Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Uncommon Valor Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 8, 2020

Director Ted Kotcheff is best known for the wonderful First Blood which follows the story of a physically capable but mentally and emotionally scarred American struggling to survive and earn the respect he deserves following the war and back in the States. With Uncommon Valor, another post-Vietnam film Kotcheff directed a year later, he doesn't find the same level of depth or purpose, favoring something more of a straightforward Action film with little substance beyond asking its audience to attach to the basic humanity that propels the story. It's a quality film in a vacuum, but its failure to say anything meaningful amidst the action, which is framed within a story ripe for greater human interest depth, is something of a disappointment.

It's been years since the Vietnam war came to a close, but an estimated 2,500 Americans prisoners remain behind. One of those missing is Frank Rhodes, son of retired Marine Colonel Jason Rhodes (Gene Hackman) who has dedicated his life to finding his son. Most leads go nowhere, but when he believes he's stumbled across irrefutable proof that places his son, as well as several others P.O.W.s, at a camp in Laos, he assembles a team of Vietnam veterans -- Blaster (Reb Brown), Sailor (Randall "Tex" Cobb), Wilkes (Fred Ward), Johnson (Harold Sylvester), and Charts (Tim Thomerson) -- each with a mission critical specialty (and a willingness to go) and sets in motion a plan of attack to rescue the men and return everyone home safely. He also brings on board Kevin Scott (Patrick Swayze) to get the men up to speed on modern weapons and tactics and to whip the team back into fighting shape. But Scott's lack of combat experience is a stumbling block for the team, stunting its cohesiveness until Rhodes reveals that Scott, too, has skin in the game.

The movie is almost painfully straightforward. The team is assembled, and it's a rather ragtag group of vets who are each in it for something a little different. They train hard but not without conflict and questioning the mission's potential for success. Finally, the mission gets underway and runs into some snags as the situation develops in real time and on a real battlefield, not on the training grounds. The training middle stretch occupies much of the movie's time and it's here where it does most of the characterization legwork. But Kotcheff largely leaves deeper content for other movies, favoring here a more streamlined and straightforward take, focusing on the action, and the build to it, and only working in character growth and exposition as the story allows or needs rather than putting the characters first. It works if one doesn't mind an agreeable little time waster, but one cannot help but watch the film and wonder why Kotcheff didn't do more to engage the heart and soul as much as he does the eyes and ears.

Even as the film draws to a close and some hard truths are revealed, there's an emotional disconnect at work. With a focus on action, the film can't suddenly shift to asking its audience to feel for the resolution: for who lives, who dies, who is rescued, and who cannot come home. The assembled cast is left with little opportunity to work their characters' emotions into the equation, either, and even stalwarts like Gene Hackman are left to express some semblance of grief and/or relief in what amounts to but a fleeting moment. And perhaps that is why Kotcheff doesn't really work in a classic denouement; the movie ends on a rather abrupt freeze frame, leaving the audience to sort out what the characters may or may not be feeling after the mission. Within the movie's action-oriented confines, though, the cast plays it well. They believably grow into a team and each actor brings their characters' essential personality traits to the forefront. The action is well staged and the cast is up for the physical demands. The movie works well in a vacuum but anyone looking for the same heartbreaking depth and commentary found in Kotcheff's First Blood will certainly walk away more disappointed than satisfied.

Uncommon Valor Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Paramount's been on a roll lately with its wave of competitively priced catalogue titles (Barefoot in the Park, The Two Jakes, Private Parts, to name a few) and Uncommon Valor continues the string of excellence. The picture is terrific all around, presenting with rich, healthy colors and a perfectly filmic façade. Details are extremely crisp and fine, complimented by the naturally occurring grain structure. There's no fuss, no mess, no appearance of unwarranted processing. It's handsomely true to its source, and beyond the grain viewers will appreciate the fine-point complexity visible in faces, military fatigues, wear on firearms, and grasses and huts seen in the middle and end sections when the men train and fight, respectively. The military green fatigues look terrific. The tone is dialed in to perfection, appearing accurate and lifelike. There's nice separation between that color and all of the surrounding natural greenery found throughout the film. Bright orange fireball explosions pop with pleasant depth and punch. Skin tones are dialed in nicely and blacks are well rounded. There are very few signs of print wear and tear and encode issues are absent. Several other studios should take notice: Paramount's got the quality-price equation down to a science. This one look substantially better than what some other studios are releasing at more than double the price.

Uncommon Valor Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Uncommon Valor's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack is nowhere near so robust as the nearly perfect 1080p video counterpart, but it's certainly well capable in most areas. General elemental clarity is fine, particularly considering music and dialogue. The former is satisfyingly wide with a little bit of back channel depth in addition to offering fine foundational detail, while the latter is well prioritized and holds steady in the front-center channel. A few good atmospherics trickle through, well placed and complimentary of any given scene they accompany. The soundtrack unfortanely falls short where it should soar: during action. Low end response is more than a little flat; perhaps the best example comes when several bridges explode towards films' end with very little depth or authority. Gunfire similarly struggles to engage the bottom end. The weapon signatures are identifiable, but flat. On the plus side, surrounds do pick up some weapons fire, particularly in the rescue mission proper. The sound design is dated and listeners might be left wanting more, but overall this one appears fairly faithful to the rather limited opportunities within the original audio specifications.

Uncommon Valor Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Uncommon Valor contains no supplemental content. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

Uncommon Valor Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Uncommon Valor released a year before Chuck Norris' franchise-starter Missing in Action, another film about a rescue mission to save American P.O.W.s following the cessation of hostilities. Neither film does much to speak to the issue, favoring action and only enough narrative to move the story forward. Uncommon Valor says little about the war, the prisoners, or even the mindsets of those who have returned home, only to go again for a greater purpose than self. It dabbles around with the latter -- some of the characters are plainly scarred by their wartime experiences -- but it mostly remains within the realm of the superficial. Still, this is a fun movie and a necessary add to any serious Vietnam war film collection. Paramount's Blu-ray fits that role nicely. While it's unfortunately absent supplemental content, the disc does deliver exceptional 1080p video. The 5.1 lossless soundtrack is not as memorable but it gets the job done. Recommended.