love this movie. Hackman and the rest of the cast do a sterling job.
Ending is very emotional too.
Sylvester Stallone and James Cameron ripped this movie off completely two years later with Rambo II which is the same plot but replace all these charismatic team of actors with one guy instead -> Mr Rambo!
Well in a number of ways you could say that this movie copied BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, with a lot of the same plot elements popping up in both movies. It's sort of a funny look at evolution:
BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI -----> UNCOMMON VALOR -----> RAMBO FIRST BLOOD PART II
Lean to Cosmatos, with only Kotcheff to bridge the gap.
Ok, well, Cameron's screenplay was written in 1983. Doubtful he saw this movie first. It was also based on a treatment by Kevin Jarre (which may have been from 1982), again, not likely to have ripped this film. It is possibly more likely Kotcheff used the story of Rambo II to do his own version, b/c he was attached to Rambo II and dropped out when he felt the story was becoming too pro-war and felt that First Blood was anti-war (I disagree that he achieved that with that film, but whatever.)
To add to the other poster's comment, Kevin was actually a student of David Lean (having grown up with him by way of his father), so certainly he was inspired by Bridge On The River Kwai. Inglorious Bastards (no, not the Tarantino cheesefest) has another free the POWs plot. Even Sly's own Escape To Victory is sort of a precursor to his own Rambo II, but remember First Blood Part II was the first one man army movie.
Hollywood's history is full of 'twin' projects (Dantes Peak/Volcano, Deep Impact/Armageddon etc) where studios or producers have a similar idea or are even inspired by each others idea and then rush to try and get their project out first. Usually they arrive about the same time; what makes this case interesting is that they're two years apart. There was plenty of time to rewrite First Blood Part II, but for whatever reason they didn't - and since it became such a massive hit they seem to have made the right call.
Sly does wish he'd kept more of Cameron's psychological aspects in the finished film, though (Rambo's thoughts on returning back to Nam). Cameron used some of those same aspects with Ripley in the Aliens script.
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Rambo II was more of an action movie, kind of a comic book/superhero film.
This film was more Action-Drama, and more character based.
Both great movies, though. Rambo II's better.
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