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Storyline
A group of Vietnam War veterans re-unite to rescue one of their own left behind and taken prisoner by the Vietnamese. Led by his father (a retired Marine Colonel) and supported by a rich businessman whose son is also a POW, the group engages in a dangerous and violent adventure trying to rescue the POWs and at the same time re-direct their lives. Written by
Luis Alvarez
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Taglines:
Seven men with one thing in common...
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Did You Know?
Trivia
Due to the US Government's perception that the film's story was anti-government, the US Department of Defense refused to rent the production military-spec Huey or Jet Ranger helicopters. As such, copters were bought and repainted for use in the movie.
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Goofs
Mr Jiang repeatedly gets Colonel Rhodes rank wrong, Calling him General Rhodes at least twice.
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Quotes
Sailor:
Boy, you just bought the whole can of whup-ass!
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Connections
Referenced in
Summer Rental (1985)
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Soundtracks
"Sunshine of Your Love"
Written by
Jack Bruce,
Pete Brown (as Peter Brown) &
Eric Clapton See more »
highly trained mercenaries + precise tactical mission + lots of explosions + Reb Brown!
no, Reb didn't exactly star in this film. In fact everyone's favorite beefy slab of machine-gun toting girlie-screaming mayhem has a pretty minor role in this one. Gene Hackman gives possibly his best performance as a disgruntled father of an MIA who leads a bunch of 'nam vets back to 'nam on an unsanctioned, privately-funded mission... by Robert "maybe you can solve a mystery" Stack no less!
This film has an outrageously fun concept, and it's also done remarkably well with half the film spent with the guys practicing their mission in an elaborate training-ground, and the second half with them pumping round after round into gook soldier. Sure the premise proved popular enough to inspire several later films like COBRA MISSION, MISSING IN ACTION, and RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART 2 (Director Kotcheff directed FIRST BLOOD)... but it's just so fun in an escapist, outlandish, Swiss-Family-Robinson sort of way you just have to love it. On the plus side, Uncommon Valor also features a wealth of your favorite B-actors, like Fred Ward (Tremors 1 and 2), Randall Cobb (Golden Child), Patrick Swayze (Steel Dawn), and the aforementioned Reb Brown (Robowar, Strike Commando, Yor, etc.).
Any film with Reb Brown happily chanting "bouncin' betty blows their balls off!" can't be that bad... it's just hilarious to see him so caught up in his role that his dialog becomes unintelligable later in the film amidst all his screaming and yelling.
One of Kotcheff's better films, certainly a step up from FIRST BLOOD... would've benefitted from a better musical score (since there really isn't much of one to speak of).