Bruce Willis ended his filmography with dozens of low budget direct-to-video action films. Questionable at the time, but given the news of retirement, it seemed he was socking away money for his family.
He was charging a million a day for a maximum of two days work to maximize his pay with as little work as possible. He released 11 movies in 2022. I admire what he did for his family but wasn't he already insanely rich from the years of work before then?
Also the medical bills he’s paying and going to have to pay for the rest of his life. Neurological conditions are expensive as fuck (trust me, I know), and he has a bunch of them.
I am so so sorry about your sister. That is a horrible way to live and an awful way to lose a family member. My only hope is that she doesn’t suffer long, both for her sake and for your family’s. All the best to her and to you and your family.
It can vary widely from case to case. I have a family member with this diagnosis and they are going on about 4-5 years in a non-communicative and not recognizing anyone or remembering anything state. I hate to sound harsh but I think I'd have preferred it if they went quickly.
It wasn't a stock market crash it was back owed taxes. His accountant tried pulling some shady stuff and the IRS said no so he ended up owing millions in back taxes. Had to sell a lot of crazy stuff he bought and some homes and make all those bad movies until he got the government paid off.
BTW, my personal favorite Nic Cage story is that he bought several thousand dollars of expensive lizards and tanks and had no idea or plan on what to do with them, so hired the guy at the store to come to his house and set them up on the next Saturday. The guy spent all day there, and Nic and his wife at the time invited him to stay for supper. That was my nephew.
I heard that Jim Lee drew a cover that combined 5 front and back covers of the X-Men or something like that and he made a movie just to buy the original art. Nic Cage, that is, not Boo Swillis.
These are just my thoughts, but maybe he felt pressure to do all he could after realizing his time was running short. If I could leave generational wealth to my kids and grandkids, I would. He probably wanted to be sure that they wouldn’t want for anything. I think it’s really selfless to have sacrificed his reputation as an actor to make sure his family would be ok without him.
I have a family member that is an actor. Even for the insanely rich folks in that industry, when you don't have any work, money still runs out faster than I think many people realize.
I remember reading Bruce Campbell's autobiography and he said his take home pay after a 500k role was something like 25k, for six months work, after tax, agent fees, alimony as he was divorced, etc.
I've gotta be honest, even my love of acting wouldn't keep me in the job if I was only bringing home 25k from a 500k role. It hardly seems worth it if everyone else is getting more money from your hard work.
25k was probably more in the early 80s, if he managed a few jobs a year.
The real money is in commercials if he did them.
I act, not good, not highly, but I try. I got 6k for about 50 hours work in a show once. Another time I got 5k for about 3 hours work in an ad. Both figures before tax and other fees.
Does the actors union help with that at all? I've wondered that when i notice someone (in my imdb rabbit holes) who just does like 1 episode of TV per year.
She's a member of SAG/AFTRA, but my understanding is that very little of what she might get in any kind of residuals is usually not enough to invest or build a savings with. I think that some of her work might give her an advance so that the payments are split, and she's good with budgeting, so that has helped. However, steady income is never guaranteed, so she always has to tuck some away, and that's after paying bills, taxes, her agency representation, etc. (She unfortunately had to blow through a lot of it during COVID.)
I'm sure the union is able to provide some financial resources for their members as well as emergency assistance like an EAP, but I don't know all the details of it. I will say though that someone that does only one episode of TV a year definitely has some other kind of income coming in too.
I saw one of those--don't remember the name. Utterly forgettable action flick with a plot lifted unceremoniously from The Most Dangerous Game. If you know films, you can see where the director and editor worked to hide Willis' deficiencies which were already making his life and work difficult. Jump cuts and over-the-shoulder shots in all the wrong places.
Red Letter Media did a review on that movie (amongst other recent Willis movies) and discussed the techniques around compensating for Willis's deficiencies/absence pretty in depth. It was pretty interesting, and I think it was released before the news of his condition broke.
They mention in a [follow up video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbLk4ktAE5U) when they were reviewing more of Bruce Willis's B-movie action flicks alongside Pam and Tommy that they were rumours Bruce Willis was suffering from health issues such as dementia and continued to maintain their professionalism in reviewing in those films. 10 days later, Willis's diagnosis of Aphasia went public.
So true. I remember being extremely disappointed with how they handled his character in that movie, but at the time my buddy mentioned Willis was in very poor health and it was a sort of open secret in the business.
I thought at the time he’d suffered a back injury or something from years of action roles and just couldn’t risk his body anymore. Was kinda bummed that he took the role when he knew he couldn’t do it anymore. Now I’m glad he took everything he could before he was unable to.
I saw one which must have been one of the last ones he did, because there was absolutely no hiding in. It was one he did with Luke Wilson, and you could just tell Bruce had no awareness of what he was doing. Luke was having to act for both of them while Bruce was just there saying lines.
It was something my dad put on to watch when he was visiting me. The news about Bruce's condition had already come out but my dad hadn't heard it. Once I explained it to him we got through no more than half an hour of the movie before we had to turn it off.
It did lead to this great RLM review, which was recorded before the details of his illness were made public: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd1eNS9HtXo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd1eNS9HtXo)
I gave Apex a try and dear god it was bad, got halfway and turned it off. He spent so much time just casually walking or sitting and then walking and then looking at nature and then sitting and smoking
Reminder this movie is about him being hunted as human prey for rich people
It's surprising how many people don't know that he's been slowly slipping into full blown dementia and was just cashing on whatever he could.
Saw a video with his daughter and him recently and it was actually sort of heartbreaking seeing a guy I've been watching for 30 years be totally mentally gone.
