Missing in Action at 40: Is this Chuck Norris action film secretly great or just a cheap Rambo rip-off?

In the age of memes, Chuck Norris is far more famous for satirical facts about his life than his career as an actor or a martial artist. It’s amusing that these internet jokes have overshadowed the fact that Norris was a contemporary of Bruce Lee and also one of the top action stars in the 1980s. Forty years ago this month, Norris’ rise as a leading man was solidified by the release of Missing in Action.

Joseph Zito directed the film from a screenplay by James Bruner, with a story by John M. Crowther and Lance Hool. The movie revolves around an unauthorized rescue of POWs who were trapped in Vietnam after the war. If that sounds like the plot from Rambo: First Blood Part II, Hollywood lore has it that Missing in Action was inspired by James Cameron‘s treatment of the former, as well as the eventual script that he co-wrote with Sylvester Stallone. Missing in Action and its first sequel were rushed to theaters before Rambo 2, but the similarities between the films were not lost on movie fans.

To mark the movie’s 40th anniversary, we’re taking a look back at Missing in Action, from the highlights to the questionable aspects that make it play very differently in the present.

Is Chuck Norris the poor man’s Sylvester Stallone?

Cannon Films

Rewatching Missing in Action serves as a reminder that acting isn’t necessarily Chuck Norris’ strong suit. Norris was a credible action star and a legitimate martial artist, but his performance as Colonel James Braddock is very wooden and stiff. He doesn’t show off many personality traits, and the contrast with Stallone’s Rambo is very clear. Stallone may occasionally be prone to overacting, but he is very talented at emoting and making the audience feel sympathy for his characters. Norris doesn’t have the same acting chops on display in this movie.

Surprisingly, Missing in Action only gives Norris a few chances where he gets to show off his martial arts prowess. Those are the scenes where Braddock has to fight off would-be Vietnamese assassins. When he’s in the jungles of Vietnam, Braddock sticks to conventional weapons, and that makes him more of a generic action hero. It doesn’t help that Norris is blown away by his co-star, M. Emmet Walsh, who gave a much better performance as Braddock’s reluctant ally, Jack “Tuck” Tucker.

It’s a very ’80s film in the best and worst ways

Cannon Films

Action films have come a long way since Missing in Action, but it’s interesting to see how the genre has changed in four decades. There’s a touch of ’80s cheese that’s impossible to ignore, as Braddock sneaks away from a U.S. diplomatic mission to cause an international incident. That’s before Braddock leaves Vietnam and plans an off-the-books rescue attempt of the prisoners of war who were left behind. The film never bothers to reveal where Braddock got the cash to bankroll this mission by himself. He just seems to have whatever he needs to pay off some questionable allies.

The technical limitations of the ’80s are also readily apparent, especially late in the film when the fate of one of Braddock’s allies is so poorly shot and edited that it feels like the movie is missing critical scenes. There are plenty of practical explosions that look good on-screen, but the actual gun battles between Braddock and the Vietnamese army are almost laughable.

Questionable consent

Cannon Films

There’s an eyebrow-raising moment near the end of the first act, when Braddock uses Ann Fitzgerald (Lenore Kasdorf) — an aide to Senator Maxwell Porter (David Tress) — as his alibi after sneaking out of their hotel to get intel on the missing POWs. Braddock returns with the Vietnamese police hot on his heels before he forcibly rips off Ann’s nightgown and throws her in bed so they can be found partially naked with each other.

The interesting thing about the scene in retrospect is that Ann never acknowledges what Braddock did to her. In the moment, it plays as nonconsensual, but the next day, she laments the fact that Braddock has to leave the country. Anne does choose to help Braddock escape detection earlier in the movie, but she was largely roped into his scheme against her will and she seemingly has little to say about it afterwards.

Victory in Vietnam … but only in fiction

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At the time that Missing in Action was released, there was a real issue about whether there were POW/MIA American soldiers who were still in Vietnam. This movie was released only nine years after the Vietnam War came to an end, which meant it was still very much at the forefront for families who lost loved ones in the conflict. Norris himself lost his brother, Wieland Norris, during the war, and later dedicated Missing in Action to his memory.

The movie doesn’t attempt to show much nuance in its depiction of Vietnam after the war. Although it’s ironic that one of the most contemptible Vietnamese characters, General Tran, was played by Chinese actor James Hong (Big Trouble in Little China). Contemporary critics noted that there were no “good” Vietnamese characters, but there is actually one. When Braddock is accused of war crimes by Tran, one of the accusers bows his head in shame and apologizes to Braddock, who forgives the man in his native language. That’s about the extent of sympathy that the film has for the people living under a brutal regime.

Vietnam is widely known as the war that America didn’t win, and Missing in Action tries to rectify that by having Braddock face impossible odds to rescue at least some of the POWs who were left behind. That gives America a win it never had in reality, and Rambo 2 essentially did the same thing a year later.

The sequel is the prequel

Cannon Films

The first two Missing in Action movies were filmed back-to-back, which is how they were both able to beat Rambo: First Blood Part II to theaters. But it’s almost been forgotten that the second film, Missing in Action 2: The Beginning, was initially meant to be the first movie. The Cannon Group — the studio behind the franchise — correctly realized that the second film, which became Missing in Action, was more compelling than the story of Braddock’s years of captivity as a POW. That’s why the release order was switched.

Norris returned for a third film in 1988, Braddock: Missing in Action III, which revealed that his character married an Asian woman, Lin Tan Cang (Miki Kim), whom he assumed to be dead after the war. Braddock returned to Vietnam for a final time when he learned that Lin had survived, alongside their son, Van Tan Cang (Roland Harrah III). All three of the Missing in Action films are on Max, if you want to revisit the franchise.

Watch Missing in Action on Max.