Movie Review – Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988)
Just when you think that the story is finished in Missing in Action 2: The Beginning, along comes its sequel, Braddock: Missing in Action III.
Released in 1988, Braddock: Missing in Action III is a sequel to MIA 2. The jury is still out as to whether or not this film is considered as a prequel or sequel to the first Missing in Action film. As we remember from MIA, that film takes place in 1984 while MIA III takes place in 1987, but MIA III‘s events are linked more with MIA 2 than the first film.
It’s a loose connection between MIA 2 and this film. Don’t look for any of the characters or actors to return in Braddock: Missing in Action III. The same goes for the general plot elements in MIA 2.
MIA III begins back in Vietnam as the U.S. is withdrawing from the country. Braddock has a wife in the country, but there’s a moment when he believes that she is dead. He leaves Vietnam and returns to the United States. Twelve years later, Braddock receives a message that not only is his wife still alive, but he has a son who is also still living in Vietnam. Braddock returns to the country to free his family, but a sinister Vietnamese general has other plans.
Braddock: Missing in Action III was directed by Aaron Norris, a brother of the legendary action star. The film stars Chuck Norris in the title role of Colonel James Braddock, an officer in the U.S. army. Once again, this film is filled with mostly nobodies in the acting world, though in the opening segments you’ll find veteran actor Keith David in a small role.
Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988) – (c) Cannon Films
Braddock: Missing in Action III begins in April of 1975 as the South Vietnamese city of Saigon is about to be overrun with Communist forces from the north. The Americans are evacuating refugees from their embassy. Colonel James Braddock (Chuck Norris) flies above the huge crowds of refugees as his helicopter lands on top of the American embassy.
It’s time to leave the country. Braddock looks for his wife, Lin, but she’s not at the embassy. When talking to the captain of the gate (Keith David), he learns that Lin returned to her home to get her papers. Without them she wouldn’t be allowed into the embassy and able to flee the country. Concerned for her safety, Braddock takes a jeep and drives to Lin’s house.
Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988) – (c) Cannon Films
At her home, Lin finds her papers and passport, and she leaves to head to the embassy. Lin’s friend stays behind and takes all of the woman’s belongings. After she puts on an elegant bracelet, an incoming artillery round lands in the home and destroys it. Braddock arrives shortly after the paramedics have arrived at the scene. He sees a woman’s charred remains and notices the bracelet on her arm, and Braddock believes that his wife is dead. He heads back to the embassy with the crowds of people.
Meanwhile, Lin is shoved in the crowd of people and she loses her papers. She makes it to the gates of the embassy only to be denied entrance because she doesn’t have her papers. Suddenly the gate is attacked and the soldiers are forced to flee. While helping a woman on the building’s roof, Braddock is shot in the shoulder. The soldiers place him on a helicopter and he is evacuated from Vietnam.
Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988) – (c) Cannon Films
Twelve years pass and James Braddock is still a lonely man. One night he’s drinking at a bar in Washington, D.C., when a mysterious man seeks his attention. That mystery man turns out to be Reverend Polanski (Yehuda Efroni), a missionary from Vietnam. Rev. Polanski informs Braddock that not only is his wife still alive back in Vietnam, but so is his son, a twelve-year-old boy. Braddock wants to believe Rev. Polanski’s story, but he still remembers seeing Lin’s charred body outside of her burning home. She can’t be alive.
Braddock is leaving the bar when two men from the CIA stop him. They take him to meet a man named Littlejohn (Jack Rader), somebody that Braddock knows from his past. When Littlejohn asks him about his conversation with Rev. Polanski and his wife and son, Braddock instantly knows that the reverend was speaking the truth. He asks Littlejohn if he’s going to help him get his wife and son out of the country. When Littlejohn refuses to help, Braddock leaves the room and heads to southeast Asia to get them himself.
Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988) – (c) Cannon Films
Braddock arrives in Bangkok, Thailand and makes his way to a bar. There he finds Mik (Ron Barker), one of his old friends. Mik agrees to help fly Braddock into Vietnam. Just as they make the deal, Littlejohn and a few men from the CIA arrive in the bar. A fight occurs between them and Braddock, and that continues as a car chase through the streets of Bangkok. Mik and Braddock eventually escape from the CIA and Thailand police officers.
