Bruce Willis is best known for some of his earlier works, from the Die Hard movie franchise to Pulp Fiction. Recently, he retired from acting altogether, after his family made an announcement that he is suffering from aphasia. That didn’t stop him from ending his career with a bang, however, as he churned out many direct-to-video movies in the last few years, seemingly trying to cram in as many movies as possible before retirement.

Direct-to-video movies never really get the chance to gain any traction. Sometimes they might even be released without your knowledge, because without a theatrical release and trailers, these movies tend to go right under many people’s noses. Sometimes this isn’t a good thing, as the movie may be really well-made or profound, or sometimes it’s for the better, as the movie wasn’t very good (most are direct-to-video for a reason). There’s at least one thing you can count on in almost all of Willis’ work, however, and that’s that the movie is bound to be full of action.

Survive the Night

Survive the Night is an action thriller that takes place over the course of one night. Two criminals attempt to rob a garage, but when the owner fights back, one of them is injured. They manage to escape and break into the house instead, holding the family hostage and forcing the physician inside to patch up the criminal’s bullet wound. When the physician’s father, Frank, finds his wife is dead thanks to the criminals, he interrupts the surgery and begins attacking. Now, it’s Frank against the criminals as he tries to save the rest of the family by luring them outside, hoping he can get his family to survive the night.

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Willis plays Frank in this movie. While he definitely puts effort into his role, showing compassion for his family and resentment for the criminals, it’s not enough to save the movie. Spending an entire 90 minutes as a bottle movie in one location for one night surely helped cut costs, but it makes the story seem to stretch out for far too long, as there’s not really any new and interesting developments that move it forward and out of the house. The movie received one Golden Raspberry award nomination — an award show that is for highlighting the worst of the film industry. Willis was nominated for the Worst Supporting Actor Category, and his performance and the film at large blurs together with the nearly two dozen movies he made in two years before retirement.

Breach

You might recognize themes similar to other movies in Breach. This sci-fi horror film features a ship full of passengers as an alien breaks in and begins to infect them. An extinction level event on Earth leads to 300,000 passengers selected to send through space and move the population to New Earth, one of their space colonies. Noah stows away on the ship to stay with his pregnant girlfriend, and he pretends to be a janitor. Another janitor, Clay, takes him under his wing. When the first of the bodies appear the crew mates not in stasis begin to realize something is up, and no matter how many times they kill those infected, they keep getting back up. It begins to grow more and more grim for the passengers as the number of infected continue to grow.

You’ll find Willis as Clay here, a grizzled janitor who tries to help the protagonist in any way he can. Of course, with the use of many different movies and tropes at once, the movie becomes jumbled and almost cliché. Breach draws from a ton of influences with alien invaders and space travel movies that have been done before, most notably in Alien, so even though the actors here try, they can’t live up to their predecessors. Willis received yet another nomination for the Worst Supporting Actor award at the Golden Raspberrys.

Cosmic Sin

Another sci-fi movie, Cosmic Sin is all about an alien invasion. In the 2500s, humans are in control of three planets, one of them being Earth. Their colonists discover and report an alien encounter, after which the invisible species begin to make their move. They force humans into their hive mind after they ingest a specific black liquid, and from there they are able to control the humans. This lets them sneak past the radar as they don’t look any different. James Ford, previously dishonorably discharged from the military for his actions when one of the planets tried to secede, is called back to help. He and a small chosen team struggle as they try to land on the planet currently battling the aliens, teaming up with the remaining survivors to try and find a way to save humanity.


Willis plays Ford in this movie, once again starring in an action movie. Though he tries his best, the amount of exposition used to explain the story really bogs down the beginning. Some details aren’t even needed for the plot, like how humanity originally colonized Mars but has since lost that colony. The story has potential, but it needed a little more focus for it to actually be good. Willis was making so many direct-to-video movies by this point, one after the other, that the Golden Raspberrys decided to make an entire category just for him. “Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 Movie” would have guaranteed him a win for one of his direct-to-video movies if the category wasn’t rescinded after the announcement of his aphasia diagnosis.

Survive the Game

Survive the Game is an action thriller surrounding the crime world. A drug bust that didn’t go down well injures David, a cop. His partner, Cal, decides to pursue the culprits in an attempt to still arrest them. He tracks them to a remote farm owned by a troubled veteran, Eric, who teams up with Cal to get rid of the criminals. As they try to make a plan an injured David joins their side, but more of the gang arrives at the farm, outnumbering the men and forcing them to use creative tactics in order to take down the gang.

Willis plays the veteran Eric here, a fitting role for him in this action movie. Among the three that team up to take down the gang, he definitely helps bring balance to them. Though the plot is general, the movie does avoid many classic tropes and clichés it could have used, making it a more enjoyable experience than it might have been; the energetic and stylish direction from James Cullen Bressack helps. However, it was also one of the movies in the since rescinded Golden Raspberrys category, so Willis dials it in a bit and the film isn’t as good as it could be.

Apex

Since science fiction worlds are a popular setting for action movies, it’s no surprise that Apex is also set in the future. Though a specific year isn’t stated, it’s clear by the technology that the world has changed. Thomas Malone is serving a life sentence in prison for a crime he didn’t commit when he’s offered a chance at freedom. He has to win a game on a private island in order to see his family again. Essentially, he is prey for a group of rich hunters, and has to survive their hunt. As the hunters slowly begin to turn on each other, Malone may actually have a chance at winning his freedom.


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Willis plays Thomas Malone, showing us all the stops a person will go to when they’re being hunted for sport. The premise is as interesting as it is outlandish, as the rich pay their way to hunt other humans, but for this universe, it remains an unquestioned truth. There’s a seriousness to the tone of the movie and its anger over unchecked capitalism that keeps it from becoming too crazy, but there are a lot of clichés and bloody violence (which makes this feel like a weak sci-fi version of The Hunt) that’s hard to recover from as the plot is stretched out to fit a full length film. This was another movie in the Golden Raspberry category for the Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 Movie.

Fortress

Interestingly enough, Fortress is the first movie in a trilogy of direct-to-video movies that his co-star says has him “going at as a legend.” The movie focuses on Robert, a retired U.S. intelligence officer, and his son Paul. Robert lives in a top-secret resort specifically designed for retired intelligence officers. When Paul decides to drive over to visit him, the location is compromised as Robert’s old nemesis follows him. When the criminals break in, Robert and Paul retreat into a hidden bunker, but afraid that it’s not enough, they have to team up and work together if they hope to save the day.

Willis stars as Robert, bringing the retired intelligence officer to life. The film moves at just the right pace to keep you interested all the time, and it has some thrilling action scenes, but it definitely has weak spots, especially centered around the characters. Still, it’s entertaining to watch, even if it also made it into that rescinded category at the Golden Raspberrys.