I was talking to a film buff friend of mine the other day and he told me that it was a good thing that he doesn’t have cable, because if AMC was part of his line-up, then he’d never leave the house.
“Oh man, I gotta go to work, but Karate Kid 2 is on!” (Hi John)
Today as I’ve been packing for my up coming trip to Calgary, I got what he meant.
Sometime this morning I turned the 52″ to channel 53 and let it ride on American Movie Classics for the rest of the day. I’ve been keeping an eye on this station since we moved here in last summer, and its usually a safe bet. So what was the first thing on today? Nothing other than a little film by the name UNCOMMON VALOR!
That’s a scan of the German DVD cover.
Released in 1983, the movie stars Gene Hackman as a retired colonel who goes into Laos to save his son whose been MIA for 10 years. (That’s MIssing In Action, not Paper Planes) By recruiting some of his son’s old army buddies, they train with the help of fresh faced army rookie, Patrick “Gunna Die” Swayze.”
While the film may not have been a stereotype of Vietnam / POW films at the time, it has since become not unlike a visual checklist of what to include in these types of movies.
Being with a flashback to establish how the soldiers got captured, Check.
Enlist a rag-tag group of grizzled vets which include; the explosives expert, the pilot, the stealth guy, the crazy guy, the black guy, the old guy and, the rookie, Check.
Make sure at least two “good guys” die in the jail brake, Check.
Have one character struggle with shell shock from the war, only to over come it when it count, Check.
Have at least one guy sacrifice themselves to ensure the success of the mission, double check.
The movie isn’t really all that bad, if not a little bit predictable. I didn’t mind all that much, it’s entertaining enough and kept me interested. What I found kind neat was the dudes who played the stealth guy and the crazy guy worked together again on Naked Gun 33 and 1/3.
AMC might just be the best thing for dudes who like movies. Most of the stuff they show isn’t great, but it’s usually decent, and usually a movie that a guy would like. They usually play stuff like The Magnificent Seven, Fire Fox, The Great Escape, and Red Dawn. (Wolverines!)
