Bruce Willis' 107-Minute R-Rated Revenge Thriller Is Taking Streaming By Storm — Gaming

Bruce Willis' R-rated revenge thriller is shooting up the streaming charts.

Few actors are as synonymous with action as Bruce Willis, whose career spans more than 100 movies. He became a global star as the wisecracking cop John McClane in the Die Hard franchise (1988–2013), though his later years were marked by a string of low-budget, poorly received direct-to-video movies. Now, one of his late-career revenge thrillers is receiving an unexpected second wind on streaming.

Bruce Willis' Death Wish Remake Is Shooting Up Streaming Charts

It's Neck And Neck With A Recent Liam Neeson Hit

Nearly a decade after its debut, Death Wish is taking streaming by storm. Directed by Eli Roth, with a script written by Joe Carnahan as a remake of the 1974 film, the 2018 action thriller stars Bruce Willis as a surgeon who sets out to enact revenge against the men who broke into his home and attacked his family.

Now, eight years after its release, Death Wish is No. 9 on the Top 10 movies on MGM+ in the world as of today, August 18, ranking just below Liam Neeson's Cold Storage (2026) at No. 8.

They rank above Teen Wolf: The Movie at No. 10 and below Project Hail Mary, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Forever My Girl, Shelter, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and The Silence of the Lambs.

High Octane · No Brakes How Well Do You Know Action Movies? “Yippee-ki-yay… let’s see what you’ve got.”

💥ExplosionsWalk away, don’t look back

🏎Car ChasesFloor it

🥊Fist FightsNo mercy

🚁StuntsGet to the chopper

🔥MayhemBurn it all down

In the 1988 classic Die Hard, NYPD cop John McClane spends Christmas Eve picking off Hans Gruber’s heavily armed crew one by one inside a single Los Angeles high-rise. What is the name of that skyscraper?

✓ Direct hit! Nakatomi Plaza — the headquarters of the fictional Nakatomi Corporation where McClane (Bruce Willis) is trapped. It was filmed in the real Fox Plaza in Century City, which was still under construction at the time. McClane’s barefoot dash across broken glass remains one of the genre’s defining moments.

✗ Missed! The answer is Nakatomi Plaza. The film was shot in the real Fox Plaza in Century City (then Fox’s own HQ), which is likely why “Fox Tower” sounds plausible — but on screen it’s the fictional Nakatomi Plaza where Hans Gruber’s crew holds the Christmas party hostage.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) introduced the shape-shifting T-1000, a groundbreaking villain that could melt, reform, and morph into anyone. What futuristic material is the T-1000 made of?

✓ Direct hit! The T-1000 is made of “mimetic poly-alloy” — essentially liquid metal — letting it flow through bars, sprout blades, and impersonate its victims. Robert Patrick’s eerily calm performance and the era-defining morphing CGI made it cinema’s scariest robot. The T-800 (Arnold), by contrast, is metal under living tissue.

✗ Missed! The answer is liquid metal (“mimetic poly-alloy”). That’s what lets the T-1000 pour through prison bars, reform from a shattered frozen state, and mimic anyone it touches. The older T-800 played by Arnold is the one with a hard metal endoskeleton under flesh — the T-1000 is a whole new threat.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) was a near-non-stop desert car chase praised for its practical stunts, winning six Oscars. Which director returned to the franchise he created decades earlier to make it?

✓ Direct hit! George Miller created Mad Max with Mel Gibson back in 1979 and returned 36 years later to direct Fury Road, with Tom Hardy as Max and Charlize Theron as Furiosa. The film leaned on real vehicles and stunts in the Namibian desert. Snyder, Villeneuve, and Bigelow are all acclaimed — but the Wasteland belongs to Miller.

✗ Missed! The answer is George Miller — the Australian filmmaker (and former doctor) who launched the series in 1979 and came back to direct Fury Road. Zack Snyder, Denis Villeneuve, and Kathryn Bigelow are all major action/sci-fi directors, but none made Mad Max.

In John Wick (2014), Keanu Reeves plays a retired hitman pulled back into a brutal underworld war after Russian gangsters break into his home. What act ignites his legendary rampage of revenge?

✓ Direct hit! They kill his dog — a beagle puppy named Daisy, a final gift from his late wife — and steal his vintage Mustang. That cruelty unleashes “Baba Yaga,” the boogeyman hitman, on the entire criminal underworld. The deceptively simple revenge hook launched one of modern action’s biggest franchises.

✗ Missed! The answer is they kill his dog. The puppy, Daisy, was the last gift from John’s dying wife — so when Iosef’s crew beats John and kills the dog (also stealing his car), it triggers the full “Baba Yaga” rampage. It’s the purest revenge setup in modern action cinema.

