.

With Willis' retirement, more and more tough guys have gone with the times, freezing their muscles in the shots of the past.

In 2010, Stallone invited Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jason Statham, and other veteran action stars to join The Expendables, directed by him.

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A group of old actors went on a rampage in front of the camera, doing fights, gunfights, and explosions without a double. It looked very cool, but also sad. After all, the trend in Hollywood has changed. People are tired of the standardized routines of tough-guy movies, and the emergence of superhero movies has further squeezed the living space of conventional action movies.

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Perhaps, as a dialogue in The Expendables 2 says:

Willis: Here is a present for you, a new plane.

Stallone: This plane is old enough to be in a museum.

Schwarzenegger: Just like us.

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After all, their time is gone forever. I only hope they can enjoy their old age and draw satisfactory ends to their acting careers.

What do you think about Willis' retirement? See you in the comments!

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Timothy Knight
Bruce Willis is my fav action actor other than Jason Statham and Liam Neeson...... he's a hero.
09:45 24 March, 2023
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