Tagarchief: Bruce Willis

Dungeon Classics #35: Sin City

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

FilmDungeon’s Chief Editor JK sorts through the Dungeon’s DVD-collection to look for old cult favorites….

Sin City (2005, USA)

Director: Robert Rodriguez
Cast: Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba
Running Time: 124 mins.

The cinematic masterpiece Sin City weaves together three interconnected hard-boiled mysteries filled with sex, blood, and violence, all set in the criminal haven of Basin City. With its noir-inspired silhouettes of men in long coats, gravelly voiceovers revealing inner thoughts, and splashes of color that contrast with the shadowy streets, every frame of this film is a visual feast. Each of the three stories revolves around tough, beautiful women with big hearts who find themselves in serious danger, aided by male loners. Bruce Willis plays Hartigan, an aging cop with a bad heart who is determined to protect young Nancy from a sadistic, murderous pedophile. Mickey Rourke portrays Marv, a psychopathic brute made of concrete, who fights on the side of good as he seeks revenge on the men who killed Goldie, a prostitute who gave him the night of his life. Clive Owen is Dwight, a mysterious figure who helps the women of Old Town cover up the murder of a corrupt cop, staving off a potentially bloody conflict. Robert Rodriguez’s adaptation of Frank Miller’s iconic comic series is one of the most successful graphic novel-to-screen translations in cinematic history. Shot and edited by Rodriguez himself, it’s a remarkable technical achievement. But the film’s brilliance doesn’t stop at the visuals, its cast and screenplay are equally stellar. Miller’s sharp, punchy dialogue, already compelling on the page, is brought to life perfectly by an ensemble of outstanding actors: Jessica Alba, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, Benicio Del Toro, Rutger Hauer, Alexis Bledel, Elijah Wood, Michael Madsen, Brittany Murphy, and Clive Owen. The performances elevate the material into something extraordinary. Without a doubt, Sin City is Rodriguez’s finest work to date. It’s a true work of cinematic art.

Double Bill #08: Die Hard & Die Hard 2

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

The greatest Christmas Double Bill in history! Bruce Willis stars in the role that made him a super star: John McClane is an old style hero: smoking cigarettes, cracking jokes and killing bad guys. The first Die Hard (1988) is considered the greatest action film of all time. Why is that so? I tried to analyze it and came up with this. First of all; it is really, really tense. John McClane (Willis) is locked up in a building with a bunch of heavily armed and completely ruthless German terrorists. What are the odds of survival? Minimal. This is survival action optimally done. It is fun to watch a guy – who is not really scared of death, but definitely no narcissistic psychopath either – face impossible odds. Secondly, the screenplay is intelligent and the casting is terrifically done. Part 2 is off course (this is the sequel after all) BIGGER! It takes place at an airport, which is taken over by terrorists who want to free a South American dictator (Franco Nero) who is landing soon. Groovy! In a magazine article on an airplane read by one of the characters, a picture is shown of Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) and Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) in Lethal Weapon 2. This is a sequel that was indeed even better than the original. Die Hard 2 is not, although you could argue for it. Film critic Roger Ebert thought so and wrote a terrific review about the sequel (he curiously gave the first movie only two stars out of four). I understand his point of view about the sequel, although the story is even more unbelievable than the first, Finish director Renny Harlin, who took over from John McTiernan from the first, did a great job. It misses the claustrophobia of the first one, taking place at an airport rather than a high-rise office building. However, this creates new tense situations as the terrorists can take down airplanes and do so. The horror of a plane crash is captured perfectly in the second one as the terrorists purposefully let a passenger airplane crash. Thereby, they make the main baddie – William Sadler – even worse than Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) in the first one. Still, Die Hard 2 loses momentum a little bit during the second half (especially after the clever plot twist) and therefore I still think the first movie is superior. The endings of both movies give you this very warm Christmas feeling indeed. In part 1, John meets his pal Al for the first time, and then Al kills Karl and proves he is ready again for joining the force (he got a desk job after accidentally shooting a thirteen-year old kid with a fake gun). In the second movie, John blows up the plane with terrorists and thereby creates landing lights for all the other planes that were close to crashing, including the one that carries his wife. Then he tells her he loves her so much and they carry off in a modern sledge accompanied by Frank Sinatra’s ‘Let It Snow’. It makes me all warm inside and the same goes for the fantastic first part ending.Therefore, Die Hard is just the greatest Christmas movie ever. Die Hard 2 adds to the fun.

