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FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Uncommon Valor (James Horner)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... on the official 2010 or 2024 albums if you seek cleaner
sound quality for the score's famous Star Trek-derived action
cues from the climax of the film.
Avoid it... if you expect the challenging and arguably racist, stereotypical instrumental applications in the first two-thirds of the score to compete in any manner whatsoever with the unoriginal but still entertaining aforementioned action highlights.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Uncommon Valor: (James Horner) While the topic of
the Vietnam War had been explored in smaller, more realistically
explosive films for several years, the early 1980's merged it with the
quickly evolving superhero genre, leading most notably to the franchise
that resulted from First Blood. Another notable entry in this new
sub-genre was Uncommon Valor, an adventure film aimed at raising
awareness about soldiers still believed to be missing in action in
Vietnam. The star power of Gene Hackman led the film to modest box
office success, though the script's long first half of character
establishment scenes, a major speed bump on the way to the outstanding
rescue scenes at the end, reduced Uncommon Valor's longevity. The
story essentially details the desperation of Hackman's character, a
Korean War veteran convinced that his son, listed as MIA, is still being
held prisoner in Laos. He assembles a crew of like-minded former
military veterans to steal the equipment necessary to launch a secret
rescue mission into an area of possible Americans in detainment learned
by the leader through extensive investigative research. The film goes to
great lengths to show the bonds that form between the men as they train
together in Texas for their mission, and this familial attachment will
prove valuable when the plot doesn't offer the happiest of endings. For
young composer James Horner, the film was one of a plethora of 1983
assignments to result from his unexpected mainstream recognition for the
previous year's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Many of his
scores in that subsequent year exhibited styles (and often exact musical
sections) that would be better known in manifestations in both the 1982
classic and its sequel, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.
While Uncommon Valor was among Horner's better known assignments
at the time, the score is largely devoid of a following outside of
hardcore enthusiasts of Horner's music, a circumstance contributed to by
a lack of proper album release for several decades.
The lack of overwhelming demand for this score is likely due to its anonymity compared to Horner's other output of the period. The last thirty minutes of the film is where the meat of the work is confined, and this music is not surprisingly highly derivative of the composer's other, better recognized efforts. As a result, Uncommon Valor is one of those scores with highlights worthy of a place in any Horner collection, but it's a whole that is disappointingly lackluster and arguably inappropriate. Before the film's action scenes in its latter half, the music of Uncommon Valor is equally and sharply divided between Vietnamese and American identities. Horner's handling of these extremes is appropriately functional in a basic sense, but their sounds are so diametrically opposed that they seem almost cartoonish. The application of a variety of specialty instrumentation appropriate to the region (shakuhachi flute, gamelan, mandolin, cimbalom, metallic percussion) is so brutally foreign in its disharmony that it threatens to become a racist representation of that culture by Horner. Similar primal sounds of clanging cutlery at mealtime would also define the Klingons in the subsequent Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. This material will sound alien to Western ears and it certainly makes the Vietnamese seem like filthy brutes, and it's an over-the-top caricature that is not a pleasant listening experience on album by any means. The closest Horner would come to such bizarre tones in his mature years would be the finale celebration music of a source-like variety in Willow. The other personality of the opening half of the score denotes the single-minded dedication by Hackman's character to prepare for the mission, including a propulsive sense of movement and a noble theme of contemplation. This approach alone is fine, but Horner felt compelled for some reason to write a spirited, upbeat military march for the band of men that Hackman assembles. He likely meant for it to underline the sometimes comical interactions they have on their way to forming a cohesive unit, but the composer's intended use of this theme over the end credits shows that he may have been out of touch with the heart of the film. More effective ideas explored by Horner for Uncommon Valor are hints of future successes, however, including a solo trumpet and supporting strings in "Final Escape" that foreshadow In Country (another Vietnam-related score from Horner with much more poignant highlights), a brass suspense theme over exotic rhythms in "Main Title" that predict Vibes, and snare and rising brass phrases in "Pan Over Hill" that would inform Apollo 13. For many listeners, the ills of the first half of the score are forgiven by the cues "Escape Airbase," "Choppers Over Hill," and "Final Escape." This brazen action music is extremely typical to Horner's early mannerisms, however, the rising brass action fanfare of four note figures frightfully identical to the Star Trek scores. The trademark harsh tones of these players is a sound unique to this era for Horner as well. You can't help but roll your eyes at the familiar shifting of chords at 1:25 into "Escape Airbase." This is great stuff for Horner enthusiasts, but don't expect it to be able to support a whole album. In the end, one could argue that Horner missed the mark with Uncommon Valor, his music for the Vietnamese locations and Texas training scenes both badly beholden to stereotypes, some potentially racist. That, along with the unoriginal action music, can arguably be viewed as a poorly executed assignment by the composer. The score had long been officially unreleased, its highlights part of a popular 1998 "Suites and Themes" Horner compilation bootleg and the majority of the score traded on a "Pony Boy" bootleg since 2000. But Intrada Records released nearly every available minute of music, used and rejected, in 2010, including the pleasant "Brothers in the Night" rock ballad replacing Horner's orchestral recording for the end credits, a welcome switch. Ironically, the ten minutes heard on the "Suites and Themes" compilation album represents the only truly necessary material from Uncommon Valor, though the sound quality was cleaned up to widen the soundscape on the limited Intrada version. Ten minutes of alternate "Main Titles" mixes was added to that presentation by Quartet Records in 2024 for another limited run. Ultimately, the score's highlights make the score recommendable to Horner collectors, but limit your expectations when exploring the rest of the soundtrack. Much of it you'll never listen to more than once. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
2000 Pony Boy Bootleg:
Total Time: 43:24
2010 Intrada Album: Total Time: 52:08
2024 Quartet Album: Total Time: 64:14
* Performed by Ray Kennedy
NOTES & QUOTES:
The 2000 bootleg and its variants never contained any substantial packaging.
The inserts of the 2010 Intrada and 2024 Quartet albums contain detailed information
about the score and film.
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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Uncommon Valor are Copyright © 2000, 2010, 2024, Pony Boy (Bootleg), Intrada Records, Quartet Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 10/20/10 and last updated 8/13/24. |
