Gene Hackman Books

I had not seen this movie, but I was so glad that I bought it. It was wonderful!!!!!

I found this movie utterly predictable and Dennis Hopper's performance as the town drunk only tolerable. Gene Hackman is the new high school basketball coach in basketball crazy Hickory, Indiana in 1951. He is a man with a past, although it is not as dark as it initially appears. Hopper plays Shooter, the town drunk whose son is on the seven man team. Despite his sodden brain, Shooter has a superb understanding of the game and Hackman selects him to be his assistant coach. You know immediately that Shooter is going to sober up and become a real coach. The scenes where Hackman is thrown out of the game and Shooter must take over are forced and unrealistic; Hopper is unconvincing as a person stressed out over the combination of alcohol withdrawal and having to take charge.
Even the scene when Hackman is attending a town meeting where the purpose is to decide whether he should be fired lacks a great deal of tension. It is not out of the apparent politeness of the townspeople, there is a lack of passion among all participants. This is supposed to be a town passionate about basketball and a coach passionate about the game.
I was bored throughout the entire movie and struggled to watch it through to the end.

Love this movie! I love the flavor of Indiana more than anything. Visited that state and the area they speak of many times in my youth. Great inspirational story. Just a quick note...a joke is lost in the subtitles mid-way through the semi-national game. After being fouled out of the game, Coach glares at his player, for which the subtitles read "It was for the team". The line is actually "it was Dentyne", throwing back a joke Coach said in an earlier huddle. Being deaf helps with these things! Amazing movie still.

GREAT SPORTS MOVIE! INSTEAD OF REVIEWING MOVIE, WHICH WE ALL KNOW IS A GREAT SPORTS MOVIE, JUST WANTED TO SAY THE BLU-RAY PICTURE IS A HUGE IMPROVEMENT OVER MY OLD DVD. I'M ONLY REPLACING MY OLD MOVIES THAT I LOVE BUT LOOK BAD ON MY NEW HDTV. WAS VERY PLEASED WITH THE PICTURE QUALITY ON THIS. THE ONLY DRAWBACK TO THIS BLU-RAY IS THERE AREN'T ANY EXTRAS EXCEPT FOR A TRAILER. BUT IF YOUR LOOKING FOR BETTER PICTURE QUALITY, YOU WON'T BE DISSAPOINTED.

Hoosiers DVD

I don't know how I missed this film when it came out in 1986. It is a story of a middle-aged basketball coach and his last chance for redemption. It is suppose to be loosely based on a true story (whatever that means). Gene Hackman does a great job as the coach with Dennis Hopper as a supporting actor.

Of course every body knows that all Indiana boys play basketball, just nail a basket to the side of a barn and start shooting, right? Unfortunately basketball is more than simply shooting the ball through a goal.

The movie is set in Indiana in 1951, a little before my time as a high school basketball player. It does raise some questions with me such as how much difference can a coach make at the high school level? Mine made all the difference in the world, but I was fortunate to have Coach Jerry Wayne Shelton. I suspect they can make less of a difference at the colligate level.

Highly recommended for any one who played high school basketball.

Gunner March 2008

I had not seen this movie, but I was so glad that I bought it. It was wonderful!!!!!

I found this movie utterly predictable and Dennis Hopper's performance as the town drunk only tolerable. Gene Hackman is the new high school basketball coach in basketball crazy Hickory, Indiana in 1951. He is a man with a past, although it is not as dark as it initially appears. Hopper plays Shooter, the town drunk whose son is on the seven man team. Despite his sodden brain, Shooter has a superb understanding of the game and Hackman selects him to be his assistant coach. You know immediately that Shooter is going to sober up and become a real coach. The scenes where Hackman is thrown out of the game and Shooter must take over are forced and unrealistic; Hopper is unconvincing as a person stressed out over the combination of alcohol withdrawal and having to take charge.
Even the scene when Hackman is attending a town meeting where the purpose is to decide whether he should be fired lacks a great deal of tension. It is not out of the apparent politeness of the townspeople, there is a lack of passion among all participants. This is supposed to be a town passionate about basketball and a coach passionate about the game.
I was bored throughout the entire movie and struggled to watch it through to the end.

Love this movie! I love the flavor of Indiana more than anything. Visited that state and the area they speak of many times in my youth. Great inspirational story. Just a quick note...a joke is lost in the subtitles mid-way through the semi-national game. After being fouled out of the game, Coach glares at his player, for which the subtitles read "It was for the team". The line is actually "it was Dentyne", throwing back a joke Coach said in an earlier huddle. Being deaf helps with these things! Amazing movie still.

