Missing in Action (1984)
Directed by Joseph Zito
American servicemen are still being held captive in Vietnam and it's up to one man to bring them home in this blistering, fast-paced action/adventure starring martial arts superstar Chuck Norris. Following a daring escape from a Vietnamese POW camp, Special Forces Colonel James Braddock (Norris) is on a mission to locate and save remaining MIAs.
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What critics compared Missing in Action to
Directed by former stunt coordinator Sam Hargrave, who makes his debut behind the camera here, Extraction operates as an old school testosterone-fueled action fest reminiscent of those Chuck Norris/Steven Segal/Arnold Schwarzenegger pics from decades past — think Missing in Action meets Hard to Kill meets Commando, except with the technical prowess of a John Wick film and the brains of Con Air.
Still, even between the great gags, the movie kept me involved because, against all odds, it actually almost works as a straight war film... "Tropic Thunder" recalls not only "Apocalypse Now", but "Platoon" and somewhat more lowbrow pictures like the "Rambo" and "Missing in Action" flicks as well.
While not as outrageously xenophobic as Michael Bay’s 13 Hours might have been, there are still instances where Fuglsig goes out of his way to make Taliban leaders look like Rambo: First Blood Part II or Missing in Action villains, adding a level of cartoonish exploitation that honestly wasn’t necessary.
Gone were The Deer Hunter ’s emotionally distraught battle-survivors as well as their vengeful variants who powered Rambo and Missing in Action , replaced by a far less complicated view of warfighting as a sexy and bloodless amalgam of Star Wars , MTV, and Calvin Klein.
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BLOOD, was the pinnacle of what has come to be known as the Vietnam War fantasy film--movies that feature a small band of heroic American commandos reentering Vietnam and winning decisive battles (UNCOMMON VALOR and the Chuck Norris "Missing in Action" films were among the most popular).