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

♥♥

 

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.

 

Related posts:

Clint Eastwood: The Mule (2018) - Drug-runner true story proves another fine fit for screen legend Eastwood 

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? 

Highlander (1986) - A campy and entertaining minor 1980s highlight

♥♥

 

Vivid colors and fantastic elements attract on this poster for Russell Mulcahy's Highlander

Immortal Scotsman MacLeod - the Highlander - has fought adversaries and refused himself love for centuries, but now he is tempted and hunted anew, in New York, by a vile Russian!

 

Highlander is written by Gregory Widen (Backdraft (1991)), Peter Bellwood (St. Helens (1981)) and Larry Ferguson (The Hunt for Red October (1990)) and directed by Russell Mulcahy (Derek and Clive Get the Horn (1979)).

Christopher Lambert (Subway (1985)) and Clancy Brown (The Dukes of Hazzard (1983, TV-series)) act out their ancient characters with a strange, masculine, - primitive, - stamp, a bit as if the performance was one for small children, which is a part of the film's incredibly corny, silly magic. Showy music video inspired photography, - including some shots that seem ahead of their time, - can't disguise that this is a cheap The Terminator (1984) inspired movie, which never reaches the heights of James Cameron's sci-fi action classic. Among the reasons for this is that the robot here is instead a long-haired Scotsman. Sean Connery (Playing by Heart (1998)) livens up matters in a part as a mentor, which is made funnier due to his performance. 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 19 mil. $

Box office: 12.9 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.67 times its cost)

[Highlander premiered in January (Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival, France) and runs 111 minutes. Connery was paid 1 mil. $ for his performance, which was shot in a week. Shooting took place from April - August 1985 in England, including in London, Scotland and in New York. The film opened #7 to a 2.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, its peak there, where it grossed 5.9 mil. $ (45.7 % of the total gross). Despite its huge flop status, the film gained cult status and has so far let to a franchise with 4 sequels, an animated series and an animated film. The first sequel with returning stars Lambert and Connery and director Mulcahy is Highlander II: The Quickening (1991), which was Mulcahy's return, (he directed 16 music videos between the two films.) A remake starring Henry Cavill is presently in the works. Lambert first returned in Queen: Princes of the Universe (1986, music video) and theatrically in The Sicilian (1987). Highlander is fresh at 71 % with a 6.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Highlander?

The Hitcher (1986) - Hauer is the Bad Stranger in hard-pumped debut

♥♥♥

 

A suspicious, dark figure hitchhikes on this highly ominous poster for Robert Harmon's The Hitcher

A young man driving his car through the desert towards San Diego decides to pick up a hitchhiker, against his mother's advice. - He really should have listened to his mother!

The Hitcher is written by Eric Red (Blue Steel (1990)) and directed by debuting Robert Harmon (Highwaymen (2004)).

Rutger Hauer (Il Futuro (2013)) is intense as the barbarian title character, who chases the young man around for the rest of the film. The photography (by John Seale (Mad Max: Fury Road (2015))) is cool and stylish, and the action elements and car stunts are well-made, so that one hangs onto this entertaining car horror, even though it stretches its plot elements beyond credibility sometimes.

Watch a 3-minute scene of Hauer's villainous mastery in the film here

Cost: 6-7.9 mil. $ (different accounts)

Box office: 5.8 mil. $ (North America alone)

= Uncertain but likely a big flop (projected return of 1.26-1.66 times the cost)

[The Hitcher premiered 17 January (Victoria, Texas) and runs 97 minutes. Shooting took place from February - April 1985 in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #8 to a 2.1 mil. $ first weekend in 794 theaters in North America, where it grossed 5.8 mil. $. It was released in many other markets, but the gross details are regrettably not available. If figuring on a 10 mil. $ final gross, the film would rank as a big flop with a cost return of 1.26-1.66, depending on the budget size. Roger Ebert gave the film a 0/4 star review, translating to 3 notches under this one. A 2002 sequel and a 2007 same-titled remake followed. Harmon returned with Eyes of an Angel (1991). Hauer returned in Wanted: Dead or Alive (1986). The Hitcher is fresh at 62 % with a 6/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Hitcher?