Double Bill #05: Dirty Harry & Death Wish

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Dirty Harry (1971) and Death Wish (1974) are two movies that deal with the urban crime wave of the 1970’s when gang violence, murders, subway crime, robberies and muggings skyrocketed. Both films present a distinctive one man army, a new type of hero, to deal with that. Both lead actors of the films, Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson, had starred in Sergio Leone’s legendary Westerns in the 1960’s and both had made the move to action pictures during the following decade. The films have similarities like strong violence, an ineffective and outnumbered police force and a ‘hero’ who takes matters in his own hands. But the characters are quite distinct. Bronson’s Paul Kersey is an architect and a liberal who only has a change of heart after the violent murder of his wife and the rape of his daughter. Eastwood’s Harry Callahan is an ultra tough, ultra-macho cop from the beginning who illustratively takes out a gang of robbers while eating a hot dog. Like Kersey, he is a vigilante; he breaks the rules if that enables him to stop the criminals on the loose. Both Death Wish and Dirty Harry were controversial at the time as they could be viewed as being in support of vigilantism. And both successful movies led to a series of five films total that all starred the original leads Bronson and Eastwood. And finally; none of the sequels were as good as the original movies. What Dirty Harry introduced was the disturbed psycho as villain. Andrew Robinson is terrific as serial killer Scorpio (loosely based on the San Francisco Zodiac killer). Clearly, this formed inspiration for the serial killer genre that emerged a decade later. Death Wish also features scary criminals, most notably the original gang (that includes a young Jeff Goldblum) that invade the house of the Kersey family. This is still a disturbing scene when viewed today. Death Wish got a remake in 2018 starring Bruce Willis, but Dirty Harry didn’t yet get one. This makes sense as finding a new Clint Eastwood will not be an easy feat. Imagine any other actor delivering iconic lines like “Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?” with so much venom like Eastwood does.

Dungeon Classics #22: The Last Boy Scout

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

FilmDungeon’s Chief Editor JK sorts through the Dungeon’s DVD-collection to look for old cult favorites….

The Last Boy Scout (1991, USA)

Director: Tony Scott
Cast: Bruce Willis, Damon Wayans, Chelsea Field, Noble Willingham
Running Time: 105 mins.

The Last Boy Scout, which was written by Shane Black who also wrote Lethal Weapon, is an action packed buddy flick. A drunken and cynical L.A. snoop Joe Hallenbeck (Willis) teams up with the charming Jimmy Dix (Wayans), an ex pro football player, to investigate the murder of Dix’ girlfriend (played by Hale Berry). They stumble upon a major conspiracy by a bunch of mean gangsters who are corrupting sports betting in football. It’s a testosterone-fueled spectacle for men who were at the top of their game at that time (Willis, Scott, Black and producer Joel Silver). Apparently they hated working together and also changed the script, which according to Black was much better first (read it here). It still has the trademark coarse dialogue, humor and violence though. Willis and Wayans have a great chemistry (although they hated the collaboration they have said) and the movie has some awesome supporting parts; especially Joe’s foul mouthed daughter Darian Hallenbeck (Danielle Harris) is very memorable. The best reason to watch this is Willis’ delivery of terrific lines such as; ‘so you tripped, slipped on the floor and accidently stuck your dick in my wife?’ There is just no denying it; the guy has considerable talent as a leading man action star. And this is the perfect showcase for this talent. They don’t make ‘m like this anymore.