Where Eagles Dare, Kelly's Heroes, Heartbreak Ridge. Which one is your fav?

[Rawhide7]

I watched Where Eagles Dare the other night. I enjoyed it quite a bit. But out of the three Eastwood war movies I still like Kelkys Heroes the best. I just love the story and cast in Kellys Heroes. Just a fun movie to watch. Where Eagles Dare would be second. And Heartbreakridge would be last.

[Christopher]

I've always found Kelly's Heroes to be a really fun movie. It would be my favorite out of those three.

[KC]

Easily Heartbreak Ridge for me; a mature directorial effort showcasing Eastwood the actor/persona moving towards a farewell to his more youthful action roles.

For my taste, Clint doesn't really have enough to do in either of his two earlier war films, but of the two, I'd pick Where Eagles Dare, if only for Richard Burton hamming it up to the hilt.

[Kayley]

I like Heartbreak Ridge. Always wondered how CE manages to give that strong as sh*t Gunny this sweet and kind of unsure attitude when it comes to his wife. I love him for it.
Kelly's Heroes .... I always thought they could have gotten more out of his character in this one, explored him more. But it is a fun movie. I feel like Sutherland and Savalas kind of shine more in it though.
I didn't care for Where Eagles Dare.

[Gant]

Heartbreak Ridge for me too.. For all the reasons KC states.. I think its one of Clints best performances..

After that Kellys Heroes.. I always enjoyed the film as a kid and like all the other actors/performances also..

[AKA23]

I also agree that "Heartbreak Ridge" is the best of these three. Highway is actually one of Eastwood's better performances and one of his more interesting characters. It's ashame that the script wasn't as good as the Highway character. With an improved script, I think this could have been one of his better movies. 

[Perry]

             Where Eagles Dare is one of the great WW2 movies and a great adaption from the book. Too bad Eastwood and Burton never worked again. Kelly's Heroes is a pretty decent movie. I've read that Eastwood wasn't happy with the movie. Something about there was a great deal of footage that was edited from the final film that explained in more detail of his character and the story line....Heartbreak Ridge I liked when it came out, but not too much anymore. Mario Pebbles over acting is annoying after 30 minutes. The movie loses steam after about an hour.

[Hocine]

The contexts in which these three movies were made are quite different.
Where Eagles Dare and Kelly’s Heroes are two MGM films directed by Brian G. Hutton.
Later, Brian G. Hutton’s name will be written on a grave of High Plains Drifter’s cemetery, like Sergio Leone and Don Siegel names.
After the Dollar trilogy, Clint became a rising star in Hollywood in the late sixties and early seventies.
His agent, Lenny Hirshan, encouraged him to  make pictures with other well-known actors.
So, he made Where Eagles Dare with Richard Burton, Paint Your Wagon with Lee Marvin and Kelly’s Heroes with Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland and Don Rickles.
His agent thought that sharing the screen with big names could help Clint to become a household name.
Clint was very disappointed with Paint Your Wagon and Kelly’s Heroes because a lot of money was wasted, the making of these movies was too long and directors Joshua Logan and Brian G. Hutton hadn’t the final cut.
Thanks to these experiences, Clint learned what to do when shooting a film in Hollywood: shooting on real locations, staying away from the big studios’ bosses, getting the final cut, working with small crews, avoiding big stars.
About Where Eagles Dare, Clint thought that it should have been called Where Doubles Dare because many stuntmen were used during action sequences.
Actually, Where Eagles Dare is more balanced than Paint Your Wagon and Kelly’s Heroes.
Kelly’s Heroes is half a comedy and half an adventure film.
Richard Burton and Elisabeth Taylor became his friends but Clint didn’t share their lifestyle.
The Beguiled is the kind of movies Clint wanted to make.
I think that Where Eagles Dare and Kelly’s Heroes are still entertaining though a little bit forgotten.
In these movies, Clint played silent and action men, reminiscent of the Man with No Name.
Heartbreak Ridge is not really a war film. It’s much of a drama, a parody of masculinity.
Clint directed it and it was released in 1986, more than 15 years after Where Eagles Dare and Kelly’s Heroes.
Clint gave one of his best performances as Thomas Highway.
This part is a turning point for Clint because this is the first that Clint really played an old man.
In many ways, the Thomas Highway part opened the field to Clint next roles:
John Wilson, Nick Pulovski, William Munny, Frank Horrigan, Red Garnett, Robert Kincaid, Luther Whitney, Steve Everett, Frank Corvin, Terry McCaleb, Frankie Dunn, Walt Kowalski, Gus Lobel and Earl Stone.
Heartbreak Ridge is not always considered among Clint best films.
I like Heartbreak Ridge thanks to Clint’s performance which is somewhere between Bronco Billy and Dirty Harry.
There is some nostalgia of America which reminds me Bronco Billy.
I like Where Eagles Dare, Kelly’s Heroes and Heartbreak Ridge but I prefer the last one.

