This forgotten little movie was probably inspiration for much more famous movie made later – „Missing in action" with Chuck Norris (1984) and "Rambo 2 " with Sylvester Stallone (1985) . All three movies have a similar story , but it was Ted Kotcheff's (director of … "Rambo : First blood " made in 1982 ) movie that first used such story . Furthermore , it's actually based on real life story of Green Beret Colonel Bo Gritz (read the F.A.Q.) . From this three movies I think that "Rambo 2" is the best movie and "Missing in action" the worst. "Uncommon valor" is forgotten , but fun movie that is worth watching.

It's always a pleasure to have a Gene Hackman in a movie . His character is a strong , quiet and determined man who will do a lot to find his son . He's a true heart of the movie . Patrick Swayze also appears in this movie and gives a heartfelt performance, the best in his career . It was also good to see Randall "Tex" Cobb . He brings a lot of humor into the movie , while never making it campy. A silent hero of the movie for me is Fred Ward who plays a man with traumatic war past. The rest of the cast is also good. Watch out for Michael Dudikoff ("American ninja") in a small role of Blaster's assistant.

The movie mainly concentrates on the characters and the relations between them . The training takes a lot of the movie time , yet it's never boring. It's interesting to watch it , because the filmmakers invest our feelings into the characters . When the final of the movie appears we care about what happens to the characters . That's a big plus for the movie. Still , people who like action might be disappointed. I wasn't. I give it 6/10.

According to IMDB, "Uncommon Valor" is the first of many films from the 1980s featuring brave he-men going to Southeast Asia to rescue American soldiers from the Vietnam War STILL being held in prison camps. The notion is absurd for many reasons...why would enemy soldiers spend a decade guarding prisoners AFTER the war when shooting them back in the 1970s made a heck of a lot more sense AND how could a ragtag group of men do such a rescue in the middle of a godforsaken jungle?! Local, these movies aren't...but they did appeal to viewers who held on to these notions or just like seeing stuff blowed up real good.

A retired Colonel (Gene Hackman) organizes some Vietnam vets to sneak into Laos and mount a rescue mission to save some STILL incarcerated American soldiers. The first half shows their preparations and the final half is an explosion-fest....with tons of shooting, things that go boom and the like.

If you ignore the brainlessness of the basic plot, you have an action film with tons and tons of action. It's certainly NOT a great film by most standards and I felt a bit stupider for having watched it...but it IS entertaining. And, despite some very good actors in the film, I think they weren't used to their best abilities. In other words, a LOT of actors could have taken on these roles and there wasn't a lot of depth to the characters.