Heartburn (1986) - Ephron's first-rate script attains greatness with Streep, Nicholson and Nichols

♥♥♥♥♥

 

Two absolute A-list stars get pushed to sell Mike Nichols' Heartburn on this simple poster

Two mature career people, who have both already been married once, risk fate, get married and have children.

 

Heartburn is written by Nora Ephron (Silkwood (1983)), based on her own autobiographical, same-titled 1983 novel, and directed by German-born American master filmmaker Mike Nichols (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)).

There were few problems in Heartburn in my experience; the two protagonists are, to begin with, a bit much (self-involved, more accurately.) There's also an indulgent 'baby' singing scene. But Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia (2009)) and Jack Nicholson (The Missouri Breaks (1976)) are stars of a special breed, who can attract our attention in spite of this, and simply appreciate this time with them together on screen immensely.

Heartburn is also a romance dramedy film that gets better and better, and in its ending left me spellbound by Ephron's strong female-empowerment script. Nichols directs it beautifully, and Streep and Nicholson are eminent. Milos Forman (Labyrinth (1991)) and a debuting Kevin Spacey (The Life of David Gale (2003)) are also good. And I love the sympathetic portrait of the maid.

 

Related posts:

Mike Nichols: Closer (2004) - Nichols and Marber's intelligent film of love and infidelity 
Angels in America (2003, TV-miniseries) or, Dying in the 80's, of AIDS, at L-E-N-G-T-H
Biloxi Blues (1988) or, '45 Army Camp Confidential     
Catch-22 (1970) - Nichols wages war on war with ensemble cast in absurdist satire  

The Graduate (1967) - Submerge yourself in Nichols' terrific classic 

Watch a 3-minute clip from the film here

 

Cost: 15 mil. $

Box office: 52.6 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 3.50 times its cost)

[Heartburn premiered 22 July (New York) and runs 109 minutes. Ephron's novel and script is based on her second marriage, to Carl Benstein (and his affair with Margaret Jay.) Nicholson was paid 4 mil. $ for his performance. Shooting took place from July - October 1985 in New York and Virginia. The film opened #2, behind Aliens, to a 5.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#5) and grossed 25.3 mil. $ (48.1 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, translating to 3 notches under this one. Nichols returned with Biloxi Blues (1988). Streep returned in 2 video short voice performances prior to her theatrical return in Ironweed (1987); Nicholson in The Witches of Eastwick (1987). Heartburn is rotten at 43 % with a 5.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Heartburn?

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) or, Manhattan Struggles and Wonders

♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

Mia Farrow, Barbara Hershey and Dianne Wiest look very fashionable and lovely on this poster for Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters, which calls to mind a beauty magazine cover

Hannah is the center of her extended family and the coordinator for her parents and two sisters: One of them is a recovered alcoholic, who ventures on an affair with Hannah's husband; the other is a flighty creative with poor self-confidence.

 

Hannah and Her Sisters is written and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker Woody Allen (What's Up, Tiger Lilly? (1966)), whose 15th feature it is.

Allen hits the bull's eye with this moving romance dramedy, served with intertitles that give the entire ordered story a vivid, intelligent distance. The film has strong characters and amazing performances: Mia Farrow (Guns at Batasi (1964)) towers with assuredness and irony in what is likely a role that she later looked back upon with some anguish, (as her partner at the time, Allen used their personal life in the script and would later leave her for Farrow's Korean-adopted daughter.) Also fantastic in Hannah and Her Sisters are Barbara Hershey (Frogs for Snakes (1998)), Michael Caine (The Quiet American (2002)), Dianne Wiest (Rabbit Hole (2010)); Max von Sydow (Judge Dredd (1995)) is grand - and Allen himself, of course.

How does the film transcend many of Allen's other great films? In a classical way, you may say, through a simple case of raised stakes: There's really something at stake in the several strong scenes here. Allen shows great curiosity, interest in and knowledge of life, religion and first and foremost love, - the capricious and the flighty kind in particular, - while he himself is divinely funny yet again.

