Heartbreak Ridge (1986)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Clintus M

  
  Being a lifelong Eastwood fan, I re-visited Heartbreak Ridge after reading that it was produced after Louis Gossett Jr. won an Oscar for An Officer and a Gentleman. In my opinion, Eastwood was at least equal to Gossett's performance, but Heartbreak Ridge garnered no Oscar… More
  Being a lifelong Eastwood fan, I re-visited Heartbreak Ridge after reading that it was produced after Louis Gossett Jr. won an Oscar for An Officer and a Gentleman. In my opinion, Eastwood was at least equal to Gossett's performance, but Heartbreak Ridge garnered no Oscar attention. I wish Eastwood had made more movies like this one, something like John Wayne in Sands of Iwo Jima as a role model. Like "Iwo Jima," this is a sort-of basic training to battlefield story but with more of a back story to its protagonist. Its not a political film nor a comedy, although there many comedic moments. Mario Van Peebles adds several of them, and his pairing with Eastwood, while odd at first, works well in an opposites though strangely alike sort of way. The love story subplot is awkward, more humorous than poignant. This is Clint Eastwood, at his gravel-voiced toughest, getting relationship advice from women's magazines. I enjoyed Marsha Mason as Aggie, Gunny Highway's ex-wife and new flame. (Figure that out) Eastwood also displays his soft hearted side with compassion toward one of his troops with family issues. So, Gunny Highway , trying to re-claim his lost youth and saddled with military politics and ego cashes, succeeds in making "life takers and heart breakers" out of a bunch of cast-off misfits and reclaims American military superiority. Is Heartbreak Ridge clichéd? Absolutely, yes. Does that matter? No, it works great as an action/war movie and maybe even better as a hilarious commentary on the generation gap. Still looking for a reason to watch: I just like hearing the word "clusterfuck" as well.

• Conner R

  
  Almost like the counterpart to A Few Good Men for some reason. This showcases the hard as nails Clint Eastwood as a drill sergeant who will do anything to whip his platoon into shape. He goes out of his way to trick and create schemes in order to hurt/help his men, making for a really… More
  Almost like the counterpart to A Few Good Men for some reason. This showcases the hard as nails Clint Eastwood as a drill sergeant who will do anything to whip his platoon into shape. He goes out of his way to trick and create schemes in order to hurt/help his men, making for a really classic bit of Clint. I think it's interesting to have a movie that's not really in the war genre, but not solely about training. It's more of a multi-layered drama that doesn't get enough credit. People either get bored with the lack of killing or lack of stereotypical Clint Eastwood catch phrases, but given the chance, it's a really cool movie.

• Pierluigi P

  
  I don't give a damn about predictability when I'm having this much fun with the always badass and gravely voiced Clint kicking asses and throwing in all possible profanities.

• Anthony L

  
  Clint Eastwood has directed and stared in some of the greatest films of all time. Heartbreak Ridge is not one of them. Some of the lines are pretty good but after they've been repeated for the hundredth time they start to loose their edge somewhat. If you like terrible 80s films… More
  Clint Eastwood has directed and stared in some of the greatest films of all time. Heartbreak Ridge is not one of them. Some of the lines are pretty good but after they've been repeated for the hundredth time they start to loose their edge somewhat. If you like terrible 80s films then this one is for you but be warned, this isn't so bad it's good, it's just so bad it's bad. Bizarrely overrated!

• Al S

  
  Clint Eastwood gives one of the best performances of his career. A wickedly funny and action-packed drama. A powerful, compelling and exhilerating movie.

• Lafe F

  
  Clint Eastwood is great when he kicks some Marine's butts.

• Stuart B

  
  Clint is just awesome in this movie

• xGary X

  
  More of the dumb machismo that hallmarks Clint's worst movie moments. Hideously cliched bootcamp movie in which veteran sergeant Eastwood whips a collection of wise asses into shape and wins their respect yadda yadda yadda... You can predict every line of the script without ever… More
  More of the dumb machismo that hallmarks Clint's worst movie moments. Hideously cliched bootcamp movie in which veteran sergeant Eastwood whips a collection of wise asses into shape and wins their respect yadda yadda yadda... You can predict every line of the script without ever having to watch the film. So don't bother.

• Dean M

  
  As the gritty, raspy-voiced sergeant, Eastwood's performance is one of the richest he has ever given.

• Burger S

  
  Not realistic according to R. Lee Ermy. I enjoy most Eastwood movies anyway.

• Marcus W

  
  World-weary mentor takes on the job of sharpening a bunch of youngsters and in doing so discovers that he does have a heart, and reconciles with his ex-wife. It's definitely not the most original pitch and the film does play out exactly as you expect it will. However, should… More
  World-weary mentor takes on the job of sharpening a bunch of youngsters and in doing so discovers that he does have a heart, and reconciles with his ex-wife. It's definitely not the most original pitch and the film does play out exactly as you expect it will. However, should you find yourself channel-hopping one evening, looking for an entertaining couple of hours, and Demolition Man isn't on, then you could do a lot worse than Heartbreak Ridge.

• Lee K

  
  I like war flicks, especially war flicks with hard ass Clint Eastwood who was awesome in this. he takes command of a very bad platoon and gets them war ready. Worth a look.

• Barry L

  
  Brutal, realistic and brilliant.

• Moe E

  
  Gunny Highway is a Marine who's making a sincere attempt at building men of irresponsible boys and get in touch with his feminine side, all at the same time. In order to accomplish both he'll need to "Improvise. Adapt. Overcome."

Read all 14 featured audience ratings