This movie has no use for a plot and it makes no apologies about it. The closest the entire film comes to forming a plot is when the words "Geneva Convention" are randomly thrown out by Chuck Norris in the first couple minutes. Luckily Colonel Yin quickly shoots down the idea that the real world has any bearing on the movie's setting and we're off to the races- Jungle style.
***there may be spoilers****
The beginning of the movie shows all of the members of Norris' crew being captured and declared Missing In Action (hence the title). From that point on the movie is set ten years later where we find the men still being held hostage and all but forgotten.
For some reason the prisoners just don't seem like they have been there ten years though. In the opening prison camp scene one of the prisoners is complaining how he can't sleep and explains that every time he closes his eyes he sees his wife GINA! If he had been there ten years wouldn't he have established at some point that his wife is named Gina? Couldn't he just say "when I close my eyes I see my WIFE!"? Well either way, the story is they've been there ten years so we'll go with that. Why they have been held hostage in a remote Vietnamese torture camp for ten years without being killed makes no sense although there is a faint attempt to explain it for the sake of giving the men a reason to be there, the colonel a reason to torture them, and the film a reason to exist.
The reason Norris and his men are being held, you ask? Apparently the Vietnamese colonel is a very prideful man (although he's not above sentencing himself to live in a jungle prison camp for ten years in order to monitor it and ensure that nobody escapes) and he requires that Norris sign a document stating that the Americans have committed war crimes against the Vietnamese and accept their guilt. The fact that this is the entire reason these men have been held in the camp for TEN YEARS is completely ridiculous. We are to believe that Norris is such a dedicated soldier that he refuses to sign the document even though he could simply sign it, go home, eat a pizza, get some reinforcements, and go back to finish off the remaining Vietnamese and any record of what he signed.
Because Norris refuses to sign the document the vengeful, yet oddly patient, Colenel Yin keeps him there and occasionally tortures him now and then for good measure. Apparently Colonel Yin has no problem imprisoning, degrading, and killing human beings, but he draws the line at forging someones signature.
The movie does provide some of the best jungle action pre Arnold Schwarzenegger's Predator however. There are some good fight scenes with many two and even three hit combos dealt out by Norris. Throughout the movie the Colonel always has the upper hand and uses the line "you lose" every time he foils Norris. With a one liner as great as that there's little doubt that it will be used against him once Norris turns the tables by the end of the movie. And in the jungle Norris doesn't disappoint.
By far the best part of the movie is the end when Norris gets his mitts on a cache of Columbian firearms/explosives and comes back to the camp for sweet revenge.
And the most hilarious part of the movie is the fact that the only escape from the jungle camp is by crossing a very long wooden bridge over a huge ravine and this wooden bridge is guarded by a guy who's only weapon is a flamethrower. Stop and think about that. Instead of a machine gun, they give the guy guarding the WOODEN bridge a flamethrower to defend himself. So does that mean every time someone tries to escape he shoots at them with the flamethrower, the bridge burns down, and he has to rebuild it the next day to go back to the camp?
In the final scene Norris gets his revenge and beats down the colonel like an arcade wizard using cheat codes at the Mortal Kombat machine. Like I said before, the phrase "you lose" is conveniently dropped right before the death blow is administered. What more can you ask for in a movie that gave the entire premise away with the title?
***there may be spoilers****
The beginning of the movie shows all of the members of Norris' crew being captured and declared Missing In Action (hence the title). From that point on the movie is set ten years later where we find the men still being held hostage and all but forgotten.
For some reason the prisoners just don't seem like they have been there ten years though. In the opening prison camp scene one of the prisoners is complaining how he can't sleep and explains that every time he closes his eyes he sees his wife GINA! If he had been there ten years wouldn't he have established at some point that his wife is named Gina? Couldn't he just say "when I close my eyes I see my WIFE!"? Well either way, the story is they've been there ten years so we'll go with that. Why they have been held hostage in a remote Vietnamese torture camp for ten years without being killed makes no sense although there is a faint attempt to explain it for the sake of giving the men a reason to be there, the colonel a reason to torture them, and the film a reason to exist.
The reason Norris and his men are being held, you ask? Apparently the Vietnamese colonel is a very prideful man (although he's not above sentencing himself to live in a jungle prison camp for ten years in order to monitor it and ensure that nobody escapes) and he requires that Norris sign a document stating that the Americans have committed war crimes against the Vietnamese and accept their guilt. The fact that this is the entire reason these men have been held in the camp for TEN YEARS is completely ridiculous. We are to believe that Norris is such a dedicated soldier that he refuses to sign the document even though he could simply sign it, go home, eat a pizza, get some reinforcements, and go back to finish off the remaining Vietnamese and any record of what he signed.
Because Norris refuses to sign the document the vengeful, yet oddly patient, Colenel Yin keeps him there and occasionally tortures him now and then for good measure. Apparently Colonel Yin has no problem imprisoning, degrading, and killing human beings, but he draws the line at forging someones signature.
The movie does provide some of the best jungle action pre Arnold Schwarzenegger's Predator however. There are some good fight scenes with many two and even three hit combos dealt out by Norris. Throughout the movie the Colonel always has the upper hand and uses the line "you lose" every time he foils Norris. With a one liner as great as that there's little doubt that it will be used against him once Norris turns the tables by the end of the movie. And in the jungle Norris doesn't disappoint.
By far the best part of the movie is the end when Norris gets his mitts on a cache of Columbian firearms/explosives and comes back to the camp for sweet revenge.
And the most hilarious part of the movie is the fact that the only escape from the jungle camp is by crossing a very long wooden bridge over a huge ravine and this wooden bridge is guarded by a guy who's only weapon is a flamethrower. Stop and think about that. Instead of a machine gun, they give the guy guarding the WOODEN bridge a flamethrower to defend himself. So does that mean every time someone tries to escape he shoots at them with the flamethrower, the bridge burns down, and he has to rebuild it the next day to go back to the camp?
In the final scene Norris gets his revenge and beats down the colonel like an arcade wizard using cheat codes at the Mortal Kombat machine. Like I said before, the phrase "you lose" is conveniently dropped right before the death blow is administered. What more can you ask for in a movie that gave the entire premise away with the title?