Gen Z Goes Behind Enemy Lines

Captain Edward Brockman (Chase Stokes) is no Alvin York. He doesn’t have the sting of M*A*S*H’s Hawkeye or even the chutzpah of Owen Wilson in Behind Enemy Lines. That’s understandable because, unlike these soldiers of cinema’s past, he’s part of the first generation of Americans not to have a war of its own. 

But, when things go as sideways as they do a few minutes into the new movie Valiant One, Brockman realizes that sometimes all that stands between uneasy global alliances and the outbreak of armed conflict with North Korea is a Silicon Valley dreamer who learns that a stint in the military is more than a resume builder. 

While Valiant One wears its war film genre tropes well, it also raises questions few movies of its kind have dared to ask: What identity does a soldier have in a combat landscape when the military has as much use for the first-person shooter and coding skills of couch potatoes as the doughboys it makes over in the image of Patton? 

After an impressive career as a producer on films from 300 to last year’s Antonio Banderas holiday offering Journey To Bethlehem, Steve Barnett moved into the director’s chair for Valiant One, a dream project that took over a decade to bring to fruition. As he readies the film for its nationwide debut this weekend, he’s also getting acclimated to life in Middle Tennessee, where the lifelong Southern Californian moved full-time last summer.

The Pamphleteer sat down with Barnett and producer Bernie Goldmann to talk about representing combat in the Gen Z era, building the DMZ on a budget, and tapping into the enduring appeal of the war movie.

Valiant One is inspired by a true story. What was the process like of honoring its foundation in reality but also making it a cohesive fiction film?

Barnett It started at a high school reunion with a buddy of mine named Todd. We reconnected at the reunion. It was the typical, “What are you up to? What are you up to?” He says, “ I'm a Navy SEAL.” It was like my head exploded. I told him we had to have coffee. I wanted to know more.

He told me about a lot of mission stories, and he said, “There was one time I thought for sure this was it. This is the moment where I die.” It was on a very, very boring routine for a Navy SEAL along the DMZ in South Korea. They hit weather, and the helicopter went crazy. Fortunately, the helicopter pilot was able to pull them out just before they hit the ground and get them back to camp. So that’s the inspiration—that moment that could happen without any warning. 

From there, it was important to create an everyman kind of character who’s thrown into an extraordinary situation. We had to substitute the Navy SEALs, in this case, and make them the Delta Force guys. But we have these characters who are not ready for this. 

Todd was on set with us every day from the preproduction all the way through. It was nice to not only have the guy who inspired this but also an expert on the details of being a soldier. That includes everything: patch placement, direction, the way they carry their weapons, the way they communicate. Literally everything.

While this is your directorial debut, you’ve had an extensive career as a producer on movies like 300 and this year’s Hit Man. How does producing influence your approach to directing?

Barnett I came up through the development ranks with Bernie. He’s my mentor. So I'm a blessed man to be able to work on this film with the producer I worked with from the very beginning. 

I began doing script development—working with writers and working with filmmakers to get them ready to go make their movies. My first opportunity to be on set as a creative producer was with Bernie on a movie called Land of the Dead by George Romero. It was an absolute bucket list moment for me. I was a big fan of George's stuff as a kid.

So, the transition for me was both easy and hard. I know that sounds crazy, but prep and production are always a challenge. Post and editing were a little different for me because I learned really quickly that, as a creative producer, you don't see a movie until after ten weeks of a director doing their job. I don't think I had ever seen an actual assembly of a film before this. 

Obviously, I know what that is and that it's a critical part of the process, but I had never seen an assembly, and I was blown away by how much work we had to do. It was the same with visual effects and the first version of any score cue. 

You're starting with something incredibly raw. I had not really dealt with anything that raw, so that was part of the learning curve for me.  Bernie did a good job keeping me focused on filmmaking as opposed to producing. But, taking the producer hat off and putting the director hat on is a big change. Luckily, Bernie had done that too, so we could speak to it through his own experience.

It’s a challenge because you're so focused on time as a producer, and, as a director, you're not as focused on time as much as you are on what you're doing in that moment. It took me a few days to stop worrying about time and continue to just stay 100% focused on what was in front of me.

