Missing in Action (1984)

Missing in Action is a 1984 American action film starring Chuck Norris and directed by Joseph Zito. The film is set in the context of the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue. Colonel Braddock, who escaped a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp ten 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. The first two Missing in Action installments had been filmed back-to-back with the intent to have the first film involve the POW years of Braddock (as directed by Lance Hool) be the first film. However, it was determined that the commercial prospects were stronger with the film directed by Zito involving the POW rescue. As such, Hool's film was turned into Missing in Action 2 and labeled as a prequel that detailed events before those in Missing in Action.

It is the first of a series of films themed around the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue that were produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus and released under their Cannon Films banner, with whom Norris would have a long professional relationship. Norris later dedicated these films to his younger brother Wieland. Wieland, a private in the 101st Airborne Division, had been killed in June 1970 in Vietnam while on patrol in the defense of Firebase Ripcord. The film, however, was criticized heavily as being a preemptive cash-in on the Rambo franchise, with both the first and second Missing in Action films being released just months before the second Rambo film.

Despite the overwhelmingly negative reception from critics, the film was a commercial success and has become one of Chuck Norris's most popular films. It was also Chuck Norris's first film with The Cannon Group.