''Heartbreak Ridge'' is a 1986 American war film produced and directed by

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...

, who also starred in the film. The film also co-stars Marsha Mason, Everett McGill, and Mario Van Peebles, and was released in the United States on December 5, 1986. The story centers on a U.S. Marine nearing retirement who gets a platoon of undisciplined Marines into shape and leads them during the American

invasion of Grenada The United States invasion of Grenada began at dawn on 25 October 1983. The United States and a coalition of six Caribbean nations invaded the island nation of Grenada, north of Venezuela. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fury by the U.S. military, ...

in 1983. The title comes from the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge in the Korean War, where Eastwood's character had earned the Medal of Honor.

Plot

In 1983, Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Highway finagles a transfer back to his old unit,

2nd Reconnaissance Battalion The 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion (2nd Recon) is a reconnaissance battalion in the United States Marine Corps. Located at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, the battalion falls under the command of the 2nd Marine Division and the II Ma ...

, Second Marine Division. En route, he meets fellow passenger and aspiring rock musician Corporal "Stitch" Jones, who borrows money from Highway for a meal at a rest stop and then steals his bus ticket, leaving him stranded. When Highway finally arrives, his new commanding officer, Major Malcolm Powers, seeing him as old-fashioned, assigns him to the Reconnaissance Platoon (part of his

assault battalion An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

) which by coincidence includes Jones. The platoon's previous sergeant, awaiting his retirement, had permitted their inactivity, but Highway quickly enacts a rigorous training program. Their desperate plan to intimidate him with resident

body builder Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuse ...

"Swede" Johanson, just released from the

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

, fails after Highway overpowers Swede. Their conditioning provides positive results, and they develop ''

esprit de corps Morale, also known as esprit de corps (), is the capacity of a group's members to maintain belief in an institution or goal, particularly in the face of opposition or hardship. Morale is often referenced by authority figures as a generic value ...

'' and respect for Highway. Highway repeatedly clashes with Powers and First Platoon Staff Sergeant Webster. They deplore Highway's unorthodox training methods (such as firing an AK-47 over his men's heads to familiarize them with the weapon's distinctive sound). Seeing Highway's platoon as simply a training tool for a supposedly elite First Platoon, Powers proceeds to arrange for First Platoon to beat Highway's men in every field exercise. However, Highway's old comrade-in-arms, Sergeant Major Choozhoo, and his nominal superior officer, the college-educated but inexperienced First Lieutenant Ring, support him. After learning of his Medal of Honor award during the Korean War, Highway's men gain further respect for him, becoming unified against their perceived common enemy. Highway attempts adapting his mindset to romance his ex-wife Aggie, a barmaid at a local tavern who is dating the establishment's owner Roy. He resorts to reading women's magazines to attempt to understand the female mind. Initially resenting their failed marriage, Aggie tentatively reconciles with Highway. The

22nd Marine Amphibious Unit The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (22nd MEU) is one of seven such units currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. It is a Marine Air Ground Task Force with a strength of about 2,200 personnel. They are currently based out of Ma ...

is then deployed for the

. After a last-minute briefing on the amphibious assault ship , Highway's platoon mounts their UH-1 Huey and are dropped by

helocast Helocasting is an airborne technique used by small unit, special operations forces, also practiced extensively by the US Army's light infantry units, to insert into a military area of operations. The small unit is flown, by helicopter, to a mari ...

into the water before the rest of Powers'