You didn’t have Saving Private Ryan money, but the movie could go toe-to-toe with a studio war film. You both have worked with indie filmmakers like Romero and Richard Linklater, who can make great art and get the most out of their modest budgets. What lessons did you learn from those experiences that you applied to this film?

Barnett Hire good people. Do the work you need to do early on to find the right creative, talented craftspeople who can help you bring something to life that's bigger in your head than what you can afford. It's all about hiring the right people.

Goldmann What Steve really learned was to be prepared and make decisions before you’re on the set–to be open to input. The more that you know going into a situation enables you to make a movie for a price. The great thing about filmmakers like Steve or Zack [Snyder, director of 300], or George is that they have a clear vision for the movie. They've done writing on the movie before. They really understand what they're going for. So, they bring that point of view to the day and they're able to emotionally accomplish what they want for all the other department heads. That’s a really important aspect of filmmaking.

What sets Valiant One apart from other war films is that you cast actors mostly known for Netflix teen dramas as your action heroes. Chase Stokes is from The Outer Banks and Lana Condor is from the To All the Boys movies. That choice really enhances the film’s themes. For an audience member who has seen some of these actors in roles as inexperienced teenagers, it also adds a lot to the tension. How much did that factor into your casting decisions?

Barnett 100%. We wanted to have Gen Z or young millennial actors because that’s the age of most of these soldiers, especially the ones who are in non-combat. 

One of the most important goals for us was showing a different side to the military. The majority of soldiers are not in combat. The very beginning of the movie shows that world is very much a business-oriented Office Space kind of world. That provided us an opportunity to take characters who didn't look and act like Captain America and throw them into a situation that they're not really prepared for or really trained to do. It was a deliberate choice for sure.

Goldmann I grew up in the era when people were getting draft cards still, and anybody could be called. It created a huge amount of anxiety, obviously. That was back when people were largely anti-war because of the draft. We really wanted to get at the idea that anyone can end up in this situation and how terrifying that can be.

How did you navigate current criticisms of the military? We hear a lot about how it is not meeting recruitment goals and lowering its standards, but also about how it increasingly relies on those with technical skills that don’t quite meet the stereotypical definition of soldiers. The movie perfectly balances those issues and doesn't show its politics at all.

Barnett We were never going to take a political stance in this movie. Frankly, I didn't pay enough attention to military recruitment back when we started it. We wanted to make a movie that was a human story, that was about survival and a hero's journey. Those are some of my favorite films.

Goldmann In many ways, it's an anti-war movie and a pro-military movie all at the same time. I think that’s a really interesting combination. It's not something we thought about, because, for us, it was so much about putting these characters that aren't ready for war into war. But, through that process, you see the horror. Nobody should have to go to war, but if you are going to go to war, you have to stand up for the guy next to you. And that’s heroism.

As a new resident of the Nashville area, what drew you here, and what do you hope Nashville audiences get out of the movie?

Barnett I've been coming to Nashville for about 10 years on business. I've made a film here [King + Country’s 2016 human trafficking drama, Priceless]. We shot out at Camp Widjiwagan at Percy Priest Lake, which is an amazing camp. When we were there making the movie, I just fell in love with the city.  I'm born and raised in Los Angeles and in Southern California. My wife was born and raised there as well and has a huge family. So moving to Nashville was a big leap, but it was really the timing. We were just waiting for our kids to get out of high school and head off into a new adventure. And Nashville is the perfect place for us.

I'd like people in Nashville to get the same message that I hope everybody gets—that we all have a leader in us. We all have a hero in us. And we need to find it. Hopefully, everyone can find it, not just under circumstances like this.

Goldmann I think no matter what your political views are, your religious views, or however you feel, standing up for the person next to you is a great way to go through your life. Having that compassion, and that support, and that ability to stand up for your neighbor, your friend, your family.

Steve has found a great way to make these ordinary people heroic. That’s where heroism comes from, standing up for their friends and neighbors. I hope that's what people take away.

Valiant One opens today in theaters nationwide.