Uncommon Valor

This DIRTY DOZEN reimagining sees army colonel Gene Hackman leading a crack squad of former soldiers into the steamy jungles of Laos in search of American soldiers declared missing in action a decade previously. The story template is familiar but the central theme of hunting for MIA soldiers in Vietnam is good enough to have inspired later, more popular action films like the Chuck Norris MISSING IN ACTION vehicles and the Stallone-starring RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II.

Uncommon Valor is both similar to and different from those populist movies. In terms of last reel action, it more than holds its own with an explosive climax that involves storming a prisoner of war camp. However, there's much more to it as this film follows the DIRTY DOZEN mould closely, with plenty of time being taken up with recruitment and training. The characters are well drawn and there are enough decent actors around to make this a highly entertaining viewing experience. No-frills director Ted Kotcheff also handled the first Rambo outing, FIRST BLOOD, and he does another confident and assured job here.

And…what a cast! One of the most interesting ensembles from the early 1980s. Hackman, as always, is the highlight of the film: tough, no-nonsense and yet filled with emotion lurking beneath that hard surface. Fred Ward (ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ) shows up as a soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress, while bargain-basement muscleman Reb Brown (STRIKE COMMANDO) handles some comic scenes nicely. Then there's the larger-than-life Randall 'Tex' Cobb making an impression, Tim Thomerson prior to his B-movie career with Charles Band and, last but best of all, an extremely young Patrick Swayze giving a subtle and nuanced turn as the rookie of the group. You can see why Swayze went onto bigger and better things on the strength of his performance here.

A rousing men-on-a-mission action-adventure with an angry political message, this covers the same ground as Rambo 2 and is almost as entertaining. The great Gene Hackman plays Colonel Rhodes, a father haunted by his son's disappearance behind enemy lines during the Vietnam War. For years he tries, and fails, to convince the US government to help him find Frank. In a last-ditch attempt, he recruits several of Frank's comrades-in-arms, who each, in his own way, has unfinished business with the war, to join him on a daring rescue mission.

What follows is a by-the-numbers but stirring action film, with an extremely likeable cast including Fred Ward, Tim Thomerson, and a young Patrick Swayze. James Horner provides another of his brilliant 80's action scores, by turns haunting and pulse-quickening. The set-up and training sequences are rock solid and fun, and the final rescue mission is downright exciting. I liked it better than The Dirty Dozen, which had way too much comedy for me to take it seriously. Uncommon Valor strikes a much better balance between popcorn heroics and its more sobering themes, both human and political. It's an underrated film, one I never tire of watching.

Ted Kotcheff directed this exciting adventure film that stars Gene Hackman as Marine Col. Jason Rhodes, who has become frustrated with his own(U.S.) governments refusal to launch a rescue mission into Vietnam to rescue P.O.W.s he believes are still there, including his own son. He is approached by a rich businessman named McGregor(played by Robert Stack) who agrees to finance his own rescue mission which he wants Rhodes to command, since he too has a son who is a P.O.W. Rhodes then recruits some marines(now civilians) to help him on the mission(played by Patrick Swayze, Tim Thomerson, Randal 'Tex' Cobb, Fred Ward, & Reb Brown) First they must train and prepare, then launch the rescue mission, which is quite dangerous for many reasons... Rousing film with a good cast and interesting premise(which would be re-used many times later!) A bit far-fetched perhaps, but good fun.

American forces going back into Vietnam to settle a score, now there's a well-worn premise for an '80s movie. But in all fairness, Gene Hackman blazed that trail for Norris and Stallone. "Uncommon Valor" is as manly as they come, wielding a righteous cause and a well of brute testosterone. And for a great deal of the running time, it's a by-the-numbers war movie. I have to admit, that's not really my thing, so I started drifting after awhile.

It's a good cast, but Hackman deserves high praise for his sympathetic performance. The damn thing opens with him stalking the streets of Bangkok in hopeless search of his POW son. Washington's no help and his desperation is palpable. The stake are a lot more real when he's around.

6/10 Stray thought: what is with the milquetoast pop songs that end these '80s 'Nam movies?

Gene Hackman is always a pleasure to watch, and he lifts this implausible POW-rescue escapade with a mature and convincing portrayal of a father strugglingto come to terms with the fact that his son was listed missing-in-action during the Vietnam War. The whole cast is quite impressive actually, consisting of old pros (Hackman and Robert Stack), future stars (Patrick Swayze, Fred Ward) and familiar bit players (Tim Thomerson, Harold Sylvester, Randall Tex Cobb, Reb Brown).

Hackman plays a retired army officer - a veteran of the Korean War - who desperately seeks closure on the matter of his son's disappearance in Vietnam. In the early '80s, he receives photographic evidence that American POWs are still being held in the south-east Asian country of Laos. In fact, one of the prisoners on the photo looks like his son. He assembles a team of ex-Vietnam vets, trains them for a return to combat, and heads off with them to Laos on a clandestine rescue mission.

This film seems to have been the starting point for Chuck Norris's 1984 offering Missing In Action, and Sylvester Stallone's 1985 hit Rambo, First Blood Part II. However, Uncommon Valor is much better than both of those overblown comic-strip follies. Although the action in this movie takes liberties with credibility, the character development is at least quite decent and the mental impact of fighting and losing friends in a war is explored. The cast give good performances (Swayze in particular, still a relative unknown here, gives the best performance of his career to this day). Ted Kotcheff directs well, conveying disparate moods - angst, humour, horror, excitement - very nicely in a variety of scenes.

Uncommon Valor is hard to swallow in terms of believability, but it is a well-made, well-acted and entertaining jungle rescue film.