Awesome Charlie Sheen Action Movies You Probably Forgot About

Carlos Irwin Estevez…. ACTION. HERO. You know. The guy from Two and a Half Men. The man who solved a crime with his brother Emilio while they were trash guys in Men at Work. It’s Charlie Effin’ Sheen. Today we’re going to propose a question and attempt to answer it: Does Charlie Sheen not get enough credit for being an action hero in the 90s?

Over the course of the 90s Sheen played Navy SEAL, Vietnam soldier, skydiver, motorcyclist, musketeer, fighter pilot, car-stealing con, undercover cop, and cowboy. Yet no one looked at him as a Stallone or Schwarzenegger type. Even though he basically played as Rambo himself (and nearly as jacked) in Hot Shots. Although that was… obviously… a parody. Just how action-packed does the rest of Charlie Sheen’s filmography get? Do we owe him some overdue manly appreciation? Does anyone else have the Two and a Half Men theme song stuck in their head?

It’s time for WINNING as we take a film-by-film walk through the surprising action hero past of Charlie Sheen.

Charlie Sheen: An Unlikely Action Hero

I know, I’m as surprised as all of you but as unlikely as it may seem, the previous statement stands. While most of us probably know him for his sitcom life or very public hate fest and fights with creator Chuck Lorre, his career resume is a lot more varied than I think a lot of people give him credit for. He and his brother Emilio, you know, the Mighty Ducksone, both started their careers in their dad’s cult classic Terrence Malick joint Badlands before having similar career arcs including weaving in and out of each other’s paths from time to time. While Emilio had a couple of action movies sewn into his resume, including one with Charlie that we will get to, he mostly stayed on the path of Brat Pack followed by kids’ movies and then becoming quite the accomplished director. His brother Charlie though, Charlie kept the pedal to the metal and never really let action go. Let’s get into it.

Red Dawn

His career started with a couple of uncredited roles before making the now since uncovered Grizzly II with an equally embarrassed George Clooney and Laura Dern. None of them deserve that fate, including the grizzly as the first Grizzly movie is a load of fun instead of a load of crap. It was Sheen’s 4th movie that kick-starts this whole thing. 1984 would give us the beloved and surprisingly dark Red Dawn directed by the Oscar-nominated John Milius. It portrays the fictional but all-too-prescient concept of World War III breaking out and middle America being thrust into a battle for freedom. The movie is remembered more as a Patrick Swayze vehicle, but Charlie Sheen is the dude’s brother in it and just as important, especially in the final scene. Their father was killed in the now Soviet-occupied Calumet, Colorado, and they are part of the infamous “Wolverines” along with C. Thomas Howell and Lea Thompson. Swayze and Sheen sacrifice themselves so that others can escape and they take out one of the main bad guys too.

While it’s also stacked with other recognizable actors like Oscar winner Ben Johnson, Harry Dean Stanton, and Powers Boothe, the movie showed that the young Sheen had the chops to not only act but also be suited for action fare too. He was primed for a Swayze-like career filled with action roles at this point, so what did he do? Well, from 1984 to 1998, a healthy 15-year span, he had one of the sneakiest action careers ever. What came next was…. well, what came next was actually made-for-TV drama films Silence of the Heart and The Fourth Wise Man but later in 1985 would be a different kind of action movie. He wasn’t just pushing out Schwarzenegger-like body count movies during this span. He was mixing and matching his action and the next one would be the ever-popular “Crime Action” movie with the criminally underseen The Boys Next Door which he would star alongside Maxwell Caulfield.

The Boys Next Door

The Boys Next Door is a criminally underdiscussed crime action road movie written by James Wong of the Final Destination franchise and many X-Files episodes that follows two high school outcasts who take a graduation cash gift and venture out to Los Angeles to make trouble. Part American Psycho, part gender-swapped Thelma and Louise, and part Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, the movie does a great job of keeping the action going while making you disturbed during the watch. It’s frequently on one of the best streaming services out there, our lord and savior TUBI but is also available on physical media from our friends at Severin Films. The ending, just like what we discussed with Red Dawn, shows our guy Sheen more than capable of toting guns while also being able to be every bit the star that his father was. To keep the good times and most certainly busy times rolling, Sheen would move to 1986 with two absolute classics in Lucasand Ferris Bueller’s Day Off but more importantly to our purposes, one of his only horror entries with The Wraith. And of course, this wouldn’t be straight horror, but a Mad Max-infused action horror that really wouldn’t get its proper due for a couple decades after.