 

Related posts:
 
Woody Allen: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess

Café Society (2016) - The greatest living American filmmaker hands us another splendid gem

Irrational Man (2015) - Allen's pleasant morality tale divertisement

2014 in films - according to Film Excess

Magic in the Moonlight (2014) - Allen's irresistible French Riviera romance

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Blue Jasmine (2013) - Allen presenets Blanchett, a woman under the influence

Fading Gigolo (2013) - Turturro's pleasant turn as a high-end NY prostitute  (as actor)

To Rome with Love (2012) - Woody Allen's slightest film to date  

2011 in films - according to Film Excess

Midnight in Paris (2011) - Allen's zany (and a little depressing) crowd-pleaser  

Cassandra's Dream (2007) - Allen's well-laid but inconsequentiel English cul-de-sac  

Match Point (2005) - Allen takes London with pensive thriller hit 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Anything Else (2003) - Perfect contemporary relationship comedy 

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) - Allen's hypnotic, noirish shenanigans 
Celebrity (1998) or, Stars in New York
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) - Sin and guilt up for laughs and rumination in unspectacular Allen work 
Broadyway Danny Rose (1984) or, Keep Your Heart   

Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Annie Hall (1977) or, My Relationship with Alvie Singer   

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972) - Allen's curious sex comedy is a riot
Bananas (1971) - Woody Allen's South American misadventure is still a barrel of laughs   
Casino Royale (1967) - The packed spy spoof frontrunner, a film very much of its time (as actor)   

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 6.4 mil. $

Box office: 40 mil. $ (North America alone)

= Uncertain, but at least a huge hit (returned 6.25 times its cost domestically alone) and more likely a mega-hit (projected return of at least 8.59 times its cost)

[Hannah and Her Sisters premiered 25 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 106 minutes. Inspirations for the film include Ingmar Bergman's Fanny and Alexander (1982) and Luchino Visconti's Rocco and His Brothers (1960) as well as Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina (1878). Farrow criticized the script to Allen, calling it "self-indulgent and dissolute" and felt that it "was wordy but it said nothing". Shooting took place from October 1984 - ? in Italy, New York and California, including in Los Angeles. Many of Hannah's scenes were shot in Farrow's actual New York apartment. Farrow later elaborated on her and her mother's reaction to Allen's script; he "had taken the ordinary stuff of our lives and lifted it into art. We were honored and outraged." The film opened #10 to a 1.2 mil. $ first weekend in 54 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #5, behind new releases Pretty in Pink and House and holdover hits Down and Out in Beverly Hills and The Color Purple, and in 761 theaters (different weekends), grossing 35.3 mil. $ on its original release in North America, which was boosted with a re-release the following year by impressive 4.6 mil. $. Regrettably the foreign numbers are not made public. A very conservative world gross of 55 mil. $ (the real number may well be 65 mil. $ or beyond) would result in a return ratio of at least 8.59 and elevate the film's status to that of a mega-hit. It was nominated for 7 Oscars, winning 3: For Best Supporting Actor (Caine), Supporting Actress (Wiest) and Original Screenplay. It lost Best Art Direction/Set Decoration to A Room with a View, Director to Oliver Stone for Platoon, Editing to Platoon, which also took Best Picture. It also won 2/8 BAFTA nominations, was nominated for a César award, won 1/2 David di Donatello awards, 1/5 Golden Globe nominations, 3 National Board of Review awards and many other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/ 4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Allen returned with Radio Days (1987). Farrow returned in Radio Days; Hershey in Hoosiers (1986); and Wiest in Radio Days. Hannah and Her Sisters is certified fresh at 91 % with an 8.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Hannah and Her Sisters?

Howard the Duck (1986) - Legendary flop is more duck than turkey

♥♥♥

 

The duck called Howard is lounged with a Rolling Stones magazine on this colorful poster for Willard Huyck's Howard the Duck

From Duckworld lands Howard the Duck on earth, where he gets a girlfriend from a rock band and tries to get back home. - But a dark emperor stands in his way!

Howard the Duck is written by co-writer/producer Gloria Katz (American Graffiti (1973)) and co-writer/director Willard Huyck (French Postcards (1979)), based on the Marvel Comics character created by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik in 1973.

