Heartbreak Ridge (DVD)

...by and starring Clint Eastwood Heartbreak Ridge is a movie which quite literally stinks of sweat, stale beer and testosterone. Its a movie whose case sits on the shelf wreathed in cigar smoke and threatens to offer you outside were you even to look sideways at it. Indeed, the only other movies who dare sit near it are other Eastwood movies, a couple of Stallones and a few Schwarzennegers....the Van Damnes ran and hid behind Mary Poppins' dress in ...
...it to such good effect. Heartbreak Ridge is a movie which comes straight out of the file marked "Generic Military B-Movie" but one which is done with such colourful characters and raw energy that you can't help but get sucked in if you like a good tough guy movie. It sets its stall out from the opening scene which introduces us to our 'hero' Tom "Gunney" Highway...a beer swilling washed up old has-been(or never-really-was) military ... more

Oh ok ladies, you can read it, but the chances are you are not going to be the slightest bit interested in watching the movie!

Written, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood Heartbreak Ridge is a movie which quite literally stinks of sweat, stale beer and testosterone. Its a movie whose case sits on the shelf wreathed in cigar smoke and threatens to offer you outside were you even to look sideways at it. Indeed, the only other movies who dare sit near it are other Eastwood movies, a couple of Stallones and a few Schwarzennegers....the Van Damnes ran and hid behind Mary Poppins' dress in the U rated section. Sorry ladies, but its all very "grrr" in a B-movie kind of way and definitely one for the lads I'm afraid. Of course some of you like "grrr" movies, in which case sit down, crack a beer and get ready for an evening of eye-balling, stand-offs, blood, sweat, crunching bone and other general "grrrr" of the kind Clint Eastwood is rather good at.

Sometimes you just have to love a movie which takes its B-movie premise and runs with it to such good effect. Heartbreak Ridge is a movie which comes straight out of the file marked "Generic Military B-Movie" but one which is done with such colourful characters and raw energy that you can't help but get sucked in if you like a good tough guy movie. It sets its stall out from the opening scene which introduces us to our 'hero' Tom "Gunney" Highway...a beer swilling washed up old has-been(or never-really-was) military bloke in a bar...who is just about to teach a fat dude a lesson. This giant guy wants to party and we all know whats coming next, but its done with style! Eastwood calmly hands his cigar to a bystander, stands up...beats the fat guy to a pulp and sits back down to finish his cigar...what a man! All very reminiscent of the hotdog scene in Dirty Harry too I think you'll agree(since when has Hollywood ever been averse to cannibalising great scenes!). Gunney is the generic 'married to the military' kind of guy which Hollywood has introduced us to so many times before. He lost his wife through it of course, he was in Nam and she couldn't keep watching the news hoping never to hear his name, he was a hero winning the Medal of Honor, people respected him...he was the best...and now he's out of the army and a wreck of a man with old stories to tell slobs in bars and nothing else. Well of course the military want him back - they have a tough job and their veteran hero is the best man for it - Gunney naturally jumps at the chance.

He is to train a gang of misfit/trouble-making soldiers up into a fighting force good enough to carry out a rescue mission. Naturally again we have a snot-nosed battalion commander who rips into the old-school veteran and his old-school ways and the inevitable conflict here and his squad is full of the kind of colourful characters that only this kind of movie can collect together all in one place. we have wise-asses a plenty, a bright kid who wants to be a rock star and a huge swedish dude who you just know is going to get beaten to a pulp at some point by Eastwood. Gunney asserts his authority in the only way he knows how - with his fists or later in one great scene where a war of words smack down his opponent better than any flurry of fists ever could. He may be 50+ but Gunney is one tough b*stard capable of flooring men half his age and the movie is devoted to showing us this time and again.

As guys we love this!

The final pay-off is a bit weak - rescuing medical students from their captors but getting there is great stuff. Clint Eastwood is a master of this kind of thing and his persona is enough to make any cr*p premise of this kind into a movie which is at least watchable. Heartbreak Ridge is better than that though, somewhat by accident too I might add. It was shot within 8 weeks - thats the entire movie including training its cast members to look all very 'military' and this has imbued upon it a real feel of pace and energy. Naturally we aren't seeing much in the way of acting genius, or high-quality...well anything really...but in terms of raw energy you can't fault it - great stuff. The ensemble of colourful characters, wise-cracks and put-downs both verbal and physical from the ageing Gunney are enough to keep you glued to the set and whilst there isn't much in the way of real 'action' in the modern sense of the word until the closing moments(and then its all very 'A-Team') there is still plenty going on in the early 80s tough-guy vein.

You couldn't say that this would be a movie to really 'recommend' as such because its premise it pretty weak but its certainly worth checking out on television should it get an umpteenth showing. Make sure you have plenty of beer on hand when it is and be prepared to feel all very "grrr" and manly afterwards, like you suddenly sprouted 100% more chest hair, found you voice lowered an octave and have the strength of ten men. Great stuff...until your wife/girlfriend notices you're pumped and comes out with that put-down they have specially reserved for such situations to deflate an ego in seconds...
 

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