Thursday, February 2, 1984
Daily Nebraskan
'Uncommon Valor ' fastwaned. (norm
v JST 7 "7 9 Ct
By Tccr O-.TSiissa
Uncommon Valor is a typical gore-filled, action
packed motion picture. It has a predictable plot
played out by stock characters who are motivated
by a sense of duty and loyalty, a la John Wayne
These men are willing to leave their safe Chilian lives
for the dangerous yet addictive world of combat in
order to rescue their comrades still being held in
Southeast Asia.
Gene Hackman heads the cast as the retired
colonel obsessed with finding his son, lost for 10
years and presumed dead. Robert Stack is his milli-
f Jot so Uncemmcn
Uncommon Vlor, directed by Td Kotcheff; scrMnptay by Joo Giyton;
prodidd by John Miiiu nd Burr Ttitthan for Paramount. At tha East
Park 3, eoih and 0 ttraets. Rated Ft.
RhodM , , T Gent Hackman
MacGrsgof , , , , , Robert Stack
Mr. Scott Patrick Swayza
Blaster, , , Ret Brown
Film
Review
onaire friend who bankrolls the project in the hope
that his son also may be alive in a prisoner of war
camp.
The rest of the cast consists of an infantry squad
that responds to tlackman's plea for brotherhood
and loyalty. They agree to go, not because of their
country and its 'cause" they've had enough rejection
at home to believe in that-but rather a sense of debt
to the friends they left behind.
The most interesting character of the film is not a
battle-hardened veteran, but a young Marine, play
ed by Patrick Swayze. Swayze is hired to lend techni
cal expertise to the mission, but his job is more than
just instructing the ill-mannered crew. He also must
gain their respect.
Only through the horrors of combat does the
Marine gain this admiration. However, he also gains
something more vital: confidence in himself by with
standing the terror of war and still believing in his
mission. This is the most involved and intriguing
transformation of the film.
The remaining characters are stiff and static.
Their personalities are very predictable: the grieving
fathers, the happy-go-lucky brawlers, the loners, the
dedicated friends and the ambitious young profes
sionals. The movie goes too quickly to give the char
acters any depth beyond these stereotypes.
The group displays the courage and camaraderie
that life-threatening situations bring about, at first
excluding the Marine and finally accepting him as
one of them. The film pulls no punches about war:
People die. There'is no happy ending for everyone, no
tearful reunion for all
Lovers of action will enjoy this film purely for its
pyrotechnic excesses. It's amazing that so few peo
ple could cause so much destruction.
One distasteful moment was when the Marine
matter-of-factly reads Hackman a list of lost equip
ment during the funeral of a fellow soldier. It
seemed the real loss was being overlooked and that
machine guns and grenade launchers were aU that
really mattered. The fact that four people died so
four could be rescued is an accurate assessment of
the true costs of war. . '
The climatic rescue is exciting and fast-paced
fans of blazing machine guns , and roaring land
mines will be satisfied. For the rest of us, the movie is
a standard story of men and not politics, of friend
ship rather than orders. People die no matter what
the reason for conflict. Uncommon Viator does a fine
job of illustrating this fact, but not everyone will
want to be reminded.
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