Wonderful character development!

Better than most people think

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

I enjoyed watching "Heartbreak Ridge" but can also understand why the US Marines disavowed the film. Sure, it was quite jingoistic and patriotic but the language was NOT what the Marines want the public to hear...though in reality that sort of salty and politically incorrect dialog is exactly how the Marines I have known talk!The film centers around an aging and somewhat anachronistic Gunnery Sergeant, Highway (Clint Eastwood). He's pretty much a tough-as- nails stereotype of a career military man....for good and for bad. His new assignment is a group of (unrealistic) Marines who are worthless jerks. He has to whip them into shape...or see them die should they ever go into combat.The best way to describe the film is "The Sands of Iwo Jima" with a STRONG Rated-R bent. The language is often crude and offensive (especially in this politically correct era) and it is NOT a film for everyone. But it is enjoyable and well made...and Eastwood's character is one you won't soon forget.

Clint Eastwood's Heartbreak Ridge is best described as a cross between Stripes and Full Metal Jacket. Also, Heartbreak Ridge came out in a time frame in between both film's releases. Clint is great as Marine Corps. lifer Thomas Highway. The supporting cast was excellent as well with Mario Van Peebles giving his best performance ever as "The Duke Of Cool" Stitch Jones. Heartbreak Ridge is a great blend of comedy, drama and action. There is great dialogue, performances and balances genres really well. While not strictly an action movie, Heartbreak Ridge has a lot in common with the cold war era 80's action flicks that were popular in this period. Heartbreak Ridge was not exactly the recruitment poster the US Marines wanted and they withdrew their support for the project. Clint did an about face and went ahead and made the film he wanted to make. Heartbreak Ridge is an excellent film and by far my favorite Clint film to come out in the 80's.

Ain't no such thing as too much Clint Eastwood, baby. A hard-nosed, hard-living Marine gunnery sergeant clashes with his superiors and his ex-wife as he takes command of a spoiled recon platoon with a bad attitude. The real centerpiece of the film is its acting, mainly that of Eastwood. I like this type of film, as it reminds me of German movies where it's more about the characters and their environment. Great performances help to enhance this amazing story of warfare and courage. I give it a rating of 7 out of 10 because it's flawed but good. Watch for Eastwood's best performance of the 1980s in this 1986 film.

Clint Eastwood plays gunnery sergeant Tom Highway, a tough but rogue military man(and occasional alcoholic) who is often in trouble with his superiors, when he isn't getting in bar fights. He has a distinguished war record(Korea & Vietnam) that gets him some begrudging respect from his colleagues. He is given one more assignment: to train an unruly and disorganized young platoon into shape, before they are sent off into action.Eastwood is believable as the profane and ultra no-nonsense sergeant, but this film is ultimately too long and predictable to succeed, and strangely resembles "Stripes", just from the military's point of view! Still, it does contain good(if familiar) action scenes.