Uncommon Valor

Infobox_Film
name = Uncommon Valor


director = Ted Kotcheff
producer = David Brown
Michael Tolkin
Nick Wechsler
writer = Joe Gayton
Wings Hauser story (uncredited)
starring = Gene Hackman
Fred Ward Patrick Swayze
Reb Brown
Tim Thomerson
Robert Stack
music = James Horner
cinematography = Stephen H. Burum
editing = Mark Melnick
distributor = Paramount Pictures
released = 16 December, 1983 (premiere)
runtime = 105 min.
awards =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
budget =
country = United States
language = English
amg_id = 1:51698
imdb_id = 0086508
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"Uncommon Valor" is a 1983 war film written by Joe Gayton and directed by Ted Kotcheff, about a Marine officer who tries to put together a team to rescue his son, who he believes is a prisoner of war being held in Laos after the Vietnam War.

Plot summary

Taking place in the early 1980's, former Marine Colonel Jason Rhodes' (Gene Hackman) is obsessed with finding his son Frank, listed as "Missing In Action" since 1972. After ten years of searching Southeast Asia and turning up several leads, Rhodes believes that Frank is still alive and being kept in Laos as a prisoner of war.

Despite petitioning the United States government for help, but receiving none, Colonel Rhodes brings together a disparate group of Vietnam War veterans, including some who were a part of Frank's platoon: Wilkes (Fred Ward), a "tunnel rat" who suffers from PTSD; "Blaster," a demolitions expert (Reb Brown); and "Sailor," a boozing, mental case with a heart of gold (Randall "Tex" Cobb). Additionally, two helicopter pilots, Distinguished Flying Cross recipient Johnson (Harold Sylvester) and Charts (Tim Thomerson) join the group. Former Marine Kevin Scott (Patrick Swayze), joins the team as the son of a pilot who was shot down in Vietnam and listed as "MIA."

With the financial backing of a rich oil businessman (whose son served in Frank's platoon and is also listed as "MIA") (Robert Stack), the men secretly train near Galveston, Texas before embarking on their trip to the Laos camp in an attempt to bring back the POWs.

Cast

*Gene Hackman - Colonel Jason Rhodes
*Patrick Swayze - Kevin Scott
*Fred Ward - Wilkes
*Reb Brown - Blaster
*Randall "Tex" Cobb - Sailor
*Robert Stack - MacGregor
*Tim Thomerson - Charts
*Harold Sylvester - Johnson
*Kwan Hi Lim - Jiang

Trivia

*The machine guns in the Huey helicopters were German WW2 MG-42's, or a derivative, such as the M52 or MG3, rather than the M60 common to American and South Vietnamese helicopters which saw service in the Vietnam War. The 'standard' of armaments for such helicopters will vary, dependent on the service weapon employed by the state or entity which owns and/or operates the helicopters.
*The helicopters used in the film were purchased (as opposed to rented) and repainted, since the United States Department of Defense was unwilling to rent the production military-spec Huey or JetRanger helicopters due to the perceived anti-government nature of the film.
*The Laotian POW camp was built in the Lumahai Valley on the island of Kauai, with scenes filmed in early-August, 1983.

ee also

* Vietnam War
* National League of Families
* Operation Homecoming
* Vietnam War casualties
* Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command

External links

*imdb title|id=0086508|title=Uncommon Valor