One of Eastwoods less notable but still great performances

Rating: 7/10 (12 September 2005)

Heartbreak Ridge, set in 1983, is about a tough as nails career marines named Thomas Highway. He takes over a ragtag recon platoon, and overcomes their behavior, interference from the commanding officer (Major Powers), and his own drunkeness to form an elite platoon. ******SPOILER***** Sent to Grenada, they liberate St. George University, and take a hill, losing a few men in the process. Highway and his men cement a bond that can be only forged in combat, and at the same time he reconnects with his ex wife Aggie.
This movie is a great interpretation of the militarys state after Vietnam. Bored, low on morale, mischievous, with a mix of tough vets, cocky as hell recruits, and officers who don't know what the hell their doing. It seems like a fair movie about the marines, showing the great sense of pride that is held by being one.
Without Clint Eastwood, I would have vomited when i first saw this movie. His coarseness and blunt speech is just what people would expect from a marine drill sarge. His best line in the movie is when he first meets the platoon, grabs MArio Van peebles ear, turns to peebles, and with this eeeeeevvvil grin on his face, says "Your Ass is Mine.."
A good movie altogether, id recommend it to Eastwood fans and war movie men. Also a good movie for history buffs, as it talks about in good detail two wars, Grenada and Korea (Vietnam is mentioned, but not as thoroughly discussed as the other 2)
7 stars out of ten is the rating for me. The reason is that its Clints film, and the supporting acting isn't very good. Great action scenes, pretty historically accurate, and the vintage footage of Korea at the beginning is very cool. Go see it!