10 Things You Didn’t Know About Act of Valor
There are few things that I would love more than a live action G.I. Joe movie that kicks ass. Lord knows we fans deserve it! After some shitty animated attempts and a few poorly written films, I’m quickly losing hope that any news could ever come out and make me feel good about a future film. All that is to say that we’re probably never getting the Joe movie that we want but AT LEAST we can always look back on 2012’s Act of Valor and know that if such a movie were ever to be made, two cats by the name of Scott Waugh and “Mouse” McCoy would totally kill it.
Check out these 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Act of Valor!
#1. The scenes that open the film were meant to be filmed in the Philippines but were shot in Cambodia due to some unrest in the country. They filmed many of the scenes from the back of a motorcycle as they cruised through the busy streets.
#2. Much is made about the fact that the SEAL’s in the film are played by actual active duty Navy SEAL’s. Lt. Rorke was played by SEAL Rorke Denver. His wife really was pregnant during filming and a conversation with directors Scotty Waugh and Mouse McCoy about not missing his wife’s delivery for anything in the world ended up being heavily featured in the film.
#3. All of the families shown in the film, including the wives and children, were played by the real life family members of the SEAL’s. The only exception was actress Ailsa Marshall playing Lt. Rorke’s pregnant wife.
#4. The parachuting scene was a real HALO jump from approximately 30,000 ft. They had to wear breathing apparatus since they were above 18,000 ft. and no camera could jump with them. They had to have cameras placed on some of the soldiers jumping but there were no green screens or CG shots of any kind.
#5. For many of the gun battle scenes the directors wanted to use live ammunition. For the rescue mission to find Roselyn Sanchez’s character, they arranged to film on a massive range in Mississippi. They were able to fire live ammo and still have access to the body of water needed for the rescue. The major problem was that the swamp housed some very dangerous critters including crocodiles, brown recluse spiders, and poisonous snakes.
#6. Speaking of the rescue mission, the action seen on film was done using only one take with a plethora of cameras located throughout the shot. Members of the crew were positioned inside the boats and running behind the soldiers. They would later have to “paint” the camera operators out of the final picture.
#7. It took them 18 months to get the Navy to allow them to shoot on the submarine as it crested the water. When they were finally given clearance to shoot there, they still only had roughly 40 minutes to get the shots they needed. Both directors talk multiple times about their ability (much like the SEAL’s themselves) to be “On time, on target”.
#8. Like most of the other action scenes, due to the short amount of time they had to film with the team, they filmed a massive one shot of the op on the yacht. They had cameras placed all over the place and had to paint the camera operators out of the shots in post production. The mission itself was planned by the team (based on what they would actually do in that situation) and executed while the crew made sure there were enough cameras around to get shots.
#9. Surviving an RPG hit is based on a true story of Channing Moss. Moss was hit by an RPG on the left side of his body that extended out of his skin on the right side, although the RPG did not explode. Surgeons removed the RPG without it going off, but most of Moss’ pelvic bone shattered and much of the large intestine was removed. He was awarded the Purple Heart. The film shows a similar shot of a soldier being impacted by a rocket from a RPG. The typical arming distance for a RPG is 25 meters, which explains why the rocket did not explode.
#10. The scene where a SEAL saves his comrades by throwing himself on a grenade is based on the real life case of Navy SEAL legend Michael Monsoor who did just that in 2006 whilst fighting in Ramadi, Iraq. He was later posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor and President George W. Bush attended his funeral, later stating that he was profoundly moved by the sight of numerous SEALs embedding their Trident badges into the coffin. Rorke Denver was in a sister platoon to Monsoor and it felt a fitting tribute from the cast and crew of Act of Valor to show that on film.