Battalion Landing Team A Marine expeditionary unit (MEU, pronounced as one syllable "" IPA: ) is the smallest air-ground task force (MAGTF) in the United States Fleet Marine Force.Cubans are manning a key enemy position that will have to be taken to prevent further incidents. Powers, not wanting Highway to outdo him, orders the recon platoon to advance on the position, but not to attempt any engagement or take the position until First Platoon arrives. Ring and Highway advance on the position, but come under heavy fire from 2 armored cars and infantry. The platoon hides inside an abandoned building, but when the Cubans attack, Profile is killed and his radio destroyed, impeding direct communication. Ring proposes making a long-distance call to Camp Lejeune for air support and sends Jones to repair the phone line before borrowing a credit card to complete the call, but enemy fire severs the line as he completes calling in the coordinates for an air-strike. Unsure if the call went through, Highway goes to put out a marker for the air support to locate the position but is fired upon and knocked unconscious. Assuming Highway is dead, the platoon exits the building to engage the Cubans, but then the air support arrives and repels the enemy. Ring and a revived Highway then disregard Powers' order, advance upon and take the position, and capture and detain the Cuban soldiers. Major Powers arrives with Webster, reprimands Ring and threatens Highway with a

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

. However, the commanding officer of the regiment to which Powers' battalion belongs, Colonel Meyers (a combat veteran who had served in the same battalion as Highway in the Vietnam War), arrives by helicopter and after listening to Powers' and Highway's reports, commends Highway and punishes Powers with transfer back to his former support unit for discouraging the Recon Marines' aggressive fighting spirit. Highway and his men are warmly received upon returning to the States. Jones informs Highway that he is going to re-enlist and make a career in the Corps, while Highway confides to Jones he is taking mandatory retirement.

Cast

as Gunnery Sergeant Tom Highway * Marsha Mason as Aggie Highway * Everett McGill as

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Malcolm A. Powers * Moses Gunn as

Staff Sergeant Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administrative, supervi ...

Luke Webster * Eileen Heckart as Mary Jackson * Mark Mattingly as Franco "One Ball" Peterson *

Bo Svenson Bo Svenson (born Bo Ragnar Svensson; 13 February 1941) is a Swedish-American actor, film director, film producer, published author and award winning screenwriter, known for his roles in American genre films of the 1970s and 1980s. He has appea ...

as Roy Jennings *

Boyd Gaines Boyd Payne Gaines (born May 11, 1953) is an American actor. During his career, he has won four Tony Awards and three Drama Desk Awards. Gaines is best known for playing Mark Royer on '' One Day at a Time'' (1981-1984). Early life and education H ...

as First Lieutenant M.R. Ring * Mario Van Peebles as Corporal "Stitch" Jones * Arlen Dean Snyder as Sergeant Major J. Choozhoo * Vincent Irizarry as Lance Corporal Fragetti * Ramón Franco as Lance Corporal Aponte (as Ramon Franco) * Tom Villard as Corporal Profile *

Mike Gomez Mike Gomez (born April 18, 1951) is an American actor. Best known for his performances in such cult classics as ''The Big Lebowski'' and '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Gomez has costarred in numerous films including ''Heartbreak Ridge'' ...

as Corporal Quinones * Rodney Hill as Corporal Collins * Peter Koch as

Private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

"Swede" Johanson * Richard Venture as

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Meyers * Peter Jason as

Devin * John Hostetter as Officer Reese * Nicholas Worth as Jail Binger * J. C. Quinn as the supply Sergeant

Production

Screenwriter James Carabatsos, a Vietnam veteran of the 1st Cavalry Division, was inspired by an account of American paratroopers of the

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

using a pay telephone and a credit card to call in fire support during the invasion of Grenada, and fashioned a script of a Korean War veteran career Army

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

passing on his values to a new generation of soldiers. Eastwood was interested in the script and asked his producer, Fritz Manes, to contact the US Army with a view of filming the movie at

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...

