Bullet Points: Missing in Action
When Menahem Golan first signed up Chuck Norris to a multi-picture deal with Cannon, I can’t imagine either man knew how monumental that would be.
Chuck Norris became a cornerstone and huge draw for The Cannon Group and the movies that Chuck made with Cannon, like The Delta Force and Invasion U.S.A. helped make Chuck Norris into the larger than life action icon he would become… not to mention his association with Cannon is what led to Chuck’s long running series, Walker, Texas Ranger.
The first Chuck Norris movie released by Cannon was 1984’s Missing in Action. Missing in Action would end up being the highest grossing movie in Chuck’s career and interestingly enough it is also the subject of this edition of Bullet Points…
- Introducing Col. James Braddock: Missing in Action opens up with Braddock (Chuck Norris) flashing back to his time in Vietnam. Braddock wakes up from these haunting images only to hear a news story on TV about upcoming talks between the United States and Vietnamese governments. The purpose of this meeting is to address the concerns that United States soldiers, who have been classified as missing in action, are actually still being held prisoner in Vietnam P.O.W. camps… a theory Braddock himself had stated publicly on many occasions. But the news report informs us that Braddock has basically gone off the grid and has refused to be a part of these talks… and that is about the time Braddock decides to make that report look like “fake news” and he picks up the phone, calls Washington and simply states, ‘This is Braddock. I’ll go.”
- Welcome to Ho Chi Minh City: Braddock accompanies Senator Maxwell Porter and Ann Fitzgerald from the State Department to Ho Chi Minh City for the talks… things get off to a rough start with the Senator upset by Braddock’s wardrobe and his refusal to shake the hand of General Tran (James Hong, Big Trouble in Little China). We then get a stare down between Braddock and another high ranking Vietnamese official named Vinh… Braddock recognized Vinh as the guy who tortured him when he was a P.O.W. …Things gets even worse once the actual talks begin and General Tran immediately tries to discredit anything Braddock planned on saying, by bringing out some of the locals who were strong armed into saying they witnessed Braddock committing war crimes while serving in the United States Army Special Forces in Vietnam… painting the picture that Braddock was imprisoned in their country, but not because he was a P.O.W. but because he was a common criminal.
- Night Moves: After the day one proceedings, the American visitors are invited to a cocktail party taking place at the hotel they are being sequestered in. Ann invites Braddock up to her room for a nightcap and Braddock gladly accepts the invite… but it ends up being a smokescreen for the guards in the hotel hallway… they see Braddock enter Ann Fitzgerald’s room with a bottle of champagne, but once he’s inside he strips down… dons an all black get up and decides to sneak out of the hotel and pay a visit to General Tran… I am not sure exactly how he knew where to find Tran, but the important thing here is he puts a knife to Tran’s throat as he was sleeping and gets him to tell him the location of the P.O.W. camp… Tran tries to shoot Braddock as he was leaving, but Braddock expected it and threw a knife right into Tran’s gut. It is then panic and chaos as guards show up after hearing the shot that Tran fired and Braddock has to haul ass to get back to the hotel and it is at the hotel where Vinh and some soldiers kick down Ann Fitzgerald’s door and finds her in bed with Braddock. Vinh is pissed and tells Braddock he has to leave Vietnam in the morning.
- One Night in Bangkok: Instead of returning to the United States, Braddock opts to take a flight to Bangkok where he plans on looking up an old army buddy, Jack Tucker (M. Emmet Walsh). Braddock knows Tucker has a boat that can get Braddock back into Vietnam and specifically near the P.O.W. camp. Braddock also knows Tucker will know where he can get the supplies and weapons he is going to need to pull off this rescue mission… which includes a badass raft made out of Kevlar, that felt like it was straight out of G.I. Joe. But Vinh and some of his men suspected Braddock may be up to something so they followed him to Bangkok, looking to take him out before he can do anything… this is where the action really starts to ramp up. The action does not stop as the movie enters its third act and Braddock finds himself back in the jungles of Vietnam and with one mission in mind… find the prisoners of war and bring those boys home!
Missing in Action was a great foundation for what was to come from the Chuck Norris/Cannon relationship. The movie is filled with moments and scenes that you’d expect to find in a Cannon film, but to me the most memorable scene is the grand finale…
You’ve got the high ranking Vietnamese official standing in front of reporters from around the world, his chest puffed out, proclaiming that Vietnam has no prisoners of war in their country… Then Braddock comes busting through the doors, with the P.O.W.s he rescued and we get the freeze frame shot that serves as a big exclamation point to the end of the film. That scene is so powerful and is built up so well with the cuts between the Vietnamese bullshitter and the chopper landing right outside the building, that even though I had seen the movie dozens of times before, I still wanted to get up off my couch and yell “EXPLAIN THAT YOU LYING BASTARD!” Just a fantastic way to end the film…
And a fantastic way to end a review, is with some Bonus Bullet Points…
- If You Ever: …wanted to see Chuck Norris watching the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends cartoon, then Missing in Action is the movie for you. Rumor has it that Cannon was able to use the animated Spidey footage royalty free, since they had just acquired the movie rights to Spider-Man.
- Directed By: Missing in Action was directed by Joseph Zito. Joe and Chuck would reunite the following year for Invasion U.S.A.
- Name that Tune: Couldn’t help but notice that the music that is playing while Braddock is walking the streets of Bangkok, sounded like it came from Cannon’s other big hit of 1984, Breakin’.
- Hall of Famer: The Col. James Braddock character was inducted into our Bulletproof Action Hall of Fame in 2016.
- If You Ever: …wanted to see M. Emmet Walsh in bed with two Bangkok whores, then Missing in Action is the movie for you.
