Missing in Action 2: The Beginning (1985)

An Exercise In Nonsense

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

In 1972 Vietnam, Colonel James Braddock (Chuck Norris) tags along on a mission and his helicopter gets hit. The men are captured Missing in Action. Ten years later, they are in a prison camp run by the ruthless Colonel Yin (Soon-Tek Oh) who demands Braddock's confession. Braddock is still holding out and only Nester has caved in to Colonel Yin.Even by the standards of cheesy 80's action movie, this is pretty bad. The action is poorly done but there are some explosions. The dialog is really bad. It is worthy of the worst of B-movies. The acting is pretty bad and Chuck Norris accounts for much of that. The movie is a simple prison movie without much of a compelling story.

Battle Rage, a better titled movie, when at the drive in late 85, I preferred to of course, the video titled Missing In Action 2. The thing about Chuckie's 1984-1986 movies were they hit the video circuit only months, after hitting the screen. This pic, a moronic POW Vietnam tale, I now feel embarrassed or ashamed for watching it back in 1986, during my teen years. This prequel was so trashy and bad, not trashy and good. Chuck and his Vietnam buddies are kept in a POW camp, where they're treated harshly, and there is a grueling and merciless setting to the film I must say, as well as an atmosphere that is choking. This too is helped by the evil and sadistic performance from Soon Teck Oh, the best actor in the pic. We even have an Aussie photographer, who poses as one of the prisoners, actually getting himself caught on purpose, so he report the abuse and suffering, but of course, he meets his doom. This movie is so clichéd to Chuckie's other films, we don't need a map or script to know what's going to happen next or how the character's fates will ensue. There is however, one twist moment involving 21 Jump Street's Steven William's character, a POW turned traitor. There are some embarrassingly funny deliveries of dialogue and reactions from the actors, the film's almost worth renting for comedic value. Of course, and I haven't forgotten, that trademark torture scene. Chuckie's tied upside down, a bag with a live rat inside, is pulled up over his head. Who will survive? Duh. Highpoint of the movie. Oh, and waiting for Chuckie to strut his karate stuff, comes near the end where you'll be thankful to see him do his thing, where you so much want to see him kill Soon Teck Oh. Sadly from the start, with Norris, about to board a chopper, clean cut moustache and all, we actually get the impression of a much better quality pic, awaiting us, instead of the result: constant dreck, How mislead and blinded will you be. Bad beyond comprehension, for only a few moronic majority, where as a viewer, your brain cells will drop radically.

This movie has lot more story to it than the part 1.Most of the scenes in this movie are beautiful. On the average, Golan-Globus made some of the best quality budget movies of the '80s. Many of them had compelling titles that made you want to go to the theaters and take a look regardless of the content. Chuck Norris' chronic sour expression spoils the mood of this movie. He's supposed to be the hero, so lighten up Chuck, we don't want to be depressed watching you.Soon Tak Oh was great as the villain. The inevitable duel in the end was one of the most memorable martial arts combat scene of the decade.Good movie that could have been better if Chuck wasn't so down all the time, but part 3 answers to that.

This film is not the super explosive blockbuster that "Rambo" was, but this one has a certain appeal to it. Then again it has Chuck Norris in it, what more does one need to enjoy a film? I am only semi joking as I just enjoy a good Chuck Norris movie every now and then and this one was rather interesting and had some good action as one might expect and a very nice finale that was very explosive. This one is about a bunch of Vietnam soldiers who are p.o.w's in a camp with a very brutal commander. He wants simply to break the leader of the group Braddock (Chuck Norris) and he goes about trying to do it in very demented ways. One of the p.o.w's seemingly sides with this vicious man, but he really believes that if you play nice and do as your told that they can all be freed. The ending has Chuck getting away and getting revenge and is just as nice as the scenes in Rambo, and at the same time are a bit more emotional. The film is not perfect by an means, as you usually can see where this one is going and who is going to live and die and who is going to get theirs, however there are some surprising scenes such as the nasty rat scene. The movie moves at a nice clip, the action is more confined to the end of the picture, but the rest of the movie is entertaining enough so that it is not a chore to get there.