Truly Dreadful Film

Fantastic!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

What an ironic name for the film. It really is 'missing in action', and acting.Chuck Norris is a complete bore throughout the film. He has one expression, remains wooden and fails big time as any kind of action star. I have no idea how this guy became famous let alone a cult icon. His martial arts sucks balls. I guess his fame comes from being in that Bruce Lee movie.Missing In Action lacks in thrills and is so contrived, its a chore to get through. I laughed so many times at ridiculous scenes, like how every bad guy misses him while firing at him, despite outnumbering him, and he just turns around and kills them straight away.I also laughed when the Asian guy and Jack Tucker take turns on the boat machine gun and repeatedly shoot the bad guys boat coming towards them and it seems to go on forever hahahahahahaha. The boat seems to be stuck in a loop repeatedly coming toward from where it started off from, just like that scene in Monty Pythons Holy Grail. I was expecting the bad guys boat to finally explode but no....Jack Tucker's boat explodes instead (no idea how) and he dies hahahahaha. So effing stupid.This film sucks, and Chuck Norris sucks. But I enjoyed the laughs.

Colonel James Braddock is an American officer who was a POW for 7 years in Vietnam. Braddock has returned to Vietnam with a purpose and a mission, to find and rescue interned American POW's which the Vietnamese government denies exists. Braddock will find the truth even if it costs him his freedom and his life.A simply action film that has charm to it. Not the best acted or the best story I've ever seen, simplistic and perhaps clichéd in many aspects but its an enjoyable film. If your nostalgic about 80's films and action films with an simplistic story but a film that holds charm. The acting is sub par, the story clichéd, the direction semi mediocre, but where this film gets its charm is in Chuck Norris and the action itself. A good portion of this film attempts to imitate, Rambo: First Blood Part II, and even its producers have admitted this, but as i said their is a certain charm to this film that will grow on the viewer with repeated viewings. Though first time viewers may find this film cheesy, older generation film goers may watch with a glint of nostalgia and fin themselves enjoying the film.

Here he goes again, this time to Vietnam. The scenes (beginning and end) in the jungle are quite simple, moderately enjoyable action scenes with some explosions (one big 'un) and shooting, though Chuck's emerging from the water is pretty cool (including the preceding laughter from the enemy). The scenes in Saigon and Bangkok (shot in the Philipines) are more fun and atmospheric. And in this one (after having seen 'Invasion U.S.A.' just before) it becomes more clear that the makers didn't mean for this kind of action flick to be taken too seriously, but still it mixes badly with that weird and serious undertone. In that respect it is a little more awkward to watch than 'I. U.S.A.', but also as a whole it is not as good. Finally, there was a part for one of my personal favorites M. Emmett 'Man of the year' Walsh, but it didn't amount to much, unfortunately.5 out of 10.

"Missing in action " is along with "Delta force " and " The Lone wolf McQuade" the most famous movie with Chuck Norris as the main hero. Unlike the other two which are not great , but solid and enjoyable action flicks this one is bad , very bad . Chuck Norris stated that he made this film as a memorial honor of his younger brother Wieland, who was killed in the Vietnam War in 1970. I feel sorry for his loss , but it's still a bad movie , despite the fact it was a big box-office hit in the 80's with two sequels and it turned Norris into a star.This movie is actually the second in the series . The first two movies were made at the same time . When the producers saw the flicks , they knew that this one was obviously better. They decided to release the number 2 as number 1 . Wise decision . This one is obviously the best in the series (not that any of the movies in the series is good).The basic idea for this story - ex-soldier goes on a solo mission to Vietnam to find missing American soldiers was used before in 1983 ("Uncommon valor" with Gene Hackman and Patrick Swayze) and later in 1985 ("Rambo 2" with Sylvester Stallone). Both movies are MUCH better than this one.For the most part "MIA" is extremely dull. It takes long before Braddock even starts his mission. The action scenes are few and mostly very simplistic , even primitive I dare say. Director Joseph Zito has no sense of pacing or ability to create excitement. There isn't a single memorable action here. What we have here is poor and forgettable. It's like the movie makers were having a hard time making those scenes and no fun. The production values are still decent and the stunts look fine.The screenplay is poor too . The characters are stereotypical and feel fake . The enemies are portrayed in very racist way , not too mention they seem terribly incompetent. Some scenes don't make sense . Chuck breaks international laws and defies logic and realism.Norris has got a stone face all the time no matter what happens. Others are doing little better and the screenplay doesn't help anybody here to create an interesting character (although M. Emmet Walsh is not bad as the sleazy sidekick)."MIA" has some amusing moments , but I wouldn't even recommend it as a "so bad it's good movie" . There are better more laughable and enjoyable bad action flicks out there , for example "American ninja" or "Action Jackson". This one takes itself very seriously , but it's so bad and outdated that it's pure trash , not even an entertaining trash. There are better "one-man army " movies out there.I give it 2/10. Jean Claude Van Damme appears here as a truck driver, but I couldn't spot him anywhere. Maybe you will be more lucky .