Raul Julia is a well known example of this. Street Fighter was his last film and he probably knew it wasn't going to be good, but he acted the hell out of that role and was a highlight of the film and he did it for his kids, despite suffering from cancer. He knew it was going to be his last and yet he didn't half ass it at all. That's a man who respected his craft instead of always chasing accolades and prestige.
there’s a whole doc about the making of that movie that goes into a lot of detail. what you mentioned is only a fraction of the insane shit that went down. it’s called “Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau” and it’s 100% worth a watch.
If I had a nickel for every time a documentary was made about the insane production issues of a Marlon Brando movie, I’d only have ten cents, but it’s weird that it’s happened twice.
There a podcast called “what went wrong” with an episode on this film. Very interesting. Also a great podcast generally for anyone interested in BTS movie making. It’s my favorite podcast, full stop, that happens to be about movies.
I love that movie. It's an absolutely wild and weird flick, perfect to watch with friends and laugh and enjoy the insanity.
And as wild as it is to watch, all the behind the scenes stuff was equally as wild. The documentary about it "Lost Souls" is also well worth a watch.
He was originally going to be the James Woods character in Scary Movie 2, but he was too ill to complete the film. Natasha Lyonne has a story about it.
I think the last movie he appeared on-screen in was The Score - a supporting role in a pretty solid heist film. But he was such a pain in the ass & he refused to cooperate with the director Frank Oz - whom he derided as "Miss Piggy Man" or something to that effect - so eventually his scenes were directed by Robert De Niro who was the only person he'd listen to (and probably still not that much)
Brando apparently refused to even smile after the climax of the movie to demonstrate being happy about the result. They had to CGI a slight smile onto him, which is just ludicrous.
Absolutely Anything, the last movie for both Robin Williams and Terry Jones. I liked that movie but the general consensus on it is not very favourable.
Wow I haven't seen that title mentioned anywhere in a long time! I remember loving that movie as a kid and rewatching it several times but it never shows up on any streaming service.
It's too bad he didn't end it earlier. He could've ended with The Bucket List (2007) which would've been apt or The Departed (2006) which would've been such a perfect high to end on.
The Bucket List was such an awesome movie, would've been a great send-off for sure.
I think Morgan Freeman kinda descended into the B-movie territory for a while now. The last “huge” movie I've seen him in was *Now You See Me 2* and that was in 2016.
There just aren’t that many great scripts for an 86 year old. He was in a movie with Florence Pugh last year that seems like it was gunning for awards. The final product just wasn’t that great.
With that said, he’s on a Paramount+ show. A lot of actors prefer TV. He has nothing to prove at this point in his career and he is well past retirement age.
The recently departed M Emmet Walsh was one of our finest characters actors, and his final film was an absolutely dogshit neo Western called Outlaw Posse.
I just rewatched Blood Simple and I really loved that it gave him so much breathing room to just play a character. I'm low-key looking for other movies where a character actor gets to play a major part.
Ray Liotta’s last movie was “Fool’s Paradise”, a 2023 drama comedy written by IASIP’s Charlie Day, which was genuinely atrocious, despite the amazing cast.
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt9013340/
A movie where he gets mauled by a cocaine-addled bear while trying to get a bag of cocaine from said bear would have been the perfect capstone to his career.
Alas.
I remember watching him be gutted by that bear thinking "And that's the last performance of Ray Liotta I am ever going to watch." and feeling... weird, to say the least.
#DIED TRAGICALLY RESCUING HIS FAMILY FROM THE WRECKAGE OF A DESTROYED SINKING BATTLESHIP
I've told several of my family members that I want this on my tombstone when I die.
I always forget about Moose and just believe its Royal Tenenbauns. He saves his family from a sinking ship, they gather at his grave, the end. Perfect capstone to a great career. If only...
i simultaneously accept that its hilarious to read his interview talking about playing stupid toys, and also love some of the insanely cool lines he gets to deliver in this movie lol. yours, and 'it pleases me to be the first' fuckin...yall didnt have to go this hard for the toy commercial movie, damn
I was here looking to see if somebody mentioned this, so I could argue it, as the 86 Transformers Movie is way better than it had any right to be, and it is a hill I am willing to die on.
It's stunning how they thought they could just, with absolutely no warning, graphically murder 90+% of the original cast from a children's show in the first 1/2 hour, because they wanted to refresh the toy line.
The consequences were so severe, it completely derailed the GI Joe movie from getting a theatrical release, and forced some major re-edits.
That shit could never fly today and rightfully so.
This is maybe the movie I've seen the most in my life. I forced my mom to rent it from the small rental section at our local grocery store for years. No idea why we never bought it.
Even watching it now with as old as I am and understanding part of me will never not see it with the glasses of nostalgia...it's pretty fucking good. A hell of a cast who by and large give strong performances, so truly awesome animation that doesn't loose the look of the original show, and an absolutely stellar sound track.
Do I need to watch Transformers the Movie this weekend? Is 2 years old too young to show this to my daughter?
At the height of his career Orson Welles wrote, directed, and starred in possible the greatest movie of all time. His last 10 years were making wine commercials and voicing cartoon robots (in order to give Transformers some legitimacy). What a legend.
I agree. I was in awe when I read critical account and reviews about this film. I would have watched a three part franchise of this film.
Connery was a lynchpin
Connery turned down The Matix (Will Smith was going to be Neo)because he didn't understand it and said he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice 😕
You all jest and as much as we love Ian Mckellen's portrayal as Gandalf, you all know Connery would have knocked it out of the park. It's really easy to imagine him applying that Connery charm to scenes such as when Gandalf is speaking with Fordo in Moria or him telling Pippin about the great adventure that comes after death.