GREAT SPORTS MOVIE! INSTEAD OF REVIEWING MOVIE, WHICH WE ALL KNOW IS A GREAT SPORTS MOVIE, JUST WANTED TO SAY THE BLU-RAY PICTURE IS A HUGE IMPROVEMENT OVER MY OLD DVD. I'M ONLY REPLACING MY OLD MOVIES THAT I LOVE BUT LOOK BAD ON MY NEW HDTV. WAS VERY PLEASED WITH THE PICTURE QUALITY ON THIS. THE ONLY DRAWBACK TO THIS BLU-RAY IS THERE AREN'T ANY EXTRAS EXCEPT FOR A TRAILER. BUT IF YOUR LOOKING FOR BETTER PICTURE QUALITY, YOU WON'T BE DISSAPOINTED.

Hoosiers DVD

I don't know how I missed this film when it came out in 1986. It is a story of a middle-aged basketball coach and his last chance for redemption. It is suppose to be loosely based on a true story (whatever that means). Gene Hackman does a great job as the coach with Dennis Hopper as a supporting actor.

Of course every body knows that all Indiana boys play basketball, just nail a basket to the side of a barn and start shooting, right? Unfortunately basketball is more than simply shooting the ball through a goal.

The movie is set in Indiana in 1951, a little before my time as a high school basketball player. It does raise some questions with me such as how much difference can a coach make at the high school level? Mine made all the difference in the world, but I was fortunate to have Coach Jerry Wayne Shelton. I suspect they can make less of a difference at the colligate level.

Highly recommended for any one who played high school basketball.

Gunner March 2008

the photo quality of this movies blows me away - it's superb!!! Of course it helps when you have two fine actors - great movie!!!!!!!!

Some of the previous reviewers have already hit upon the historical errors, how Bonnie and Clyde met, Clyde killed outside the car, the real Bonnie being a rehead, the CW Moss composite character, the fact that they never met Hammer. One point I would like to bring up and that is that the movie failed to show Clyde's weapon of choice, the BAR or Browning Automatic Rifle. Clyde used it most of the time, as a Thompson machine gun fire couldn't penetrate a car like a BAR could. A BAR was also very loud and intimidating. Clyde even cut off part of the barrel and end stock so he could wield it with ease. Why the movie failed to show this was most likely a plain lack of research by the script writers.

The real story of Bonnie and Clyde should be the next blockbuster remake.

1967 was a watershed year for American film. The Best Picture nominees were "Bonnie and Clyde", "In the Heat of the Night", "The Graduate", "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" and..."Dr. Doolittle". "In Cold Blood" wasn't nominated. "Bonnie and Clyde" was unlike any film that came before and that may account for it's spotty reception upon initial release. Is the film a treatise on the nature of violence? Is it a commentary on misguided hero worship? Whatever, it's a damn good movie. "Bonnie and Clyde" may not have influenced Peckinpah but it sure anticipated him. Director Arthur Penn does a terrific job of evoking the Great Depression, a time when it would be perfectly understandable for the mass public to embrace anti-social misfits like the Barrow Gang. Warren Beatty projects aw-shucks geniality as Clyde, a man who knows how to handle a six-shooter but shoots blanks in the bedroom. Faye Dunaway is sensuous as Bonnie, a waitress who joins Clyde not so much for altruistic reasons but more for thrill seeking. Terrific supporting cast includes Gene Hackman as Clyde's along for the ride brother, Buck, Estelle Parsons as Buck's highstrung wife, Blanche, and Michael J. Pollard as the lazy gaited mechanic who relishes the opportunity to rub elbows with notoriety. "Bonnie and Clyde" hasn't dated one iota from 1967 and is definitely deserving of it's status in the American Film Pantheon.

"This here's Miss Bonnie Parker. I'm Clyde Barrow. We rob banks"-Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty) "I ain't no lover boy"- Beatty as Clyde Barrow to Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway).

"Bonnie and Clyde" looks better than a depression era robber baron in his finest clothes. The colors pop and while the images are a bit soft at times (due to the aging of the source materials), Warner has done a stellar job of cleaning up the film making a marked improvement over the previous DVD bare bones release from over a decade ago. Packed with some extra cool extras including a multi-part documentary on the making of the film, a documentary licensed from The History Channel on the real "Bonnie and Clyde", deleted scenes (sadly without dialogue because the soundtrack is missing)and wardrobe tests, this is one of the best jobs I've seen of a 60's classic reissued on DVD and Blu-ray.

