There is no rank in the entire armed forces of the world with a more evocative personality – surly, reliable and tough as nails. The sergeant, drill sergeant or gunnery sergeant is the lens through which the morale, discipline and knowledge of military’s commissioned officers is focused to laser precision. What I’ve assembled here are my five favourite team motivators and intimidators, primed to turn any mushy pile of reprobates into a team of ultimate badasses.
5. Gny. Sgt. Tom “Gunny” Highway – Clint Eastwood (Heartbreak Ridge, 1986)
This could very well be one of the worst movies about armed conflict that I’ve ever seen, the film clearly hanging on the presence of Clint Eastwood. But for the purposes of this list, Eastwood is all it takes – casting him was a stroke of genius. Had he not been so proficient at playing cops or cowboys, he should have been doing this his entire career. A relic of wars gone by, Gunnery Sergeant Tom Highway takes on one last mission before his retirement: Changing a group of military washouts into a tough-as-nails recon platoon of Marines. While Mario Van Peebles performs at a level commensurate with his price range, along with the rest of the Gunny Highway’s roughnecks, Clint Eastwood honours the legacy of the drill instructor with trademark Dirty Harry attitude.
4. Sgt. B.A. Barracus – Quinton Jackson (The A-Team, 2010)
That’s right, folks! Before he was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, B.A. was a Sergeant in the United States Army. Mind you, he was a Sergeant in the TV series, for some reason they decided to make him a Corporal for the movie… Maybe he got promoted during his time on Hannibal’s team though. He’s certainly got the surliness and tendency for violent outbursts that we’ve come to expect, unfortunately for him it means he’s the lowest ranking soldier in the A-Team. (Did you know that it’s Murdock, not Face, that’s second in command as Captain?) Without the requisite squad of grunts to bark orders at, and thus without the thing that defines what we know as a Sergeant, Barracus has no other but to send his grief back up the chain to his Captain, and sometimes the other guys too. You’d think that would mean all the shenanigans with getting him onto a plane should be moot, but then again, where would we have gotten all our great tips on how to spike a friend’s drink at a party?
3. Gny. Sgt Emil Foley – Lou Gosset Jr. (An Officer & A Gentleman, 1982)
While Zack Mayo might be trying to become a Naval Aviator, first he has to get past the United States Marine Corps in the form of Gny. Sgt. Emil Foley. When I was sifting through clips of Foley’s best scenes I realised there are quite a few lines attributed to Sgt. Hartman are in actuality the pearls of Gny. Sgt. Foley – and his came 5 years previous. Gossett can’t take all that credit though, R. Lee Ermey was actually one of the military consultants working on the film. What I like best about Foley was his hands on approach to discipline, literally beating Richard Gere’s Zack Mayo into submission.
2. Sgt. Al Apone – Al Mattews (Aliens, 1986)
Forget about the Army Rangers, the USMC or the Air Force, Sgt. Apone is responsible for an elite squad of Space Marines! With a squad bad enough to take on an army of “xenomorphs” you need a Sergeant with brass ones, and in Apone we have a guy who chomps on a cigar not two breaths after coming out of hypersleep. When he’s not busy keeping Pvt. Hudson in line, or leading the Colonial Marines on a “bug hunt”, he is celebrating life in the corps. Apone lives, eats and breathes life in the Colonial Marines, and it’s his traditional demeanour on the team that grounds this military unit we’ve never seen before in the here & now. Al Matthews is one of the few on this list to actually have served in the Marines – a Sergeant in the USMC during the Vietnam War. I believe Matthews is alone on this list as the only one to score a spot on the UK singles chart for his song “Fool” in 1975. “You secure that shit, Hudson!”
1. Gny. Sgt. Hartman – R. Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket, 1987)
You know what? I was familiar with Gny. Sgt. Hartman from his samples on the Ministry song “Theives” long before I’d ever heard of a film called Full Metal Jacket. I suppose industrial music is just more readily available to kids than R rated movies. It is because of Sergeant Hartman that everyone thinks they know what bootcamp is like, giving a raw performance (Raw being an understatement in that Ermey is one of the few actors that Stanley Kubrick has actually allowed off the leash, go off script and improvise.) and opening a window to the military world that was both real and surreal at the same time. R Lee Ermey has not only portrayed what is the quintessential Sergeant, he’s lived it! As a USMC drill instructor and served with Marine Wing Support Group 17 for over a year during the Vietnam War, he is the genuine article. Ermey has taken this iconic character he built for himself in FMJ to all kinds of parts, from Saving Silverman to The Frighteners to Toy Story, only occasionally playing something slightly different in movies like Seven and Mississippi Burning.
Great list. I have a soft spot for Tom Sizemore in Saving Private Ryan but he’s not really an essential ‘sergeant.’ Though I do love Paul Giamatti’s brief appearance.
Ermey really defined (redefined?) the way Sergeants were portrayed. He gave them an element of snarky dry humor that influenced so many performances. I wish they had spent more time with him in the film.
Cheers, Univarn! I was amazed that he was consulting for Officer & a Gentleman 5 years prior to even appearing in Full Metal Jacket. Guess he had plenty of time to get himself perfect for the big screen.
Sizemore was supposed to make the honorable mention list that I never made. Between his Sgts. in both Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down, he puts on a bit of a clinic. Too bad these characters are pretty much like most of his characters from previous films.
Agreed Sizemore should have made the honorable mention at the very list. He was memorable in two of the best war movies of all time for God’s sake!
Yes, but can you name either of those characters? It was just Seymour Scagnetti in a helmet and body armour…
What a great 5! I love Heartbreak Ridge… my favorite Mario Van Peebles movie behind New Jack City!
Aliens is a great pick… nice collection, Johnston!!!
Thanks Kai! This one has been a long time coming. Learned a few things and watched a lot of videos of angry people yelling at other people – win win! I also liked the Sgt in Forrest Gump. “Goddamnit Gump! You’re a goddamn genius!”
Had to Ermey at number one – who else? I haven’t seen A FEW GOOD MEN… but I was expecting that to be there. Is Nicholson a Sarge? Obviously, additional kudos for the brit-entry from Monty Python.
Thanks Simon! I figured Monty Python would help set a mood. Nicholson actually played a General, I believe – although I cannot tell a lie: he would have made a kick-ass Sgt. Was he a Sgt in The Last Detail? Ermey is the king, there’s no doubt about that. If he sets the standard by which they’re all judged, he’s gotta be top dog.
R Lee Ermey is a shoe-in for first place. No one comes even close in the movies. Period.
Nuff said, Castor! Nuff said!
R Lee is great in Full Metal Jacket and Boys from Company C. I guess it help that he was a Marine Sergeant before becoming an actor.
It’s no wonder his performance comes off as the most authentic. He does a pretty good job in The Frighteners too – as “Ghost Sarge”!
WRONG!!!!!
No way was “Rampage Jackson better than Seargant Hulka from STRIPES!!!!!! Lame choice on that one and way to pander to the studios with the typical “flavor of the month” put in one new unproven one with the older good ones. You missed the mark on that one although I agree witht the rest of the list. although dont forget the seargant from Toy story for an honorable mention!
Welcome to The Film Cynics, Smith!
Pander to studios? What? I appreciate your estimation of my readership, but I think you’re misreading where I’m coming from. The truth is that B.A. Barracus was not a Sergeant in the A-Team movie, just in the A-Team TV show – nothing “flavour of the monthy” about that. As for Toy Story, R Lee Ermey already made top spot on the list as Sgt. Hartman – which is pretty much who every other performance he delivered as a Sgt. was based on, whether it was Toy Story or The Frighteners or whatever. Thanks for dropping by though.