Rating: 
Summary: Gomer Pyle was a more realistic Marine
Review: This movies starts off on the wrong foot and never recovers. The plot of the movie...which SHOULD have been pretty easy to have written, given that it was supposed to be based on the Grenada invasion...assumes that we really care about a bunch of smart-mouthed recruits and an arrogant platoon leader's love life. To call this a "military" or "war" movie is really stretching it. Only at the hour and thirty-five minute mark does the movie take a turn toward some type of military action. But even that "action" has the feel of a movie filmed in someone's backyard. All around, one of the worst...if not the worst...military movies ever released, and an insult to those who were involved in Grenada and to all those who ever donned the Marine uniform. Given that this film was released only three years after the Grenada invasion, you'd think it would have still been fresh enough to produce an interesting and accurate movie. This certainly is neither. The transfer...if you just MUST have this dog of a movie...is fine. Too bad some better movies don't have as good a picture. But my recommendation is to not bother....catch a "Gomer Pyle" rerun instead. At least THAT'S entertaining.
Rating: 
Summary: Good comedic take on life in the military
Review: Unlike one review from a critic in Canada (the credit card phone call for a air strike is based loosely on an actual event during the invasion of Grenada), I enjoyed this movie. Eastwood's character (Gunny Highway) is a gruff, old school Marine who instills proper military discipline and training on a group of young troops. And of course leads them into combat and victory at the end of the film. Nice banter between the actors, good acting by Eastwood and the rest of the cast, and a straight forward plot makes this movie well worth the asking price. Semper Fi!
Rating:
Summary: This movie is HORRIBLE
Review: I'm not sure what has possessed the majority of reviewers here to laud this movie as if it were a classic. Plain and simple, it is a horrible movie. The plot is awkward, the characters flat and unconvincing, and the dialogue for the most part nausiatingly lame. An example of how bad this movie is comes near the end: althought ordered not to, the squad charges up the hill and comes under fire. The men run into a nearby building under heavy fire, yet none are hit; now pinned down down, the building takes a few hits from an armored vehicle, which results in the death of one of the soldiers; the Lt. becomes suddenly morose and guilt-ridden for having led them into this mess and getting one of his men killed; along comes Eastwood and tells him to snap out of it, and the Lt. literally says "Ok, hey I know how to get us some help" and holds up a phone (I mean, here we could have had a nice dramatic moment, but instead...); as the phone is dead, Eastwood orders a man up on the roof to find out where the line is cut; they soldier gets up there and despite a hail of bullets miraculously manages to find the problem, and begins to fix it, but how exactly it's fixed isn't clear, because the scene cuts back to inside the building; he comes running up saying that the problem is fixed, so they make a call to their HOME BASE IN THE USA to order in an air strike (I mean, come on!); now Eastwood runs out to mark their position, but seemingly gets blown away by a shot from the armored vehicle; but just at this moment--within an unrealistically short period of time--air support arrives: two heliocopters, one of which fires two rockets, and therewith obliderates the enemy; all the men run out to see if Eastwood is alright, and sure enough he is. Why Eastwood would have had anything to do with this movie is beyond me, although I have to admit that he alone keeps the movie from being perhaps one of the worst movies ever made. This is by far NOT his best movie.
Rating:
Summary: heartbreak ridge
Review: this is an unbelievable movie. I can just see some of these soldiers talking to thier platoon sgt like these do or him taking the crap he does from them. A poor piece of crap that Clint Eastwood should have not participated in.
Rating: 
Summary: Clint Eastwood as John Wayne
Review: Clint Eastwood's current success with his new movie Mystic River, and the reissue of many of his older works in triple packs, caused me to return to some of his movies that I haven't watched in a long time. You should do the same. While watching this movie I suddenly realized that Eastwood was playing a 100% John Wayne role (I mean this as praise not scorn) and doing it very well. The overwhelming strength of his personality gives credible life to his role and unites the film, and is reminiscent of the final part of Unforgiven where he dominates an entire town by willpower alone. This is very much a feel-good movie, but it has plenty of subtle nuances and sub-themes as well. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: An Eastwood Keeper
Review: Yes, this film is about as formulaic as they come: a tough, no-nonsense, battle-tested sergeant turning a bunch of misfits into an effective fighting unit. On top of that, we are treated (again) to a romantic aspect of a story featuring a bitter, petulant ex-wife who still harbors emotional attachment to that no-good ex of hers. Yet HEARTBREAK RIDGE delivers an entertaining story--along with some very amusing moments--thanks mainly to Clint Eastwood as the gravel-voiced Gunnery Sergeant Tom "Gunny" Highway. Sure, Eastwood brings brawn and plenty of knuckle sandwiches to this role, but also a fragile vulnerability that makes the character more three-dimensional. Eastwood carries this film, but that's no problem: those shoulders are plenty broad. Marsha Mason as ex-wife Aggie gripes and complains at a healthy clip, while Mario Van Peebles as soldier "Stitch" Jones stands out from the rest of Gunny's dysfunctional Recon Platoon. HEARTBREAK RIDGE has action, drama, and plenty of laughs. Sounds like a winning Eastwood formula to me.
