Bullet Points: Braddock: Missing in Action III

The third and final chapter of Cannon’s Missing in Action Trilogy was released on January 22, 1988. In honor of the anniversary, I cracked open the Kino Lorber Blu-ray release of Braddock: Missing in Action III and gave the movie a long overdue rewatch…

• The Fall of Saigon: The movie begins on April 29, 1975. It is the end of the Vietnam War and American troops are evacuating the country. It is total pandemonium and chaos on the streets of Saigon and at the United States Embassy. In this version of the Colonel James Braddock story, we find out that Braddock fell in love and married a Vietnamese woman named Lin Tan Cang (Miki Kim). Lin goes home to get her papers so she can go to the United States with her husband… but it is a case of “Murphy’s Law” for Lin and Braddock on this historic day. Braddock believes Lin died in an explosion, the very much alive Lin can’t gain access to the Embassy since she lost her papers and then Braddock is shot and wounded while saving a damsel in distress.

• A Priest Walks Into a Bar: Time jump to present day Washington D.C. and we find Braddock enjoying a drink at a bar when he is approached by Reverend Polanski played by Yehuda Efroni, who I believe holds the record for most Cannon Films appearances. Polanski is in American to raise funds for the Amerasian Children’s Mission in Vietnam and to look for Braddock. Reverend Polanski drops some bombshells on Braddock, 1) His wife is still alive. 2) He has a son named Van. Braddock is dumbfounded by this news and does not believe what the Reverend has told him… When Braddock goes to leave the bar, some guys from the CIA stop him and tell him their boss wants to speak to Braddock. Braddock goes to see CIA Agent Littlejohn (Jack Rader, The Blob). The first thing Littlejohn asks Braddock about is if Reverend Polanski told Braddock some “crazy story” about his wife still being alive… and it is at that moment that Braddock realizes the Reverend was telling the truth. Braddock then asks Littlejohn what the CIA is going to do to get his wife and son out of Vietnam and Littlejohn bluntly replies with “Nothing.” even though he knows there’s no way Braddock is going to do nothing.
• The Hook: I should mention I doubled down on my Braddock celebration this past weekend, watching the movie twice! I turned the commentary track on during my second viewing and enjoyed the anecdotes and conversation provided by the “commentary track dream team” of Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. Mike and Arne talked about how Chuck Norris was originally not interested in doing a third Missing in Action movie, feeling they had run out of ides. But that changed when Chuck’s brother, Aaron, told him about a documentary he saw about Amerasian children who were left behind in Vietnam after the war had ended. Then Chuck saw a piece 20/20 did on Amerasian children and that sealed the deal. Chuck worked with screenwriter James Bruner to develop the script and the two share writing credits.

• One Night in Bangkok: Back to the movie… Braddock makes his way to Bangkok where he meets up with his old war buddy Mik (Ron Barker, Riot). Mik has the hookup for what Braddock is going to need to rescue his family. But the rescue mission is almost over before it started as Littlejohn, his CIA cronies and the local authorities crash the party and attempt to arrest Braddock and Mik… which leads to a foot chase and a crazy car chase on the streets of Bangkok!
• Bigger Trouble in Vietnam: Braddock makes it to Vietnam where he is reunited with Lin and meets his son Van (Roland Harrah III) and this is where the real trouble begins for Braddock as he has to tangle with the tyrannical General Quoc (Aki Aleong, Pound of Flesh) beginning with General Quoc shooting Lin in the head! This was followed by an elaborate torture scene, where Van’s life depended on his father’s ability to take Quoc’s cruel and unusual punishment. Braddock survives as you may have guessed and father and son are soon busting out of Quoc’s jail! Two important tasks remain… rescue Reverend Polanski and the orphans and deliver some sweet sweet comeuppance to General Quoc. It starts with Braddock going into one man army mode and unleashing hell at the camp where the orphans are being held. The orphans are loaded up into a truck, they then go through the jungle on foot, before making it to an airstrip where Braddock will fly them to safety… but Quoc’s forces don’t make any of this easy… like when they force the plane full of orphans out of the sky leading to the final showdown near the fictitious bridge between Vietnam and Thailand!

Braddock: Missing in Action III may be a step down from its predecessors, but after rewatching it for the first time in several years, I can’t help but think Braddock deserves more love than it gets.

With family involved there’s a different level of emotion and higher stakes for Braddock this time around. And the added level of emotion (in a franchise that has always struck a personal chord with Chuck Norris) does not take away from the usual action one would expect from Chuck Norris and Cannon Films.

Now for the usual Bonus Bullet Points, one would expect from yours truly…

• Familiar Face: Keith David of They Live and The Thing fame, plays Jefferson, the Embassy Gate Captain, at the start of the film.
• Memorable Quote: “I don’t step on toes Littlejohn. I step on necks.” – Braddock
• Opportunity Knocks: Another tidbit I learned from the commentary track, was that Joe Zito, director of 1984’s Missing in Action, was originally slated to return as the director for Braddock: Missing in Action III. However creative differences between Joe and Chuck opened the door for Chuck’s brother, Aaron Norris, to direct his first feature after years of Second Unit work.