Eastwood was overshadowed by Hartman from Full Metal Jacket - Heartbreak Ridge (1986) Discussion

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

i agree

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Another thing to remember is that the two characters had different tasks.

Hartman was a Drill Instructor, charged with turning raw recruits into trained Marines. Highway was in charge of a recon platoon, which was supposed to be an elite unit. Thus, members of the platoon had already gone through some rigorous training just to be assigned to it. (I think the idea was that the men had simply gone slack through poor leadership, and his main job was to get them back to where they should be).

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] EJF 17 years ago

Also, don't forget that Lee Ermey, who played Hartman, was a real Marine DI turned actor (he was originally only supposed to be a consultant for Full Metal Jacket), while Eastwood was an actor (with no military experience, unless I'm mistaken) pretending to be a Marine.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] denverbronco86 16 years ago

You're mistaken, Eastwood was a conscript during the fifties, so he does have military experience.

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[–] actionmanrandell 11 years ago

Eastwood was in the army in the Korean war but he was a lifeguard

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[–] techbox14 16 years ago

Yeah, if you Wikipedia Eatwood it mentions he survived a plane crash at sea and swam 3 miles to shore.

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[–] osopestoso 14 years ago

Eastwood = actor

Ermey = DI

The debate is closed.

"They sucked his brains out!"

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[–] RobBase086-1 14 years ago

I thought he did a good job in the film and was very satisfied in what he did in the movie.

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[–] MrBigglesworth999 14 years ago

Correct, Eastwood fought in the Korean War.
He was effective in HR but Emery was superlative in FMJ. Both are watchably good movies but you can't better Kubrick.

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[–] actionmanrandell 11 years ago

Eastwood saw no action in the Korean war exept a plane crash in which he had to swim 3 miles(he was a lifeguard in the army)

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[–] buddyboy28 9 years ago

Eastwood fought in the Korean War

That's quite an achievement considering he never left the US during Korea.

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[–] king_cooler 8 years ago

Eastwood fought in the Korean War



Eastwood was a swimming instructor who stayed in sunny California for the entire time, romancing a commanding officer's daughter so he wouldn't go near any danger. The only "action" he saw was when he was in a plane crash that he tried to make sound more heroic than it actually was.

A plane that he hitched a lift from after leaving his quarters early ended up crashing after a malfunction, and he had to swim to shore. That was it.

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[–] m-slovak79 14 years ago

i agree with OP...

R Lee Ermey is THE $HIT as he plays those hard characters perfectly as his voice is priceless ;)

p.s. to bad that once R Lee Ermey is gone from Full Metal Jacket the film takes a hit as it's not nearly as good once he's out of the picture. (with Ermey = 8/10. without Ermey = 7/10)

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[–] pacinofan58 10 years ago

First off...the main problem with Eastwood is that he's in no way shape or form believable!
Hartman was realistic because he was real..... played by R Lee Ermey, who was actually a Marine D.I.!
Eastwood wasn't doing a Marine, he was doing Dirty Harry AS a Marine.

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[–] dannyvazmon1 9 years ago

Why the comparison? They are two completely different types of movies. FMJ was a dark, disturbing, gritty, realistic war movie, while Heartbreak Ridge was a light hearted, cliche, almost comedic Clint Eastwood movie. That's like comparing Saving Private Ryan to Stripes.

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[–] alan118552 9 years ago

Exactly Danny! Any comparison is ridiculous. However I do agree with an earlier poster as to FMJ with Ermey, after they left the island the movie was no way near as good!

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