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Good, though not great, Eastwood...

I have been going through the Clint Eastwood catalog over and over again (and I have seen everything he's directed!), and I rewatched this recently. I didn't care for it the first time I saw it, and my first opinion still stands. It's not a terrible movie (it is a Clint Eastwood film), but it's very conventional, predictable, and a bit tired too. It's still head and shoulders above most filmmakers' best work, as Eastwood is an artist and great craftsman so even his lesser work is still worth watching. The film is about Eastwood, a regular army Sergeant, having to train a very slack platoon of Marines and prepare them for battle. The film ends in Grenada, where Eastwood and his platoon save American students from guerillas. Many have thought that Eastwood was endorsing the Grenada invasion, but it isn't really like that. Clint just used that as a catalyst for the bigger picture, so to speak. There's no political agenda here.


Clint gives an excellent performance here. His character may be a cliche, but it's great to see Clint give new life to that cliche. Marsha Mason is fine as his ex-wife, Bo Svenson plays a sleazy bar owner convincingly, and Mario Van Peebles is pretty funny as the undesignated leader of the platoon. The other recruits aren't particularly distinguished, and the actors portraying them are rather stiff. It is also interesting to note that this is another film where a bar room brawl occurs in an Eastwood film (the others are Bronco Billy, The Rookie, and Every Which Way but Loose). Just a side note.


If you're an Eastwood fan, this is an enjoyable movie, but he's done a lot better.

evohnav is an ...

You are wrong. It was Marines, not the piddling army, that inveded Grenada. You are thinking of Panama. Second, the Marines GySgt Highway was in charge of were NOT recruits. They were RECON MARINES. Get it right or get out. This is a good war movie and Marines everywhere love it. So what if it was originally going to be an army movie. This movie, at times, shows the spirit of the United States Marine Corps, the finest fighting force on the planet. Nobody has anything on the Corps.

Stereotyped, but enjoyable

This movie is so over-the-top it's very enjoyable. To me, anyway. I haven't been in the army (or the marines) and I'm fortunate enough to live in a country that hasn't been at war for decades.

Therefore, from my neutral point of view, I have really had a great time watching this movie. Clint Eastwood's portrayal of Gunnery-Sergeant Highway is overdone, and therefore a treat to watch. Also, catch Everett McGill as Major Powers, absolutely unlikable in this part. Always thought he was a great actor!

This movie has something in common with "Full Metal Jacket". Both movies start off on one foot and seem to end on another. The bad part about this is both movies start off better than they end. Don't get me wrong, I like this movie, I really do. But I always seem to loose interest in it after the training-part comes to finish, and end up switching the movie off after about an hour. And I suppose it's for good reasons.

False advertising

I remember when this came out on video, I was managing a video store and expanding my reading of military history out of WWII and into other areas- Korea, Vietnam, WWI, etc. Hoping for a high-quality film of the battle of Heartbreak Ridge in Korea. Ended up with made-for-tv feel of boot camp, and then the dramatic climax in.....Grenada. Yep, Grenada. Admittedly, that's all they had to work with, but still I get the feeling that Clint would like to forget this movie more than I would. That being said, if you just want to see some really accurate uniforms and a few war-movie cliche characters, by all means invest your time. For a better time, check out the 1959 movie "Pork Chop Hill" produced and directed by Gregory Peck. Although full of heavy-handed evil godless commie sterotype imagery, still much better than this one here.

Enjoyable mostly due to Clint's solid performance

Heartbreak Ridge really isn't that great a film, but it is enjoyable, and I do give it three stars, mostly because of Clint's solid performance as the veteran Marine gunnery sergeant. This is really the first role in which Clint shows his age, which has increasingly been part of his personna (notably in Unforgiven and his recent True Crime and Blood Work, where his screen character roughly approximates his own age, afflicted with the foibles of old age). Marsha Mason is very good as Clint's ex-wife, and Mario Van Peebles is fine as the young corporal who both lionizes and seeks to outfox the old sergeant.

A must-see for all Eastwood fans.

The Ayatolla of Rock n Rolla!

Hey peoples! Stitch Jones here. You may have seen this film and wondered why a rocking guitar hotshot like me would put up with old man Highway. Hey that's easy, did you see what he did to Swede? You think I want my pretty face destroyed by that Jarhead?