He might not have been a "lover boy" but Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow sure is pretty to look at on screen. Playing with his image as a pin-up, Beatty and the beautiful Faye Dunaway pull off their roles as Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker in Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" despite their Hollywood looks. Penn has always been an adventurous filmmaker and his work with Beatty in "Mickey One" paid off with a solid, nuanced performance from Betty where others might have let the actor get away with a less thoughtful interpretation of the role. With "Bonnie and Clyde" Penn and Beatty (producer on the project) demonstrate a keen awareness of the French New Wave (originally director Francios Truffaut was approached to direct and its rumored that Jean Luc-Goddard the infant terrible of the New Wave movement was asked as well but his changes were so radical that he was rejected as a director for the film. Truffaut's most telling influence the elimination of Clyde Barrow's bisexuality in favor of making him impotent a choice that Penn also argued for when Beatty thought about going back to the original script by David Newman and Robert Benton) which influenced some of Penn's unusual visual choices for the film. The first time we meet Bonnie Parker we see only isolated close ups of her face as she puts on her make up and Penn gradually reveals the room as something less than the elegance that we might have expected from a Hollywood thriller like "Bonnie and Clyde". "Bonnie and Clyde" is notable for a shift with much more gruesome, violent sequences that Hollywood had seen before; in fact Penn claims that the sequence where Clyde shoots the manager of a bank in the face as he tries to stop their car was the very first time that a Hollywood film showed the shooter and the victim all in the same single shot. If that is so, it's a startling change that influenced the rest of Hollywood for good and bad over the course of the next forty some years.

Penn, Beatty, screenwriters Benton & Newman (and an uncredited Robert Towne who receives a "creative consultant" credit since he couldn't claim a writing credit for his work) do take some liberties with the story of bank robbers Barrow and Parker but in the interest of the drama those liberties work creating a film that examines the characters and the world of foreclosed mortgages, depression era poor people and the wealthy who just kept getting wealthier in fine detail. Featuring stellar support from actors Gene Hackman as Clyde's brother, Gene Wilder (in his film debut), Michael J. Pollard and Estelle Parsons, "Bonnie and Clyde" has aged gracefully. Penn's brilliant visual motifs stand up surprisingly well. They draw attention to the characters and saying as much with as little dialogue as possible. Even where the facts are skirted (such as the fact that Bonnie Parker was badly burned and had to be carried most places by Clyde Barrow after a car accident), there's a logical dramatic reason for doing so.

The Blu-ray looks stunning as well but fans should be aware of the age of the film as this doesn't look quite as stunning as a more contemporary film might. Nevertheless, my jaw dropped as I haven't seen a print look THIS good even when I worked at the UCLA archives or sat through the film for the first time in one of Howard Suber's classes on film genres.

Audio sounds quite good but, again, keep in mind the original soundtrack was recorded, mixed and mastered in mono as that was the standard when this film played in theaters. Interestingly enough, fans will probably hear a better sounding version here on the DVD than when it played in theaters. Warner had so little faith in the film that it was released to drive-in's and second tier theaters initially (they also offered Beatty nearly half of the domestic gross as his fee figuring the film wouldn't make a huge amount of money. Someone at Warner probably paid with their job for such a miscalculation).

This deluxe two disc edition treats this classic with the respect it deserves; special features producer Laurent Bouzereau was called in to create the featurettes for the two disc edition demonstrating how much love Warner was willing to give the film. Bouzereau does his usual top notch job here.

"Revolution: The Making of 'Bonnie and Clyde'" is a three part documentary that covers everything from the fights that director Penn had with his cinematographer for his unusual stylistic choices to the checkered history of the film's production.

"Love and Death: The Story of Bonnie and Clyde" has been licensed from the History Channel and gives fans of the film the REAL story of the couple which is a nice contrast to the reel one were given by Penn and Beatty.

Also included are two deleted scenes which I'm surprised have survived all this time. The clips are silent as the original audio recordings from the location have been lost but there are subtitles to give fans an idea of what is going on. ***

We also get to see Warren Beatty model clothes for us in the wardrobe tests.

