Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
On Quartile, Missing in Action scores 5.5/10 across five categories — strongest on Ending (Above Average), weakest on Plot (Below Average).
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.
Missing in Action is a lean, no-frills 1984 Chuck Norris vehicle that delivers exactly what it promises: jungle combat, one-man heroics, and POW rescue wish-fulfillment. The plot is wafer-thin and nakedly derivative of First Blood/Rambo, offering little beyond its patriotic revenge fantasy premise. Norris's acting is functional at best — stoic to the point of woodenness — and the supporting cast is forgettable. Cinematography is competent but unremarkable B-movie work, shot efficiently in the Philippines with little visual distinction. Novelty is minimal; it's an openly formulaic cash-in on the POW-rescue trend of the era. The ending earns a slight bump — the triumphant liberation of the POWs delivers the crowd-pleasing payoff the film is engineered for, and executes it with reasonable energy.