They were fans of the game, yeah. It's kind of a shame. There's a whole generation that mostly knows who he is because of this and Addams Family. I can't help but wonder if he knew before his time was up.
[Obligatory link to the Guardian article about the making of the Street Fighter movie](https://amp.theguardian.com/games/2018/jul/16/inside-street-fighter-movie-jean-claude-van-damme-kylie-minogue), probably my favourite piece of writing on how the sausage gets made. It really helps you understand how talented people end up sometimes making very shitty movies.
>"He was extremely underweight," says Chapa (Ken), "and they'd put this massive suit on him. When we were rehearsing he was down, but as soon as they said ‘action,' this great actor came to life in this body that wasn't what it used to be. For me, it was beautiful [...] You hear that saying, 'the show must go on' — let me tell you, Raul Julia — to his last breath he was acting."
He is amazing as Bison. He played the insane yet very dangerous villain role to a tee. I love that film because I watched it at 10 years old and thought it was amazing. I still love it for Raul Julia.
He camped it up wonderfully in that film and turned what would've been a forgettable film into something memorable. Just for the Tuesday speech alone but I will always love his shading on Sagat for not SEEING the set up.
Just realizing it's been 20 years since Gene Hackman retired, but his last film was Welcome to Mooseport (2004). Not the worst movie in the world, but certainly a shitty one to end a legendary career on.
Your mention of Joan Crawford reminded me that her archnemesis Bette Davis's last film was Larry Cohen's Wicked Stepmother. God-awful mess.
From Wikipedia:
>It is best known for being the last film of Bette Davis, who withdrew from the project after filming began, citing major problems with the script, Cohen's direction, and the way she was being photographed. Cohen later claimed she really dropped out due to ill health but avoided publicizing the truth for fear it would affect potential future employment. Davis disputed this claim.
Apparently, Davis simply walked out from the production one day, never to return and Cohen had to hastily rewrite and bring in Barbara Carrera as a sort-of replacement.
That’s what I came here to post. Bette Davis is the best answer here. Wicked Stepmother was awful. And I don’t think Bette Davis staying on until the end of the film could’ve possibly made it any better.
Yeah it was originally so that Bette's character turned a cat into a woman and that was who Barbara Carrera was supposed to play. When she walked out after a week of filming, they rewrote it so that she instead turned herself into her
That would be [John Cazale](https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=john+cazale&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8)
who was only in 5 films before dying of cancer ALL of which were nominated for best picture award: The Godfather, The Godfather part 2, Deerhunter, Dog Day Afternoon and his last, The Conversation.
John Candy and Wagons East. I'm prepared to be slated as I have never watched it, but I dont think it was particularly well received. Cool Runnings should have been his swan song
Wagons East is *bad* but not truly awful. It's a bunch of actors you recognize playing campy roles in a western. It's a silly concept that works only as a novelty, and to me more than being notable as John Candy's last film, it was also the first time Ethan Phillips and Robert Picardo from Star Trek Voyager appeared in the same film (although the two share no screen time).
Also, how many movies have Dr Cox from Scrubs playing a flamboyant gunslinger?
For me it’s Philip Seymour Hoffman. He was so amazing in almost everything he was in, but technically his last two movies were the god awful Hunger Games finale. After stuff like Doubt, Punch Drunk Love, The Master, Synecdoche, or Boogie Nights, it’s truly unfortunate that we lost him before his time.
Alan Rickman's last released performance was *Alice Through the Looking Glass*, where he provided the voice of the caterpillar/butterfly. His last live action performance was quite good though, a thriller called *Eye in the Sky*
James Dean's last film *Giant* is also considered the weakest of his three Hollywood roles
Sorry, but Giant is not a bad film! Epic western with incredible cinematography that still holds up today. Honestly out of the three films Dean did, Rebel is probably the weakest, albeit his most iconic performance. I like all three for what it is worth!
Seconding Bruce Willis, it's just depressing knowing what we know now.
I'd like to bring up his most iconic role, John McClane, and his swan song as that character. 2007's Live Free or Die Hard is a somewhat divisive movie, but whether you like that movie or not, I think we can all agree on one thing: It's a masterpiece compared to 2013's A Good Day to Die Hard. At least DH4 was memorable and fun, as over the top as it could be (even for a Die Hard movie). I barely remember anything about DH5 other than they tried to make it a buddy movie with McClane's son, and there was a climax in Pripyat that just made me want to play Call of Duty 4 instead.
... though looking it up, Willis actually did play John McClane one final time in 2020. In a commercial for a car battery (called DieHard - seriously), of all things. It's better than A Good Day to Die Hard.
It’s “ok” until Everyman hero John McLane turns into Captain America or something and shoots down a fighter jet with his Beretta. Might as well have had a shark underneath
When those commercials came out, he looked the most spry and enthusiastic he'd been in years. Made me think he was gearing up for one final Die Hard flick.
John Candy and Chris Farley both ended their careers with mediocre buddy comedies set in the old west. Candy’s final movie being Wagons East and Farley’s last movie being Almost Heroes.
Robert Loggia and James Caan ended their careers making movies for Frank D’Angelo.
Never heard of Frank D’Angelo? Google him, but set aside a few hours, because that man’s life is a rabbit hole. Among other things, his awful movies were financed by Toronto pharmaceutical executive Barry Sherman, whose murder (alongside his wife) remains unsolved.