Mik happens to be a C-47 cargo plane pilot. They load the supplies and fly over the water to Vietnam. They fly close to the water to avoid being picked up on the Vietnamese radar. While flying, Mik gives Braddock a few tips for how to fly the plane. Braddock admits that it’s been a long time for him, implying that he has flown aircraft in his past.
Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988) – (c) Cannon Films
They arrive at Vietnam and Mik flies high enough for Braddock to make a parachute jump. Unfortunately, the Vietnamese radar detects them, and a pair of gunboats are soon spotted. Braddock pushes a small jet boat out of the aircraft before he jumps out and parachutes to the ground. He then uses the tiny but powerful boat to outrun the Vietnamese gunboats.
Braddock drives the boat up a river until he reaches a certain village. He then disguises himself and then hides his weapons in the water. Braddock then makes his way to the Amerasian Children’s Mission and finds Reverend Polanski. The reverend is delighted to see Braddock, and he tells him where to find his wife and son.
Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988) – (c) Cannon Films
It’s raining as Braddock enters a small structure and discovers his long-lost wife, Lin Tan Cang (Miki Kim). She’s thrilled to see Braddock again, though her son, Van Tan Cang (Roland Harrah III), isn’t nearly as happy. He believes that Braddock abandoned them in Vietnam.
The Braddock family slips into the night and begins making their way out of the village. Their escape goes well until Van is by himself and stopped by a military patrol. A soldier hits Van, and that forces Braddock to jump into action. He beats up the soldiers and flees the scene with his family.
Braddock leads his wife and son to the bank of the river where he hid his weapons and the jet boat. Van still resents his father, but his mother convinces him that Braddock really did not know that they were living in Vietnam. If he did, then he would have been there to rescue them a long time ago.
Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988) – (c) Cannon Films
Suddenly more soldiers appear and the Braddock family is surrounded. General Quoc (Aki Aleong) tells Braddock that it was very foolish of him to return to Vietnam. Apparently General Quoc remembers Braddock from the war, though we really don’t know anything about what happened during that time. All we really know is that General Quoc is rather amused to have captured the American soldier, and he intends on making Braddock pay for his alleged war crimes. General Quoc then shoots Lin in the head, killing her.
Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988) – (c) Cannon Films
Braddock and Van are taken to a compound where General Quoc intends on torturing them. The first torture has Van sitting in a chair and Braddock using all of his strength to prevent a gun from shooting his son in the head. After enduring that torture, Van is taken away while General Quoc has his men zap Braddock with electricity.
Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988) – (c) Cannon Films
At one point the soldiers get lazy and Braddock uses that as a change to escape. He kills the soldiers in his cell, acquires an assault rifle, and then frees Van. He helps Van escape from the compound while he takes on the guards in a gun battle. Braddock also escapes while Van runs and hides in the Amerasian Children’s Mission.
General Quoc and his men storm the Amerasian Children’s Mission. He thinks that Rev. Polanski is helping Braddock, so he has his men capture the reverend along with the children. Braddock witnesses this but is unable to help at that moment. Braddock then runs back to the river and retrieves the weapons that he hid in the water.
Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988) – (c) Cannon Films
Rev. Polanski and the children are taken to a camp outside of town. Braddock has also made his way to the camp, and in the morning he sneaks his way inside of it. He finds the children and saves a young girl from one of the guards. Braddock uses his rifle to kill another guard, and this puts the camp on high alert. It’s a war zone as Braddock uses his weapons to fight all of the camp’s guards.
Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988) – (c) Cannon Films
The reverend and the children are all placed inside of a truck, and Braddock drives them out of the camp. When General Quoc finds out about the attack, he has a helicopter try to stop them. The helicopter fires at the truck when it’s crossing a bridge, but the truck survives and continues driving. The truck is fired upon again and again when crossing a shallow river and then driving through a jungle, but each time the helicopter narrowly misses the vehicle.
Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988) – (c) Cannon Films
Braddock stops the truck and has everybody quickly flee from the vehicle. As soon as everybody is clear the helicopter attacks it again, this time destroying the truck in an explosion. Braddock then leads Rev. Polanski and the children through the jungle and ultimately to an old airfield guarded by a few soliders. Braddock attacks the soldiers and seizes control of a C-47 cargo plane, keeping its pilot alive to fly the airplane. He waves the children out of the jungle and has them board the aircraft.
