Bruce Willis has decided to retire from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia. Given that Willis is a screen icon who can be seen in such beloved movies as Unbreakable, audiences are pretty devastated that his decades-long career is coming to an end.
Fans are also taking this opportunity to revisit some of Willis’ best performances. Over the course of his stint as an A-list movie star, Willis has delivered a ton of unforgettable lines that audiences still quote today, from Armageddon’s “We win, Gracie!” to Die Hard’s “Yippee-ki-yay, motherf****r!”
John McClane Gets Meta In Die Hard 2
“How Can The Same S*** Happen To The Same Guy Twice?”
Much like The Hangover Part II and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Die Hard 2 takes the familiar formula from the first movie and simply repeats it all over again. This time, instead of being caught in the middle of the terrorist siege of a skyscraper, John McClane is caught in the middle of the terrorist siege of an airport.
But the sequel makes it work beautifully, because McClane calls attention to the repetitiveness with his signature dry wit: “How can the same s**t happen to the same guy twice?”
David Dunn Denies His Superhero Status In Unbreakable
“I’m Just An Ordinary Man.”
After wowing moviegoers with his breakout film Unbreakable stars Willis as an everyman who realizes he has superpowers.
When his son starts trying to figure out if he’s inherited his dad’s superpowers, David Dunn is worried he’ll get himself killed and insists he’s not invincible: “You are like me. We can both get hurt. I’m just an ordinary man.”
Joe Talks To His Younger Self In Looper
“I Can What You Do After You Do It. And It Hurts.”
After polarizing the Looper, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a hitman who kills targets from the future.
Things get complicated when his older self – played by Willis – is sent back in time to meet a brutal end at his hands. Meeting his younger self makes Joe’s memories fuzzy as they cease to be memories and just become possibilities.
Harry S. Stamper’s Final Words In Armageddon
“We Win, Gracie!”
Michael Bay’s glorious sci-fi actioner Armageddon tells a delightfully ludicrous story about an asteroid headed to destroy the world. Bruce Willis leads a team of drillers into space to destroy the asteroid before it collides with the planet.
Willis’ Harry S. Stamper gets a heartbreaking death scene in which he sacrifices himself to destroy the asteroid and save Earth. Before he dies, he reconciles with his daughter Grace and gives A.J. his blessing to marry her.
Dr. Ernest Menville Thinks Immortality Is Overrated In Death Becomes Her
“What If I Get Bored?”
Robert Zemeckis’ hysterical pitch-black comedy Death Becomes Her is one of Willis’ most underrated movies. He plays against type as a nervous academic who’s easy to manipulate.
When he’s offered an immortality potion, Dr. Ernest Menville has second thoughts about eternal life: “I don’t want to live forever. I mean, it sounds good, but what am I gonna do? What if I get bored?”
Korben Dallas Rejects Human Classification In The Fifth Element
“I Am A Meat Popsicle.”
From Jean-Luc Godard’s Alphaville to Ridley Scott’s The Fifth Element.
Willis stars as a cab driver who gets swept up in a futuristic mystery plot. When the police ask if he’s “classified as human,” Korben Dallas jokes, “Negative, I am a meat popsicle.”
James Cole Has An Identity Crisis In 12 Monkeys
“I Want The Future To Be Unknown. I Want To Become A Whole Person.”
After making Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
One of Gilliam’s many gonzo sci-fi films, 12 Monkeys, is a post-apocalyptic reworking of the classic short La Jetée. Willis stars as a time traveler going through an identity crisis: “I want the future to be unknown. I want to become a whole person.”
Butch Coolidge Reveals Zed’s Grim Fate In Pulp Fiction
“Zed’s Dead, Baby. Zed’s Dead.”
The ensemble cast of Quentin Tarantino’s sophomore feature, Pulp Fiction, featured both unknown actors (at least at the time) like Samuel L. Jackson and Uma Thurman and seasoned A-list stars like John Travolta and Bruce Willis.
Willis plays Butch Coolidge, a boxer who runs afoul of the mob when he fails to take the dive they bribed him for. After reconciling with the mob boss by saving him from the wrath of Zed, Butch takes Zed’s motorcycle to pick up his girlfriend. When she asks who Zed is, Butch quips, “Zed’s dead, baby.”
Malcolm Crowe Provides Therapy From Beyond The Grave In The Sixth Sense
“What Do You Think These Ghosts Want When They Talk To You?”
Before Shyamalan rewrote the Superman myth in Unbreakable, The Sixth Sense was the wildly successful supernatural thriller that put him on the map and made him a Hollywood staple.
The most iconic line in the movie is, of course, “I see dead people,” spoken by Haley Joel Osment as Cole Sear. But Shyamalan’s future Unbreakable star Bruce Willis also has plenty of memorable dialogue as Cole’s psychologist, Malcolm Crowe.
McClane Goes Full Roy Rogers In Die Hard
“Yippee-Ki-Yay, Motherf*****!”
John McClane is, without a doubt, Willis’ most iconic character. McClane’s everyman relatability, unwavering integrity, and self-deprecating wit defined Willis’ on-screen image as a refreshingly grounded action hero.
Willis delivered plenty of memorable lines in the original Die Hard movie, from “Welcome to the party, pal,” to “Come out the coast, we’ll get together, have a few laughs...” But the most memorable one of them all is, of course, his Roy Rogers-inspired catchphrase: “Yippee-ki-yay, motherf****r!”
