Heartbreak Ridge (1986)

Release date: 1986-12-05
Country: USA
Language: English|Spanish
Director: Clint Eastwood
Production Co: Jay Weston Productions, The Malpaso Company
Genre: Drama, War
Rating: 6.9/10
Length: 2h 10min

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, tough guy, camouflage uniform, military dress uniform, patriotism, machismo, war violence, male camaraderie, military, u.s. marine corps, uniform, military uniform, nco, u.s. military, punched in the face, martial arts, knife, cuban, faked death, telephone call

Short Review

The whole film seems ideologically forced and out of place, an attempt to resurrect the retentive virtues of Ford and Hawks without the cultural context that gave them expressive strength.