This 1984 Chuck Norris action film had its share of controversy. The movie came on the heels of Sylvester Stallone’s FIRST BLOOD, a movie about a removed Viet Nam veteran who can’t cope with modern society. So the producers at Cannon figure they’ll go one better by creating their own franchise, and taking their maladjusted Viet Nam vet back into the jungles of Saigon. This was a breakthrough role for Norris, who left behind the low-budget karate pictures, for action star status. Though the film respectfully treats the people of Viet Nam (and was actually filmed there, boosting the local economy), MISSING IN ACTION generated a lot of controversy, especially in its portrayal of Asians. The film was also a bonafide hit, one of the biggest ever for then burgeoning Cannon films. American audiences thrilled to the continuing exploits of Colonel Jim Braddock in the inferior sequels MISSING IN ACTION II and BRADDOCK: MISSING IN ACTION III. Since MGM now holds the back catalog to Cannon films, they released this war film on DVD in widescreen for the first time.

MISSING IN ACTION is directed by Joe Zito, who also directed FRIDAY THE 13^th: THE FINAL CHAPTER, INVASION USA (also with Norris), and RED SCORPION. Besides Norris, the film stars M. Emmet (BLOOD SIMPLE) Walsh as Norris’ overweight accomplice and Army buddy, Tucker. Lenore (AMITYVILLE DOLLHOUSE) Kasdorf is Ann Fitzgerald, the US diplomat’s aide. James (THE BAMBOO SAUCER) Hong is evil Viet Nam leader, General Trau. Ernie (DARK TIDE) Ortega portrays Vinh, the guy that tortured Braddock in the P.O.W. camp.

Jim Braddock is a Viet Nam vet who suffers from flashbacks and war-related nightmares. A government investigation, led by Senator Porter (David Tress), is responsible for checking into the possibility of American P.O.W.s still being held prisoner in Viet Nam. Senator Porter’s investigation has been trying to recruit Braddock to accompany the investigation back to Viet Nam, but he has declined. Braddock’s mental condition worsens, until he agrees to return to Viet Nam. He joins the investigative team with Senator Porter and his sexy aide, Ann Fitzgerald (Kasdorf). The team’s objective is to diplomatically get to the bottom of the P.O.W. issue, but Braddock has his own agenda.

At the P.O.W. hearings in Ho Chi Mihn City, Braddock sees Vinh, the man who tortured him in the P.O.W. camps has now risen in rank. During the hearing, General Trau (Hong) accuses Braddock of war crimes; particularly the killing of women and children. Senator Porter and his team are not happy with this revelation. After the day’s hearing, Braddock retires to Ann’s room apparently for a nightcap, but he sneaks out of the hotel window and is free on the streets of Ho Chi Mihn City. He follows the path of the city police undetected, until he finds his way to General Trau’s building. He quietly dispatches the guards, and breaks into General Trau’s room, and demands the location of the remaining American P.O.W.s from the sleeping General. The terrified General reveals that there are several P.O.W.s still alive in Saigon, then he tries to pull a gun, upon which Braddock promptly silences him.

Braddock makes it back to the hotel, and scales the window to get back to Ann’s room just in time as Vinh and the Ho Chi Mihn City police break down the door to see them in bed together. Ann covers for Braddock by saying he never left the room. Vinh tells Braddock to leave Viet Nam. The next day, Braddock heads to Bangkok to find his old army buddy Tucker, who now runs illegal supplies on his boat for profit. Braddock recruits Tucker to his cause, and Tucker introduces Braddock to all his underground resources. They pick up a bullet-proof, heavily-armed, speed boat, and unlimited ammo for the trip into the jungles of Saigon. Now they are ready to break out the American P.O.W.s, but Braddock is not aware that his enemy Vinh has now been promoted to General and that is aware of Braddock’s plans. Braddock must fight his way to the P.O.W. camp, and get the American P.O.W.s out alive!

