MovieChat Forums > Heartbreak Ridge (1986) Discussion > should have been marketted as a comedy

should have been marketted as a comedy

posted 14 years ago by matthias-63
6 replies | jump to latest

I first heard of this movie while I was in Recruit Training 10 years ago. The other recruits went on and on about it like it was as good as Full Metal Jacket or something similar. When I graduated mcrd and went home for my 10 day leave I rented it to see what the hype was about.

Now...being fresh out of recruit training, I was full of discipline, esprit de corps, etc etc...so it was VERY difficult to take the movie seriously, especially the way they marched. There was NOTHING accurate about the portrayal of how Marines act. I could see a regular infantry unit becoming lax, and perhaps this movie occured way before my time, but a RECON unit would never degenerate to the level seen in this movie. Even to this day, I am convinced the makers of this movie had no understanding of the Marine Corps, and none of the military advisors must have been Marines either.

Yes there are movies like Delta Farce, Tropic Thunder, Stripes, Hot Sots, and others that are a spoof on the military. But the difference is that those movie did not even try to take themselves seriously. lol, Heartbreak Ridge...is a movie that should of been a comedy spoof...that went wrong by trying to pass itself off with a serious plot. *shrug* Otherwise I never knew what to make of this movie.

0.02

[–] rusoviet 14 years ago

Hey amigo are you alive? If so your commanding officer (commissioned or otherwise) did his job got it? This is a great film and if you want realism well then go out and bore someone at some gin mill in Vista or Oceanside about how you 'really' know what it's all about.

Understand I appreciate your service but this is a good film for what it is - after four years of Carter (76-80) and Ford's ineptitude (74-76) the pillorying of Nixon (68-74) and the damage of LBJ (63-68) it is what the nation liked ok?

[–] amazon423 14 years ago

When I was still teaching I was assigned to a sub assignment at a middle school. A lot of the gang bangers (14-15 years at the time)had this comment:"Send us. We'll go!" I told them if it were up to me they would go and find out what life is really about!" This was during the first Gulf War. Being in Chula Vista we had a lot of Military complete with lots of military brats some of whom caused a lot of trouble like walking out of class at specific times. The police rounded them up and herded (they walked back in front of the police cars) them back to school. They even found kids we hadn't seen in months. The upshot that settled everyone down was a meeting at each of the 18 schools in the district at the time. One thing that has always griped me is when some nitwit says he knows all about it and he has either been stateside during his hitch or was never in the military to begin with but has listened to all the war stories from his friends and relatives (the ones they would tell around someone who never went to be exact).

[–] celtfire1 14 years ago

Clint Eastwood spent his time in the Army as a lifeguard at the officers' club pool at Ft Ord in Monterey, CA. The only action he saw was tusslin' with the daughters of colonels. This film was a joke. Ever since "Platoon" good military themed films used actors who'd been schooled in basic military tactics and weapon handling skills. Clint Eastwood knew better, but he ended up making a comic book movie.

[–] SeisCinemaSeis 14 years ago

It would have been a wrong marketing strategy. Because as a comedy, it sucked big time. Thankfully Clint Eastwood stopped making these kind of nonsensical flicks long ago.

[–] DavidCrow 13 years ago

There was NOTHING accurate about the portrayal of how Marines act.

You expected something different from a bunch of (unexperienced) actors? The only folks that can truly portray Marines are ... wait for it ... actual Marines.

[–] 13 years ago

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