Heartbreak Ridge (1986)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writer:

James Carabatsos (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

5 December 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | 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:

Ex Wife | Korean War | Military | Grenada | Veteran

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	Sergeant Thomas 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
Begonya Plaza	...	Private Aponte's Wife (as Begonia Plaza)
John Eames	...	Judge Zane
Thom Sharp	...	Emcee
John Gallagher	...	Emcee
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
Sgt. Maj. John H. Brewer	...	Sergeant Major in Court
Michael Maurer	...	Bouncer in Bar
Tom Ellison	...	Marine Corporal
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Russell Appling	...	Dock Marine (uncredited)
Lazaro Ramos	...	Marine (uncredited)

Directed by
Clint Eastwood

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
James Carabatsos		written by
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
David M. Horton	....	sound editor (as D. Michael Horton)
Bruce Lacey	....	sound editor
Alan Robert Murray	....	supervising sound editor
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
John Roesch	....	foley artist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Chuck Gaspar	....	special effects

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
Edward A. Ayer	....	best boy (as Ed Ayer)
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
Marc Staton	....	assistant camera
Baird Steptoe	....	assistant camera
Tom Stern	....	gaffer
Stephen St. John	....	camera operator
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
Desmond Nakano	....	composer: song "I Love You But I Ain't Stupid"
Lennie Niehaus	....	conductor

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)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1990) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Warner Bros. (1987) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner-Columbia Film (1987) (France) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (1988) (West Germany) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (video)

Other Companies

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

Also Known As:

Heartbreak Ridge (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Le maître de guerre (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
El sargento de hierro (Spain) [es]
Elitesoldaten (Denmark) [da]
Gunny (Italy) [it]
Halálhágó (Hungary) [hu]
Heartbreak Ridge (Finland) [fi]
O Destemido Senhor da Guerra (Brazil) [pt]
O Sargento de Ferro (Portugal) [pt]
O stratiotis (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

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 | 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: 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.

Quotes:

Maj. Malcolm A. Powers: [after Profile fell down, Highway speaks to him, then Profile runs off] What did you say to him?
Highway: I said "Don't give the prick the satisfaction," sir!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Transformers (2007)

Soundtrack:

How Much I Care

Impressive

Clint Eastwood stars, directs and produces this very fine tale of a hardened US Marine who takes charge of a group of misfit recruits. He has to show these men how to be marines, while at the same time fighting against his superior officers, his new platoon and his feelings for his ex-wife.

Heartbreak Ridge is a very gritty and realistic feeling movie, Eastwood delivers a typically brilliant performance, and his direction is very compelling. The whole cast lends great support, but Eastwood undoubtedly steals most of the credit.

Packed with humorous moments, clever and interesting dialogue and plenty of easy to like characters; not to mention some pretty decent action.

8/10 A fine film