Colonel Braddock launches a mission deep into the jungles of Vietnam to find the POW camp that he escaped from and free the Americans still held captive there. Colonel Braddock, who escaped from a POW camp after 10 years, returns to Vietnam. He attempts to track down the location of a POW camp and rescue the prisoners to prove that several MIAs are still alive and being held captive. He is prompted to attempt his mission because of Government denials about the possibilities of existing POWs. Col.James Braddock(Chuck Norris) goes back to Vietnam to rescue POWS still being held in Vietnam in this Reagan era action flick which features a big body count, lots of jingoism and gratuitous stupidity. Missing In Action is a movie that I actually saw in theaters and I indeed loved how a few months later, MIA 2 was released. Of course I always liked the second one better and basically consider this the lesser of the two. Although there is some fun to be had, there are also many slow spots that derail some the overall enjoyment.However nothing speaks more for the Reagan years as much as this. (Red Dawn and Rambo:First Blood Part 2 edge out MIA as defining the Reagan years.) Plus the action is slick and while MIA is somewhat dated, nostalgia factor makes this, a fun Rambo clone.<br/><br/>* * out of 4-(Fair) MISSING IN ACTION and MISSING IN ACTION: THE BEGINNING Just in time for his big screen comeback, these two Chuck Norris favorites arrive on blu-ray disc. Coming from the less than believed producers Golan-Globus, the Cannon logo never looked more gloriously cheesy than it does in high definition, these 80's "gems" are a part of the whole lets go back and win the Vietnam conflict wish fulfillment fantasies of the Reagan/Bush era. On that scale of things, these two pictures come on the short end, not living up to the high mark leveled by Sly Stallone with Rambo: First Blood Part II or Gene Hackman and his all-star crew in the much needed on blu-ray Uncommon Valor.<br/><br/>As it is, these are the film the legend that is Chuck Norris is probably best known for. The first picture is by far the better of the two, which producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus knew, because actually these two pictures where shot in reverse order, but once the mini-moguls saw the flicks, they new that they had one turkey and one half way decent programmer on their hands.<br/><br/>Here starring as Col. James Braddock, the role he was born to play, Chuck leads a rescue mission for MIAs still keep prisoner in Vietnam years after the war. Aided by a bullet proof raft, a never ending supply of ammo and a better than this movie deserves partner in character actor M. Emmet Walsh. This works pretty nicely as guilty pleasure escapist entertainment that still holds up fairly well. Hear the Chucksaurus roar.<br/><br/>MIA 2 on the other hand is whole different beast. Cheap and shoddy looking, it feels like a real bad TV episode from the era. With Chuck easily out acting, yes you read that right, most of the rest of the cast. This movie is just a sloppy, silly mess with a storyline so absurd that it almost has to be seen to be believed. Although, it must be said that at times the flick goes so far over the edge as to be comically, making it often so bad that it is funny, if not exactly good. A twice over infinity of internet jokes were born right here.
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