Uncommon Valor

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For the Jedi Mind Tricks song, see Uncommon Valor: A Vietnam Story.
Uncommon Valor
Directed by Ted Kotcheff
Produced by David Brown
Michael Tolkin
Nick Wechsler
Written by Joe Gayton
Wings Hauser story (uncredited)
Starring Gene Hackman
Fred Ward
Patrick Swayze
Reb Brown
Tim Thomerson
Robert Stack
Music by James Horner
Cinematography Stephen H. Burum
Editing by Mark Melnick
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s) 16 December 1983 (premiere)
Running time 105 min.
Country United States
Language English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Uncommon Valor (1983) is a 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.

Contents

[edit] 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 former Army platoon: Wilkes (Fred Ward), a "tunnel rat" who suffers from PTSD; "Blaster," a bicycling coach and 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 with Frank's platoon, and is also listed as "MIA"), the men secretly train near Galveston, Texas before embarking on their trip to the Laos camp in an attempt to bring back the POWs.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Trivia

  • The machine guns in the Huey helicopters were German WW2 MG-42's. The common machine gun for the Huey was the M60 machine gun.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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American films of the 1980s
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