When you hear the name Charlie Sheen, what comes to mind? His long stint on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men? His substance abuse problems and public meltdown in 2011? Or was it the way he popularized the words “tiger blood” and “winning” during said meltdown? All of that noise overshadows the fact that Sheen was once one of the top movie stars of his generation, thanks to his roles in the original Red Dawn, Platoon, Wall Street, and Young Guns.
Like most young actors in Hollywood, Sheen eventually took his shot at action stardom. One of those attempts was Terminal Velocity, a film that came out in 1994 just a week after Timecop. Screenwriter David Twohy — who went on to write and direct Vin Diesel’s Chronicles of Riddick movies — and director Deran Sarafian were the creative team behind Terminal Velocity, which cast Sheen as a skydiving instructor who finds himself sucked into the dark world of espionage after one of his latest clients, Chris Morrow (Nastassja Kinski), dies in an apparent skydiving accident.
Today, it’s almost as if Terminal Velocity didn’t exist. It’s not readily available to stream, and it dropped like a rock from film discourse. But since it has been 30 years since Terminal Velocity hit theaters, it’s time to determine if it still holds up.
Nastassja Kinski is delightful in her role
It’s not a big spoiler to say that Chris faked her death, especially since Nastassja Kinski has such a big role in the movie once Ditch figures out the truth. Out of all of the cast members, Kinski seems to be having the most fun portraying an ex-KGB agent on the run from her former countrymen. The circumstances of Chris’ story are ludicrous, and using Ditch to fool the bad guys into thinking that she was dead wasn’t convincing in the slightest. But Kinski is so charming that it’s easier to accept her in the role than it is to buy Sheen as Ditch.
Additionally, a pre-Sopranos James Gandolfini has a role as one of the movie’s villains, Ben Pinkwater. And as you might expect from Gandolfini, the late actor was terrific. If you didn’t know he was the same man who played Tony Soprano, you may not immediately recognize him. Whatever edge this movie has, it’s down to Gandolfini’s performance.
The action is incredible
For all of Terminal Velocity‘s faults, the film’s action is the prime attraction. The story contrives ways to get Ditch and Chris into dangerous situations, but these are the sequences where the film truly comes to life. For the climax of the movie, Ditch rolls out of an airplane on a car while a Russian goon trying to kill him.
And Ditch has to stay alive long enough to get Chris out of the trunk and save both of their lives. It’s the most audacious sequence in the film, and also the most memorable thing about it.
Charlie Sheen is no Keanu Reeves
Despite Sheen’s natural likeability and charisma in this era, Terminal Velocity just isn’t one of his best efforts. Sheen can be a very funny performer, as seen in the Hot Shots! movies. But there’s something lacking in his performance here that holds Terminal Velocity back.
Sheen gets in a few quips here and there, but his half-hearted delivery doesn’t land the jokes. Sheen also never convincingly makes the audience believe that his character, Richard “Ditch” Brodie, is ever in that much danger. As an action hero, Sheen can do better, and he has. Just not here, which is probably why the movie hasn’t reached cult-level status like Point Break. He lacks Keanu Reeves’ innate likability.
The ending is kind of hilarious in retrospect
No one involved with this film could have predicted this, but the geopolitical situation in the three decades since its release has made the conclusion of Terminal Velocity unintentionally hilarious. Without giving away too many spoilers, it briefly brings the story to Russia for the heroes to bask in the adulation of the Kremlin.
The only thing that would have made it even funnier in the present is if it had been the ending of a Steven Seagal action film, considering that the actor has now fully embraced life in Russia.
Rent or buy Terminal Velocity on Prime Video.
