Missing in Action (1984)

Sadly Over-hyped

Really Surprised!

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Predictable but fun war thriller which benefits from a pleasingly dark, gritty feel and realism from the location shooting in Vietnam. Back in the mid '80s, if you had a country as an enemy, you wouldn't need to send an army in - instead just pick from the ranks of Norris, Stallone, or Schwarzenegger and you could be sure they would single-handedly wipe out the bad guys for you. Norris plays his role as typically morose and straight-faced, rarely cracking a smile and instead dedicated to his mission, which is rescuing P.O.Ws. Scenes of Norris climbing walls unaided and battling various assassins and opponents help to show off the great man's skills and he proves himself here as a capable action hero, although I would have liked to have seen more of his martial arts abilities which are pushed back in favour of firearms.After the initial set-up, MISSING IN ACTION benefits from plenty of local colour and puts across an image of a really sleazy Saigon, filled with brothels, pimps, murderers, and other street slime. Into this setting comes Norris, assailed by men in cupboards and rocket-launching scum who care not for human life. Later, Norris ventures into the deep dark jungle and the shooting begins, packing scenes with explosions, bad guys getting shot and blown up and plenty of macho heroism - including an uplifting shot of Norris rising from a lake in slow-motion and blasting down the laughing bad guys. The stuntmen (including one J. Claude Van Damme in their ranks, no less) perform their duties well and the action is glossy, explosive and entertaining.Support comes from the capable M. Emmet Walsh who succeeds in the rather clichéd role of 'Tuck', Norris's old army buddy, a boozing, middle-aged, overweight smuggler who goes along for the ride. Lenore Kasdorf is suitably charming as the brief love interest whilst James Hong and Ernie Ortega excel as the slimy Vietnamese villains. The rest of the cast are made up of genuine Vietnamese folk which again adds to the realism of the production. Although this movie caused controversy at the time due to what many people felt were racist representations of the Vietnamese, this doesn't stop it from being a good old-fashioned patriotic blood-and-thunder production, not one of the star's best but a solid entry nonetheless. Two sequels followed which I look forward to watching.

Chuck Norris was one of the big action icons back in the 1980's, where this "Missing in Action" movie also first saw the light of day. But amidst movies such as "Rambo: First Blood Part 2" and "Commando", then "Missing in Action" just didn't have as much impact or punch. Now having said that, I am not saying that it is a bad movie, I am merely saying that it didn't manage to stand up to Stallone's or Schwarzenegger's movies that came out in the same year.What failed to impress in this 1985 "Missing in Action" movie was the storyline. It was just too shallow and failed to get a grip with the audience. Colonel James Braddock was a soldier stationed in Vietnam and were in a P.O.W. camp for years, then he returns to Vietnam to look for soldiers still trapped in camps.There was too much focus on events not taking place in the jungle or in the prison camp, which lead to us sitting and watching Chuck Norris spending 10 minutes, give or take, to climb down and then up a wall of a hotel. It just felt too slow paced and too irrelevant.When the movie actually does pick up pace and brings about the gunfights in the jungle and the P.O.W. camp, it was just too late to remove the mediocrity that permeated the entire movie.Chuck Norris does a good job as Colonel James Braddock, and went on to being a memorable character, but that was not to be before the sequel later on that very same year.