The Mission: Impossible franchise is famous for its star performing his own death-defying stunts — scaling the Burj Khalifa, clinging to a plane at takeoff, and a HALO jump. Who plays super-spy Ethan Hunt?

✓ Direct hit! Tom Cruise has played Ethan Hunt since 1996, famously insisting on doing his own stunts — hanging off the Burj Khalifa, strapped to an Airbus A400M, and performing a real HALO skydive. Matt Damon is Jason Bourne, Keanu is John Wick, and Statham headlines the Transporter and Expendables films.

✗ Missed! The answer is Tom Cruise. Matt Damon plays a different super-spy (Jason Bourne), Keanu Reeves is John Wick, and Jason Statham has his own action stable. Cruise’s real, no-CGI stunt work — the plane, the building, the skydive — is the M:I series’ signature.

In The Matrix (1999), Morpheus offers Neo a choice between two pills: one returns him to blissful ignorance, the other reveals the harsh truth of reality. Which pill does Neo swallow to wake up?

✓ Direct hit! Neo takes the red pill to learn the truth — that humanity is enslaved in a simulation by machines. The blue pill would have let him wake up in bed believing “whatever you want to believe.” “Taking the red pill” has since become a permanent piece of pop-culture shorthand.

✗ Missed! The answer is the red pill. Morpheus’ line is the key: the blue pill ends the story safely in bed, but the red pill shows “how deep the rabbit hole goes.” Neo chooses red, unplugs from the Matrix, and the phrase has outlived the film as a cultural metaphor.

Ridley Scott’s Gladiator (2000) won Best Picture and gave us the roaring line “Are you not entertained?!” Which actor took home the Best Actor Oscar for playing the betrayed general-turned-gladiator Maximus?

✓ Direct hit! Russell Crowe won the 2001 Best Actor Oscar as Maximus Decimus Meridius, the Roman general enslaved and forced to fight for his freedom — and his revenge on the emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). Gerard Butler later anchored 300, but the sands of the Colosseum belong to Crowe.

✗ Missed! The answer is Russell Crowe, who won Best Actor for Maximus. Gerard Butler led the similar-spirited 300, Mel Gibson made Braveheart, and Brad Pitt fought at Troy — all sword-and-sandal adjacent, but Gladiator’s Maximus is Crowe.

The Fast & Furious saga grew from a street-racing crime film into a globe-trotting blockbuster series obsessed with “family.” Vin Diesel anchors it as the gravel-voiced crew leader — what is the character’s name?

✓ Direct hit! Vin Diesel plays Dominic “Dom” Toretto, the loyalty-obsessed leader whose mantra is family. Brian O’Conner was the late Paul Walker’s undercover-cop-turned-ally, Luke Hobbs is Dwayne Johnson’s lawman, and Han Lue (Sung Kang) is the snack-loving fan favorite. But the wheel belongs to Dom.

✗ Missed! The answer is Dominic Toretto. Brian O’Conner is Paul Walker’s character, Luke Hobbs is Dwayne Johnson’s, and Han Lue is Sung Kang’s. Vin Diesel’s Dom — and his relentless “family” speeches — has been the heart of the franchise since 2001.

Mission Complete · Stand Down Your Action Hero Rank

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One-man army — or first to get caught in the crossfire?

This week, Death Wish is in the Top 10 overall on MGM+ in only one country, New Zealand. Though it isn't streaming on MGM+ in the United States, it is available to rent or buy on Prime Video and other platforms from only $3.99.

Other than Bruce Willis in the lead role, the cast also includes Emmy nominee Vincent D'Onofrio (Homicide: Life on the Street), Oscar nominee Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas), Dean Norris (Breaking Bad), Beau Knapp, Kimberly Elise, Emmy nominee Camila Morrone (Daisy Jones & The Six), Jack Kesy, Ronnie Gene Blevins, and Kirby Bliss Blanton.

Willis' Death Wish Update Scored Some Intense Political Backlash

Its Initial Release Wasn't The Best Time

Bruce Willis and Elisabeth Shue in Death Wish

Death Wish reviews were largely negative, resulting in an 18% Rotten Tomatoes score, with critics calling it a formulaic remake that lacks the original's raw edge and conviction, while the timing of its release made the whole affair even more unfortunate. Death Wish was released around the time of several mass shootings, including Parkland High School just two weeks prior.

This was after Death Wish had already been delayed due to the 2017 Las Vegas shooting at a country music festival. In turn, many took issue with Death Wish's depiction of gun violence in the aftermath of these mass shootings, with many arguing that the movie promoted right-wing and pro-gun messages, which director Eli Roth vehemently denied.

Despite this, Death Wish has a 70% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and performed decently well at the box office, making $55 million against its $30 million budget, but was arguably held back by its bad timing. Now, without the baggage surrounding its original release, audiences may simply be having more fun with Death Wish on streaming.