Kino Lorber
When we consider the post Vietnam era films, this one is often left out. It was released in 1983, 8 short years after the fall of Saigon.
However, Uncommon Valor was sandwiched between not just some of the greatest war films of all time, but some of the greatest films in the history of cinema.
The Deer Hunter was released in 1978. Apocalypse Now was released in 1979. Then, Platoon in 1986 and Full Metal Jacket in 1987. Casualties of War came out in 1989 and so did Born on the Fourth of July.
This is not a comprehensive list of Vietnam films by any stretch of the imagination, but they are probably the most notable.
Concurrently, you also had the Chuck Norris Missing in Action trilogy.
They came out in ’84, 85, and ’88. While these were not cinematic masterpieces in any way, they did directly address one of the key post-Vietnam issues that permeated the narrative, the United States left soldiers behind. Before Chuck Norris went back to rescue men left behind in Vietnam, Gene Hackman went back. First Blood, the first film about John Rambo was also released during this time period as America tried to process the Vietnam era.
The premise of Uncommon Valor is simple, Colonel Rhodes (Hackman) and MacGregor (Robert Stack) had sons in a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol that were left behind during an extraction. Rhodes can’t accept the possibility his son was killed, and is convinced that he is in a prison camp in southeast Asia. MacGregor is a captain of industry of some kind and agrees to bankroll a rescue operation if they can prove their sons are still alive.
Hackman goes on a recruiting trip to get members of the unit back together and we get introduced to every post ware cliché from the era. Fred Ward plays a former tunnel rat, Wilkes. Reb Brown is explosives expert turned surf instructor, Blaster. Tex Cobb plays drug addled Sailor. Harold Sylvester and Tim Thomerson play helicopter pilots who feel like they have unfinished business in Vietnam.
The team enters a very abbreviated boot-ish camp to brush up on their skills where they are trained by a SUPER young Patrick Swayze. His pushy abrasive style doesn’t immediately vibe with the veterans and this culminates in a confrontation that unifies the team with purpose just prior to their departure for Asia.
During the training period government agents try and dissuade Rhodes from taking part and go as far as to threaten MacGregor’s business interests to stop them from potentially exposing the truth. They promise negotiations are taking place and this could destroy progress. This is important because it’s impossible to think about Vietnam without recognizing that it eroded the trust of the American people to an extreme degree and the argument can be made that it has never recovered.
Once the team gets to Asia, more challenges arise as their state of the art weaponry and communications equipment is seized and they are forced to turn to the black market for equipment. This leads to the team buying World War II era weapons to try and execute the plan. In a bizarre scene that seems our of place, Hackman finds a battered felt hat on a crate, brushes off the dust and puts it on his head. It feels like a completely out place nod to Raiders of the Lost Ark, which was released in 1981 and captured the imagination of most movie goers.
The film was directed by the late Ted Kotcheff, who coincidentally also directed First Blood. Kotcheff had an incredible career, which included the bizarrely amusing Weekend At Bernie’s. He knew how to tell viewers a story and while there wasn’t anything groundbreaking in Uncommon Valor, it’s pacing and narrative thread are excellent and even though you sort of know what’s coming, you don’t mind letting the film get you there.
The film was written by Joe Gayton who went on to create and write the incredible railroad drama, Hell on Wheels. It was his first writing credit and for his first credit, it’s a pretty impressive performance.
Uncommon Valor has a middling rating on IMDB and I completely understand why. It was socially relevant without being a deep biting commentary like Born on the Fourth of July. It had pretty solid action, but didn’t go far enough to be in the Rambo/Missing in Action camp. It addressed the war, but not at a deep philosophical level like Platoon or Apocalypse Now. It addressed the brotherhood of warriors, but not as well as Full Metal Jacket. When you look at the seminal films from the post-Vietnam era, it just doesn’t measure up.
It stands alone well, and it is totally worth watching. The cast is really outstanding and you do get some peak Hackman acting at times. It’s a good film, but not a great one and unfortunately it can’t exist in a vacuum, and will always fall short when measured against the great films about Vietnam.
Extras include two audio commentaries, new interviews with Reb Brown and Harold Sylvester, and trailer.