It is a really strange and childish vision, which has become an incredibly thorough but completely demographic-less explosion of color with groundbreaking visual effects, a rad villain (Jeffrey Jones' (Valmont (1989)) character becomes Dark Overlord of the Universe) and monster. There's also an impressive ultralight flight chase sequence and many fine, bizarre moments, even if the duck-related humor is likely to cause a mild headache. Howard the Duck is a unique film to be sure.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 37 mil. $

Box office: 37.9 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 1.02 times its cost)

[Howard the Duck was released 1 August (North America) and runs 111 minutes. Executive producer George Lucas was reportedly the one who drew attention to Marvel's duck character and suggested to make the film as a live-action rather than an animation. Shooting took place from November 1985 - March 1986 in California, including in San Francisco. The film opened #3, behind holdover hit Aliens and fellow new release Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, to a 5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 16.2 mil. $ (42.7 % of the total gross). Universal production chief Frank Price was reportedly fired over the film's disastrous flop; and Lucas had to sell his company's CGI animation arm to Apple Computer's Steve Jobs, - the company which later became Pixar Animation Studios. The film made in excess of 1 mil. $ on its 2011 DVD release. Huyck never directed again but did write a few screenplays, mostly for TV movies. Lea Thompson (Thin Ice (2011)) returned in Some Kind of Wonderful (1987); Tim Robbins (Dark Waters (2019)) in Saturday Night Live (1986, TV-series) and theatrically in Five Corners (1987); and Jones in The Pest (1997). Howard the Duck is rotten at 13 % with a 3.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Howard the Duck?

The Golden Child (1986) - Get silly with this!

♥♥♥

With its star in a shiny black jacket and drenched in 1980s colors, this delightful poster for Michael Ritchie's The Golden Child also teases the film's fantastic dual California-Nepal settings

Chandler Jarrell is a social worker in Los Angeles, when he becomes the Chosen One, who is to rescue a divine Tibetan boy child from an evil rat monster-demonic man with the help of a good-looking local woman.

The Golden Child is written by Dennis Feldman (Just One of the Guys (1985)) and directed by Michael Ritchie (Downhill Racer (1969)). Eddie Murphy (48 Hrs. (1982)) is the 'Chosen One', and Charles Dance (The Great Fire (2014, miniseries)) is the rat monster villain, who also naturally has a British accent.
Everything in The Golden Child is as super silly as this summary makes it sound like, and I fall hard for it. It seems like it has about a million drum solos awkwardly wedged into its soundtrack, and The Golden Child is a 1980s film that has 1980s kitsch quality going through the roof.
Murphy is intermittently funny, although it seems involuntarily so in this unusual mix of fantasy, action, adventure, comedy and romance. The effects are funny, and the film's detour to Nepal is handsome and thrilling as another unusual feature in a big mainstream Hollywood comedy. Some may argue that The Golden Child is so bad that it's good, and there's definitely something to be said for that argument.

Watch clips of a body double walking around wit his back to the camera in real Kathmandu, Nepal and Murphy on a Nepalese backlot set in LA in a 5-minute clip from the film here

Cost: 25 mil. $
Box office: 79.8 mil.$ (North America only)
= Uncertain - but certainly a big hit (returned 3.19 times its cost domestically alone and reportedly more than 4 times its cost worldwide)
[The Golden Child was released 12 December (North America) and runs 94 minutes. Feldman's spec script was bought by Paramount in a bidding war for 300k $. Shooting took place in Nepal, including Kathmandu, and California, including Los Angeles, from February 1986 - ?. The Golden Child is played by a 7 year-old girl actress. Composers Alan Silvestri and John Barry walked away from the film, with Michel Colombier's synth-pop score instead being made for the film. It opened #1 to an 11.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed in #1 for another 4 straight weeks and spent another 2 weeks in top 5, grossing 79.8 mil. $. Its international total is not known, only that it is above 100 mil. $. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Murphy called the film "a piece of shit" in a 1989 Rolling Stone interview and reportedly involved himself in the writing of the screenplays for his starring movies after it. Ritchie returned with The Couch Trip (1988). Murphy returned in Beverly Hills Cop II (1987). The Golden Child is rotten at 26 % with a 3.89/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Golden Child?