Though the script is inconsistent and the storyline meanders a bit, but this is one entertaining piece of action cinema. The script’s biggest faults are the lack of characterization. The character of Braddock is well defined, but that’s about it. The script paints Braddock as a hero who overcomes impossible odds and risks himself for the love of God, his country, and his fellow man. The other characters such as Tucker, Ann, Senator Porter are cookie cutter, and thus not too believable. To make matters worse, once each character serves their purpose, they are quickly forgotten. For instance, a romance is hinted at between Braddock and Ann, but after she covers for him in the climbing-back-into-the-hotel scene, she is never heard from again! Even the villains, General Trau and Vinh are flat and uninteresting. General Trau is killed way too early, and we have no background information on the character of Vinh, and how he came up in rank.

If there had more character definition, the acting would have been better. The character of Tucker does not show up until the half-way point. But when he does, M. Emmet Walsh steals much of the film. Walsh plays his character as a fast-living, hard-drinking, prostitute-loving, rogue of a Viet Nam veteran (in essence, the opposite of Braddock’s clean-living character). Walsh performs the few minutes of humor in the film, and has a good chemistry with Norris. Lenore Kasdorf, as Ann, plays her character as a moral, intelligent, and sexy woman, and it’s a shame she didn’t get more screen time. Chuck Norris is Chuck Norris. At this stage of his career, he was rather one dimensional, but he fits the character of Braddock to a T, and I couldn’t imagine anyone else in the role. Chuck will never do Shakespeare, but he has this legit screen presence that few action stars possess.

Director Zito went for a dark, gritty look and feel to the film, and he succeeded. We get a glimpse of the seedy Bangkok underworld. Braddock goes looking for his army buddy, Tucker, in sleazy whorehouses. The cinematography is so dark during the jungle scenes that you cannot make out the faces of the Viet Cong soldiers. This is intentional obviously, but for what reason? Was Zito trying to hide the fact that the stunt men were not Asian? Or was an artistic decision to give the Viet Cong soldiers less of an identity? We may never know.

There is this huge layer of tension that permeates the film because of Braddock’s presence in Viet Nam. He is one man alone against an entire country. The viewer wonders how long Braddock can withstand the attacks and Vinh’s assassination attempts. A hitman hides in Braddock’s locker and surprises him. After Braddock dispatches the hitman, Vinh shoots a rocket launcher at him. Then Braddock takes a cab and the driver turns out to be an assassin. Braddock leaves a trail of bodies until the P.O.W. rescue scene in the end.

When it was first released, MISSING IN ACTION was a controversial film. Depending on which side of the P.O.W. or Viet Nam veteran issues you are on, MISSING IN ACTION either gave you reason to cheer, or it offended you. Either way, it made you think, it put you in the shoes of the veterans and the P.O.W.s, and it enlightened you to the problems these people faced in society. It’s not our job here at DVDCULT to preach, but we do strive to present the facts and controversies surrounding particular motion pictures.

Joe Zito feels the need to imbue the film with an American propagandist viewpoint. This may be unimportant today, but back then this is what the American audiences were looking for; a hero and a situation to identify with, and Chuck Norris and MISSING IN ACTION gave the people what was needed. Every country on Earth that practices filmmaking has at one time or another, used propaganda filmmaking to represent their nation or people. So it would be inappropriate to label MISSING IN ACTION as a propaganda film in a negative light. Hollywood has been using the propagandist slant ever since John Wayne went to war back in the 1930’s.

So most of the controversies surrounding MISSING IN ACTION are now irrelevant, except for one factor. The biggest complaint about the film today is the depiction of Asians. The film was really filmed in Viet Nam and many locals were enlisted to be in the movie in walk-on roles. This adds a lot of local color and authenticity to MISSING IN ACTION. The character of Braddock demonstrates a lot of respect for the non-military people of Viet Nam (such as when Vinh bombs Braddock’s hotel room, killing his own people in the process, Braddock shows his disdain for this cowardice). But that doesn’t hide the fact that the last half of the movie is a all-out war against the "evil" Viet Cong, with Braddock and Tucker blowing away what seems like hundreds of Viet Cong soldiers. The faces of Braddock’s victims are never shown, so it could be any nationality playing the soldiers, but a slaughter is a slaughter nonetheless. Any outcry by Asian groups is perfectly understandable, but this is an action film, and not a political drama.