Unfortunately, General Quoc is aware of the attack at the airfield. His men storm the airfield as the C-47 is preparing for takeoff. Soldiers fire their rifles and try to stop the aircraft from departing. The pilot is killed during the takeoff roll, and Braddock takes control of the plane. The aircraft flies away but it was hit in one of the fuel tanks, and they’re quickly losing fuel. They’re not going to make it to Thailand. Braddock makes an emergency call on the radio while Van climbs into the cockpit to sit with his father. They’re together in the cockpit when Braddock brings the C-47 down in a crash landing.
Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988) – (c) Cannon Films
Everybody survives the crash landing, and Braddock leads them through the jungle towards the Thailand border. They finally reach the border, but the crossing point is guarded on both sides. American soldiers are manning the border in Thailand, but they’re not allowed to cross into Vietnam and come to Braddock’s aide.
It’s up to Braddock to save the children all by himself. He sneaks close to the Vietnamese guards manning their side of the border and then wages war upon them. Braddock is successful in his one-man war until a grenade knocks him down, severely injuring him. The Americans on the other side of the border are forced to watch as Braddock struggles on the ground. Still, Braddock manages to pick up his rifle and kill a few more Vietnamese soldiers.
Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988) – (c) Cannon Films
Just when it looks like all the bad guys are dead and Braddock and the children are safe, along comes General Quoc in a helicopter. The general hovers and positions himself between Braddock and the Americans positioned across the border in Thailand. The Americans have a couple of helicopters as well, but General Quoc knows that they’re bluffing. While he’s busy being overconfident, Van rushes to his father’s aide. He helps Braddock lift and aim his assault rifle towards General Quoc’s helicopter. They fire and Quoc’s helicopter pilot is killed. The helicopter flies out of control and crashes, killing the Vietnamese general.
Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988) – (c) Cannon Films
Braddock: Missing in Action III ends with Braddock, Reverend Polanski and the Amerasian children all crossing the border into Thailand.
So is Braddock: Missing in Action III a good film?
MIA III tries hard to be a good film. It really does. Throughout the film you’ll have decent action scenes mixed with what try to be emotional moments along with some suspense. All of that is held together with a mediocre story about saving children from an oppressive dictatorship.
Like the other Missing in Action films, MIA III suffers from a generally weak story along with poor characters and almost no development or background. We don’t know anything about the history of Braddock and his wife. All we know is that they were married while Braddock was serving in Vietnam, and she’s believed to be killed during the evacuation from Saigon. That’s it. We see Braddock somewhat emotional about his wife, but it’s hard to understand it when there’s so little to be seen between their characters. Don’t expect to see anything about their relationship in the other MIA films. It’s non-existent.
The lack of background continues when Braddock is taken to the CIA and meets with Littlejohn. We are given a teaser that there’s bad blood between the men, but why they dislike each other is a huge mystery. The same is true as to why Littlejohn doesn’t want Braddock to return to Vietnam. That itself is a huge mystery in the film.
The same is true with General Quoc. We can see that he clearly dislikes Colonel Braddock, but again, we know nothing about why there’s such hatred. All that’s stated is that Braddock is accused of some major war crimes. We have no idea why Braddock is such a hated man in Vietnam.
This all comes down to poor storytelling. There are some decent moments in MIA III, but much of the film depends on information that simply isn’t there. If the story was sharpened and some better characters were added to the film, then MIA III could have been a great film and an epic conclusion to what is otherwise a pretty craptastic movie trilogy.
Is MIA III a complete failure?
No, certainly not.
Braddock: Missing in Action III actually has a lot of good morale values, and James Braddock is a great American hero. Chuck Norris does use some of his martial arts skills, and there are some fairly entertaining gun battles.
Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988) – movie trailer
It’s just a shame that, like the other two Missing in Action films, this one could have been significantly better. Chuck Norris fans will most likely enjoy Braddock: Missing in Action III as this is a solid B-film starring the legendary action star. In the end it’s not that bad of a film.
Littlejohn – “Braddock! I’m warning you, don’t step on any toes.”
Col. James Braddock – “I don’t step on toes, Littlejohn, I step on necks.”