Heartbreak Ridge (1986)

Hard-nosed, hard-living Marine Gunnery Sergeant Tom Highway (Clint Eastwood) 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 3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Clint Eastwood	...	Gunnery Sergent Thomas Highway
Marsha Mason	...	Aggie
Everett McGill	...	Major Malcolm Powers
Moses Gunn	...	Staff Sgt. Webster
Eileen Heckart	...	Little Mary
Bo Svenson	...	Roy Jennings
Boyd Gaines	...	Lieutenant Ring
Mario Van Peebles	...	Corporal Stitch Jones
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. Thomas Highway (Clint Eastwood) 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 and conduct unbecoming. He is to train a reconnaissance platoon. His superior officer, the much younger and combat inexperienced Major Malcolm Powers (Everett McGill), sees Highway as a relic of an old-styled military. Highway's commanding officer, Lieutenant Ring (Boyd Gaines), the platoon leader, is also a younger man who...

---

Plot Keywords:

marine | military | gunnery sergeant | u.s. marine corps | uniform | 

---

Taglines:

... the scars run deep.

---

Genres:

Drama | War

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

5 December 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Heartbreak Ridge

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,100,840, 7 December 1986

Gross USA:

$42,724,017

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$42,724,017

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jay Weston Productions, The Malpaso Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The use of a credit card to place a long-distance landline fire support is based on an actual event in the Operation Urgent Fury Grenada action. A U.S. Navy S.E.A.L. rescuing the Governor General placed a calling card call to S.O.C.O.M., which brought an AC-130 gunship to bear on an A.P.C. that was firing on them.

---

Goofs

During the assault, the camouflage paint on Gunny Highway's face and other Marines rubs off and is nearly wiped clean at times, but is later in place.

---

Quotes

Lieutenant M.R. Ring: [removing a staple from a bundle of reports] Gunny, did you know that I was Platoon Leader in my ROTC class in college?
Highway: I'll sleep a lot better at night knowing that, sir.
Lieutenant M.R. Ring: Thank you.
[pokes finger with staple]
Lieutenant M.R. Ring: Ow! What school did you go to?
Highway: Heartbreak Ridge.
Lieutenant M.R. Ring: Hmmm. I've never heard of that school.

---

Crazy Credits

The opening Warner Bros. logo is black and white.

---

Alternate Versions

UK cinema and video versions were cut by 15 secs to remove some of the confrontational dialogue between Eastwood and the bald man during the opening scene in the prison cell. The cuts were restored in 2001.

---

Connections

Referenced in Transformers (2007)

---

Soundtracks

Sea of Heartbreak
Written by Hal David and Paul Hampton
Performed by Don Gibson
Guitar by Hank Garland (uncredited)
Courtesy of Hickory Records

User Reviews

Good movie, who cares if its not 100% realistic

I love all of the comments about how unrealistic this movie is...guys relax its a movie.

Apparently the movie industry should be putting big warnings up on the screen saying:

WARNING: The following movie may contain scenes that are not 100% realistic. If this offends you please stop watching the movie and order the documentary channel.

Think about what you are saying when you complain that this movie is not realistic... do you bitch and whine because the Matrix isn't real? Sit down, shut up and enjoy the movie for what it is... fiction.