The Wraith

While writer/director Mike Marvin never really did anything else of note, The Wraith is an action horror B-movie masterwork. Much like his work in Red Dawn, he isn’t alone here with turns from Randy Quaid, Clint Howard, Nick Cassavetes, and Sherilyn Fenn. Jeez, apart from Fenn, this is the outcast sibling show. Anyway, this independently made mishmash of genres brings the drag race and dirt biking action to the screen with a slasher horror vibe that you just don’t see anymore. The movie takes place in a small Arizona town where pink slips matter in terms of racing and Charlie Sheen’s Jake Kesey arrives on a dirt bike while befriending some of the locals. The movie then turns into a revenge story where Jake is actually a spirit returning to avenge Jaime, the boyfriend of Sherilyn Fenn’s Keri that was killed by Packard, played by Nick Cassavetes and his gang. It has a ton of racing and even though Sheen had a double for many of the harder scenes, it’s still solid action and he is that character after all.

Platoon

We aren’t quite done with 1986 as there was one more major release that Sheen was involved in, and wouldn’t you know it? It was another action hybrid, this time of the war movie variety with Oliver Stone’s Platoon. Speaking of that director, he actually got mad at Sheen after seeing The Wraith at one of its limited screenings because he felt the movie was so incredibly stupid that it could potentially hurt the reception of Platoon. Well, that movie is stupid but come on Oliver, not nearly enough people saw it for that argument to matter. Platoon is based on Stone’s own experiences in the war and to un-romanticize conflict the way American audiences saw it, particularly after what John Wayne’s The Green Berets tried to do in making war “fun.” Sheen is Stone’s avatar as an infantryman who sees the struggle with the Vietnam War on all sides. Even watching his sergeant and platoon leader argue over the virtue and reason for their presence here. Sheen could have been swallowed by the cast, even as the main character with his co-leads being Tom Berenger in a monstrous villain turn and Willem Dafoe with one of the greatest death scenes in all of cinema.

Even beyond the main trio of names the film includes Johnny Depp, Tony Todd, Keith David, Forest Whitaker, Kevin Dillon, and John C. McGinley amongst many other notable character actors. Is the movie meant to be a statement movie and show the horrors of war? Yes. Does it also have some great action pieces to it? Also, yes. Most of the action is of the group variety, again it’s not like Sheen here is pulling a Steven Seagal or JCVD and taking on grunts all by himself, but he is involved in the skirmishes we see throughout the film and of course there is the one-on-one fight with Berenger’s Sgt. Barnes before the ending where he shoots him dead after Barnes doesn’t think he has the guts to do it. Platoon isn’t often thought of as an action movie because like many war films made after the 1970s it doesn’t glorify the conflicts found overseas but that doesn’t mean it still doesn’t contain some pulse-pounding action and great shootout set-piece moments.

No Man’s Land

While moving away from the multi-Oscar-nominated and winning Platoon and away from 1986 in general, 1987 would find Sheen in multiple projects of varying genres. He had the comedy drama Three for the Road with his Ferris Buellercostar Alan Ruck and the now Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone’s next film Wall Street. Always a bridesmaid and never a bride as Sheen’s costar Michael Douglas, much like his Platoon costars Berenger and Dafoe, would be nominated for an Academy Award only this time win it. Lost in the shuffle again though, just like poor old Wraith, would be the Dick Wolf-penned cop action drama No Man’s Land where Sheen plays a millionaire playboy who is secretly the head of an underground car-stealing ring. While trying to mimic greater noir action movies like To Live and Die in L.A. and Thief, No Man’s Land gives Sheen the chance to play a bad guy for one of the few times in his career. He’s a complicated movie villain who will kill when he has to but also saves his friend Benjy, played by D.B. Sweeney, even when he knows his identity as a cop. The last shootout at the mall where the characters meet their fates is good and surprising all at the same time. Sheen has seemingly done it all at this point.

Young Guns

Well not westerns, I guess. Enter Young Guns from 1988. This Brat Pack-adjacent movie was a massive hit pulling in 56 million on its 11-million-dollar budget and follows a highly fictionalized version of the Regulators led by Billy the Kid during the Lincoln County War from 1877 to 1878. Yet another brand of action mixed with something, even though yes, most westerns are inherently action films, Young Guns also brings Sheen together again with his brother Emilio along with a slew of other hot young Hollywood actors. Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Dermot Mulroney, and Casey Siemaszko surround the brothers and even though this and the sequel are Emilio’s movies, Sheen again shows himself more than adept at action. While looking back at the time, it’s not at all shocking that Sheen is killed about halfway through as the first leader of the Regulators, if you look at the two men’s careers through today’s eyes you would think that Sheen would be the main draw. Even back then he was the lead in The Wraith, Platoon, and No Man’s Land proving he was more than capable of leading an action movie. While he isn’t in the movie for its entirety, this is probably his most action film to date. Just wait until 1990.