One of Penn's finest films (along with "Night Moves", "The Miracle Worker" and his underrated oddity "The Missouri Breaks"), "Bonnie and Clyde" looks terrific in a remastered deluxe DVD edition. Fans will positively love the clean up job done on the video and while the audio doesn't sound much improved, it sounds as good as it's ever going to get. Highly recommended.

Bonnie and Clyde: The Ultimate Collector's Edition (Warner Home Video) gives us a chance to reexamine a classic film forty-one years after its initial release. If you're asking whether it's worth shelling out the money for this, the answer is a qualified "yes." Is it a "perfect package?" No, not by a long shot...no pun intended. My review will address the component parts of this product.

THE FILM

The film "Bonnie and Clyde" was released rather tepidly by Warner Brothers (which had been purchased by Seven Arts during post-production) in 1967. The film stands on its own (literally) in this box set, and unless improved picture quality is important to you, you would probably be satisfied with the earlier DVD issuance of the film.

Still, the film is astonishing enough. Unlike many 1960's films, it is ageless. "Bonnie and Clyde" is regarded by some reviewers as being one of two classic "anti-hero" films released that year ("The Graduate" being the other film). In case you haven't seen the film....

"Bonnie and Clyde" succeeded in reviving interest in the lives of two Depression-era outlaws, Clyde Barrow (1909-1934) and his girlfriend, Bonnie Parker (1910-1934). Skillfully combining some fact with quite a bit of fiction -- a device that's become commonplace in film -- "Bonnie and Clyde" boasts an outstanding cast. Warren Beatty, who also served as producer of the film, is Clyde -- a charming albeit criminal personality who is also impotent. Bonnie is portrayed by then newcomer Faye Dunaway as a tough young woman yearning for excitement even as she is frustrated by Clyde's lack of sexual interest or prowess ("You're advertising is just dandy," she tells Clyde in an early scene, "Folks would never guess you don't have a thing to sell."

The cast is rounded out by the always excellent Gene Hackman as Clyde's brother Buck alongside Oscar-winner Estelle Parsons as Blanche, his tightly-wound, unhappy and (portrayed rather shrewishly) wife. Michael J. Pollard portrays C.W. Moss -- the only fictional composite amongst the film version of the Barrow gang (he represents three of Clyde's real-life accomplices: Raymond Hamilton, W.D. Jones and Henry Methvin). Smaller roles feature Gene Wilder (his first film) and Evans Evans as a couple who are, in essence, kidnapped by the Barrow gang for a while and forced to accompany them until being released -- a slightly fictionalized incident that in real life involved Dillard Darby and Sophia Stone of Louisiana. Denver Pyle portrays Texas Ranger Frank Hamer and Dub Taylor portrays C.W.'s father. The film is directed by Arthur Penn.

One of the things that has always struck me about the film is the change in tempo and mood. The movie begins with Bonnie and Clyde flirting after Bonnie spies Clyde trying to steal her mother's car. There is the early comedic touch (Clyde trying to rob a bank that has failed). But then Clyde kills a bank teller during a bothched robbery, because C.W. has parked their getaway car and gets boxed in (a scene that goes from laughter to horror as effectively as the oft-mentioned scene in "Jaws" when Roy Scheider sees the shark for the first time aboard the Orca).

From that point on, the violence escalates and the comedic touches are gone. Instead, we are treated to various portents of what is to come. The Barrow gang escape their early shoot outs but then become increasingly bloody in subsequent engagements; dark clouds appear over a cornfield as Bonnie runs away from Clyde, missing her mother; Bonnie ejects the two captives (Wilder and Evans) after learning he is an undertaker -- death is now next to them. This culminates, of course, in the death ballet as Bonnie and Clyde are riddled with bullets.

I am sure others have commented on the historical inaccuracies in the film, but I'll mention a few:

* Bonnie and Clyde actually met at the home of a mutual friend in 1930, and Bonnie did not accompany Clyde on his criminal escapades until 1932.

* Contrary to the film depiction, Bonnie and Clyde seldom robbed banks. Most of their robberies involved small businesses.

* The motivation behind the formation of the Barrow gang was to perpetuate a raid on the Eastham Prison farm, where Barrow had been abused, and to free Raymond Hamilton.