Anyway, I still play gigs around Camp Lejeune. I may have reenlisted, a couple of times now, but I never got above the rank of Lance Corporal. That's OK, I'm part owner of Tobie's Loungle now on the corner of 17 and Old MapleHurst Rd. C'mon down and I'll sing you a song.

By the way I got a guitar in hock right now at Woodson Pawnshop, help a devildog out and let me hold a twenty till the 1st? Ooh-rah brother.

As real as it gets

This movie garnered alot of controversy in 1986 when it was released in the movies. Alot of Marines felt it was far-fetched, and not the way Marines act. If this were true then they shouldn't show any movies about the Marine Corps, and that in order to know, and apprecieate what the Marines are all about enlist, and go through boot camp. I know that the movie was all too real to me. I feel that it grasped what a Marine is supposed to be all about: You improvise, adapt, overcome. In another movie called "Tribes" which is about a hippie's take on the Marine Corps shows a sign in the barracks saying: "Can't Means Won't." The Marines aren't looking for recruits just commmitments which is a billboard I see as I drive along. That's a real Commitment to Excellence, and this is probably what Eastwood was thinking when directing this movie that perhaps the military was getting too soft, and losing the plot about what it was all about, and that was defending the country. Veitnam did soften the military a bit as with the introduction of Selective service instead of a draft notice, and the introduction, or should we say the reintroduction of the G.I. bill to where you can finish your education in the military which is a good thing, but remember the commitment you made when you signed on the first and utmost thing is the defense of your country. This is a rather good movie, and it was done up reverently as far as I'm concerned. I wouldn't know as I know I'm too chicken to sign up for military duty, and I don't think I would last. I'm too old now anyway. The cut off is 35. I would recommend this to anyone who was thinking of joining the Marines.

"You Improvise, You Adapt, You Overcome, You're Marines"

This may not rate as one of Clint's all-time greats, but it still has enough going on to make most Clint Eastwood fans very happy. For me it was a good mix of themes of redemption, reconciliation, coming to terms with retirement, old ways vs. new, duty and perseverance mixed with generous helpings of comedy and classic Clint one-liners.

Coming towards the end of his career as a Marine, Tom Highway finds himself taking on the task of whipping into shape a rather hilariously pathetic collection of new Marine recruits. After numerous attempts to drive him off initially, he perseveres and gets them to a point where they can handle themselves in the Grenada invasion that serves as the movies' backdrop.


Tom also finds himself trying to reconcile and revive the relationship his ex-wife (Marsha Mason), and also trying to come to terms with a military full of young know-it-alls who have no concept of real-world experience (prompting the line "Does his mother know he's out running around playing Army?").


Some of the best comic moments are found in Highway's interactions with "Stitch" Jones (Mario Van Peoples), especially where "Stitch" gets his comeuppance after hustling Highway out of a meal and then leaving him stranded (havng to hitchike the rest of the way to his base).


One caution, the language in this film is pretty brutal, but if you can look past that , you do get a good solid Clint Eastwood outing here. Definitely worth having.

Standard Eastwood TBS fare

As more than a few observers have noted, USMC Recon is a creme de la creme fighting unit, on par with any ultra-selective military branch you can imagine. They simply do not accept goofballs. Tom Villard, Boyd Gaines, and Mario Van Peebles may be fitting choices for Porky's or One Crazy Summer, but certainly not a hardcore combat picture. Still, the gravest technical errors can be overlooked if brilliant storywriting or performances warrant doing so, but is either evident here? Clint deserves credit for amusing audiences as the rock-hard drill instructor, demonstrated by his "I've drank more beer, pi**ed more blood, and banged more qui** than all you numb nuts put together" tirade. His acting and directing methods, however, tend not to change much from film to film. I remember watching Heartbreak Ridge on TV and confusing its slow-moving battle footage with that of The Eiger Sanction, while having dreaded flashbacks, in the wake of the obligatory Eastwood hick-town bar scene, of Every Which Way But Loose.

Overlong comedy/drama war action with Eastwood as a tough marine...

