In Brown's first mainstream movie he was cast as Viking Lofgren alongside Sean Penn in the 1983 crime drama "Bad Boys". Brown is known for his role as the Kurgan in the 1986 film "Highlander", his role as Captain Byron Hadley in "The Shawshank Redemption", Rawhide in "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension" (1984), Frankenstein's monster in "The Bride" (1985), Army mercenary Larry McRose in "Extreme Prejudice", the role of a band manager in "Thunder Alley" (1985), vicious killer Steve in "Shoot to Kill" (1988), the police officer in Michael Jackson's short movie "Speed Demon" (1988), "Dead Man Walking", Sheriff Gus Gilbert in "Pet Sematary Two", Sergeant Zim in "Starship Troopers" (a role he would reprise in the animated series ""), and Captain William Hadley in "The Guardian". He also played a role in "Flubber" as one of the evil henchmen that get harmed by uncontrollably bouncing sports equipment. In 1989, he appeared in the action thriller "Blue Steel".