In 1972 Colonel Braddock (Chuck Norris) and his men are shot down in Vietnam wherein they are held captive in a secret POW camp in the jungle, headed by the rivalrous Colonel Yin (Soon-Tek Oh). How will they make it out alive?
" Missing in Action 2: The Beginning " (1985) was shot back-to-back with "Missing in Action," released just 3.5 months earlier. This one was supposed to be the first to debut, but producers decided to make it the prequel (because they felt the other was superior).
It's very similar to "Rambo: First Blood Part II," which came out 2.5 months later, except that it only had a budget of $2.5 million compared to $44 million for "Rambo II." While "First Blood" (1982) is a masterpiece, I'm not a big fan of "Rambo II" because it's sooo comic booky. This one is hampered by the same tone, just with a fraction of the budget. The opening introduction of Colonel Braddock with the blaring 'heroic' score is particularly eye-rolling.
Thankfully, it gets better as the jungle camp and characters are established with grueling torture sequences that are anything but pleasant, yet not as hard to watch as the ones in "The Deer Hunter" (1978). The most memorable scene is the well-done rat-bag sequence. Like "Rambo II" the situation eventually morphs into a one-man-army scenario, albeit more compelling with a superior showdown.
It's like "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957) just without the artistry and with way more action. Another comparison would be the future "Rescue Dawn" (2006) except more comic booky. So, while this flick is hindered by a 'B' tone and 'heroic' approach and isn't even close to the same league as "Apocalypse Now" (1979) or "Platoon" (1986), it has a certain charm if you can roll with it after the dubious opening, particularly since you get to know the characters and care about their situation, not to mention the effective action sequences in the second half.
For those interested in when the events of the story take place, the prologue occurs in 1972 then jumps to 1973-74. To explain, after the 1972 prologue the film flash-forwards to real footage of Ronald Reagan giving a Memorial Day speech circa 1984. Then the film confusingly switches back to Vietnam but doesn't say what year it is so the viewer might mistake it for the 1980s because of the Reagan speech, but it's not; it's back in the early/mid 70's.
How do I know? Because Braddock is in Saigon in 1975 during the prologue of "Missing in Action 3" (1988), which means the events of this one finish sometime before that. After the Paris Peace Accords were signed in January, 1973, US troops pulled out of Vietnam and in March, 1973, all the American POWs were supposedly released by North Vietnam. The camp scenes in this movie take place after that because the protagonists are now MIA and being secretly held.
The film runs 1 hour, 35 minutes, and was shot in Jalapa, Veracruz, Mexico and St Kitts, St Kitts and Nevis (an island 200 miles east of Puerto Rico). The Philippines is also cited according to one source, which is where "Missing in Action" was shot.
GRADE: C+/B-
" Missing in Action 2: The Beginning " (1985) was shot back-to-back with "Missing in Action," released just 3.5 months earlier. This one was supposed to be the first to debut, but producers decided to make it the prequel (because they felt the other was superior).
It's very similar to "Rambo: First Blood Part II," which came out 2.5 months later, except that it only had a budget of $2.5 million compared to $44 million for "Rambo II." While "First Blood" (1982) is a masterpiece, I'm not a big fan of "Rambo II" because it's sooo comic booky. This one is hampered by the same tone, just with a fraction of the budget. The opening introduction of Colonel Braddock with the blaring 'heroic' score is particularly eye-rolling.
Thankfully, it gets better as the jungle camp and characters are established with grueling torture sequences that are anything but pleasant, yet not as hard to watch as the ones in "The Deer Hunter" (1978). The most memorable scene is the well-done rat-bag sequence. Like "Rambo II" the situation eventually morphs into a one-man-army scenario, albeit more compelling with a superior showdown.
It's like "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957) just without the artistry and with way more action. Another comparison would be the future "Rescue Dawn" (2006) except more comic booky. So, while this flick is hindered by a 'B' tone and 'heroic' approach and isn't even close to the same league as "Apocalypse Now" (1979) or "Platoon" (1986), it has a certain charm if you can roll with it after the dubious opening, particularly since you get to know the characters and care about their situation, not to mention the effective action sequences in the second half.
For those interested in when the events of the story take place, the prologue occurs in 1972 then jumps to 1973-74. To explain, after the 1972 prologue the film flash-forwards to real footage of Ronald Reagan giving a Memorial Day speech circa 1984. Then the film confusingly switches back to Vietnam but doesn't say what year it is so the viewer might mistake it for the 1980s because of the Reagan speech, but it's not; it's back in the early/mid 70's.
How do I know? Because Braddock is in Saigon in 1975 during the prologue of "Missing in Action 3" (1988), which means the events of this one finish sometime before that. After the Paris Peace Accords were signed in January, 1973, US troops pulled out of Vietnam and in March, 1973, all the American POWs were supposedly released by North Vietnam. The camp scenes in this movie take place after that because the protagonists are now MIA and being secretly held.
The film runs 1 hour, 35 minutes, and was shot in Jalapa, Veracruz, Mexico and St Kitts, St Kitts and Nevis (an island 200 miles east of Puerto Rico). The Philippines is also cited according to one source, which is where "Missing in Action" was shot.
GRADE: C+/B-