"Crackling Good Redemptive, Patriotic Military Thriller"

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What You Need To Know:
VALIANT ONE doesn’t have big-budget explosions and effects, but it makes the most of its gun battles and suspenseful tension, as well as the cast’s strong performances. It has a highly patriotic, pro-American worldview and a powerful Christian prayer sequence in a scene of heroic self-sacrifice. VALIANT ONE is an entertaining action movie for older teenagers and adults. However, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution due to the movie’s frequent foul language and strong violence.
Content:
More Detail:
There are few places on Earth more terrifying for US soldiers to crash land in than the enemy state of North Korea, and VALIANT ONE is a crackling thriller about how a small band of troops suffers that dilemma and boldly races to escape. The movie offers nearly non-stop action and solid performances that overcome its low-budget limitations, while maintaining a strongly Patriotic worldview and a strong Christian prayer scene that are nonetheless marred by frequent foul language and violence.
Edward (Chase Stokes) is a regular soldier who finds himself thrust into leadership after his U.S. Army helicopter crew crashes deep within Communist territory after wind shears from a storm bring a sudden end to a radar unit repair in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. The team’s commanding officer Chris Lebold (Callan Mulvey) is severely injured in the crash and orders Edward to lead the other survivors to safety.
Together with Asian-America soldiers Stephanie (Lana Condor) and Wilson (Daniel Jun), Edward has to also protect civilian tech specialist Josh (Desmin Borges), whose constant fear provides some comic relief but also repeatedly places them in danger. Josh keeps asking them to just surrender and let the US government negotiate them out, but the soldiers know that this is dangerous folly.
Thus begins the exciting quest to make it to the nearest possible evacuation site, traveling far through a forest while evading North Korean aircraft search teams and battling enemy soldiers at seemingly every turn. An especially harrowing sequence occurs when the US troops seek to take shelter in a building on a rural farm, only to be confronted angrily by a farmer with a shotgun and a battle of nerves as they try to figure out if more danger awaits inside his home, or if he might actually help them.
Can the American soldiers survive the adventure and make it to freedom?
VALIANT ONE stars largely unknown actors who have made their careers in television, but the fact that viewers aren’t rooting for major movie stars actually adds to the tension since it’s not as obvious who will make it through to safety. Writer-Director Steve Barnett keeps the storyline a model of fast-moving efficiency as it barrels through its tight 86 minute running time. However, he also draws strong performances during a few quieter moments of revelation.
The shootouts are so sharply designed that several moments will likely elicit surprised gasps from the audience. There’s also a fantastic scene of self-sacrifice that has a powerful rendition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Yet, the movie is hindered by its generic locations that could have been shot anywhere, which at times detracts from VALIANT ONE’s believability. Also, the movie’s confrontation with the farmer and his shotgun is exciting, but it’s completely off-base because the totalitarian North Korean state strictly bars gun ownership.
Sadly, VALIANT ONE features lots of obscenities and a few profanities, but the violence is kept to a superhero-movie level of mostly bloodless action. Overall, VALIANT ONE serves up a highly enjoyable thrill ride that older teenagers and adults can enjoy, although with extreme caution because of all the movie’s strong foul language.