Col. James Braddock (Chuck) spent several years in a North Vietnamese POW camp. After escaping, he's now home, but he's a troubled man. He's invited by the American government to go back to Vietnam to investigate/talk about the phenomenon of soldiers still Missing In Action. Tensions flare, thanks to the evil General Trau (Hong). Braddock, being the badass that he is, decides to go off on his own into the jungle (actually with Tuck (Walsh), an old army buddy), and rescue any remaining POW's himself. While in the midst of their mission, they face an endless stream of baddies trying to stop them. It'll take all the firepower and skill Braddock has to defeat the enemy and save the missing men. Can he do it? This is classic Cannon all the way, and they really hit paydirt with this one. Thanks to the high-quality cinematography, the rousing, triumphant score, and the longer running time, Missing In Action has that big-screen feel. While the pace, at least for the first half of the movie, may seem a bit on the slow side to modern viewers, that's just the way things worked back then. It's a pre-ADD generation action movie. And we're all the better for it. It's ultimately a rewarding experience, and Cannon (as well as moviegoers) obviously thought so too, as this spawned two sequels to date (maybe we haven't seen the last of Braddock...?). Surely this film was at the forefront of the exploding hut/guy falling out of a guard tower/mindless shooting jungle movie back in the golden age of the 80's. Along with the Rambo series, not to mention countless Direct-To-Video items, these movies capitalized on the craze for patriotic movies with plenty of violence that were so in vogue in the Reagan 80's. To hammer the point home even more, stock footage of Reagan is actually IN Missing In Action 2. If you even THINK about communism, Braddock, Rambo, or any number of other heroes will mow you down with a machine gun that's taller than they are. So there. Take that you stupid commies.As for the cast and crew, Chuck Norris here started to take tentative steps toward his Texas-based clothing style that would manifest itself most fully during the Walker: Texas Ranger years. His hair and beard are at their reddest and most impressive here, and when he wears his sunglasses, you really can't even see his face. M. Emmet Walsh is always a welcome sight to see, and he plays a similar character in Red Scorpion (1988), which was also directed by Joseph Zito. As good as Walsh is, we also felt the role could have been played by Nick Nolte. Lenore Kasdorf of L.A. Bounty (1989) fame is onboard, as well as James Hong, who's been in pretty much everything. For our purposes here, he was in the same year's Cannon vehicle, the great Ninja III (1984), and much later was in Talons Of the Eagle (1992). Willie Williams, whose entire movie career seems to have been in Vietnam (or Nam-like) Jungle movies such as Final Mission (1984), Savage Justice (1988), Saigon Commandos (1988) and, not coincidentally, P.O.W. The Escape (1986), continues his tradition with the movie at hand today.Also it has been said that none other than Van Damme appears in an uncredited role as "Car Driver", but we didn't see him, so we can't necessarily confirm that that's actually true. But he's also credited with stunts, along with Aaron Norris, who would go on to direct the second sequel, Braddock, as well as Dean Ferrandini, who would go on to direct Overkill (1996). The next year after this, Zito would direct the ultimate Chuck movie, Invasion U.S.A. (1985) This is a nice trial run for that masterpiece.If there was going to be a movie version of the 80's Nintendo game Jackal, this could be it. It's a shoot-em-up where the hero must save the hostages. But here the hero is outspoken on the M.I.A. issue and is Chuck Norris. I guess those are the only two differences.Missing In Action is undoubtedly a classic and is completely worth seeing. In our eyes, however, the series would improve even more in the subsequent two outings, so watch out for those as well.

"Missing in action " is along with "Delta force " and " The Lone wolf McQuade" the most famous movie with Chuck Norris as the main hero. Unlike the other two which are not great , but solid and enjoyable action flicks this one is bad , very bad . Chuck Norris stated that he made this film as a memorial honor of his younger brother Wieland, who was killed in the Vietnam War in 1970. I feel sorry for his loss , but it's still a bad movie , despite the fact it was a big box-office hit in the 80's with two sequels and it turned Norris into a star.This movie is actually the second in the series . The first two movies were made at the same time . When the producers saw the flicks , they knew that this one was obviously better. They decided to release the number 2 as number 1 . Wise decision . This one is obviously the best in the series (not that any of the movies in the series is good).The basic idea for this story - ex-soldier goes on a solo mission to Vietnam to find missing American soldiers was used before in 1983 ("Uncommon valor" with Gene Hackman and Patrick Swayze) and later in 1985 ("Rambo 2" with Sylvester Stallone). Both movies are MUCH better than this one.For the most part "MIA" is extremely dull. It takes long before Braddock even starts his mission. The action scenes are few and mostly very simplistic , even primitive I dare say. Director Joseph Zito has no sense of pacing or ability to create excitement. There isn't a single memorable action here. What we have here is poor and forgettable. It's like the movie makers were having a hard time making those scenes and no fun. The production values are still decent and the stunts look fine.The screenplay is poor too . The characters are stereotypical and feel fake . The enemies are portrayed in very racist way , not too mention they seem terribly incompetent. Some scenes don't make sense . Chuck breaks international laws and defies logic and realism.Norris has got a stone face all the time no matter what happens. Others are doing little better and the screenplay doesn't help anybody here to create an interesting character (although M. Emmet Walsh is not bad as the sleazy sidekick)."MIA" has some amusing moments , but I wouldn't even recommend it as a "so bad it's good movie" . There are better more laughable and enjoyable bad action flicks out there , for example "American ninja" or "Action Jackson". This one takes itself very seriously , but it's so bad and outdated that it's pure trash , not even an entertaining trash. There are better "one-man army " movies out there.I give it 2/10. Jean Claude Van Damme appears here as a truck driver, but I couldn't spot him anywhere. Maybe you will be more lucky .