Heartbreak Ridge (1986)

A hard-nosed, hard-living Marine gunnery sergeant clashes with his superiors and his ex-wife as he takes command of a spoiled recon platoon with a bad attitude.

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writer:

James Carabatsos

Stars:

Clint Eastwood, Marsha Mason, Everett McGill

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Clint Eastwood	...	Highway
Marsha Mason	...	Aggie
Everett McGill	...	Major Powers
Moses Gunn	...	Sgt. Webster
Eileen Heckart	...	Little Mary
Bo Svenson	...	Roy Jennings, Palace Bar Owner
Boyd Gaines	...	Lieutenant Ring
Mario Van Peebles	...	Stitch
Arlen Dean Snyder	...	Sergeant Major Choozoo
Vincent Irizarry	...	Fragetti
Ramón Franco	...	Aponte (as Ramon Franco)
Tom Villard	...	Profile
Mike Gomez	...	Quinones
Rodney Hill	...	Collins
Peter Koch	...	'Swede' Johanson

Storyline

1983. Tom Highway is a well-decorated career military man in the United States Marine Corps, he who has seen action in Korea and Vietnam. His current rank is Gunnery Sergeant. His experiences have led him to become an opinionated, no nonsense man, who is prone to bursts of violence, especially when he's drunk, if the situation does not suit him, regardless of the specifics or people involved. Because of these actions, he has spent his fair share of overnighters behind bars. Close to retirement, one of his last assignments, one he requested, is back at his old unit at Cherry Point, North Carolina, from where he was transferred for insubordination. He is to train a reconnaissance platoon. His superior officer, the much younger and combat inexperienced Major Malcolm Powers, sees Highway as a relic of an old styled military. Highway's commanding officer, Lieutenant Ring, the platoon leader, is also a younger man who has no combat experience, but is academically inclined and happy-go-lucky...

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Plot Keywords:

platoon | marine | combat | military | gunnery sergeant | 

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Taglines:

Clint Eastwood is Gunnery Sergeant Tom Highway, career Marine and combat veteran. He is a man whose life has been defined by war. Korea and Vietnam taught him how to survive. He won the Congressional Medal of Honor but found public apathy and military bureaucracy. He is a hard-drinking loner but he's trying to reorganize his life and understand the woman he loves. He is a traditionalist who has to shape up his ragtag troops and he'll get the job done. His integrity is unwavering. His past is Heartbreak Ridge. He is ready for another battlefield and his finest hour. It will come.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Drama | War

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

5 December 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

El guerrero solitario

Filming Locations:

Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$42,724,017 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jay Weston Productions, Malpaso Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Black and White Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The sequence involving the bulldozer is based on a real event. The officer who actually did what Eastwood portrays was John Abizaid, at the time a Captain and a Ranger Company Commander. Abizaid recently retired as the Commander In Chief of Central Command, in charge of all U.S. forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and the rest of the Middle East.

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Goofs

Midway into the film Stitch Jones is surprised to learn that Gunny Highway is a Medal of Honor recipient. Yet up to this point Jones has had ample opportunity to observe the decoration on Highway's uniform. As the nation's HIGHEST military decoration it is placed on the left breast, first and highest above all others. Equally hard for any of the recon members to miss would be the sight of Highway's superiors (like Maj Powers) being obliged to initiate the salute to the lesser ranking Highway - a privilege, by tradition, extended to MoH recipients.

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Quotes

Highway: My name's Gunnery Sergeant Highway and I've drunk more beer and banged more quiff and pissed more blood and stomped more ass that all of you numbnuts put together. Now Major Powers has put me in charge of this reconisence platoon.
Lance Corporal Fragatti: We take care of ourselves.
Highway: You couldn't take care of a wet dream. God loves you.
Collins: I know that!
Highway: You men do not impress me!
Profile: Recon platoon kicks butt.
Highway: [grabs Profile by the nose] If you ladies think that you can slip and slide just because your last sergeant was a pussy, ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

The opening Warner Bros. logo is black and white.

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Connections

References Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971)

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Soundtracks

"I Love You But I Ain't Stupid"
Lyrics by Mario Van Peebles
Music by Mario Van Peebles and Desmond Nakano
Performed by Mario Van Peebles

User Reviews

Excellent Eastwood movie

When I first started to watch Heartbreak Ridge, I expected another Clint Eastwood kicking but in some war movie. I was right, but I was wrong expecting this to be bad. Clint Eastwood is great as Tom Highway, a gunnery who must train troops and prepare for Grenada. He gives an excellent performance and he shows who his character really is and how good it is. Mario Van Peebles does really good as Stitch Jones. He shows his character well and I enjoyed it. The war part, which came mainly at the end, was cool enough. The directing was really good and all of the other actors were good.

Overall this movie is very cool and I recommend it to any Clint Eastwood fans. Rating 10 out of 10.