* The most outrageous fictional event in the film, in my opinion, is the film incident where Clyde captures and humiliates Texas Ranger Frank Hamer -- who spits on Bonnie. In reality, Frank Hamer never met Bonnie and Clyde until May 23, 1934 when he was part of the posse that ambushed and killed them near Arcadia, Louisiana. Hamer had been hired as a special agent by the Texas Prison System, following Barrow's Eastham Prison raid, and he was assisted by five other men (B.F. "Manny" Gault, a former Texas Ranger colleague; Henderson Jordan and Prentiss Oakley from the Bienville Parish Sheriff's Office; and Robert Alcorn and Ted Hinton from the Dallas Sheriff's office).

THE EXTRAS

The second disc in this edition is certainly worth the price of admission. There is a three part "Making of.../Marketing of" featurette with interviews of Beatty, Dunaway, Hackman, Parsons, Pollard, Evans, screenwriter Robert Benton (his co-writer, David Newman, is deceased), editor Dede Allen, director Arthur Penn...

While it has been noted by others that Benton and Newman's screenplay owed much to the French New Wave cinema and that they sought Francois Truffault's involvement (he passed, but mentioned the screenplay to Beatty), I was not aware that the original treatment included a menage-a-trois involving Clyde-Bonnie-C.W. This was dropped from the final screenplay at the suggestion of Arthur Penn.

I also was unaware (or had forgotten) that the film bombed on its first release, and that Beatty had taken over the publicity campaign and the film was re-released, garnering a rave review from Pauline Kael. It's a nice bit of film history....and Faye Dunaway still looks stunning!

The second disc also features the A&E documentary, "Love and Death: The story of Bonnie and Clyde." It is well done, and features comments from historians and Clyde's sister Marie -- who died just a few years ago.

There are two deleted scenes offered as an extra, both of them without an audio track. They're interesting but not essential and it is easy to see why each ended up on the cutting room floor. There is also a Warren Beatty wardrobe test.

EXTRAS

There is a perfect bound "photo book" of stills from the movie, which is very nicely done. There is also a smaller "press book" which is a nice keepsake -- although some of the print is a tad small.

On the whole, I am happy I made the purchase.

Having grown up in a small southern Indiana town near the Illinois border, the book evoked strong images of scenes and people I knew in my childhood. The authors managed to avoid the usual stereotypes and gave us a surprise ending, proving their skill at creating characters who seemed like real human beings. Boyd reminded me of some clients I've known who were their own worst enemies, yet a strong sense of justice guided the proceedings despite his character flaws. I also enjoyed the development of the story lines involving WWI and stock market crash from the seldom-seen perspective of middle America.

In their first foray into the realm of fiction, Gene Hackman and Daniel Lenihan created "Wake of the Perdido Star", a novel that I believed to be one of the best seafaring novels of recent memory. It made me very eager for future efforts from this tandem. While it has been several years, the wait was well worth it. Their sophomore effort, "Justice for None", is a dramatic departure from their first work, but is a very enjoyable read.

I was frankly quite surprised that Mr. Hackman and Mr. Lenihan would release a novel that is of an entirely different subject and historical era from their first one. It is something that, I believe, most authors have not pulled off well, and in doing so, have alienated much of their fan base. However, Mr. Hackman and Mr. Lenihan proved to be the exception to this pattern.

"Justice for None" is set in the small Illinois town of Vermilion on the eve of the Great Depression. The story involves Boyd Calvin, a struggling World War I veteran who gets caught up in the murder of his estranged wife, which leads to a pair of runs from justice before a climactic trial to prove his innocence.

The Boyd Calvin character is developed very well, and proves to be an interesting focal point for this story. The authors created someone who elicits in the reader an internal conflict. On the one hand, he is a sympathetic character as he struggles with his dark history in the war, the reconciliation with his wife, and his fight against a justice system in which the odds are wholly against him. On the other, he is almost repulsive, as he consistently resists authority and pushes away those who are trying their hardest to help him. This character development works very well, and is somewhat rare to find in these types of stories. It holds your interest and keeps you locked into the plot.

The plot itself is also intriguing, though it is perhaps more of a part of a broader view of this pre-Depression, Midwest society. It seems almost underdeveloped in some places, and was less of a driver in advancing the story. Rather, it supplemented the character elements and external events, such as the impending stock market crash, race relations, and small town life. While this would seemingly be a liability, Mr. Hackman and Mr. Lenihan made it work. The prose is descriptive yet sparse, which paints a very vivid picture, keeps the reader interested, and also serves to drive the plot at a rapid pace.