HEARTBREAK RIDGE isn't one of Clint's best movies. The story is too disorganized and goes on for a length beyond the limits of its thin material--but fans of Eastwood will get their money's worth. Even without a role that has him in the saddle, he's the toughest, gutsiest hombre who ever took some recruits and got them ready for battle. And the script gives him plenty of one-liners which he delivers with that confident "Dirty Harry" style whether he's addressing his men or his superiors. My favorite line: "With all due respect sir, you're beginning to bore the hell out of me!"Everett McGill is the marine Major who gets the short end of the stick from Clint. Marsha Mason has a totally irrelevant role as the romantic interest, Clint's ex-wife. They battle endlessly and hers is a role that could have been eliminated without doing any harm to the storyline. Mario Van Peebles has fun with his role as a cocky, guitar-strumming singing marine. Eileen Heckart and Bo Svenson are wasted in thankless roles.Summing up: much ado about nothing--but Clint is fascinating with his one-liners.

"Shut your mouth, Hippie!"

An excellent movie, Heartbreak Ridge, brings to the screen the story of a down-on-his-luck sergeant in the U.S. Marines who is given another chance/shot at what he loves the most: his job, his woman, and his men.

Clint Eastwood and the rest of the cast have truly outdone themselves with their performances, which are outstanding to say the least! All the actors, without exceptions, give it their 100% and it really shows (the chemistry is AMAZING)! Very well written and very well presented, it allows for a highly entertaining movie that can be watched over and over again!

The setting, the plot, the dialogues, and the humor, are all wonderful!
In short, Heartbreak Ridge is a movie definitely worth watching and one to seriously consider adding to your movie collection (if you haven't done so already)!

Eastwood's best character

Unfortunately, not his best film to go along with the tailor made Gunny Highway persona. Clint is in rare form and the one liners are hilarious. Well worth the watch even as irritating as Mario Van Peebles and Marsha Mason are as Eastwood's undisciplined anti-Marine and his completely used up trailer trash ex-wife. But maybe that's what they were going for? A sequel would have been fun without all these silly distractions. 3 shell casings.

Yeah, I like this one

The review listed dismisses Heartbreak Ridge as a forgettable and even avoidable "war movie." Hmm, interesting. I own this movie on VHS and it is one of my favorite movies. I have seen it at least 10 times, and I am pretty sure it is not a war movie, but an outright comedy!!! No wonder the other reviewer was disappointed, he was looking for something it is pretty much not there. I get a good hearty laugh every time I watch it. Caution, you will miss many of the jokes if you see the movie on network TV, as many of said jokes are somewhat raunchy and are censored. Mario Van Peebles is hilarious in this movie, only outdone by Major Powers (Eastwood) with his dry humor. I emphatically recommend this movie, as a comedy.

Heartbreak Ridge

Easily one of my favorite films of all time. From the intro's black and white scenes of the Korean conflict with Don Gibson's "Sea of a Heartbreak" playing, with a dubbed in banjo, in the background to the fade to color present with a battle scared Clint in the drunk tank telling war stories and backing it up with action to prove his point in front of a captive audience. This is a great action and scene packed film. Meant to be taken as tongue in cheek. I look at it as what it might be like if Clint Eastwood did standup comedy. I probably watch this movie 3 times a year. No it's not high art as other reviewers have stated; but who cares. It's a good story, an honest story with some peripheral basis in fact and a lot of patriotism. The story exploits ideals and emotions that most folks over 50 can probably identify with throughout the movie. My 11-year-old son loves the movie. " This is an AK47 assault rifle, the preferred weapon of your enemy and makes a distinct sound when fired at you." This is entertainment at its best.

Horrible military movie

I am an active duty Marine and when I saw this movie I just couldn't believe all the corny stuff they had put into it, it made the movie completely unbelievable, boring and a waste of 130 minutes. The only good thing to come out of this movie are a few key one-liners, and even those are mildly humorous at best. I was embarrassed to watch this movie, for myself and Clint Eastwood, who I consider a great actor. The only highlight to this slow-paced, boring movie is the last 30 minutes when they are actually in combat, but the bad acting combined with the poor direction kill any sense of satisfaction from sitting on your couch for 2 plus hour staring at your TV. If you must see it, rent it on dollar movie night, because if you spend any more, you will definitely be disappointed. I now know why it has taken me almost 20 years to watch this movie, now if I could only go back in time...

