Heartbreak Ridge (1986)

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writer:

James Carabatsos (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

5 December 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Drama | War

Tagline:

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.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Marine | Gunnery Sergeant | Military | Combat | Grenada

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins

US TV Schedule:

Thur. June 7	8:00 PM	AMC
Thur. June 7	11:00 PM	AMC

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	Gunnery Sgt. Tom 'Gunny' Highway
Marsha Mason	...	Aggie
Everett McGill	...	Major Malcolm A. Powers
Moses Gunn	...	Staff Sergeant Webster
Eileen Heckart	...	Little Mary Jackson
Bo Svenson	...	Roy Jennings, Palace Bar Owner
Boyd Gaines	...	Lieutenant M.R. Ring
Mario Van Peebles	...	Corporal 'Stitch' Jones
Arlen Dean Snyder	...	Sergeant Major Choozoo
Vincent Irizarry	...	Fragetti
Ramón Franco	...	Private Aponte (as Ramon Franco)
Tom Villard	...	Profile
Mike Gomez	...	Private Quinones
Rodney Hill	...	Private Collins
Peter Koch	...	'Swede' Johanson
Richard Venture	...	Colonel Meyers
Peter Jason	...	Major G.F. Devin
J.C. Quinn	...	Quartermaster Sergeant
Begoña Plaza	...	Private Aponte's Wife
John Eames	...	Judge Zane
Thom Sharp	...	Emcee
John Gallagher	...	Emcee (as Jack Gallagher)
John Hostetter	...	Officer Reese
Holly Shelton-Foy	...	Sarita Dwayne
Nicholas Worth	...	Jail Binger
Timothy Fall	...	Kid in Jail
Jon Pennell	...	Jail Crier
Trish Garland	...	Female Marine Officer
Dutch Mann	...	Bar Tough Guy
Darwyn Swalve	...	Bar Tough Guy
Christopher Michael	...	Marine (as Christopher Lee Michael)
Alex M. Bello	...	Marine
Steve Halsey	...	Bus Driver
John Sasse	...	Bus Driver
Rebecca Perle	...	Student in Shower
Annie O'Donnell	...	Telephone Operator
Elizabeth Ruscio	...	Waitress
Lloyd Nelson	...	Deputy
John H. Brewer	...	Sergeant Major in Court (as Sgt. Maj. John H. Brewer)
Michael Maurer	...	Bouncer in Bar
Tom Ellison	...	Marine Corporal
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Russell Appling	...	Dock Marine (uncredited)
Lazaro Ramos	...	Marine (uncredited)
Tom Willett	...	Bus Passenger (uncredited)

Directed by
Clint Eastwood

Writing credits
James Carabatsos		(written by)
Dennis Hackin		uncredited
Joseph Stinson		uncredited

Produced by
Clint Eastwood	....	producer
Fritz Manes	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Lennie Niehaus

Cinematography by
Jack N. Green

Film Editing by
Joel Cox

Production Design by
Edward C. Carfagno		(as Edward Carfagno)

Set Decoration by
Robert R. Benton

Makeup Department
Kathryn Blondell	....	hair stylist (as Kathy Blondell)
E. Thomas Case	....	makeup artist (as Tom Case)

Production Management
Fritz Manes	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
L. Dean Jones Jr.	....	second assistant director
Michael Looney	....	second assistant director
Paul Moen	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Edward Aiona	....	property master
William J. Foley	....	lead man (as Bill Foley)
Kelly Hudson	....	stand-by painter
Michael Muscarella	....	construction coordinator
Robert E. Sessa	....	set designer (as Robert Sessa)

Sound Department
Rick Alexander	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Dick Alexander)
Neil Burrow	....	sound editor
Scott Burrow	....	sound editor
Teri E. Dorman	....	sound editor
Jay Engel	....	adr editor
Les Fresholtz	....	sound re-recording mixer
Joseph Geisinger	....	cable person
Dee Dee Goetz	....	assistant sound editor
Ron Harris	....	adr mixer
Robert G. Henderson	....	supervising sound editor (as Robert Henderson)
David M. Horton	....	sound editor (as D. Michael Horton)
Bruce Lacey	....	sound editor
Alan Robert Murray	....	supervising sound editor (as Alan Murray)
Bill Nelson	....	sound mixer (as William Nelson)
Richard Oswald	....	sound editor
Vern Poore	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jules Strasser	....	boom operator
Brooke H. Ward	....	assistant sound editor
Greg Orloff	....	foley mixer (uncredited)
John Roesch	....	foley artist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Chuck Gaspar	....	special effects
Jeffrey A. Wischnack	....	special effects technician (uncredited)

