Missing in Action (1984)
Missing in Action is a 1984 American action film directed by Joseph Zito and starring Chuck Norris. It is set in the context of the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue. Colonel Braddock, who escaped a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp 10 years earlier, returns to Vietnam to find American soldiers listed as missing in action during the Vietnam War. The film was followed by a prequel, Missing in Action 2: The Beginning (1985), and a sequel, Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988). It is the first installment in the Missing in Action film series.
Plot.
Colonel James Braddock is a US military officer who spent seven years in a North Vietnamese POW camp, which he escaped 10 years ago. After the war, Braddock accompanies a government investigation team that travels to Ho Chi Minh City to investigate reports of US soldiers still held prisoner. Braddock obtains the evidence then travels to Thailand, where he meets Jack “Tuck” Tucker, an old Army friend turned black market kingpin. Together, they launch a mission deep into the jungle to free the US POW’s from General Tran.
Filming.
Filming was to have started in Saint Kitts in January 1984. However the films ended up being shot in the Philippines. “I’m not quite as anti-government as Rambo is”, said Norris. “When the helicopter comes to rescue Rambo and the American MIA (missing in action), and then leaves them stranded, I found that unrealistic. There is not an American pilot alive who would leave them there. They’d have to shoot me to stop me from picking them up, because I’d be dead inside if I didn’t.”