Bullet Points: P.O.W. the Escape

When I come across a Cannon action film I expect an action packed ride filled with explosions and an invincible hero. When I come across a movie starring the laconic David Carradine I do not expect an action packed romp. What happens when the two meet as in the 1986 P.O.W. the Escape? Cannon wins out of course. P.O.W. the Escape unsurprisingly tells the story of P.O.W.s escaping during the closing days of the Vietnam War. And I have never been so surprised by David Carradine (except when I found out how he died) than when I watched the usual laissez-faire David Carradine grab some NVA belligerents by the balls in order to make sure “everyone goes home.” Join me on a journey to P.O.W. the Escape, an underrated Vietnam War film, and if you still aren’t convinced I can’t forget the one and only Steve James co-stars.

• Hanging with Colonel Cooper – Col. Jim Cooper (David Carradine, Future Force) is leading a mission to rescue some American P.O.W.s, but since it is during the closing days of the Vietnam War, the Army brass want a loud show of force. Col. Cooper would prefer to go in quietly, but I am glad the Army went loudly because the opening of the film gives us plenty of helicopters and explosions at the prison camp. The camp turns out to be empty because the NVA have set a trap, not that it stops the American soldiers from firing round after round into nothing.
• Who Rescues the Rescuers? – Cooper lives by one mantra, “everyone goes home,” and tries to rescue all his men but the last helicopter out gets blown up mere seconds before Cooper can reach it with casualties in tow. Cooper goes in to rescues P.O.W.s and ends up being a P.O.W. himself. The current prisoners at the camp include Sgt. Johnston (Steve James, Riverbend) and he is the type of soldier you want on your side. One of the highlights of P.O.W. the Escape was watching Steve James fight a Vietnamese soldier that had to be at least 2 feet shorter and 100 lbs. less than James. And when I say fight, I really mean beat the living snot out of.

• Uh-oh, Better Get Mako – The man in charge of the Vietnamese prison camp is Capt. Vinh (Mako, Sworn to Justice) and he is more than excited to have a full bird colonel as a prisoner. He is not excited to have the highest ranking American officer P.O.W. in all of Vietnam in his camp because of the military advantage like the bigwig reds in Hanoi, but because Vinh believes Cooper can help him escape to America. Vinh has relatives in Miami and just like many retired Americans he wants to spend out his remaining years in sunny southern Florida. Vinh only wants to take Cooper and leave the rest of the P.O.Ws to waste away in the prison camp. Vinh clearly doesn’t know about Cooper’s “everyone goes home” mantra and finally relents to taking everyone to freedom.
• Sparks Will Fly – One of the other prisoner is Sparks (Charles R. Floyd in his only career role) and he has had enough of being held captive and does not want to wait for Cooper’s escape plan. He attempts an escape with another prisoner, McCoy (James Acheson.) Sparks and Co. don’t make it too far, getting bested by some Rambo style booby traps with McCoy ending up dead. Later during Vinh’s plan, Sparks finds Vinh’s cache of stolen gold (as an aside, who knew that U.S. servicemen carried so much gold on patrol in Vietnam) and has plans to abscond with said booty.

• Follow That Gold – Cooper and his men successfully escape from Vinh during transport and Sparks thinks that he has gotten away with the gold, only to be outsmarted by Cooper. We now have a race to an evacuation point with Cooper and his men in one place and Sparks being chased by Vinh who believes that Sparks has the gold. To make matters more exciting, Cooper runs across some more Americans who are pinned down. Most of the former P.O.W.s want to ignore the skirmish, but they clearly have forgotten about “everyone goes home” and we are treated to another excellent firefight.
• Everyone Goes Home – All three parties, Cooper, Vinh, and Sparks end up at the evac site and the audience is once again treated to some good old fashioned Cannon action. There is a heroic turn for one character, Steve James does what he does best and kicks ass, and David Carradine shows that he rightly can lead an action film. P.O.W. the Escape is an entertaining action film if you are familiar with Cannon. If you like to see a little more realistic war film it might not be for you (although Cannon made one like that with another underrated Vietnam War film Platoon Leader.) Reading this Bullet Points is just like going to war with Col. Cooper, “everyone goes home” except you get to go home with some Bonus Bullet Points (much better than stolen Vietnamese gold if you ask me.)

Bonus Bullet Points

• They’re Dynamite – Just like with ninja, breakdancing, and lambada films, Cannon was first in the Behind Enemy Lines game. P.O.W. the Escape is also known as Behind Enemy Lines, but came way before the seven other movies that share the name (e.g. 1997’s Behind Enemy Lines.) You might also find P.O.W. the Escape as Attack Force ‘Nam.
• Watch P.O.W. the Escape much, Lethal Weapon? – I know Murtaugh’s quote in 1987’s Lethal Weapon is slightly different (and usually misquoted,) but I find it funny that 1986’s P.O.W. the Escape has the unique quote, “I’m getting too old for this shit.”
• Visit Vietnam – I wouldn’t want to watch a Vietnam movie that doesn’t have cockfighting and prostitution, and I don’t think Cannon could make one without those two vices.
• Best Quote that Should Have Been Used to Sell Cars – Adams (Phil Brock) plays the stereotypical smart guy/nerd, but the one thing he doesn’t know is “how to find a date with mammary glands the size of Buicks.”
• Jungle Boogie – P.O.W. the Escape has some of the best jungle chase music, but it is not the best musical highlight of the film. That award goes to…
• Ridin’ Dirty – After successfully freeing some P.O.W.’s the soldiers are in the back of a truck and spontaneously start singing the Creedence Clearwater Revival song “Proud Mary.” If there was any doubt if Steve James could sing, this scene is proof and I can still hear him singing “Rollin…”