The Rookie

While the remainder of 1988 and 1989 had two very different kinds of baseball movies with Eight Men Out and Major League, 1990 would give us not one, not two, but THREE Charlie Sheen action movies. Before we get to that though, what do you think of his unexpected but rather exceptional run of action films. For me, the best of them has to be Young Guns but I’m also an easy mark for western movies. Ranking them I would say Young Guns, Red Dawn, Platoon, The Wraith, No Man’s Land, and The Boys Next Door but your mileage is going to vary depending on which subgenre of action movie you prefer. While Sheen would really start leaning into comedy in the 90s, the next 8 years would also be filled with some of the most unexpected action movies ever. The first of the three movies from 1990 would pair him with one of the great chameleon action stars of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. The Rookie would see Charlie Sheen and Clint Eastwood play the tale-as-old-as-time trope of the grizzled rule-breaking veteran cop and the new rookie who is straight-laced and trying to make a name for himself.

This movie almost didn’t happen, at least not for Sheen, as it was supposed to be a vehicle for Gene Hackman and Matthew Modine and even before that, it was originally written with Sean Connery in mind. While it was a massive bomb, only grossing 21 million on its budget of 30 million, it has a ton of great action. Raul Julia was called out as a positive choice for the movie and his shootout in the airport at the end with the two leads is particularly entertaining. While Sheen was allegedly having drug problems during the shoot, it ended up being an underseen and underdiscussed movie for both men and the action found within is just as strong as some of the Dirty Harry movies that Eastwood made in decades prior. The action scenes with car and truck chases and gunfights show off maybe the most action Sheen has done and this time he is in the movie for the entire runtime. It ends in a sequel hook with Eastwood’s Pulovski being promoted while Sheen’s Ackerman is now a respected veteran assigned a rookie who he treats just as he was treated. Of course, having the most action doesn’t guarantee success or sequels as we would see with The Rookie.

Men at Work

Back to action comedy and back to working with his brother Emilio as we find the pair as Men at Work playing a pair of trash men who find themselves wrapped up in a murder coverup with a Vietnam vet suffering from PTSD played by Keith David. While it’s a little light on the action compared to some of the other films we have looked at, it almost feels like a Howard Hawks comedy from the 30s or 40s and the final chase scene where everyone is chasing everyone else and the bad guys get dealt with via pranks and toxic waste hits the spot. This would be written and directed by Emilio Estevez and maybe he felt bad for taking the spotlight in Young Guns as here it feels like Sheen is the bigger character who also ends up with the girl. Using a BB gun as the action centerpiece is a nice touch too after all the heavy guns from the previous movies. The third action movie from 1990, that is bigger output than some years of Schwarzenegger or Stallone mind you, is one of the most unexpected AND most beloved in the actor’s credits.

Navy SEALs

Coming out of absolute nowhere is Navy SEALs directed by Lewis Teague of Cujo and Alligator fame. It was co-written by Gary Goldman of Total Recall and Big Trouble in Little China fame and features a cast that also includes Michael Biehn, Dennis Haysbert, and the late great Bill Paxton. It seethes machismo from the gun-toting duo on the cover to the many, MANY instances of action scenes that feature missiles, APCs, gunfire, testosterone, Zodiac boats, the CIA, HALO jumping, and an ending fight that TAKES PLACE UNDERWATER. This movie is the film equivalent to Jesse Ventura’s character in Predator, ya know, before he dies. It follows a SEAL Team tasked with rescuing hostages only to take them all over the world to make amends for leaving destructive missiles in the hands of a terrorist organization. It does what all good action movies do and makes you care about the main characters with most of them dying off before the end credits, usually in heartbreaking or brutal ways.

Sheen took it seriously too as the cast were trained for two weeks in northern Virginia with field maneuvers and weapons training while eight former Navy SEALs were brought on as technical advisors and occasional stuntmen. That final brutal underwater kill also goes to Sheen’s character which is odd considering his main co-star is the ever-badass Michael Biehn. Crazy to think that Sheen started off the 90s with one of the most underseen and underrated action flicks ever made. He was so cool that the video game adaptation which came out for various systems in 1990 and 1991 followed his character across 5 action-packed side-scrolling levels. Too bad the movie wasn’t a hit with it only bringing in 25 million off its 21-million-dollar budget but that’s how it goes sometimes.

Hot Shots!

Feeling the liquid bullets pumping through his veins, and no that’s not a drug reference, the next 7 movies and 8 out of 9 from 1991 to 1994 would be firmly in the action category. Oddly enough, 3 of these would be parody films. 1991 would grace the world with one of the best spoofs of all time from some of the best to ever do it. Jim Abrahams, who was one of the chief architects of Airplane, Top Secret, Kentucky Fried Movie, and Naked Gun, does for those movies what they did for disaster, spy, and cop movies but this time with Top Gun. Yeah, it parodies other big movies of the time like Dances with Wolves and 9 ½ Weeks, but this is a Top Gun spoof through and through. While it is much more of a comedy than an action movie at its heart, that last scene where Sheen’s Topper takes out fighter jets by himself and then drops a bomb directly on Saddam Hussein, probably did more for his action career than some of the movies we talked about earlier.