. However, the Army read the script and refused to participate, due to Highway being portrayed as a hard drinker, divorced from his wife, and using unapproved motivational methods to his troops, an image the Army did not want. The Army called the character a "stereotype" of World War II and Korean War attitudes that did not exist in the modern army and also did not like the obscene dialogue and lack of reference to women in the army. Eastwood pleaded his case to an Army general, contending that while the point of the film was that Highway was a throwback to a previous generation, there were values in the World War II- and Korean War-era army that were worth emulating. Eastwood approached the United States Marine Corps, which expressed some reservations about some parts of the film, but provided support. The character was then changed to a Marine. (This raised some conceptual difficulties, given that the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge primarily involved the Army. This is explained very briefly in the film when Sergeant Major Choozoo tells Stitch Jones that he and Highway were in the Army's

23rd Infantry Regiment The 23rd Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment in the United States Army. A unit with the same name was formed on 26 June 1812 and saw action in 14 battles during the War of 1812. In 1815 it was consolidated with the 6th, 16th, 22nd, and ...

at the time and "joined the Corps later"; the 23rd Regiment was at Heartbreak Ridge) The Marine Corps first cooperated with the film project by allowing much of the filming to be done at Camp Pendleton. The Marines planned to use it to promote its " Toys for Tots" campaign, but upon viewing a first cut, quickly disowned the film because of the language. Marines who viewed the film cited numerous issues with the way they were portrayed. Major Powers, the battalion's inexperienced S-3 Operations Officer, is repeatedly shown disparaging and insulting Gunny Highway, as well as showing blatant favoritism regarding "his" Marines of the First Platoon. In reality, this would not have happened, given Highway's Medal of Honor. Much of the "training" done before the Grenada invasion was highly inaccurate, including the fact that Highway's Marine Recon unit did not have a Navy corpsman to deal with his men if injured. Even on a relatively small budget, the technical advice was poor. The Defense Department originally supported the film, but withdrew its backing after seeing a preview in November 1986. Eastwood was paid $6 million for directing and starring in the film. Beginning in summer 1986, ''Heartbreak Ridge'' was filmed at Camp Talega (the location of the

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

), Chappo Flats (the location of the

parachute rigging A parachute rigger is a person who is trained or licensed to pack, maintain or repair parachutes. A rigger is required to understand fabrics, hardware, webbing, regulations, sewing, packing, and other aspects related to the building, packing, repa ...

scene) and Mainside (the

1st Marine Division The 1st Marine Division (1st MARDIV) is a Marine division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the ground combat element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF). It is the ...

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

) on California's

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by Oc ...

, the former campus of the San Diego Military Academy, SDMA Solana Beach and Puerto Rico's Vieques Island. The sequence involving the bulldozer is based on a real event during the invasion of Grenada involving Army General John Abizaid, former commander of US Central Command. The American attack on Grenada is in some respects accurate, although it was really U.S. Army Rangers that secured the University Medical School. The scene in which Lieutenant Ring must resort to using a credit card in order to communicate with his commanders was also based on real-life events involving Army paratroopers. The film was the 1000th to be released in Dolby Stereo.

Music

The film score was composed and conducted by American saxophonist

Lennie Niehaus Leonard Niehaus (June 1, 1929 – May 28, 2020) was an American alto saxophonist, composer and arranger on the West Coast jazz scene. He played with the Stan Kenton Orchestra and served as one of Kenton's primary staff arrangers. He also playe ...

, who worked on over a dozen films for Eastwood. Actor Mario Van Peebles wrote the songs "Bionic Marine" and "Recon Rap", and co-wrote "I Love You (But I Ain't Stupid)" with Desmond Nakano.

Reception

Critical response

Reaction to the film was generally positive. Among reviews,

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the '' Chicago Sun Times'', gave the film three stars and noted how the film has "as much energy and color as any action picture this year, and it contains truly amazing dialogue." Ebert also complimented director Eastwood mentioning how he "caresses the material as if he didn't know

B movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...

s have gone out of style." Paul Attanasio of '' The Washington Post'' agreed saying, "Those with an endless appetite for this sort of tough-man-tender-chicken melodrama will enjoy watching Clint go up against these young punks and outrun, outshoot, outdrink and outpunch them, in the process lending an idea of what it means to be a . . . Marine." Another ''Washington Post'' staff writer, Rita Kempley, offered a different view, commenting that it was "always fun to see misguided machismo properly channeled into service of God, country or the National Hockey League. Isn't that the trouble with combat movies these days? From ''

Top Gun ''Top Gun'' is a 1986 American action drama film directed by Tony Scott, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired by an a ...