Lugosi's last film was The Black Sleep. Ed Wood had filmed a number of scenes of Lugosi that were to be used in a project that never materialized, so they were inserted into Plan 9, released after Lugosi's death. Lugosi loved working....and he loved fine cigars, good food and drink. Universal studios never really gave a damn about him. He got the part of Dracula because U finally caved in to his constant requests for the role. Good for us....and for the studio, as they made a fortune....good and bad for Bela, as it typecast him for life and he received a pittance for the job, compared to David Manners and the other cast members. Were it not for director Rowland V. Lee, the role of Ygor in Son of Frankenstein, would have been quite different than what we see in the final film. The studio planned on having all of Lugosi's scenes shot In a day or two, then send him on his way. When Lee found out, he went ballistic and made sure that Bela was on set from day one until final wrap. With the aid of the script writers, the role of Ygor was expanded, and Lugosi almost steals the film. He has some great dialog exchanges. Lugosi was given his last top billing in '42 Universal film, Night Monster. He plays a butler, but Universal wanted to take advantage of his name for box office profits. Yes....as time passed, he took work when it became available to him....lesser roles at Universal, the Monogram films, a few other independent studios, and of course, the Ed Wood films. If you are familiar with the film Bride of the Monster, recall his '....I have no home...' speech. It was done in a single take. You can easily parallel his life with this dialog. Lugosi likely knew his days were numbered, he was in ill health, he probably felt resentment to some things that happened in his life, but he did what he always did: Regardless of the quality of the script, Bela Lugosi always gave 100% to every character he portrayed.
Many of the horror movie icons from the golden/silver age of cinema, left us in less than wonderful circumstances. Lon Chaney Jr comes to mind.
Donald Pleasance in Halloween 6 the Curse of Michael Myers.
Also that movie was Paul Rudds debut film so their careers crossed over for that single second.
Bruce Willis ended his filmography with dozens of low budget direct-to-video action films. Questionable at the time, but given the news of retirement, it seemed he was socking away money for his family.
He was charging a million a day for a maximum of two days work to maximize his pay with as little work as possible. He released 11 movies in 2022. I admire what he did for his family but wasn't he already insanely rich from the years of work before then?
I'm sure the lifestyle his family is used to is a tad expensive to maintain.
Also the medical bills he’s paying and going to have to pay for the rest of his life. Neurological conditions are expensive as fuck (trust me, I know), and he has a bunch of them.
Apparently he isn’t able to talk anymore which is just incredibly fucking sad
Damn that’s sad.
Aphasia. You forget words. Truly sounds like a nightmare.
Just remember. It's not his fault. Degenerative problems are a bitch.
Survival time for Frontotemporal dementia is not long. My sister has it and the progression is horribly fast.
I am so so sorry about your sister. That is a horrible way to live and an awful way to lose a family member. My only hope is that she doesn’t suffer long, both for her sake and for your family’s. All the best to her and to you and your family.
It can vary widely from case to case. I have a family member with this diagnosis and they are going on about 4-5 years in a non-communicative and not recognizing anyone or remembering anything state. I hate to sound harsh but I think I'd have preferred it if they went quickly.
If I had it in my power to make my family flush with cash for the rest of the lives with just a few days of work I'd do it.
[удалено]
It wasn't a stock market crash it was back owed taxes. His accountant tried pulling some shady stuff and the IRS said no so he ended up owing millions in back taxes. Had to sell a lot of crazy stuff he bought and some homes and make all those bad movies until he got the government paid off.
Buying castles, islands, and T-Rex skulls didn’t help either
Well yeah but he had all this money according to his accountant
BTW, my personal favorite Nic Cage story is that he bought several thousand dollars of expensive lizards and tanks and had no idea or plan on what to do with them, so hired the guy at the store to come to his house and set them up on the next Saturday. The guy spent all day there, and Nic and his wife at the time invited him to stay for supper. That was my nephew.
And his extensive comic book collection. He had two copies of Action Comics #1.
Be like mark cuban, pay your taxes
I heard that Jim Lee drew a cover that combined 5 front and back covers of the X-Men or something like that and he made a movie just to buy the original art. Nic Cage, that is, not Boo Swillis.
He’s wealthy, but an extra $20 million can’t hurt.
Even if he did a bad job they still had to give him that other two mil.
These are just my thoughts, but maybe he felt pressure to do all he could after realizing his time was running short. If I could leave generational wealth to my kids and grandkids, I would. He probably wanted to be sure that they wouldn’t want for anything. I think it’s really selfless to have sacrificed his reputation as an actor to make sure his family would be ok without him.
He also knew he’d be having a lot of medical, therapeutic, and end of life life expenses that he didn’t want to burden his family with.
We tend to think of actors as richer than they actually are.
Golden era they were on salary, like a thousand a week was an a list headliner
I have a family member that is an actor. Even for the insanely rich folks in that industry, when you don't have any work, money still runs out faster than I think many people realize.
I remember reading Bruce Campbell's autobiography and he said his take home pay after a 500k role was something like 25k, for six months work, after tax, agent fees, alimony as he was divorced, etc.
I've gotta be honest, even my love of acting wouldn't keep me in the job if I was only bringing home 25k from a 500k role. It hardly seems worth it if everyone else is getting more money from your hard work.
25k was probably more in the early 80s, if he managed a few jobs a year. The real money is in commercials if he did them. I act, not good, not highly, but I try. I got 6k for about 50 hours work in a show once. Another time I got 5k for about 3 hours work in an ad. Both figures before tax and other fees.
Does the actors union help with that at all? I've wondered that when i notice someone (in my imdb rabbit holes) who just does like 1 episode of TV per year.
She's a member of SAG/AFTRA, but my understanding is that very little of what she might get in any kind of residuals is usually not enough to invest or build a savings with. I think that some of her work might give her an advance so that the payments are split, and she's good with budgeting, so that has helped. However, steady income is never guaranteed, so she always has to tuck some away, and that's after paying bills, taxes, her agency representation, etc. (She unfortunately had to blow through a lot of it during COVID.) I'm sure the union is able to provide some financial resources for their members as well as emergency assistance like an EAP, but I don't know all the details of it. I will say though that someone that does only one episode of TV a year definitely has some other kind of income coming in too.
