Marine Issue

Rating: 4/10 (2 October 2013)

Heartbreak Ridge stars Clint Eastwood who also produced and directed.
Although now a two time Oscar winning Director. The difference in production values is obvious from this and the more recent Flags of our Fathers.
Heartbreak Ridge would had got the nod from Warner Brothers because it would be relatively low budget with Eastwood the highest paid star doubling as director and it shows in the production values.
The film was an oddity for its time. War films were the rage in the mid 1980s but they were introspective as they looked back at Vietnam more critically.
Eastwood plays Gunny Highway the tough, no nonsense marine sergeant who has to get his unit back in shape. He also hopes to rekindle romance with his ex wife.
Mario Van Peebles plays the cocky black guy who is irritating because that is the way he is written but was designed to attract the urban hip crowd for the time who dug Eddie Murphy films.
The film was known for its swearing at the time of its release, this would now be considered to be mild. It's rather hokey, predictable and overlong.
The marines come of age when they have to invade Grenada to rescue some hostages. The action sequences cannot come quick enough. This is a typical Eastwood film for its time where he makes an action picture for the masses but also trying to say something else but the message is still rather gung ho.
However Eastwood had plans to direct Birdy and White Hunter, Black Heart over the next few years, they were films aimed for critical acclaim.