From Paris with Love (February 5) and Cop Out (February 26) are two new movies from John Travolta (age 55)and Bruce Willis (age 54), respectively. Two new action comedies from two veteran actors, who have seen many ups and downs in their careers.

Who’s the better actor/man of the two? Below is a comparison based on our Movie Genome, to answer this question once and for all. Who’s had the better career so far? Who’s worked harder? Who has more friends? And even – who gets laid more often?

Who made more blockbusters?
We start with a tie: 14 blockbusters each. Willis can be proud of Die Hard, Sin City, The Fifth Element and 12 Monkeys; some of Travolta’s money-makers are Grease, Saturday Night Fever, Face/Off and Phenomenon. And of course they were together in Pulp Fiction.

Who made more rubbish?
Here we have Willis as the winner, or more accurately, the loser. He’s done 14 critically panned movies, while Travolta has only 13. Travolta is really ashamed for doing Wild Hogs and Battlefield Earth, and Willis confined himself indoors after The Whole Ten Yards and Perfect Stranger. They can comfort each other for being in Look Who’s Talking Too together.

Who’s more violent?
Both Travolta and Willis are male idols, symbols of manliness and machismo. So, who’s the more violent of the two? Who’s more likely to pick a fight? Well, the answer is clear. Willis is almost twice as violent as Travolta. 35 of Willis’ movies are violent, whereas only 18 of Travolta’s are. What will you do when Bruce tries to beat you up, John? Will you trade faces with him too? Will you try to dance him away?

Who’s funnier?
It turns out that Willis is way funnier: 40 humorous titles in comparison to 22 for Travolta. Sure, Hairspray and Michael were funny, but can you compare them to the much funnier The Whole Nine Yards and Moonlighting?

Who has more friends?
Once again, it’s a tie: 17 each. Travolta has his fireman buddies from Ladder 49, his middle-aged friends from Wild Hogs and his young friends from Grease. Willis is in good terms with Billy Bob Thornton from Bandits; with Tracy Morgan, his new friend from Cop Out, and with his young self, from The Kid.

Who has more sex?
20 movies flagged with sexual content for Willis and only 14 for John Travolta. No doubt, Willis is having way more fun. Travolta managed to resist sleeping with Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction; Willis, on the other hand, didn’t leave much room for imagination in Color of Night where he did all kinds of things with the beautiful Jane March.

Who works harder?
They are almost at the same age, yet Willis has 64 titles under his belt, while Travolta only has 49. John, stop messing with silly things like flying airplanes and spending time with the family, and start catching up with Bruce.

Who do the critics prefer?
Willis has made 15 critically acclaimed movies, The Sixth Sense being one of them; Travolta impressed the critics in 14 movies, including De Palma’s Blow Out.

Who’s got a bigger trophy cabinet?
Or in other words, who participated in more award-winning movies? Once again, the answer is Willis, with 17 award-winning titles compared to Travolta’s 12. Willis’ The Fifth Element won a Bafta and a Cesar; Travolta’s Primary Colors won a Bafta. They both share the Oscar-winning Pulp Fiction: the Oscar is in Tarantino’s house on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays, Willis has it on Mondays and Wednesdays, and Travolta has it on Thursdays and Saturdays.

Who’s more Hollywood?
You’re probably used to it by now: The answer is Bruce Willis, with 11 “Hollywood tone” movies. Travolta has 9. We’re not saying it’s necessarily a good thing, but we’d love to see both of them participate in more indie films (another tie, 9 for both). Hey, even in foreign ones: Wouldn’t it be cool to see Willis in an Almodovar flick? Or for his 80th birthday, Travolta in a Godard film?

Conclusion – As you can see for yourself, there’s no doubt that the better man and the better actor of the two is Bruce Willis! Willis wins more awards and works harder; he’s funnier and he has more sex. At least Travolta can say he spread less violence in the world and has made one less awful movie than Willis.

Let’s hope that Cop Out will be as good as Die Hard and Moonlighting. We already know that shaving his head didn’t work, and that Travolta’s From Paris with Love disappoints.

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