Putting the audience into the boots of real Navy SEALs is the paramount intention of Scott Waugh and Mouse McCoy’s Act of Valor, and they’re reasonably successful at accomplishing this goal. While the film’s plot may be no great shakes as an action picture with a terrorist motif at its core, watching the real SEALs go through their paces on three interconnected operations gives the film a veracity that most fiction movies simply can’t match. Their stoic but secure approach to the most dangerous missions imaginable gives the film its real charge and makes it worth watching, particularly for action fans who want to see the real deals rather than their fictional movie or television incarnations.
Act of Valor (Blu-ray Combo Pack)
Directed by Scott Waugh, Mouse McCoy
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Year: 2012
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 111 minutes
Rating: R
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English
Subtitles: SDH, Spanish
Region: A
MSRP: $ 39.99
Release Date: June 5, 2012
Review Date: June 3, 2012
The Film
3.5/5
When a CIA operative Lisa Morales (Roselyn Sanchez) is kidnapped by terrorists, her rescue is assigned to a Navy SEAL unit headed by Lt. Rorke and his best friend Dave. (The real SEALs in the movie go only by their first names.) Intelligence determines her abduction was necessary because she knew of a potentially lethal combination of terrorists who had been friends in their youth: Abu Shabal (Jason Cottle) who is masterminding the construction of fifteen horrific vest bombs meant to be set off via suicide bombers in primary American cities and Christo (Alex Veadov) who will arrange for the bombers to be slipped into America via drug cartel tunnels from Mexicali. Thus the SEALs have their three targets which they must either rescue or neutralize.
Kurt Johnstad’s script attempts to give the various SEALs in the unit some family time in the early going to put a more human stamp on these fearless warriors, and while there is one effective moment when Rorke’s wife (Ailsa Marshall) shows her husband one face as she bids goodbye and another one of genuine anguish when she shuts the door, most of the stateside scenes in the early scenes betray the SEALs' genuine lack of acting skill. Once the missions begin, however, their business-like demeanors and their absolute authority in every situation in which they find themselves is stunning to watch. Just to see them effortlessly rise up and down in unfriendly waters, take aim at targets and shoot with unblinking accuracy, or handle situations where things don’t go smoothly lends the movie great power. The film does a good job in displaying the truly global nature of terrorist activity that requires units like the SEALs to be in constant rotation, and the genuine threat to our safety is established very well. The first and third missions are the most difficult ones, and directors Scott Waugh and Mouse McCoy put us right into the heart of the battles, often filming point of view shots in the air during drops, from underwater, or using night scopes, all of which lend a great feeling of reality to the proceedings. And since real ammunition was used in these scenes (the SEALs refused to do anything that wasn’t authentic), the bullets whizzing by and hitting targets certainly make a great impact. The missions are rather simplistic in nature (not much complex strategizing) and follow expected paths toward their completions (though there are causalities; despite their bravado, they aren’t immune to bombs or bullets).
Roselyn Sanchez, Nestor Serrano (who plays another CIA operative), and Gonzalo Menendez (who’s the Mexican commander who transports the SEALs to the fight in Mexicali) will be familiar faces to frequent television viewers, and while they’re all splendid, their roles are rather limited. More important to the film are two new faces: Alex Veadov as the smiling, sadistic Christo and the angry, driven, hateful Shabal of Jason Cottle. Playing villains is something most actors savor, and these two certainly make their antagonists vivid in comparison to the various SEALs in the film who operate more with a unit-mentality and don’t seek special moments for über-heroics. Rorke, Dave, and Van O (who has a wonderfully spunky give-and-take with Christo late in the movie) are given the lion’s share of acting scenes, and while they’re natural enough before the camera, their skill definitely resides in the sterling military maneuvers we see them undertake in this picture.
Video Quality
4/5
The film has been framed at its theatrical aspect ratio of 2.40:1 and is presented in 1080p using the AVC codec. Filming was begun using Panavision 35mm film but during the lengthy shoot (due to the SEAL members constantly being called back to service), shooting switched to digital. That may be part of the reason why some shots seem less sharp and defined than others or places where line twitter is evident. Overall, however, color saturation is fine (the color palette is rather subdued), and flesh tones are natural throughout. Black levels are usually very good, but details can certainly be subdued in shadows on some of the nighttime maneuvers. When languages other than English are spoken, white subtitles are used, and they’re very easy to read. The film has been divided into 24 chapters.
Audio Quality
5/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix is exactly what one would expect of a 21st century action film. The channels are alive with sounds, not just during the numerous firestorms which punctuate the movie but also during quieter moments, too, as when the men rise from the water and go into the bush: the sounds of nature all around them put the viewer eerily into the middle of those fields. Nathan Furst’s music is bombastic and driving and placed effectively in the front and rear channels. Dialogue might occasionally be lost amid the din of gunfire, but that’s not a major distraction. Dialogue has been placed in the center channel.
Special Features
3.5/5
The audio commentary is provided by directors Scott Waugh and Mouse McCoy. The film was an obvious labor of love for these guys, and they convey their enthusiasm for their cast, both professional and amateur, from first to last. They continually assert the authenticity of the weapons, the bullets, the vehicles, and the gadgets used in making the movie. Fans will get a kick out of their gung-ho spirit conveyed in this commentary.
All of the video featurettes are presented in 1080p.
There are six deleted scenes which can be viewed individually or in one 9 ¼-minute grouping.
An introduction to the film by its directors runs 3 ¼ minutes.
Seven of the Navy SEALs give brief interviews about their characters and their own combat experiences. Each of the interviews runs about 4 ½ minutes or can be viewed in a 30 ½-minute bunch. The interviews are with Rorke, Dave, Mikey, Ray, Sonny, Ajay, and Weimy.
There are four brief EPK featurettes focusing on various aspects of the movie:
- “The Making of Act of Valor” runs 5 ½ minutes and features sound bites from directors Scott Waugh and Mouse McCoy, SEALs Rorke and Dave, and producer Jacob Rosenberg.
- “Real Bullets” accentuates the information that live ammunition was being used during the filming in this 2 ¼-minute vignette.
- “Real SEALs: Real Tactics” discusses the realness of the maneuvers used in the movie. It runs 2 ½ minutes.
- “Silent Warriors” emphasizes the lack of outward bravado of the SEALs who are confident in their abilities without a need for showboating and the sense of unit cohesion with the men whose exploits are never really headline grabbing. This runs 2 ¾ minutes.
“For You” music video is performed by Keith Urban and runs for 4 ½ minutes.
A making of featurette for the music video runs 4 minutes showing how explosions were rigged as backgrounds for moments in the video.
There are promo trailers on the disc for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Get the Gringo, This Means War, Bad Ass, and Homeland: Season 1.
The second disc in the set is the combination DVD/digital copy of the movie.
In Conclusion
3.5/5 (not an average)
Act of Valor would have been a routine terrorist extermination caper were it not for the presence of real Navy SEALs as primary members of the film cast. The movie offers a gritty and exacting trio of missions for the men which will hold your interest and give new respect for this under-appreciated group of our armed forces.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