Loaded Weapon 1 and Hot Shots! Part Deux

While he made no movies in 1992, 1993 would have him appear in his brother’s spoof movie, this time about Lethal Weapon called Loaded Weapon 1 with the ridiculously awesome Tim Curry and following that up with Hot Shots! Part Deux. While the original movie spoofed Top Gun, this one went straight for Rambo. Not the meditation on PTSD and how we treat our veterans though, no. This movie goes right for the jugular of First Blood Part II and Rambo III and at some point, has a kill counter that shows off the ludicrous number of bodies that Topper has gone through. With great nods to things like Apocalypse Now with his own father going by briefly in a boat to bringing in Richard Crenna as the ultimate tribute to the films they are spoofing, Hot Shots! Part Deux is one of the most entertaining cross sections of humor and action. While Sheen would later be most remembered for his sitcom and real-life drama, these two movies are funnier than anything on prime time and the action is more outlandish than what his contemporary stars were doing in real time.

Beyond the Law and The Three Musketeers

The man just couldn’t stop at this point either. Elsewhere in 1993 would bring the other side of the coin for Sheen from his role in No Man’s Land. While that movie saw him as the charismatic villain, Beyond the Law would see him as the undercover cop this time. Also featuring Leon Rippy, Michael Madsen, and Rip Torn, the movie’s action is very understated but him playing an undercover cop is right there with his other characters and something that Seagal or Stallone would have done as well. What can’t be understated is his role in one of Disney’s best live-action films of the 70s, 80s, and 90s. The Three Musketeers. Appearing with an almost endless list of fun actors including his Young Gunscostar Kiefer Sutherland and the magnificent and deeply missed Tim Curry, this Disney property is one of the most entertaining versions of the classic tale and has action that puts the Pirates movies of the studio a decade later on blast.

For his part Sheen seems to be having a ball as Aramis who is the religious member of the titular trio and his action starts with a duel that turns into a three-on-one before a three-on-many. His swordplay is more than adequate, and not only does he have one of the best moments when we get a fake-out death, but he is the one that helps stop the lovably evil Cardinal played by Curry. This isn’t the typical action that we think of necessarily, but it really is nearly nonstop with some of the best fights we would see in the early 90s.

The Chase

From swordfights and parody to 2 thirds of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. The Chase is something I remember watching on TV all the time as a kid and it’s able to have an entire runtime nearly taking place in a car during a high-speed pursuit. It certainly doesn’t lie about its name. The chemistry between Sheen and the OG Buffy, Kristy Swanson, is effortlessly alluring and the stunts pulled while driving the highways of Houston doubling for the 5 in southern California headed to Mexico are equally entertaining. The guy has had so much experience now that he can drive a sports car, make love in it, and take a hostage with a Butterfinger. Take that Van Damme!

Terminal Velocity

Terminal Velocity followed in 1994, and it was one of a surprising amount of high-octane airplane action vehicles along with Drop Zone, Executive Decision, and Passenger 57 during that time. Sheen plays Richard Brodie who is a former Olympic gymnast turned daredevil skydiver which is something that sounds like I would put on my LinkedIn one night when I was bored. He escorts a spy onto a dangerous jump that leads to double crosses, faked deaths, and the KGB. The movie’s action has rocket cars, plane-to-plane transportation, and a car driving out of a cargo hold falling at, wouldn’t you know it, terminal velocity.

The End of Charlie Sheen’s Action Run

1996 to 1998 would still bring with it 4 action movies but the falloff was steep. After being in mega hits that surprised like Hot Shots! or for studios like Disney, he would make alien thriller flop The Arrival in 1996, political thriller Shadow Conspiracy with Linda Hamilton in 1997, and cop action No Code of Conduct with his father Martin in 1998. His last true action hit was a comedy hybrid called Money Talks with a post-Friday but pre–Rush Hour Chris Tucker that pairs the two like an unlikely buddy cop movie. If it feels like a proto-Rush Hour that’s because this was Brett Ratner’s first movie and, well, it IS a test run for that formula. With 19 action movies over a 15-year period, Charlie Sheen truly is the action hero we never really talk about. I personally think 1988 to 1994 is his best period but you could make arguments for other timeframes and I wouldn’t argue. What is your favorite movie from the ones we talked about today and who else is a secret action star that just lives under the radar? Let us know in the comments and we will see you next time.