Missing In Action Review

MPAA Rating: R
Released: 1984

Vietnam and the MIA issue proved to be juicy material for creators of action-packed B-movies during the 1980's since audiences were all too happy to see America finally "win" the war. Sylvester Stallone's Rambo: First Blood Part 2 may be the most popular of these films, but Chuck Norris took a whack at the topic a year earlier with his own film, Missing In Action. So lace up your combat boots and check your gear, because we're about to return to Vietnam…

By 1984 Chuck Norris had become a household name for his martial arts/action flicks, despite the fact that a lot of his earlier movies were hampered by lower budgets. Since his name had now become money in the bank, director Joseph Zito was able to play with a larger budget for the making of Missing In Action (though it would still pale in comparison to today's major productions).

Colonel James Braddock (Chuck Norris) is invited to partake in an American delegation to Vietnam where the subject of POWs will be discussed. The belief is Braddock will give the Americans some bargaining power since he is all too familiar with the MIA situation: he was one.

But the Vietnamese General Trau (James Hong) has plans of his own. During a well-televised conference he lays out false charges of abominable war crimes against Braddock, backed up by signed affidavits from coerced civilians. In order to cast doubt upon the MIA situation and Braddock's credibility, he claims that Braddock was never a POW, but rather imprisoned as a common war criminal. Vietnam categorically denies the presence of any living MIAs.

Luckily Braddock isn't going to return to America without our boys, so after partaking in an unauthorized nightly reconnaissance mission and learning the location of a prison camp, he teams up with Tuck (M. Emmet Walsh), an old Army pal, and charges into the jungles of Saigon to single-handedly free the POWs.

Obviously with these types of films you need to check your brain at the door and just enjoy the over-the-top action sequences; Missing In Action is no different. The film does differ significantly from Rambo in that the majority of the film takes place in the cities of Saigon and Bangkok rather than the exterior jungles, unlike Rambo, which took place almost entirely in the jungle setting. Nor is Braddock tasked by the government to silently infiltrate Vietnam and find proof of victims; he does this of his own accord.

Other than those differences you pretty much know what to expect: hailstorms of machine gun bullets, explosions that would make a nuclear strike look pale in comparison and a smattering of martial arts action thrown in for good measure.

Chuck Norris plays this role with a far more serious nature than previous ones; there are no glimpses of mischief or one-liners. His character is dark, angry and haunted by the atrocities of Vietnam, and to prove it he kicks in his television after waking up from a nightmare. Why? He didn't like what the newscaster was reporting.

M. Emmet Walsh's was clearly designed to be the minimal comic relief Missing In Action provides, not that his performance or actions were particularly amusing. In actuality his character was so poorly written that there was no way I could believe this overweight bumbler was previously a war hero. Luckily the role this character plays in the film is so minimal that he can't detract from it too much.

Although I think Rambo serves up a better dish of this style of unrealistic post-Vietnam action overall, Missing In Action is still solid enough to appeal to most Chuck Norris or Cold War popcorn flick fans.

Movie rating: 7 stars

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