10 Greatest Films of Martin Sheen
Martin Sheen is the stage name of Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez. He was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1940, to an Irish mother and Spanish father. He had a pretty rough childhood, physically. His left arm was crushed by the doctor’s forceps, during delivery and he lost the use of his legs for a year, after contracting polio.
He began his acting career at The Living Theatre in New York. His first cinematic role was in the 1967 film The Incident. His second film, The Subject Was Roses, earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He cemented his name in the annals of great actors with the 1973 film Badlands. He has acted in 118 films and scores of television series.
The first film I recall seeing him in was The Final Countdown, a cool time travel story about a modern aircraft carrier that somehow ends up traveling back to Pearl Harbor, shortly before 7 December, 1941. His character serves as the moral center of that film. Shortly after, I saw him in Firestarter, in which he did not play a nice man. Even as a child, I could recognize that he had range and that he was charismatic — a natural for the screen.
As much as I’ve enjoyed his films, the one part that will always come to mind first and foremost when thinking of Martin Sheen is The West Wing, a television series in which he appeared in 140 episodes between 1999 and 2006, playing Jed Bartlet, the President of the United States. Man, I love that show. Every few years I watch it over, from beginning to end. It’s a show that I can watch an episode at any time, and love it.
He has eight Golden Globe nominations, winning one in 2001 for The West Wing. He has nine Emmy nominations, winning one in 1994 for Murphy Brown.
Let’s take a look at some of his best films.
10. The Final Countdown (1980) — My first exposure to Martin Sheen and one that sticks with me because of the subject. Imagine you were the commander of an aircraft carrier and one day your carrier came out of a storm and found itself back in time forty years, just prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. What would you do? Kirk Douglas plays the ship’s commander and Sheen plays a civilian analyst, brought aboard on a mysterious assignment.
“If the United States falls under attack our job is to defend her in the past, present and future.” — Captain Yelland
9. The American President (1995) — This would be a typical romcom about two people trying to get together, except for one little complication — one of the two people is the President of the United States. Aaron Sorkin wrote this film long before The West Wing. In fact, the idea for The West Wing came at a dinner when fellow writer Akiva Goldsman said to Sorkin “You know what would make a good show?” and pointed to the movie poster for The American President. In this film, Sheen is not the President, he is the Chief of Staff.
“With all due respect, sir, the American people have a funny way of deciding on their own what is and what is not their business.” — A.J. MacInerney
8. Gettysburg (1993) — An epic four and a half hour accounting of the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War. Over three days (1–3 July, 1863), there were 51,112 casualties and losses (23,049 Yankees and 28,063 Rebels). The battle was a significant turning point in the war, in part due to a disastrous decision made by Confederate general Robert E. Lee. Martin Sheen plays General Lee.
“We are never quite prepared for so many to die. Oh, we do expect the occasional empty chair. A salute to fallen comrades. But this war goes on and on and the men die and the price gets ever higher. We are prepared to lose some of us, but we are never prepared to lose all of us. And there is the great trap General. When you attack, you must hold nothing back. You must commit yourself totally. We are adrift here in a sea of blood and I want it to end. I want this to be the final battle.” — General Robert E. Lee
7. The Dead Zone (1983) — Cinematic adaptations of Stephen King novels are plentiful and are hit and miss. This is one of the hits. Christopher Walken plays a teacher that experiences a five year coma after a car accident. He awakens from that coma with the ability to see visions of the future when he touches another person. One of those people is a senator played by Martin Sheen. Shaking that senator’s hand reveals visions of a nuclear holocaust after the senator becomes President.
“I have had a vision that I am going to be President of the United States someday. And nobody, and I mean nobody is going to stop me!” — Greg Stillson
6. Da (1988) — Sheen plays an Irish playwright, long since emigrated to America, when he receives notification that his father has died, back in Ireland. He returns to Ireland to bury his father and confront their unresolved issues. His father is played by Barnard Hughes.
“All those years you sat and looked into the fire, what went through your head? What did you think of? I never knew you to have a hope or a dream or to say a half wise thing!” — Charlie
5. The Way (2010) — Sheen’s son, Emilio, adapted this story and directed the film. He also briefly appears as the son of Sheen’s character. When the son dies during an attempt to complete the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, the father travels to Europe to collect the son’s remains. He decides to complete the pilgrimage, sprinkling the son’s ashes along the way.
“You don’t choose a life, dad. You live one.” — Daniel
4. The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976) — Jodie Foster is the star of this horror movie about a young girl, living alone in a house, in Maine. Sheen plays a very creepy man.
“You should see the way the fire lights up your hair. All yellow and gold.” — Frank Hallett
3. The Subject Was Roses (1968) — An adaptation of Frank Gilroy’s Pulitzer Prize winning play. Sheen plays a young man, returned from the war, only to find his parents’ marriage failing. In more recent years, Sheen has played the role of the father, on stage.
“Yesterday you said he was a man. A man has a right to decide such things for himself.” — Nettie Cleary
2. Apocalypse Now (1979) — Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece stars Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, and Martin Sheen. Making the film was a stressful experience for Sheen — he had a heart attack during the production. The film overlays Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness over the Vietnam conflict. Sheen plays the man sent down the river to find Kurtz (Brando).
“Everyone gets everything he wants. I wanted a mission, and for my sins, they gave me one. Brought it up to me like room service. It was a real choice mission, and when it was over, I never wanted another.” — Captain Willard
1. Badlands (1973) — A typical young lovers on the run film, but through the lens of Terrence Malick. Sheen plays a James Dean obsessed young sociopath that seduces a young girl played by Sissy Spacek. They cross the Great Plains leaving a path of bodies behind them.
“Suppose I shot you. How’d that be?” — Kit Carruthers
Other films considered for this list include: Selma, Catch Me if You Can, Wrinkles, The Missiles of October, Talk to Me, Wall Street, The Amazing Spider-man, Firestarter, The Believers, The Departed, Monument Ave., Gandhi, Catch-22, and The Incident. What would make your list?
