The only movies Bruce Willis watches every year
Die Hard is a Christmas movie. The events of the film are directly tied to the holiday season—John McClane is only at Nakatomi Plaza to visit his wife, Holly, for her company’s Christmas party. He even drops a deadpan ‘Ho Ho Ho’, for goodness’ sake. It doesn’t get much more jolly old Saint Nick than that.
Interestingly, despite being at the centre of this obviously festive affair, Bruce Willis himself has come forward and said it is not a Christmas film. That’s OK, of course, he’s allowed to be wrong. Despite this judgement, there are undoubtedly still families who sit down to watch the barefoot bonanza every year with their turkey dinners. Willis might not be indulging in this particular tradition, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his own list of annual rewatches.
Speaking to Ain’t It Cool, the legendary man of action outlined some of the movies he can’t go twelve months without viewing. “Here are my top five or six movies, which I generally watch three to five times a year,” he explained. “Dr. Strangelove, Raging Bull, the first two ‘Godfathers’, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Spartacus, Bridge on the River Kwai, Bullitt, The Great Escape, On the Waterfront, Reservoir Dogs, Patton, I really dug 300, the first Alien, Last Picture Show…. that’s more than five or six…”
Bad maths to one side, Willis’ list gives a real insight into what he enjoys about movies. There are two Stanley Kubrick numbers on there, Strangelove and Spartacus, and three Martin Scorsese pictures, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver and Goodfellas. Willis once admitted that he used to watch the latter “once a week“, so it’s no surprise that it’s ended up here. He clearly enjoys a good gangster flick, what with the two ‘Godfathers’, although he clearly couldn’t bear to put himself through the third on an annual basis. You and everyone else, pal.
The three Scorsese works on his list only betray Willis’ love of Robert De Niro. As this interview was conducted in 2007, maybe he was doing some sneaky promotion for the upcoming comedy What Just Happened, which starred both him and his old pal Bob. George C Scott makes two appearances in two very different roles: the erratic general Buck Turgidson in Dr. Strangelove and the titular real-life military man in Patton. He also clearly enjoys the work of Steve McQueen, as two of his most famous efforts – The Great Escape and Bullitt – are represented.
In terms of genres, you might have been expecting more action fare from a man who made his name shooting bad guys. The only real action romp on the list is 300 (which is also the most recent film on there by far), but even that has a historical edge to it. He seems to enjoy films about the Second World War, as both Bridge on the River Kwai and The Great Escape are set during the conflict, which is odd, as he’s never really explored this idea in his own work. No, the absolutely god awful Air Strike from 2018 doesn’t count.
Anyone who knows Willis’ varied filmography shouldn’t be surprised by how deep this list runs. Also, he should be commended for not putting some of his own movies on there. There are some actors who would definitely do that.
