Heartbreak Ridge

r96sk

Feb 2, 2022

7/10

<em>'Heartbreak Ridge'</em> is a rather good war film, one I enjoyed a fair bit. Clint Eastwood, to no-one's surprise, is the best performer from the onscreen talent, though I did like the support cast - namely Mario Van Peebles, Boyd Gaines and Arlen Dean Snyder. The plot is, although obvious in where it is heading, fun and holds one's attention. The score doesn't particularly stand out but there is one part around the middle which is neat. Some of the dialogue is a little cringe, but there are some good lines in there for Mr. Eastwood to quip.

Geronimo1967

Mar 29, 2025

6/10

Given the amount of homophobic/erotic banter going on here, it might have been more memorable if Clint Eastwood had actually had a gay character save the day in this otherwise bland and forgettable version of the “I wanna be your drill instructor” movie. He’s the sergeant who is returned to active duty, much to the chagrin of his boss “Powers” (Everett McGill) who reckons he’s an old relic that ought to be put out to pasture, or better yet - put in jail. He is given a recon squadron to knock into shape, and that is obviously going to be quite a task. They care for authority and discipline even less that he does (unless he’s wielding it, of course) and with the lively “Stitch” (Mario Van Peebles) - with whom our gunny has some previous, and the mighty “Swede” amongst their ranks, they have no intention of toeing his line. Jeopardy? Don’t be daft. There isn’t an hint of the stuff as this rapidly becomes something akin to, but much less funny than, “Private Benjamin” (1980). Everyone goes mega gung-ho and it all culminates in a full scale, all out, assault on the Cuban-staffed, Soviet-armed, rebels on Grenada. Now there are a few funny scenes here - not least their hapless lieutenant (Boyd Gaines), who has no more active duty experience than I have, trying to call in a missile strike using a landline and a credit card, but the rest of this is about as formulaic as you can get. Eastwood owns it, but it’s all too derivative - there’s even an ex-wife (Martha Mason) to win back, and Oliver Stone it isn’t.