--D. Mikels
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable mostly due to Clint's solid performance
Review: Heartbreak Ridge really isn't that great a film, but it is enjoyable, and I do give it three stars, mostly because of Clint's solid performance as the veteran Marine gunnery sergeant. This is really the first role in which Clint shows his age, which has increasingly been part of his personna (notably in Unforgiven and his recent True Crime and Blood Work, where his screen character roughly approximates his own age, afflicted with the foibles of old age). Marsha Mason is very good as Clint's ex-wife, and Mario Van Peebles is fine as the young corporal who both lionizes and seeks to outfox the old sergeant. A must-see for all Eastwood fans.
Rating:
Summary: Old war horses
Review: For us old war horses watching Clint Easwood's character deal with the changing military while trying to hold onto what was best resonates deeply. Watching him try to repair the damage being a career office in the military did to him, was a disconceringly familar endeavor. Some of the dialogue is stilted and many of the platoon members are caricatures, but they all represent people we had to deal with.
Rating:
Summary: Heartbreak Ridge
Review: Easily one of my favorite films of all time. From the intro's black and white scenes of the Korean conflict with Don Gibson's "Sea of a Heartbreak" playing, with a dubbed in banjo, in the background to the fade to color present with a battle scared Clint in the drunk tank telling war stories and backing it up with action to prove his point in front of a captive audience. This is a great action and scene packed film. Meant to be taken as tongue in cheek. I look at it as what it might be like if Clint Eastwood did standup comedy. I probably watch this movie 3 times a year. No it's not high art as other reviewers have stated; but who cares. It's a good story, an honest story with some peripheral basis in fact and a lot of patriotism. The story exploits ideals and emotions that most folks over 50 can probably identify with throughout the movie. My 11-year-old son loves the movie. " This is an AK47 assault rifle, the preferred weapon of your enemy and makes a distinct sound when fired at you." This is entertainment at its best.
Rating:
Summary: Complete scuttlebutt
Review: This hap-hazard display of Marines in Force Recon is so devoid of any reality,that I cannot believe it even got as far as the script being read from beginning to end by the person who decided to finance it at the movie studio.I was in the Corps,nothing special,just an aircraft mechanic, and lived on base long enough to know that whenever an officer orders a platoon to fall in, they don't just show up standing around,wearing sunglasses,smoking cigarettes and shooting their mouths off. ANYONE in ANY branch of service could tell you that 95% of this stuff just does'nt go on.When I was on Parris Island,one of my drill instructors was in Force Recon,horseshoe buzzcut on his head,the works(Staff Sgt.Carnegie,I'll never,ever forget that man,sometimes I thought he was possessed by Satan)and let me tell you that if I,you or anyone ever found themselves in combat that it would be very advantageous to have him or any of these guys in a foxhole with you. The school that these guys go through is hard enough,much less the discipline and respect you gotta' have to make it through the Marine Corps itself.So trust me,ask any Marine if they walk around talking to their superiors with such dis-respect as these idiots do.I guarantee you that Marines who have made it (to and through Force Recon training) don't walk around like that moron Mario van Peeble's character does,wearing friggin' earrings,just showing up when he wants to,waking up when he wants to.Also,it was'nt Force Recon that rescued the students in Grenada,it was the Army Rangers dropped in on a H.A.L.O. jump among other various personell.I gave this flick 1 star for the reason that it's so far from reality,that it actually had a few funny moments (thanks to Eastwoods character).Also,I can't believe Eastwood would even direct AND star in such sillinness.In closing,I hope that anyone out there that saw this waste of celluoid does'nt assume that the Corps is like this.Maybe,just maybe they should have shot this flick in some brig somewhere because thats where these idiots would have been anyway!Theres always a few boneheads out there,but they're not all gathered up in one platoon.This flick should have been called a comedy instead of some kind of docu-drama!
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