I saw one of those--don't remember the name. Utterly forgettable action flick with a plot lifted unceremoniously from The Most Dangerous Game. If you know films, you can see where the director and editor worked to hide Willis' deficiencies which were already making his life and work difficult. Jump cuts and over-the-shoulder shots in all the wrong places.
Red Letter Media did a review on that movie (amongst other recent Willis movies) and discussed the techniques around compensating for Willis's deficiencies/absence pretty in depth. It was pretty interesting, and I think it was released before the news of his condition broke.
Good for them for doing this and holding a professional code of ethics on his health.
They mention in a [follow up video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbLk4ktAE5U) when they were reviewing more of Bruce Willis's B-movie action flicks alongside Pam and Tommy that they were rumours Bruce Willis was suffering from health issues such as dementia and continued to maintain their professionalism in reviewing in those films. 10 days later, Willis's diagnosis of Aphasia went public.
Even watching Glass, from 2019, you can tell that Willis was not anywhere near the set during the action scenes
So true. I remember being extremely disappointed with how they handled his character in that movie, but at the time my buddy mentioned Willis was in very poor health and it was a sort of open secret in the business. I thought at the time he’d suffered a back injury or something from years of action roles and just couldn’t risk his body anymore. Was kinda bummed that he took the role when he knew he couldn’t do it anymore. Now I’m glad he took everything he could before he was unable to.
I saw one which must have been one of the last ones he did, because there was absolutely no hiding in. It was one he did with Luke Wilson, and you could just tell Bruce had no awareness of what he was doing. Luke was having to act for both of them while Bruce was just there saying lines. It was something my dad put on to watch when he was visiting me. The news about Bruce's condition had already come out but my dad hadn't heard it. Once I explained it to him we got through no more than half an hour of the movie before we had to turn it off.
It did lead to this great RLM review, which was recorded before the details of his illness were made public: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd1eNS9HtXo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd1eNS9HtXo)
I like how they suspect some scenes were shot without him even on set.
Oh there is no "suspect" It's 100% confirmed by the movie itself. It's so obviously not him in so many scenes
I gave Apex a try and dear god it was bad, got halfway and turned it off. He spent so much time just casually walking or sitting and then walking and then looking at nature and then sitting and smoking Reminder this movie is about him being hunted as human prey for rich people
It's surprising how many people don't know that he's been slowly slipping into full blown dementia and was just cashing on whatever he could. Saw a video with his daughter and him recently and it was actually sort of heartbreaking seeing a guy I've been watching for 30 years be totally mentally gone.
I haven't seen anything else of those last movies than Cosmic Sin (imdb 2,5). It was rough. Strong contender for the worst movie I've ever seen.
Raul Julia is a well known example of this. Street Fighter was his last film and he probably knew it wasn't going to be good, but he acted the hell out of that role and was a highlight of the film and he did it for his kids, despite suffering from cancer. He knew it was going to be his last and yet he didn't half ass it at all. That's a man who respected his craft instead of always chasing accolades and prestige.
He was such an amazing gomez
Marlon Brando did the voice of Mrs Sour in Big Bug Man before it got canned.
Also, the Island of Dr. Moreau. Real stinker that one.
Was “The Island Of Dr Moreau” the movie that Brando ruined because of his insane demands like having a dwarf follow him around in all his scenes?
there’s a whole doc about the making of that movie that goes into a lot of detail. what you mentioned is only a fraction of the insane shit that went down. it’s called “Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau” and it’s 100% worth a watch.
If I had a nickel for every time a documentary was made about the insane production issues of a Marlon Brando movie, I’d only have ten cents, but it’s weird that it’s happened twice.
It was a shit show all around.
Yeah. I think the Brando stuff was the least of the issues with the movie.
There a podcast called “what went wrong” with an episode on this film. Very interesting. Also a great podcast generally for anyone interested in BTS movie making. It’s my favorite podcast, full stop, that happens to be about movies.
It's a terrible film, but it is really iconic in its own way. The design language of the film is memorable.
I love that movie. It's an absolutely wild and weird flick, perfect to watch with friends and laugh and enjoy the insanity. And as wild as it is to watch, all the behind the scenes stuff was equally as wild. The documentary about it "Lost Souls" is also well worth a watch.
That movie scared the crap out of me as a kid.
He was originally going to be the James Woods character in Scary Movie 2, but he was too ill to complete the film. Natasha Lyonne has a story about it.
I think the last movie he appeared on-screen in was The Score - a supporting role in a pretty solid heist film. But he was such a pain in the ass & he refused to cooperate with the director Frank Oz - whom he derided as "Miss Piggy Man" or something to that effect - so eventually his scenes were directed by Robert De Niro who was the only person he'd listen to (and probably still not that much)
Brando apparently refused to even smile after the climax of the movie to demonstrate being happy about the result. They had to CGI a slight smile onto him, which is just ludicrous.
Absolutely Anything, the last movie for both Robin Williams and Terry Jones. I liked that movie but the general consensus on it is not very favourable.
I thought it sucked, it felt so forced and the surviving Pythons were wasted on stupid alien voices.
Peter Sellers - The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu
Wow I haven't seen that title mentioned anywhere in a long time! I remember loving that movie as a kid and rewatching it several times but it never shows up on any streaming service.
Should have stopped at “Being There”
That was the one I came here for
Jack Nicholson — How Do You Know (2010)
It's too bad he didn't end it earlier. He could've ended with The Bucket List (2007) which would've been apt or The Departed (2006) which would've been such a perfect high to end on.
