Review Detail

Wraith stumbled on something here - turns out Clint has been playing versions of the same character for decades and has filled in the backstory of Walt from Gran Torino with footage from Heartbreak Ridge 22 years earlier which works surprisingly well. Events in HR inform and mirror the ex-vet's cynicism and makes the character richer and more sympathetic and turns GT into something more grand and meaningful, potential that was there the whole time. Even minor continuity errors that couldn't be masked work in that Highway in HR seems to bounce from commission to commission and his past remains a dark ghost as much as the specifics.

I'm dinging the Video quality a point only because it's SD (you can't have everything) but this isn't to imply there's any sloppy work. Soft dissolves early on turn into hard cuts once you have the lay of the land. Anyone who loves either of these films or Clint owes it to see this. I have a soft spot for HR (having seen it many times on cable way back) and also think THAT film is improved in my mind by this edit.

This mix of two similar films really works.