'' to ''

First Blood ''First Blood'' (also known as ''Rambo: First Blood'') is a 1982 American action film directed by Ted Kotcheff, and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, who also stars as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. It co-stars Richard Crenna as Rambo's mentor ...

'' to Clint Eastwood's entertaining action drama ''Heartbreak Ridge'', the empty-foxhole syndrome makes for non-endings." The staff at '' Variety'' added to the encouraging reviews, saying that the film "offers another vintage Clint Eastwood performance. There are enough mumbled half-liners in this contemporary war pic to satisfy those die-hards eager to see just how he portrays the consummate marine veteran." Vincent Canby of '' The New York Times'' expressed his satisfaction with the film, writing that "Eastwood's performance is one of the richest he's ever given. It's funny, laid-back, seemingly effortless, the sort that separates actors who are run-of-the-mill from those who have earned the right to be identified as stars." In terms of negative feedback, reviewer Derek Smith of the Apollo Movie Guide wrote that there was "not enough substance to Gunny to make him interesting enough to be the central character of a film, and since the movie offers nothing new or fresh, it just feels dull and uninteresting." ''Heartbreak Ridge'' holds a 68% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 28 reviews. The site's consensus states: "With ''Heartbreak Ridge'', director Clint Eastwood gets one of his best performances out of himself, even if the story struggles to engage." On Metacritic, the film holds a weighted score of 53 out of 100 based on 16 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. Several writers have described the film as imperialist

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

glorifying the American invasion of Grenada without explaining any of the history or politics surrounding it; the only information the audience is given about the war is that the Marines are rescuing American hostages and that there are Cubans on the enemy side. In ''Vietnam Images: War And Representation'' (1989), James Aulich and Jeffrey Walsh wrote that "''Heartbreak Ridge'' dehistoricises actual political and economic conditions, omits many issues of imperialism or colonisation, and represents the Grenada events as a straightforward triumph of American manhood."

Accolades

The film won the BMI Film Music Award for Lennie Niehaus and the Image Award in the category of ''Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture'' for Mario Van Peebles. The film also received a nomination, from the Academy Awards for

Best Sound This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow List of film awards, film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awa ...

for

Les Fresholtz Lester Henry Fresholtz (December 21, 1931 – March 2021) was an American sound engineer. He won two Academy Awards for Best Sound and was nominated for ten more in the same category. He worked on more than 110 films between 1968 and 1996. He d ...

, Dick Alexander, Vern Poore and Bill Nelson.

Box office

At its widest distribution in the U.S., the film was screened at 1,647 theaters grossing $8,100,840 in its opening weekend. During that first weekend, the film opened in second place behind '' Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home''. Revenue dropped by 41% in its second week of release, earning $4,721,454. During its final weekend showing in theaters, the film grossed $1,040,729. It went on to take in a total of $42,724,017 in ticket sales during a seven-week theatrical run and a worldwide total of $121,700,000. It ranked 18th at the box office for 1986.

Home media

The film was initially released in VHS video format on 1 April 1992. The Region 1 Code widescreen edition of the film was released on DVD in the United States on 1 October 2002. The widescreen edition of the film was released on Blu-ray in the United States on 1 June 2010.''Heartbreak Ridge Widescreen Blu-ray''
Amazon.com. Retrieved 3 March 2011.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Official website

''Heartbreak Ridge''
at the Internet Movie Database
''Heartbreak Ridge''
at the Movie Review Query Engine * * * {{Clint Eastwood 1986 films 1980s war films American war films 1980s English-language films Films about the United States Marine Corps Films directed by Clint Eastwood Films produced by Clint Eastwood Films scored by Lennie Niehaus Films set in Grenada Films set in 1983 Malpaso Productions films Warner Bros. films 1980s American films