The 3 Best Bruce Willis Movies, According To Rotten Tomatoes

20th Century Studios

Bruce Willis, one of Hollywood's finest, made wearing a vest during a hostage situation seem perfectly acceptable. Many of his most beloved roles saw him wielding a squint like Clint Eastwood and a level of sass that other actors just couldn't deliver. But much like Willis himself, his top three rated films on Rotten Tomatoes are a surprising package that would certainly make for an interesting unofficial trilogy to watch over a weekend. That includes what RT has deemed the best of the bunch: a movie about a decidedly vexed New York City cop with no shoes and a partiality to Roy Rogers films.

Indeed, it should come as absolutely no shock that "Die Hard," Willis' breakout vehicle and a bullet-riddled pillar of the action movie genre, is the actor's highest rated film on RT among critics. Earning a well-deserved 94% from the website, "Die Hard" broke the mold that so many other films would try to replicate from then on. "Die Hard" on a bus (aka "Speed"), "Die Hard" on a battleship (aka "Under Siege"), "Die Hard" on a plane (aka "Air Force One"); all of them tried their best to match the same excitement and air-tight writing of director John McTiernan's 1988 hit. Nevertheless, the original "Die Hard" (and Willis' John McClane) continues to stand 36 stories above the rest as one of the best action movies ever. In fact, it took 24 years for another Willis-led project to come close to matching "Die Hard" in the eyes of critics (according to RT's metrics, anyway).

TriStar Pictures

For nearly a quarter-century after John McClane dropped Hans Gruber off a roof for Christmas, Bruce Willis continued to work in other genres besides the one that sent his career into the stratosphere. Most notably, he starred in two very different sci-fi films in the '90s in the forms of Terry Gilliam's "12 Monkeys" and Michael Bay's "Armageddon." However, his most widely-acclaimed entry in the genre (again, according to RT) would come in 2012 when he teamed up with filmmaker Rian Johnson and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the latter of whom donned prosthetics to better resemble a young Willis for their movie "Looper" (which has a 93% rating on the website).

Joined by the likes of Emily Blunt and Jeff Daniels, "Looper" is set in a future where gangsters tie up loose ends by sending those they want to get rid of back to the past, where a "Looper" kills them in order to destroy the "evidence." Levitt plays one such hitman, who is faced with a tricky task when his latest job turns out to be his future self (Willis), giving rise to a mind-melting tale of time loops, kids with special powers, and Gordon-Levitt doing his best impression of Willis. "Looper" remains both one of Johnson's best films and one of the best sci-fi movies ever, in no small part thanks to Willis' pitch-perfect performance. Coincidentally, though, that same year also saw the actor pop up in another well-received film — one that couldn't be more different from Johnson's tale of time-traveling hitmen. 

Focus Features

Sometimes eccentric Bruce Willis is the best Bruce Willis, which is why seeing him turn up among the eclectic cast list for Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" (which is tied with "Looper" on RT with a 93% rating) was an absolute treat. The 2012 dramedy features the typical quirky ensemble the filmmaker is known for roping together. That includes Willis as the straight-faced Captain Sharp, a police officer on an island on the lookout for a missing boy and girl who've headed off on an adventure (forcing the adults around them to undergo an adventure of their own).

Willis' turn in "Moonrise Kingdom" made for a refreshing addition to his back catalog of work. The actor always had comedic timing and would often combine that with either frenetic energy (in films like "Death Becomes Her") or dry wit (the kind that made him the ideal action hero in the "Die Hard" movies and "The Last Boy Scout"). Here though, there's a heart to his performance that wasn't always on display in his other films. As far as its director's work goes, "Moonrise Kingdom" isn't necessarily the best Wes Anderson movie (depending on who you ask), but it's certainly a welcome addition to both his and Willis' filmographies.