SIGHT

MGM releases MISSING IN ACTION in widescreen (1.85.1) for the first time. The transfer is good, but unfortunately, it is not 16x9 enhanced (after all, this is an MGM catalog title we are talking about here). Director Joe Zito wanted MISSING IN ACTION to have a dark, gritty look and that’s what this DVD delivers, except that the black level seems off a bit, making several night scenes look grayish rather than absolute black. These scenes come off looking a little clouded. The image is free from scratches and speckles, but does exhibit some grain. The image is sharp, and provides plenty of detail. The color schemes consist of drab greens, blues, and browns; you won’t bee seeing any bright, vivid colors here. The jungle scenes look especially good with lots of detail in the plants, trees, and landscape. There are some good scenes that take place on the water, but the lakes and streams all look so dark and muddy, it’s hard to appreciate. To contrast these purposely-drab backgrounds, the action scenes cut through the cinematography like a knife. You can see the guns firing and the cartridges flying, the fighting and the killing, and the excellent stuntwork (like Norris scaling up a building with his bare hands) with great clarity. The gigantic explosions are the only true vivid bursts of color in MISSING AND ACTION, and they are nicely captured. The drab visuals continue when Braddock walks through the seedy back streets of Bangkok. The gaudy atmosphere of these scenes is appropriately depicted on this transfer. So while the image is above average, the inherent problems would be rectified with 16x9 enhancement.

SOUND

MGM has included the original mono mix in a new Dolby Digital Mono 2.0 soundtrack. It is so good, it sounds like it has stereo separation! The mix delivers a wide range of frequencies, including a hint of bass. The sound is very clear and natural. There is no hiss, background noise, or audio dropouts. When you raise the volume considerably, there is no distortion. Though this mix is very good, it is still another lost opportunity from MGM. Being an action/war film, the presentation would have really benefited from having a stereo mix. MISSING IN ACTION features an abundance of machine gun exchanges, military vehicle and boat chases, and plenty of explosions. A DD 5.1 or DD 2.0 stereo sound mix would have been preferable; with lots of soundfield activity for each of those sound effects elements. Composer Jay Chattaway creates a cool electronic/symphonic score that really heightens the onscreen tensions, drama, and action.We can't imagine any other music that would better suit this movie. Despite the lack of a true stereo mix, this two channel mix more than gets the job done.

FEATURES

The only feature is the original theatrical trailer. The trailer is Full Frame (1.33.1) and is in Dolby Digital Mono 2.0. This 1:38 trailer is in very good shape, nearly as good as the feature itself.

CONCLUSION

Whether you like the film or hate it, you cannot deny the relevance of MISSING IN ACTION when it first debuted in 1984 (the war was still fresh in the public consciousness back then). Even though the film may be perceived as propaganda, and may be offensive to some Asians, it was a film that had to be made, to help close any lingering wounds Viet Nam vets may have suffered. At the very least, it served as a public wake up call to the plight of Viet Nam veterans. In the sequels, the producers tried to change Braddocks view of the Vietnamese people by having him marry a Vietnamese woman (though the sequels were pretty lame). The gritty original MISSING IN ACTION is still leagues ahead of those polished RAMBO films. MGM really blew an opportunity to make this a great DVD. I would feel a lot better recommending this DVD if it had 16x9 enhancement and some form of surround sound; more extras wouldn’t hurt either. Hopefully, MGM will come around some day like Fox, Paramount, and Disney.

                                                 Rating (out of 5):