I also give credit to Mr. Hackman and Mr. Lenihan for the story development. Novels like this usually have a pretty standard ending that the reader knows at the outset. So, there is usually a "surprise" ending, which sometimes works but more often is picked up by the attentive reader well in advance. In "Justice for None", the authors somehow developed a storyline that was unexpected in terms of how the climactic moment would unfold. Then on top of that, they advanced the story to a wholly satisfying conclusion that had an element of surprise that was also not anticipated. What made the ending so good is that while it was a surprise, it was also rather subdued, which actually served to emphasize the impact even more.

So often in reviews - my own included - there is the tendency to rate something in comparison to the authors' previous work. I tried very diligently to avoid doing so here, because of the stark difference between "Justice for None" and "Wake of the Perdido Star". If I were to rate this based on a comparison, I probably would rate this as 4 stars. However, taken as a stand-alone novel - which is more fair and representative of the work - it does merit a rating of a full 5 stars.

Once again, the work of Mr. Hackman and Mr. Lenihan has apppealed to me as a reader, and I am once again looking forward to their next work. Hopefully, it will not be as long a wait, but I am eager to find out what they come up with next.

I found "Justice for None" to be a very enjoyable read. It crackles with realism--the reader is transported back to the bad old days of the late 1920s, when prosperity was for the few, and hard work and hard luck was the lot of most Americans.

Against the backdrop of the looming and imminent Great Depression this story takes place. The protagonist is a World War One hero, who is also a hard-luck case. Rather than being rewarded and recognized for his heroism in Europe, he is scarred by his wartime suffering, and his marriage does not survive the strain. When someone murders his estranged wife, he is the suspect, and then a fugitive.

The eventual courtroom scenario, as it plays out in the novel, is the story's climax and also involves the best writing in the novel. Further, it seemed to me (I am a trial attorney) that the authors did an exceptionally good job of showing the reason for some of our procedural safeguards in court that protect defendants. The absence of these safeguards in this 1929 trial work to the very great, and unfair, disadvantage of the protagonist. I thought that the authors did an exceptional job of bringing this out, and the trial has a gritty feel of realism, right down to the incident (no real spoiler here) in which the defense attorney realizes that his client has not been entirely truthful or candid with him. There, as in real life, this is a potentially fatal mistake.

The ending surprised me a bit, and the authors do a good job of tying up the loose ends in the story, making for a startling conclusion to a satisfying read.

The atmosphere the authors created swept me back in time to the places and experiences of my youth in Illinois. Justice for None vividly and accurately describes post-World War I Mid-America and combines it with suspense to make a powerful novel. I was totally absorbed by this book and enjoyed it thoroughly.

I won't go into the storyline - you can read about that above. Just one thing: Don't listen to the critics. This is truely a good book.
I'm very glad I bought it and I'm also sure I'll enjoy a second read. If you like thrillers, adventure stories with solid characters, I suggest you read both the authors' books. All the talk about too many cliches, wobbling storyline - foget about it. Just read it. You won't be disappointed. Promised.

This movie was forerunner to all the other '80's Vietnam movies with a storyline of finding MIA's in Vietnam. By far it is the best of them all! My wife is not a big fan of military movies but even she loved this movie. I would pick this movie above any others including the Chuck Norris series (Missing in Action) or even Stallone's Rambo (First Blood Part 2). If you get only one Vietnam MIA movie...this is the one you need.

I just love this movie, so happy that i could purchase this and own it

I think some people like this film because it's about American soldiers listed as missing in action but they're believed still alive.

I can ignore a lot of logical holes in this picture but there are things I can't ignore. Below is the listing of those.
The hand-to-hand fighting scenes look outrageously fake.
The acting of everybody except Gene Hackman is wooden.

There's only one good scene. It's when in his dream, Gene Hackman saw his son, at that time, he was just a small kid asking his Dad "Can I sleep with you tonight?". When Gene woke up, he realized his son was now listed as missing in action in Vietnam.

There only two films on my list of Best Vietnam War movies. They're "We were soldiers" and "Hamburger Hill".

Uncommon Valor is a outstanding motion picture that should be viewed by politicians and war mongrels around the globe. Gene Hackman in Uncommon Valor gave his true feelings and thoughts of a government who leave their men behind in wars (POW's). This movie should and shall be rated above all war films, due in part because the men deplicted on the film fought for freedom of men that their government had forgot. And the men on the film had to lay their lives on the line for real this time with a righteous cause of good. *****

It's every soldier's worst fear: being left behind on the field of battle. Many believe that several soldiers in Vietnam suffered this ultimate fate. It's America's duty to not only seek POWs, but to also bring them home. When red-tape and politics stand in the way as a hindrance to freedom, drastic measures are necessary.

