10 Questions about Heartbreak Ridge | Movies

Answer: Marines

Gunnery Sgt. Tom Highway (Clint Eastwood) is a lifer in the Marines who is nearing mandatory retirement age. He requests, and receives a transfer back to Camp Lejeune. There, he commands the Reconnaissance platoon under Maj. Powers (Everett McGill), a desk jockey who has never seen combat. The Gunny's reputation has preceded him and Maj. Powers doesn't like him before he even arrives.

Answer: Bus

Gunny is riding on the bus when he first meets Stitch Jones (Mario Van Peebles), a singer who sits beside him because it's the only empty seat. The next morning Gunny and Stitch are having breakfast at a roadside diner when the bus arrives. Gunny tells Stitch to have the driver wait while he goes to the restroom, but instead Stitch steals his bus ticket and leaves Gunny with the breakfast bill. Gunny ends up hitch-hiking and arrives at the base in a pickup truck.

Mario Van Peebles wrote and performed the songs that his character sings in the movie.

Answer: True

The Gunny is assigned to Recon platoon, with Lt. Ring (Boyd Gaines) as the platoon leader. In the words of Maj. Powers, the men of Recon platoon are less than highly motivated. Gunny arrives at the barracks to find the men playing pool, drinking beer and out of uniform. Once he makes his presence, and authority known, who walks in but his buddy, Stitch Jones.

After procuring the money for the bus ticket and the meal from Jones, Gunny makes it clear that the next morning, Recon platoon will begin acting like Marines.

Answer: Reading women's magazines

We see the Gunny reading magazines such as 'Bazaar', and 'Femme' several times. On the bus before Stitch comes aboard, he's reading one of them and puts it down when he sees a sailor looking at him oddly. He's also reading a magazine when he's parked outside of the Palace. Aggie (Marsha Mason) walks up to the truck and asks him if he's reading those magazines.

He says they're Sgt. Maj. Choozoo's. Aggie replies that Choozoo can't even read.

Answer: True

This is one of his favorite phrases (sometimes he varies the order of the words) which he applies to everything. When the platoon forms for physical training the first day, they are not all wearing the same t-shirt, so the Gunny tells them to take them off.

The next day, they are all wearing the same t-shirt, but not the same as Gunny. This prompts them to ask how they're supposed to know what shirt he's going to wear.

Answer: Jones

Gunny gets into a fight after becoming drunk, and Jones is involved in an incident at a bar. After Jones gets put into the cell, he hears the Gunny's voice in the shadows saying, "You can beat me, you can..., just don't bore me". Aggie and Choozoo (Arlen Dean Snyder) come to get Gunny out, and Jones leaves along with them.

They take Gunny to the Globe and Anchor, where he has a room. Choozoo explains to Jones how Gunny won his Congressional Medal of Honor, and Jones sees the Gunny in a new light.

He also happens to see Mary (Eileen Heckart) folding the Gunny's t-shirts. She mentions that she lays out his things, and a smile appears on Stitch's face. The next morning, the platoon are all standing proudly wearing the same t-shirt as Gunny.

Answer: Gunny Highway

Recon and 1st platoon are on an exercise, and the first to make it to a certain place will win a 72-hour liberty. After a foot race, a tie is announced, which means a matchup between the platoons. The result is in dispute because Maj. Powers claims Jones cheated (he grabbed two guys in the crotch, when they fell, he was the last one in). Sgt. Maj. Choozoo determines there will be a matchup between the platoon sergeants.

This should be Gunny and Sgt. Webster (Moses Gunn), but Maj. Powers points out that he's leading 1st platoon that day. Gunny wins the matchup, finally earning the respect of his men.

Answer: Grenada

Col. Meyers is having a party which Highway and Choozoo attend. Aggie is there too because she's still on the mailing list, she says. She is dancing with Gunny, and has just told him that Roy asked her to marry him, when an announcement is made that the battalion has been put on full alert.

When Aggie turns back to Gunny, he has already left. It's 1983, and Recon platoon is sent to liberate Grenada from the communists.

Answer: Profile

Recon platoon gets pinned down and the men go into a building for cover. A tank fires on the building and Profile is killed in the blast. The radio which he was carrying is now inoperable, prompting Highway to send Jones to the roof to fix the telephone lines so they can call in an air strike.

Answer: Yes

As they are walking across the tarmac, Stitch tells Gunny this parade stuff must be old hat to him. Gunny replies that this is the first time. As they near the stands, the Gunny sees Aggie in the bleachers waving a small U.S. flag. She walks towards him, they look at each other and she sighs. They then walk off together as the credits roll.

"Heartbreak Ridge" was nominated for an Oscar for Best Sound. The movie also starred Bo Svenson, Vincent Irizarry, Tom Villard, Ramon Franco, Peter Koch, Mike Gomez, Rodney Hill and Richard Venture.