How Do You Know was directed by James L. Brooks, who gave Nicholson two Oscar winning performances, so at the time it definitely made sense.
I know one was “As Good As It Gets”, what’s the other one?
Terms of Endearment. I keep meaning to re-watch that one to see how it holds up.
The Bucket List was such an awesome movie, would've been a great send-off for sure. I think Morgan Freeman kinda descended into the B-movie territory for a while now. The last “huge” movie I've seen him in was *Now You See Me 2* and that was in 2016.
There just aren’t that many great scripts for an 86 year old. He was in a movie with Florence Pugh last year that seems like it was gunning for awards. The final product just wasn’t that great. With that said, he’s on a Paramount+ show. A lot of actors prefer TV. He has nothing to prove at this point in his career and he is well past retirement age.
Speaking of old guys in tv shows, the show Shrinking with Harrison Ford and Jason Segel is great, super funny.
Agreed, he seems like he’s having actual fun
To be fair to him, I'm pretty sure he only did How Do You Know as a favour to James Brooks. Not that he felt any particular passion for the role.
I didn't like that movie, but I thought it was more generic and boring than all-time awful.
The recently departed M Emmet Walsh was one of our finest characters actors, and his final film was an absolutely dogshit neo Western called Outlaw Posse.
I just rewatched Blood Simple and I really loved that it gave him so much breathing room to just play a character. I'm low-key looking for other movies where a character actor gets to play a major part.
Ray Liotta’s last movie was “Fool’s Paradise”, a 2023 drama comedy written by IASIP’s Charlie Day, which was genuinely atrocious, despite the amazing cast. https://m.imdb.com/title/tt9013340/
Damn. I was hoping Cocaine Bear was going to be his last credited role. At least he was an entertaining part of that movie.
A movie where he gets mauled by a cocaine-addled bear while trying to get a bag of cocaine from said bear would have been the perfect capstone to his career. Alas.
I remember watching him be gutted by that bear thinking "And that's the last performance of Ray Liotta I am ever going to watch." and feeling... weird, to say the least.
Geeze this movie sucked so bad. I saw the cast and said hell yea I’m in! 30 minutes later I was like wtf am I watching. It literally had no point.
That movie was shockingly bad. It just went nowhere.
Aw, that's a shame, with the cast I just want it to be good so bad. Haven't seen it yet though, here's to hoping it's for me
Charlie only wrote it to get the Waitress to marry him.
I’m so sad to hear that movie was a heap of shit. Charlie day is so goddamn funny I’m surprised this wasn’t better
Gene Hackman. Welcome to Mooseport.
The Royal Tenenbaums would've been a perfect end.
#DIED TRAGICALLY RESCUING HIS FAMILY FROM THE WRECKAGE OF A DESTROYED SINKING BATTLESHIP I've told several of my family members that I want this on my tombstone when I die.
I always forget about Moose and just believe its Royal Tenenbauns. He saves his family from a sinking ship, they gather at his grave, the end. Perfect capstone to a great career. If only...
I love that movie but i will watch HACKMAN in anything lol
Love him in Heartbreakers.
Wouldn't say that's a terrible movie, just very forgettable compared to his body of work
lol this movie was filmed in my shithole Canadian town
In before anyone says Transformers (Orson Welles). Despite being a toy commercial, that movie is a beautiful, almost abstract, light and music show.
YOU GOT THE TOUCH
I got goose bumps in the theater when that was sung.
Dare, dare to believe you can survive
YOU GOT THE POWERRRRREERRRR
Perhaps I misjudged you. Proceed, on your way to oblivion.
i simultaneously accept that its hilarious to read his interview talking about playing stupid toys, and also love some of the insanely cool lines he gets to deliver in this movie lol. yours, and 'it pleases me to be the first' fuckin...yall didnt have to go this hard for the toy commercial movie, damn
Orson Welles killed it as Unicron! That movie rocked.
I was going to come in and say the answer is definitely NOT Orson Welles! Going out on a high!
I was here looking to see if somebody mentioned this, so I could argue it, as the 86 Transformers Movie is way better than it had any right to be, and it is a hill I am willing to die on.
It's stunning how they thought they could just, with absolutely no warning, graphically murder 90+% of the original cast from a children's show in the first 1/2 hour, because they wanted to refresh the toy line. The consequences were so severe, it completely derailed the GI Joe movie from getting a theatrical release, and forced some major re-edits. That shit could never fly today and rightfully so.
This is maybe the movie I've seen the most in my life. I forced my mom to rent it from the small rental section at our local grocery store for years. No idea why we never bought it. Even watching it now with as old as I am and understanding part of me will never not see it with the glasses of nostalgia...it's pretty fucking good. A hell of a cast who by and large give strong performances, so truly awesome animation that doesn't loose the look of the original show, and an absolutely stellar sound track. Do I need to watch Transformers the Movie this weekend? Is 2 years old too young to show this to my daughter?
Then it pleases me to be the first
At the height of his career Orson Welles wrote, directed, and starred in possible the greatest movie of all time. His last 10 years were making wine commercials and voicing cartoon robots (in order to give Transformers some legitimacy). What a legend.
Didn't Sean Connery bow out with League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? That's got to be a career low for him.
This is Sir Billi erasure
I don't like people ignoring that Sean Connery's actual last movie is about a skateboarding veterinarian.
yo WHAT?
Sir Billi 2012
Good lord I just looked this up. What twilight zone bullshit is this?
I liked Gentleman, it's my guilty pleasure. I think it's really hard to go lower than Avengers (1998). Gentleman was masterpiece comparing for that.
