Heartbreak Ridge

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.

• Director: Clint Eastwood
• Genre:Action / Comedy / Drama / War
• Runtime:125 minutes

Cast

Clint Eastwood : Sergeant Thomas Highway
Marsha Mason : Aggie
Everett McGill : Major Malcolm A. Powers
Moses Gunn : Staff Sergeant Webster
Eileen Heckart : Little Mary Jackson

Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Highway (Eastwood) is nearing mandatory retirement from the Marine Corps. He finagles a transfer back to his old unit. On the bus trip to his new assignment, he meets fellow passenger ‘Stitch’ Jones (Van Peebles), a flashy wannabe rock musician who stiffs him for a meal at a stop and steals his bus ticket, leaving him stranded.

When Highway finally arrives at the base, more bad news awaits. His new commanding officer, Major Malcolm Powers (Everett McGill), is an Annapolis graduate who transferred over from Supply and has not had “the privilege” of combat. He sees Highway as an anachronism in the “new” Marine Corps, and assigns him to shape up the reconnaissance platoon. “Recon” is made up of undisciplined, undertrained Marines whose previous platoon sergeant had allowed them to slack off. Among his new charges, Highway finds none other than a dismayed Corporal Stitch Jones.

Highway quickly takes charge and begins forcing the men to shape up. They make a last-ditch attempt to intimidate Highway with the gigantic, heavily-muscled Swede Johanson (Peter Koch), but their plan fails miserably and they eventually begin to shape up and develop esprit de corps.

Highway repeatedly clashes with Powers and Staff Sergeant Webster (Moses Gunn) over his unorthodox training methods (such as firing a AK-47 over his men’s heads to familiarize them with the weapon’s distinctive sound); however, he is supported by his old comrade-in-arms, Sergeant Major Choozoo (Arlen Dean Snyder), and his nominal superior officer, the awkward and inexperienced Lieutenant Ring (Boyd Gaines). Powers makes it clear that he views Highway’s platoon as only a training tool for his own elite outfit. After Highway’s men learn that he had been awarded the Medal of Honor in the Korean War, they gain more respect for him and close ranks against their perceived common enemy. Read more

Watch full Heartbreak Ridge online streaming for free