Stunts
Buddy Van Horn	....	stunt coordinator (as Wayne Van Horn)
Tom Ellison	....	stunts (uncredited)
George Orrison	....	stunt double: Clint Eastwood (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Ed Ayer	....	best boy
Kirk Bales	....	dolly grip (as Kirk E. Bales)
Mike Chevalier	....	additional camera operator (as Michael Chevalier)
Danny Falkengren	....	second grip (as Dan Falkengren)
Buzz Feitshans IV	....	assistant camera: second unit
Bill Foley	....	camera loader
Christopher Dunn George	....	assistant camera (as Christopher George)
Jeff Gershman	....	assistant camera: second unit
Larry Hezzelwood	....	assistant camera: second unit
Cindy Kurland	....	assistant camera
Marcia Reed	....	still photographer
Douglas Ryan	....	additional camera operator (as Doug Ryan)
Charles Saldana	....	key grip
Stephen St. John	....	camera operator
Marc Staton	....	assistant camera
Baird Steptoe	....	assistant camera
Tom Stern	....	gaffer
Peter N. Green	....	camera department intern (uncredited)

Casting Department
Christopher Gorman	....	casting assistant
Phyllis Huffman	....	casting executive
Tina Real	....	extras casting: local (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Darryl M. Athons	....	wardrobe: men (as Darryl Athons)
Deborah Hopper	....	wardrobe: women (as Deborah Ann Hopper)
Glenn Wright	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Donah Bassett	....	negative cutter
Michael Cipriano	....	assistant editor
Jack Garsha	....	color timer

Music Department
Robert Fernandez	....	scoring mixer (as Bobby Fernandez)
Donald Harris	....	music editor
Lennie Niehaus	....	conductor
Tom Boyd	....	musician: oboe soloist (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Keith Dillin	....	transportation coordinator
Jack Grant	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Marco Barla	....	unit publicist
Bundy Chanock	....	set medic
Judie Hoyt	....	assistant to producer
Linda Sony Kinney	....	production secretary
Cindy Lasher	....	first aid (as Cynthia Lasher)
Michael Maurer	....	assistant to producer
Michael Maurer	....	auditor
Lloyd Nelson	....	script supervisor
Russell Appling	....	military liaison (uncredited)
Russell Appling	....	production assistant (uncredited)
James D. Dever	....	technical advisor: military (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Jay Weston Productions (in association with)
• Malpaso Company, The

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1987) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1987) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner-Columbia Film (1987) (France) (theatrical)
• Warner-Columbia Film (1987) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1988) (West Germany) (VHS)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1990) (USA) (TV)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Warner-Columbia Films (1987) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (198?) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Fazer Musiikki Oy/Fazer Video (1980s) (Finland) (VHS)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1995) (2004) (2007) (Finland) (TV)
• Nelonen (2000) (Finland) (TV)
• Warner Home Video (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (video)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1993) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes
• Pacific Title  titles
• Pacific Titles & Optical  opticals
• Tony's Food Service  catering

Also Known As:

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Australia:R | USA:R (certificate #28415) | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | South Korea:15 | Australia:M (TV rating) | Argentina:16 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1986) | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | West Germany:18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Agua Dulce, California, USA

Company:

Jay Weston Productions

Trivia:

In-Joke: During the film, Mario Van Peebles wears a T-shirt featuring a picture of the character Sweetback from Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971). Mario played Young Sweetback in the movie, which was made by Melvin Van Peebles, Mario's father.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the beginning of the film, when Highway stands to attention as the colors are being lowered at sunset, the bugle call being played is "Taps". However, the correct call is "Retreat". Taps is played later in the evening at Lights Out.

Quotes:

[toasting a fallen comrade]
Choozoo:Here's to J.J. and all the pieces of him we couldn't find.

Movie Connections:

References Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971)

Soundtrack:

Bionic Marine

"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."