Gene Hackman plays Jason Rhodes, a Korea vet who has been hired by Harry McGregor (Robert Stack) to succeed where democracy has failed. Both have sons they believe to be POWs in Vietnam, and they intend to organize a daring rescue mission.

Rhodes gathers many members from his son's former unit, a motley crew consisting of an explosives expert (Blaster - played by Reb Brown); a tunnle-rat, jungle warfare expert (Wilkes - played by Fred Ward); a wild man, warrior who is a little too attached to a grenade (Sailor - played by Randall "Tex" Cobb), and two helicopter pilots (played by Tim Thomerson and Harold Sylvster) for the evacuation of POWs. They set up training at a replica POW camp in Galveston, TX - financed by McGregor. There, they meet with Scott, played by Patrick Swayze, whose father is MIA in Vietnam. Scott desperately wants to go on the mission, and his presence amongst seasoned vets creates tension at first. Eventually, however, the team bonds, Scott is treated as equal, and the team is ready for the mission.

What follows is a daring rescue mission with selfless acts, incredible heroism, daring rescues, and a perfect resolution - the ending all viewers want.

One of the most unheralded Vietnam movies out there, and one of the best. It leaves a vivid message that our government should follow, and our enemies should fear: we never leave a man behind. No matter how difficult, dangerous, or politically incorrect, ALL troops should return home.

After reading some other reviews,i almost didn't read the book. i'm glad i did! Don't listen to the literary snobs who find fault with every book;if you like a good story, this one has everything. Adventure, conflict, danger, complex human emotions, friendship and teamwork. i like a story that keeps me wondering what will happen next! i found this one thoroughly satisfying,and it could be a great movie.

This book has more action in a single chapter than most authors can put in a trilogy! The best sea saga I've ever read!

I wonder who the professional literary critics were who gave this book such high marks. I agree with whomever wrote the review "The Lightning Never Strikes." I am a former reviewer for INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER MAGAZINE and was given the go-ahead to review Mr. Gene Hackman's first novel. Since I am also a writer who writes nonfiction books about piracy, I was definitely enthusiastic about this swashbuckling novel! But unfortunately I struggled through quicksand to the middle of the book, then called my editor and pleaded with him not to make me finish it and write a review. Since this was right after the book's publishing date, I don't remember the specific superficial scenes I slogged through. I just remember the book was filled with cardboard characters, dumb dialogue, many erroneous facts, and a stupid plot. I don't recommend that anyone waste their time with this novel. Instead, read a novel such as THE DIARY OF A SLAVE GIRL, RUBY JO that includes pirate photos and illustrations as well as nonfiction information about pirates that seems accurate.

Reminiscent of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin and Julian Stockwin's Kydd/Renzi in the pairing of the intellectual LeMaire with the man of action O'Reilly, it is also set in the same period, albeit American- rather than European-based.
We follow half-caste Jack's progression from mild-mannered teenager to ruthless pirate on a mission to eradicate slavers and avenge his parent's death and dishonour.
In a mixture of 'Swiss family Robinson' and 'Captain Blood', the Perdido Star, captained by a crazed drunkard, is wrecked on a desert island, having made heavy weather of rounding the Horn. Neighbouring islanders, salvaged materials and the ingenuity of the survivors combine to provide a comfortable semblance of home, which is rudely shattered by the appearance of a Dutch VOC ship collecting human 'cargo'. Jack is persuaded by circumstances and his friend Paul that the only way to right the wrongs of the world is to take action - and there is action aplenty in this gripping, although slightly pulpy, first novel from Hackman & Lenihan.
Well-drawn characters and an intriguing plot combine to make a story to rival the best in the genre.