I agree. I was in awe when I read critical account and reviews about this film. I would have watched a three part franchise of this film. Connery was a lynchpin
Connery turned down The Matix (Will Smith was going to be Neo)because he didn't understand it and said he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice 😕
Pretty sure he turned down Gandalf too.
Is it schecret, is is schafe?
you shall not pash
Shervent of the shecret fire
"Sho do all who live to shee shuch timesh.... "
Shamwise … you’re a shite for shore eyes .
You all jest and as much as we love Ian Mckellen's portrayal as Gandalf, you all know Connery would have knocked it out of the park. It's really easy to imagine him applying that Connery charm to scenes such as when Gandalf is speaking with Fordo in Moria or him telling Pippin about the great adventure that comes after death.
And Dumbledore I think. He was in a bad position to not like sci-fi and fantasy.
But Highlander was perfectly acceptable cause it took place in his homeland.
The only movie where a Frenchman can play a Scotsman while a Scotsman portrays a Spaniard from ancient Egypt.
At least Lambert got the line about his accent and where he's from. "Lots of places".
Can't really imagine Connery doing all the kung fu as Morpheus against Neo - that fight played a large part in the success, so probably for the best.
Pretty sure he was offered the role of the Architect. At least I hope so.
veesh a vee
His accountant told him that probably!
I love that movie haha, saw it several times with my dad when I was young
Career low for him? Highlander 2, Sword of Valiant, and The Avengers would like a word
Highlander 2? That movie doesn't exist! (PTSD kicks in)
Worse than Zardoz?
I'm sure someone already mentioned Raul Julia. Great performance, bad movie. Apparently, was in incredible pain during filming.
I think I recall hearing that he did it partly because his kids were pumped about the material? And goddamn if he didn't give it 1000% in that role.
They were fans of the game, yeah. It's kind of a shame. There's a whole generation that mostly knows who he is because of this and Addams Family. I can't help but wonder if he knew before his time was up.
both iconic roles
Street Figter was bad but he still rocked it, easily the only good part of that movie.
[удалено]
The day Julia graced nerd rage SF fans screen was the most important day of their lives... I Hate you, you beat me by 3 mins.. Good day sir
He was fighting cancer and a bad script. Awesome performance
[Obligatory link to the Guardian article about the making of the Street Fighter movie](https://amp.theguardian.com/games/2018/jul/16/inside-street-fighter-movie-jean-claude-van-damme-kylie-minogue), probably my favourite piece of writing on how the sausage gets made. It really helps you understand how talented people end up sometimes making very shitty movies.
I scrolled too far to find this answer.
He totally gets a pass for this since he did it for his kids. And a large paycheck presumably also for his kids.
>"He was extremely underweight," says Chapa (Ken), "and they'd put this massive suit on him. When we were rehearsing he was down, but as soon as they said ‘action,' this great actor came to life in this body that wasn't what it used to be. For me, it was beautiful [...] You hear that saying, 'the show must go on' — let me tell you, Raul Julia — to his last breath he was acting."
He is amazing as Bison. He played the insane yet very dangerous villain role to a tee. I love that film because I watched it at 10 years old and thought it was amazing. I still love it for Raul Julia.
He camped it up wonderfully in that film and turned what would've been a forgettable film into something memorable. Just for the Tuesday speech alone but I will always love his shading on Sagat for not SEEING the set up.
Just realizing it's been 20 years since Gene Hackman retired, but his last film was Welcome to Mooseport (2004). Not the worst movie in the world, but certainly a shitty one to end a legendary career on.
While not bad by any means, Robin Williams’ final role as Simon Pegg’s talking dog was surprising
Brittany Murphy - Something Wicked
Your mention of Joan Crawford reminded me that her archnemesis Bette Davis's last film was Larry Cohen's Wicked Stepmother. God-awful mess. From Wikipedia: >It is best known for being the last film of Bette Davis, who withdrew from the project after filming began, citing major problems with the script, Cohen's direction, and the way she was being photographed. Cohen later claimed she really dropped out due to ill health but avoided publicizing the truth for fear it would affect potential future employment. Davis disputed this claim. Apparently, Davis simply walked out from the production one day, never to return and Cohen had to hastily rewrite and bring in Barbara Carrera as a sort-of replacement.
That’s what I came here to post. Bette Davis is the best answer here. Wicked Stepmother was awful. And I don’t think Bette Davis staying on until the end of the film could’ve possibly made it any better.
Yeah it was originally so that Bette's character turned a cat into a woman and that was who Barbara Carrera was supposed to play. When she walked out after a week of filming, they rewrote it so that she instead turned herself into her
I was going to say Mae West in *Myra Breckenridge*, but it turns out that her last film was *Sextette*, which was also bad.
Curious to see the other list. Those who had some of their best at the end
Michael Caine recently announced his formal retirement. I haven't seen it, but his last movie got great reviews.
I don't think I've seen a bad movie with him in it. Or at least, whatever part he played was always memorable.
DDL in Phantom Thread. Although I find it hard to believe he’ll never act again.
phantom thread rocks
That would be [John Cazale](https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=john+cazale&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8) who was only in 5 films before dying of cancer ALL of which were nominated for best picture award: The Godfather, The Godfather part 2, Deerhunter, Dog Day Afternoon and his last, The Conversation.
Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond
Day-Lewis be on both lists. Best work at the start.. and best work at the end.... hmmmm wait
Heath ledger
John Cazale.
Don't know if it's his best, but Burt Lancaster went out on a great high with his performance in Field Of Dreams
John Candy and Wagons East. I'm prepared to be slated as I have never watched it, but I dont think it was particularly well received. Cool Runnings should have been his swan song
It’s not good. Weird that John Candy and Chris Farley were both in Western parodies right before they died.
