{"id":2323,"date":"2024-08-16T02:59:20","date_gmt":"2024-08-16T02:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=2323"},"modified":"2024-10-14T14:30:10","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T18:30:10","slug":"braddock-missing-in-action-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/08\/16\/braddock-missing-in-action-iii\/","title":{"rendered":"Braddock: Missing in Action III"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Braddock: Missing in Action III <\/strong>(1988)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cannon\/Action\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 103 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, strong violence, attempted rape of a minor)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Aaron Norris\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: James Bruner and Chuck Norris\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Jay Chattaway\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Joao Fernandes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: January 22, 1988 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Chuck Norris, Aki Aleong, Roland Harrah III, Miki Kim, Yehuda Efroni, Ron Barker, Floyd Levine, Jack Rader, Melinda Betron, Richard Prieto, Jan Schultz, Keith David.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $6.1M (US)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ***<\/p>\n

\u00a0The sequel Braddock: Missing in Action III<\/strong>, which seems to have nothing to do with its two predecessors, reveals something amazing about its main character. I wouldn\u2019t have believed it myself if I didn\u2019t see it with my own two eyes. Col. James Braddock (Norris) has the ability to be in two places at once. I\u2019m not kidding. Check it out. The third installment of the action series opens during the fall of Saigon in \u201975 where we find our hero running around in search of his wife Lin (Kim). In the previous MIA film, Braddock was interred in a POW camp in \u201975. How can he be there and at the American embassy at the same time? It has to be magic. Either that or the makers screwed up. The MIA movies aren\u2019t known for their continuity. Either way, the character is back to wage one-man war one more time.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Mistakenly believing his wife has been killed, Braddock returns stateside without her. 13 years later, he\u2019s approached by Reverend Polanski (Efroni, The Delta Force) who informs him that Lin is very much alive and he has a 12YO son. He doesn\u2019t believe the holy man until he\u2019s \u201cinvited\u201d to CIA headquarters where head agent Littlejohn (Rader, The Blob) tells him to ignore the news and leave things alone. You know that Braddock isn\u2019t one to back down. Littlejohn appears to know it too. When he tells him to watch his step, Braddock replies, \u201cI don\u2019t step on toes. I step on necks.\u201d LOL! Only Chuck can get away with a hokey line like that.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The former POW returns to Vietnam yet again, parachuting in this time. He locates Polanski at a mission he runs for Amerasian children. The reverend leads Braddock to his wife and son Van (Harrah). It\u2019s a short-lived reunion though. As they\u2019re about to make their escape on the river, they\u2019re captured by General Quoc (Aleong, The Quest) who kills Lin and takes father and son into custody. Naturally, Braddock gains the upper hand after a torture session and fights his way out of the compound with the boy in tow. He gets away; Van isn\u2019t so lucky. Quoc captures him along with the other children at the mission. Luckily, Braddock has a hidden cache of weapons hidden nearby. His new mission is to rescue the kids and get them safely across the Cambodian-Thai border ahead of Quoc\u2019s army.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The premise of this third installment is a bit different from the other two. It would have been just as easy to have Braddock go in and rescue another group of POWs, but the makers wanted to try something more original. At the time, I had no idea Amerasian children were so reviled by the Communist government of Vietnam. The ugly, bleak conditions under which they and their families are forced to live would be considered unfit for human inhabitation in the US. I guess they\u2019re a constant reminder of the American soldiers that destroyed their country. What Braddock is doing in Braddock: Missing in Action III <\/strong>is a very noble thing. The fact that his own son is one of them makes it personal as well.<\/p>\n

\u00a0There’s no lack of action in Braddock: Missing in Action III<\/strong>. That\u2019s one thing that\u2019s never in short supply when it comes to one of these MIA flicks. As absurd as the notion of a one-man army is, it\u2019s always fun to see action stars like Norris do it anyway. And let me tell you, his character is no slouch. He can kick ass and take names with the best of them. Norris, who co-wrote the screenplay with James Bruner, brings his usual taciturn, stalwart persona to the party. He even makes a stab at real drama in trying to connect with the son he never knew he had. He won\u2019t win any awards for it, but he gets points for trying. Sadly, that aspect of the plot goes underdeveloped.<\/p>\n

\u00a0What\u2019s cool about Braddock: Missing in Action III <\/strong>is the unintentional hilarity of its villain Quoc. The main is a walking, talking cartoon bad guy. He gives new meaning to over the top. Every time Braddock gets the better of him, he reacts by screaming \u201cBraddock!\u201d in an exaggeratedly exasperated manner. I kept expecting him to shake his fist in the air. As serious-minded as MIA3 is, I cracked up each time Quoc got pissed at Braddock. The end, which I won\u2019t reveal although the outcome is a foregone conclusion, is actually touching. I never thought a Chuck Norris actioner from Cannon would have that effect.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Maybe I\u2019m being too easy on it, but I like Braddock: Missing in Action III<\/strong>. Directed by Chuck\u2019s little brother Aaron, it delivers the goods well enough. It has plenty of action and violence with Braddock racking up yet another high body count. I love how he handles the Vietnamese soldier that tries to rape a young Amerasian girl. KABOOM! Yep, there\u2019s plenty of KABOOM too. What kind of Chuck Norris movie would it be without it?\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cannon\/Action\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 103 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, strong violence, attempted rape of a minor)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Aaron Norris\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: James Bruner and Chuck Norris\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Jay Chattaway\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Joao Fernandes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: January 22, 1988 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Chuck Norris, Aki Aleong, Roland Harrah III, Miki Kim, Yehuda Efroni, Ron Barker, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kick-ass-actioners"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Braddock-Missing-in-Action-.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2323"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3331,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323\/revisions\/3331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}