Act of Valor (2012)

An elite team of Navy SEALs embark on a covert mission to recover a kidnapped CIA agent.

Directors:

Mike McCoy (as Mouse McCoy), Scott Waugh

Writer:

Kurt Johnstad

Stars:

Alex Veadov, Roselyn Sanchez, Nestor Serrano

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rorke Denver	...	Lieutenant Rorke (as LCDR Rorke)
Dave	...	Chief Dave (as SOC Dave)
Sonny	...	SO1 Sonny (as SOC Sonny)
Weimy	...	SO1 Weimy (as SOC Weimy)
Ray	...	SO1 Ray (as SO1 Ray)
Ajay	...	SO1 Ajay (as SO1 Ajay)
Mikey	...	SO1 Mikey (as SOC Mikey)
Derrick Van Orden	...	Senior Chief Otto (as SOCS Van D)
Katelyn	...	LT Lyons (as Katelyn)
Callaghan	...	Admiral Callaghan (as Admiral Callaghan)
Duncan Smith	...	Captain Duncan Smith (as Captain Duncan Smith)
Billy	...	SWCC Boat Senior Chief (as SOCS BIlly)
Roselyn Sanchez	...	Lisa Morales
Jason Cottle	...	Abu Shabal
Alex Veadov	...	Christo

Storyline

An unprecedented blend of real-life heroism and original filmmaking, Act of Valor stars a group of active-duty Navy SEALs in a powerful story of contemporary global anti-terrorism. Inspired by true events, the film combines stunning combat sequences, up-to-the minute battlefield technology and heart-pumping emotion for the ultimate action adventure. Act of Valor takes audiences deep into the secretive world of the most elite, highly trained group of warriors in the modern world. When the rescue of a kidnapped CIA operative leads to the discovery of a deadly terrorist plot against the U.S., a team of SEALs is dispatched on a worldwide manhunt. As the valiant men of Bandito Platoon race to stop a coordinated attack that could kill and wound thousands of American civilians, they must balance their commitment to country, team and their families back home. Each time they accomplish their mission, a new piece of intelligence reveals another shocking twist to the deadly terror plot, which ...

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Plot Keywords:

torture | navy seal | cia agent | pregnancy | ceramic ball bearing | 

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Taglines:

of their own accord

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence including some torture, and for language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The "recruits" are speaking Tagalog (Philippine native language) rather than Spanish as the subtitle suggested.

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Goofs

When in a two truck convoy traveling through the cartel-controlled area of Mexico, the first half of the trip features a GMC and an International dump truck. The second half features a GMC, still in the lead, but the second truck is now a Freightliner.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Lieutenant Rorke: Before my father died, he said the worst thing about growing old was that other men stopped seeing you as dangerous. I've always remembered that, how being dangerous was sacred, a badge of honor. You live your life by a code, an ethos. Every man does. It's your shoreline. It's what guides you home. And trust me, you're always trying to get home.

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Alternate Versions

The patriotic tone of the film has been toned down for the international version. For example, in the original US version the letter says "Before my father died, he said the worst thing about growing old was that other men stopped seeing you as dangerous." In the international version it reads "Just before my father died, he said the worst thing about growing old was that it gets harder to protect the things that matter." Another example is the text at the ending. The US version shows the line "This film is dedicated to the following warriors of Naval Special Warfare who have made the ultimate sacrifice since 9/11." while the international version reads "This film is dedicated to all of the men and women who have sacrificed for their countries as guardians of freedom against forces of terror and tyranny."

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Connections

Featured in 70th Golden Globe Awards (2013)

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Soundtracks

Te Vi
Written by Jesus A. Perez-Alvarez
Performed by Gregorio Moya
Courtesy of LMS Records

User Reviews

Great action, but marred by forgettable plot and flat acting

This could have been a much better movie, but is delivered mixed results instead.

Much has been done to inform us that active duty SEALS were cast, because actors just can't portray the roles realistically nor with enough authenticity. That's a load of puffery; an actor's job is to portray, and make you believe that they are telling the truth. Train the actors: teach them how to move, how to hold their weapons, and how to react. They don't actually need to be SEAL qualified, just enough to perform the correct actions, because that's what movies are all about: making what's on the screen look believable.

What Act of Valor has instead are real-life SEALS pretending to be actors. You can tell who the non-actors are because all their lines are delivered as if every sentence is a declarative statement: flat and without emotion.

As long as the SEALS don't talk, the scenes are brilliant. Military fans won't be disappointed with many sequences showing what SEALs do best: raids, room clearing, firefights, insertion by SDV, and HALO jumps. Act of Valor also marks the first time that I've seen SWCCs and MEATS (Maritime External Air Transport System; underslung boat delivery by CH-47) represented in any movie. In fact, the scene where the SWCCs come in with mini-guns blazing is one of the highlights of the movie.

The movie plays like a 101-minute long first-person-shooter video game. The SEAL team is largely reactive: being dispatched globally from one skirmish to another, where accomplishing one mission just means earning the opportunity to move on to the next mission level. When you really come down to it, the plot doesn't much matter for this movie, serving largely as a vehicle to showcase military hardware and delivery of tactical missions.

Go watch this movie for the action, for SEALS serving their quiet and brutal profession. Everything else in the movie, from the storyline to the acting, unfortunately don't quite do justice for these elite warriors.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

Filipino English Russian Spanish

Release Date:

24 February 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

I Am That Man

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$24,476,632, 26 February 2012

Gross USA:

$70,012,847

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$82,499,399

Company Credits

Production Co:

Relativity Media, Bandito Brothers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1