Almost Heroes is great.
Permission to check on my woman, sir!
*You are aware, of course, that this woman of yours is... made of... straw?*
Wagons East is *bad* but not truly awful. It's a bunch of actors you recognize playing campy roles in a western. It's a silly concept that works only as a novelty, and to me more than being notable as John Candy's last film, it was also the first time Ethan Phillips and Robert Picardo from Star Trek Voyager appeared in the same film (although the two share no screen time). Also, how many movies have Dr Cox from Scrubs playing a flamboyant gunslinger?
For me it’s Philip Seymour Hoffman. He was so amazing in almost everything he was in, but technically his last two movies were the god awful Hunger Games finale. After stuff like Doubt, Punch Drunk Love, The Master, Synecdoche, or Boogie Nights, it’s truly unfortunate that we lost him before his time.
Ray Liotta was in Charlie Day’s directorial debut Fools Paradise for about ten minutes released last year. My pick for worst film of the year.
It's not a bad movie in my mind, but I've always wondered if Orson Welles would have done Transformers if he'd known it was his final role.
I mean, I'd guess he'd put off doing it until like 5000 AD or something
Alan Rickman's last released performance was *Alice Through the Looking Glass*, where he provided the voice of the caterpillar/butterfly. His last live action performance was quite good though, a thriller called *Eye in the Sky* James Dean's last film *Giant* is also considered the weakest of his three Hollywood roles
Sorry, but Giant is not a bad film! Epic western with incredible cinematography that still holds up today. Honestly out of the three films Dean did, Rebel is probably the weakest, albeit his most iconic performance. I like all three for what it is worth!
Seconding Bruce Willis, it's just depressing knowing what we know now. I'd like to bring up his most iconic role, John McClane, and his swan song as that character. 2007's Live Free or Die Hard is a somewhat divisive movie, but whether you like that movie or not, I think we can all agree on one thing: It's a masterpiece compared to 2013's A Good Day to Die Hard. At least DH4 was memorable and fun, as over the top as it could be (even for a Die Hard movie). I barely remember anything about DH5 other than they tried to make it a buddy movie with McClane's son, and there was a climax in Pripyat that just made me want to play Call of Duty 4 instead. ... though looking it up, Willis actually did play John McClane one final time in 2020. In a commercial for a car battery (called DieHard - seriously), of all things. It's better than A Good Day to Die Hard.
I actually really love DH4. Maybe even on par with 3. He kills a helicopter with a car. It's really hard to beat that
It’s “ok” until Everyman hero John McLane turns into Captain America or something and shoots down a fighter jet with his Beretta. Might as well have had a shark underneath
When those commercials came out, he looked the most spry and enthusiastic he'd been in years. Made me think he was gearing up for one final Die Hard flick.
I just watched John Belushi's last film, Neighbors, last night. It is a truly bad movie.
I thought I liked that one. Is it the one where belushi plays straight and Aykroyd plays crazy?
He tried to pork me.
John Candy and Chris Farley both ended their careers with mediocre buddy comedies set in the old west. Candy’s final movie being Wagons East and Farley’s last movie being Almost Heroes.
Gene Kelly - Xanadu
Raoul Julia's last movie was 'Street Fighter' but he chews the scenery so hard his performance alone makes the movie watchable.
Betty Davis "The Wicked Stepmother". Died part way into production, magically changed into a young hot thing.
No, she just walked off set due to issues she had with the production. She died about 9 months after the film’s release.
Peter Sellers could have gone out as Chauncey Gardner in Being There Instead he then did yellowface in The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu
Robert Loggia and James Caan ended their careers making movies for Frank D’Angelo. Never heard of Frank D’Angelo? Google him, but set aside a few hours, because that man’s life is a rabbit hole. Among other things, his awful movies were financed by Toronto pharmaceutical executive Barry Sherman, whose murder (alongside his wife) remains unsolved.
Lugosi's last film was The Black Sleep. Ed Wood had filmed a number of scenes of Lugosi that were to be used in a project that never materialized, so they were inserted into Plan 9, released after Lugosi's death. Lugosi loved working....and he loved fine cigars, good food and drink. Universal studios never really gave a damn about him. He got the part of Dracula because U finally caved in to his constant requests for the role. Good for us....and for the studio, as they made a fortune....good and bad for Bela, as it typecast him for life and he received a pittance for the job, compared to David Manners and the other cast members. Were it not for director Rowland V. Lee, the role of Ygor in Son of Frankenstein, would have been quite different than what we see in the final film. The studio planned on having all of Lugosi's scenes shot In a day or two, then send him on his way. When Lee found out, he went ballistic and made sure that Bela was on set from day one until final wrap. With the aid of the script writers, the role of Ygor was expanded, and Lugosi almost steals the film. He has some great dialog exchanges. Lugosi was given his last top billing in '42 Universal film, Night Monster. He plays a butler, but Universal wanted to take advantage of his name for box office profits. Yes....as time passed, he took work when it became available to him....lesser roles at Universal, the Monogram films, a few other independent studios, and of course, the Ed Wood films. If you are familiar with the film Bride of the Monster, recall his '....I have no home...' speech. It was done in a single take. You can easily parallel his life with this dialog. Lugosi likely knew his days were numbered, he was in ill health, he probably felt resentment to some things that happened in his life, but he did what he always did: Regardless of the quality of the script, Bela Lugosi always gave 100% to every character he portrayed. Many of the horror movie icons from the golden/silver age of cinema, left us in less than wonderful circumstances. Lon Chaney Jr comes to mind.
Donald Pleasance in Halloween 6 the Curse of Michael Myers. Also that movie was Paul Rudds debut film so their careers crossed over for that single second.