Eastwood can be that bad ?!

Gosh i wasn't expecting such a bad film from Eastwood! I have not liked all the movies I saw from him (I found Space cowboys very bad for example) nor really loved any to be honest, but I wan't aware that he made such a crap film! Heartbreak Ridge is one of the most clichéd film I've ever seen.Its directing and editing are very weak, its cinematography is generally quite poor (apart from some Sergio Leone look-alike shots like this beautiful close-up on Eastwood's eyes), and its acting... well I have to admit that I unfortunately saw this film on French TV and it was badly dubbed (dubbing is already something I generally can't stand but it's even worse when it's that badly made!). So I couldn't judge the "voice-acting" but just the "body-acting", and I found it generally either over-acted or under-acted. Some sequences are just awfully static. I also couldn't judge the dialogues but I suppose the dubbing generally kept the main aspect of them so I suppose I would have hated the original dialogues too!As for the subject of this film, it's kind of silly: army and war are shown like games. There's nothing serious enough nor funny enough to allow us to think that it could have been a kind of critic of army/wars. So it sounds like a clichéd stupid patriotic speech, without any real touch of humanity and reflection on consequences of conflicts etc. A useless movie, really...

An awesome movie for true Clint Eastwood fans!

Let me start off with a plea. PUT THIS ON DVD! PLEASE! Eastwood fans will buy it!

As another reviewer said, this is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. It's classic Clint Eastwood type of humor: dry, sarcastic, straight-faced, etc.

The language is pretty bad and does not add anything to this movie except for the fact that maybe dirty language is pretty common with those in the military in general and, therefore, the movie is a more realistic.

Clint has so many one-liners that are hilarious that you can watch this movie many times, especially if you are a true Clint Eastwood fan. I know I've seen this probably 25-30 times, if not more.

Except for the language, this is HIGHLY recommended for Eastwood fans!

comment to user

User djecatepec stated "I mean, give me a break, Korea and Vietnam went on for years and killed millions!" Gee, I don't know where you got your history lesson from, but the total casualties from both the Korean & Vietnam wars was less than 100,000 Americans, not the MILLIONS you exaggerate it to be... unless of course, the U.S. killed 900,000 Koreans & Vietnamese! You guys just love to inflate figures (like the way the Democratic Presidential candidates love to inflate the Iraq war figures). But, what do we expect from liberals; they love to be very liberal with their figures and stats....

Misleading

After 13 months in Korea at the time, I was about ready to come home while Heartbreak Ridge was being fought. In the first place the battle of Heartbreak Ridge was mainly fought by the 2nd Infantry Division. Secondly, the major units of the Grenada Operation was the 82nd Airborne Division, and the 2nd Rangers of the US Army. The movie pretty well is factually incorrect in that the only participants in the Grenada Operation seemed to be Marines. Usually when you see something in regards to the Korean War (the forgotten war), it would seem that the Marines were the only ones there. In fact, there was only 1 Marine Division, but many Army Divisions that fought that war. Of course Hollywood has always took liberties with the facts.

"Why don't you just sit there and bleed a while before you taste some real pain"

Classic Eastwood and great fun from mid-'80s as produced and directed by the fine man himself. I have to say this is an ideal role for Clint, like Dirty Harry Callahan in the army. I truly love his exaggerated macho-characters because they're so amusing and provide so much fun for a Clint-fan like myself. In here he's a real monster: unpitying, blunt, tough and almost sadistic but like most of Eastwood's characters he isn't all that cold, even Sergeant Tom Highway has his sensitive side. In this case he reads women's magazines and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife.Script is filled with obscene language and lots of hilarious, legendary one-liners that kept me laughing pretty hard. Of course I understand why critics don't necessarily like "Heartbreak Ridge". We don't have to watch and wait far to find out what the flick is all about, first scene tells it all. This movie is shameless and far from being intelligent but that doesn't mean it's boring. What the hell, it entertains and finally that's what counts. Quote from the film: "You can rob me, you can starve me...and you can beat me and you can kill me. Just don't bore me."