Fair enough. It reads like a pulp action story, at times. And our hero Jack is a little to good to be true. Mighty thews and all. Brooding countenance and flashing eyes. However that doesn't make this a bad book. It makes it a pretty entertaining and action-packed book, and while Jack may be a little unbelievable, the action and story aren't unbelievable. Essentially, Jack, the 18 year old son of a gun smith, is swept off on a whirlwind adventure that takes him from the fledgling USA to Cuba to the South Pacific. In it, he encounters self-righteous Yankees, evil Cuban noblemen, bloodthirsty Pacific Islanders (savages, don't you know), bloodthirstier Dutch slavers, and British press gangs. Okay, there are a lot of cliches (and I mean a lot), but there is a lot of fun in here too. And despite the notorious and nigh-legendary phrase "the pintles were sprung from the gudgeon," there's not an overwhelming amount of sea-stuff in here. Try reading Patrick O'Brian and you'll see what I mean. This book is comparable to Wilbur Smith's "Birds of Prey." Kinda like an old Errol Flynn movie. I enjoyed this book a good bit, and would be interested in reading more from these authors.

This was a good book. Case closed. Hackman was great in BONNIE AND CLYDE! I love that movie.

In just picking up the book I found one typo on the first page I turned to, and when I looked at the pages on "Get Shorty," Dennis Farina's name was spelled incorrectly (this was not a typo, even the index had it wrong). Any idiot who knows anything about character actors would know how to spell his name, or at least have an accurate cast list. The book doesn't do a good job dealing with the films. The author writes a few anecdotes, then simply reports how it was reviewed. Hackman deserves better

I saw this at the theater when it was released and also purchased the VHS. This is an excellent movie and it really mystifies me as to what took so long for it to be released on DVD when so much plastic is committed to garbage every week for movies that were better left to deteriorate on film (and were a waste of that film to begin with).

This is one of Gene Hackman's lesser known movies but he did a wonderful job of acting, as a long-time married man who meets a new woman bartender (Ann Margaret) on his birthday and begins an affair with her. The film deals with the complications of Hackman's and Margaret's new found love as well as guilt, along with the anguish it causes his wife (Ellyn Burnstyn) and kids. Perhaps Amy Madigan's acting as Hackman's forever-angry daughter is a bit over the top but I felt all of the acting was superb, as was the script. True, adultery is not an acceptable behavior but it happens and in this movie we see the temptations that led to this happening, as well as the effect is has on everyone in a very realistic and emotional portrayal.

As an aside, I also enjoyed the bits of Pat Metheny's music that was used in the score. This is a "talky" movie and contained too much profanity for my tastes but I also thought it fit with the movie. Now that it is on DVD I am looking forward to its release because this is one of my favorites, and I prefer DVD over VHS. Highly recommended if you are a fan of relationship movies.

"Twice in a Lifetime" is a good drama and worth seeing. Unfortunately, this new DVD is not widescreen as Warner Home Video originally announced, but instead is an especially poorly done pan-and-scan presentation. I do not recommend this disc and am posting this as a public service to those who might be misled by Warner's original announcement or Amazon's "technical details," which are incorrect.

Gene Hackman is not handsome or suave. He isn't a tough guy in the mold of Bogart or Cagney though he has a manly presence. He doesn't have a romantic persona on screen, but somehow he carries off a believable middle-age romance with Ann Margret in Twice in a Lifetime. Well, who wouldn't if the object of affection was Ann-Margret?

When a man leaves his family after fifty, dumps his wife, lovely Ellen Burstyn, and separates himself from his angry daughter, Amy Madigan of the short hair do and Ally Sheedy of the Brat Pack fame, well, all hell breaks lose. If blue collar, Mariner and Sea Hawk rooting, Harry MacKenzie wants a second chance at love, he has to face the wrath of all those that love him.

This is an uncharacteristic look at middle-age divorce and love so rare in a Hollywood film. Harry has wrought a moral and ethical riddle. The audience will have to decide.

for anyone waiting for a decent presentation of this fine film, keep waiting. The transfer is old and grainy and is only availabe in full screen. In this day and age of wide screen TV's and the DVD boom, how can a studio still release product without the slightest consideration for FILM FANS.....BEATS ME?

Gene Hackman is my favorite actor, but with technology the way that it is, I would expect a better DVD transfer than this! It's dirty with scratches and spots and dropouts. Plus, it's only in full-frame format. NO WIDESCREEN!
I gave it 1 star because of Gene Hackman's performance but for me, it's unwatchable.
The tragedy is that this may be the only transfer done of this movie, since it's not a block buster.
COME ON GUYS, LET'S SPEND A LITTLE MORE TIME ON THESE MOVIES! THERE ARE A LARGE NUMBER OF GENE HACKMAN FANS OUT HERE!
By the way, same review for TARGET, although it is in widescreen. That was also very disappointing.