[Kayley]

The contexts in which these three movies were made are quite different.
Where Eagles Dare and Kelly’s Heroes are two MGM films directed by Brian G. Hutton.
Later, Brian G. Hutton’s name will be written on a grave of High Plains Drifter’s cemetery, like Sergio Leone and Don Siegel names.
After the Dollar trilogy, Clint became a rising star in Hollywood in the late sixties and early seventies.
His agent, Lenny Hirshan, encouraged him to  make pictures with other well-known actors.
So, he made Where Eagles Dare with Richard Burton, Paint Your Wagon with Lee Marvin and Kelly’s Heroes with Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland and Don Rickles.
His agent thought that sharing the screen with big names could help Clint to become a household name.
Clint was very disappointed with Paint Your Wagon and Kelly’s Heroes because a lot of money was wasted, the making of these movies was too long and directors Joshua Logan and Brian G. Hutton hadn’t the final cut.
Thanks to these experiences, Clint learned what to do when shooting a film in Hollywood: shooting on real locations, staying away from the big studios’ bosses, getting the final cut, working with small crews, avoiding big stars.
About Where Eagles Dare, Clint thought that it should have been called Where Doubles Dare because many stuntmen were used during action sequences.
Actually, Where Eagles Dare is more balanced than Paint Your Wagon and Kelly’s Heroes.
Kelly’s Heroes is half a comedy and half an adventure film.
Richard Burton and Elisabeth Taylor became his friends but Clint didn’t share their lifestyle.
The Beguiled is the kind of movies Clint wanted to make.
I think that Where Eagles Dare and Kelly’s Heroes are still entertaining though a little bit forgotten.
In these movies, Clint played silent and action men, reminiscent of the Man with No Name.
Heartbreak Ridge is not really a war film. It’s much of a drama, a parody of masculinity.
Clint directed it and it was released in 1986, more than 15 years after Where Eagles Dare and Kelly’s Heroes.
Clint gave one of his best performances as Thomas Highway.
This part is a turning point for Clint because this is the first that Clint really played an old man.
In many ways, the Thomas Highway part opened the field to Clint next roles:
John Wilson, Nick Pulovski, William Munny, Frank Horrigan, Red Garnett, Robert Kincaid, Luther Whitney, Steve Everett, Frank Corvin, Terry McCaleb, Frankie Dunn, Walt Kowalski, Gus Lobel and Earl Stone.
Heartbreak Ridge is not always considered among Clint best films.
I like Heartbreak Ridge thanks to Clint’s performance which is somewhere between Bronco Billy and Dirty Harry.
There is some nostalgia of America which reminds me Bronco Billy.
I like Where Eagles Dare, Kelly’s Heroes and Heartbreak Ridge but I prefer the last one.

I really like your point of view on these movies.
Thank you!

[KC]

I had forgotten, but Rawhide7 made a similar post a couple of years ago:

http://www.clinteastwood.org/forums/index.php?topic=10615.0

I see you've changed your ranking since then, Rawhide7!

It was worth it to start a new thread just to get Hocine's take on these three films.