James Carabatsos is known for Heartbreak Ridge (1986), Hamburger Hill (1987) and No Mercy (1986).Served with the 1st Air Cavalry Division in Vietnam in 1968-1969. Two films he wrote, Heartbreak Ridge (1986) and No Mercy (1986) were released in theaters the same month (December, 1986). He had written a sequel to Cliffhanger (1993) that was never produced. In March 1994, Variety magazine reported that Carabatsos had written a script for Morgan Creek Productions called "Cairo", which was about a gusty New York street cop out to settle a score.