Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Heartbreak Ridge (1986) - Lots of deficiencies in Eastwood's weak Marine movie

3/13/2023

Heartbreak Ridge (1986) - Lots of deficiencies in Eastwood's weak Marine movie

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Bad memories of war are at play on this towering, fine poster for Clint Eastwood's Heartbreak Ridge

A highly decorated Marine sergeant, who is getting near to retirement age, wishes himself back in action, as he gets a platoon of useless young Marines as his responsibility. At the same time he works to get back his beloved ex-wife.

Heartbreak Ridge is written by James Carabatsos (Heroes (1977)), with Dennis Hackin (Wanda Nevada (1979)) and Joseph Stinson (Sudden Impact (1983)) contributing uncredited work, and produced and directed by Californian master filmmaker Clint Eastwood (Play Misty for Me (1971)), whose 14th feature it is, and who also plays the protagonist.

Eastwood is hard as a granite rock in usual name-taking alpha male manner here, unfortunately in what is in more than one way a weak film. For one his character takes lots of abuse in Heartbreak Ridge, which comes off as less than credible, and partly he also gives plenty of abuse as Sergeant Tom Highway, (lots of "faggot"'s escapes Eastwood's lips here among other low insults), and they don't do anything good for the otherwise brotherly spirit that rests in the picture.

The generally thick, vulgarity-based dialog covers a slow plot: The ex-wife string is not exactly exciting, and there is no real conflict in sight (a war for instance) for most of the film. When the sudden deployment in South-American Grenada suddenly arises, it is a strange and curt shift, wherein a few faceless enemies are shot, before a heroic welcoming home await Eastwood and the boys. The script and the actors never establish the Dirty Dozen (1967) type of tone and latitude that it seems the film should have had. Heartbreak Ridge is overlong, a good time for some (not people generally opposed to things military), but a slow serving. And its title remains unexplained.

Sully (2016) - Eastwood's miracle landing biopic is inert and overrated 2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
American Sniper (2014) - Eastwood conveys an American man and myth in electric masterpiece
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
J. Edgar (2011) - Eastwood, Black and DiCaprio's great, intense biopic

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Gran Torino (2008) - Eastwood's actor persona comes full circle in absolute smash (co-producer/director/starring actor)
The Changeling (2008) or, The Christine Collins Story

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Letters from Iwo Jima/硫黄島からの手紙 [Öjima Kara no Tegami] (2006) - The Japanese side of Eastwood's remarkable WWII two-parter
Flags of Our Fathers (2006) - Eastwood's Iwo Jima portrayal is captivating and profoundly moving

Blood Work (2002) - Eastwood churns out uninspired thriller adaptation (producer/director/starring actor)

1997 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Absolute Power (1997) - Eastwood stumbles with low-caliber thriller (director/co-producer/co-starring)

The Dead Pool (1988) - The highly entertaining last Dirty Harry movie (starring actor)
City Heat (1984) - Eastwood and Reynolds wrestle dispassionately in Benjamin's messy period affair (co-starring actor)
Tightrope (1984) - An undervalued Clint Eastwood sex killer thriller (starring actor)
Any Which Way You Can (1980) or, More Monkey Business! (starring actor)
Escape from Alcatraz (1979) - Siegel, Tuggle and Eastwood's phenomenal prison escape thriller (starring actor)
Every Which Way but Loose (1978) or, Honky Tonk Monkey Business! (starring actor)

The Gauntlet (1977) - Locke/Eastwood cast sparks in corny shoot-em-up (director/starring actor)
The Enforcer (1976) - Eastwood teaches revolutionaries a lesson in third, less punchy Dirty Harry (starring actor)
The Eiger Sanction (1975) - Eastwood's mountain climbing dud (director/star)

High Plains Drifter (1973) - Eastwood cleans up red town in great western (director/star)
The Beguiled (1971) - Intense, erotic Civil War kammerspiel thriller (starring actor)
Dirty Harry (1971) - Eastwood's great, signature renegade cop character comes to life (starring actor)
Coogan's Bluff (1968) or, Dopes and Hippies, Beat It! (starring actor)

Hang 'Em High (1968) - Post and Eastwood make spaghetti in the West (starring actor)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) - Leone ends his poncho trilogy with certified classic (starring actor)
For a Few Dollars More/Per Qualche Dollaro in Più (1965) or, Return of the Poncho Killer (co-starring actor)
A Fistful of Dollars (1964) or, Killer in a Poncho (starring actor)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 15 mil. $

Box office: 121.7 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 8.11 times its cost)

[Heartbreak Ridge was released 5 December (USA) and runs 130 minutes. The plot was changed from focusing on the army to the US Marine Corps, as the army refused to cooperate: Eventually the Marine Corps also objected to their portrayal in the film. Eastwood is listed as having gotten 6-10 mil. $ for his performance and work all around the film. Shooting took place around June 1986 in California, including in San Diego, and in Puerto Rico. The film opened #2, behind Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, to an 8.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#4-#5), grossing 42.7 mil. $ (35.1 % of the total gross). The foreign numbers are not released, but if the 121.7 mil. $ gross holds true, Eastwood's tough guy star status had impressive sway globally in '86. It was Oscar-nominated for Best Sound, lost to Platoon. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. Eastwood returned with Bird (1988); and as an actor in The Dead Pool (1988). Heartbreak Ridge is fresh at 68 % with a 6.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Heartbreak Ridge?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

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Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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3/13/2023

Heartbreak Ridge (1986) - Lots of deficiencies in Eastwood's weak Marine movie

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