Heartbreak Ridge

(1986)

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"...the scars run deep."

Further exploring and expanding his iconic screen persona, producer-director-actor Clint Eastwood stars as Tom Highway, a Marine Corps Sgt. who drinks too much and is constantly getting in trouble. Nearing retirement age, having alienated most of his superiors, Highway asks to end his career where it began and is transferred to perform gunnery sergeant duties in his old outfit. There, the small reconnaissance platoon he is to train proves to be a group of lazy malcontents who feel that they've been duped by the slick military advertising on television. Earning the admiration of these young hotshots by besting them physically and mentally at every turn, Highway proceeds to whip them into a self-respecting fighting unit that knows how to work as a team. This newfound purpose is tested when Highway and his men are sent off to a small Caribbean island to rescue American medical students from a hostile Marxist government backed by Cuban troops.

Listen as Clint Eastwood talks candidly about this film including why he found it interesting to make.

• The US Defense Department originally supported the film, but withdrew their backing after seeing a preview in November 1986. Nevertheless, members of the Marine Corps have vouched for the film's authenticity.
• Marsha Mason, who plays Highway's estranged wife, had been due to appear alongside Clint in City Heat before she walked away from the part.
• The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Sound.
• This was the first of three films Clint made while he was Mayor of Carmel.
• There are clear resonances of the John Wayne film The Sands of Iwo Jima.
• Jack N. Green, who had worked as a camera operator for fifteen years under Bruce Surtees, was promoted to director of photography. He has been a regular ever since.

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