Missing in Action.

Review #2202: Missing in Action.

Cast: 

Chuck Norris (Colonel James Braddock), M. Emmet Walsh (Jack "Tuck" Tucker), David Tress (Senator Maxwell Porter), Lenore Kasdorf (Ann Fitzgerald), Ernie Ortega (General Vinh), James Hong (General Tran), E. Erich Anderson (Masucci), and Pierrino Mascarino (Jacques) Directed by Joseph Zito.

Review: 

Much in the same way that a fruit can be cut several different ways, one can really do movies with similar subject matter with pretty different execution. If you remember, James Cameron was behind the original treatment for what became Rambo: First Blood Part II in May of 1985 (he had written it when waiting to start filming The Terminator), which, well, was an action film where Rambo went from being a "documenter of possible prisoners held by jailers" to "fuck 'em". Incidentally, earlier in the decade, Robert R. Garwood (a Private), among one of the last American POW from the Vietnam War (as captured in 1965 but one who did not return to America until 1979) faced a court martial after being accused of being a collaborator with the enemy that saw him stripped of his rank (he had claimed that American POWs were left behind in Vietnam). Even decades after the war, the Department of Defense lists "current numbers of Americans who are unaccounted for in Southeast Asia" at over a thousand. Anyway, Cameron's script led to inspiration (as one says) for the Cannon Group to see if they could do their own film involving war veterans and beat the Rambo film to the punch, which they did. In fact, they filmed two Missing in Action films, with the original plan to have the one directed by Lance Hool (which involved the POW days of the lead character) be released first before the rescue one...but the commercial prospects were found to be better with this film and so the other film was titled Missing in Action 2: The Beginning and released in March of 1985 (not long after the first one!) and somehow two months before the Rambo sequel. All of this is how the first film gets a screenplay and writing credit that has Arthur Silver, Larry Levinson and Steve Bing listed for characters, James Bruner for screenplay, and John Crowther and Lance Hool for story. 1988 saw the release of Braddock: Missing in Action III, which was considerably less successful.

Norris has stated that the film was one he made as a memorial for his younger brother Wieland, who died in combat in Vietnam. It was also the first film he did with the Cannon Group. This was the fifth film of Joseph Zito, who had directed the fourth (and intended final) film of the Friday the 13th series earlier in 1984, although his previous effort The Prowler (1981) has received far more interesting notice in later years. He did one further film with Norris in Invasion U.S.A. (1985). Imagine making a 100-minute movie with as little tension as possible and you have something that probably would fit right at home with keeping one eye open when trying to, say, paint. Norris seems to have settled into a Clint Eastwood impersonation that happens to do action with feet and blasting away, but it isn't particularly infused with even the slightest bit of charisma besides the minimum. The film somehow feels small in scale because by blasting away with faceless enemies (Hong doesn't even make it to the 45th minute but he does what the film needs before being disposed of) and having just Walsh with the semblance of energy, one just finds an average hollow film. Walsh is sly enough that being a sidekick character in his mid-forties is a hoot fitting enough to engage with. Well, I can say this much...it makes one realize that um, maybe I misjudged Good Guys Wear Black (1978) when it came to calling Norris one who sounded like an "instructional guidebook for using a power tool". This film at least drops the pretense of playing it for the thriller angle and goes straight for an action cheese fest. Sure, it lacks a true villain besides the nameless folks getting shot at, but one can at least get some sort of curiosity of seeing Norris playing opposite a character actor pro in Walsh (rest in peace) as opposed to trying to wedge in a romantic angle between Norris and Kasdorf (at least this one doesn't go like that aforementioned Good Guys film and explode a plane). I especially like how the ending is a dramatic build to...storming a building to show the truth. As a whole, it may have beaten First Blood Part II when it comes to POW rescue films, but it doesn't hold too much of a candle in overall execution, instead being an average film that lacks the final push to be anything other than the action film picked after the pile has nearly been finished.

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.

Stone Cold (1991).

Review #2168: Stone Cold.

Cast: 

Brian Bosworth (Detective Joe Huff / John Stone), Lance Henriksen ("Chains" Cooper), William Forsythe ("Ice" Hensley), Arabella Holzbog (Nancy), Sam McMurray (FBI Agent Lance Dockery), Richard Gant (FBI Special Agent In Charge Frank Cunningham), David Tress (District Attorney Brent "The Whip" Whipperton), and Illana Diamant (Officer Sharon) Directed by Craig R. Baxley.

Review: 

Okay, some "new directors" are for the curiosity. I had first heard "Brian Bosworth starring in a movie" and thought, hey, maybe I should consider it for Turkey Week (November 2022). It did not come to pass, but I struggled to find a way to talk about this, because such a goofy title and, uh, a former football star being paired with Lance Henriksen seemed ripe someday. This is currently the last feature film directed by Craig R. Baxley, as he has since directed a long list of television movies and a few miniseries (including multiple based on Stephen King works). Imagine going from Action Jackson (1988) and I Come in Peace (1990) to steady work on television...yes, I can't fathom that. Actually, Baxley had come from the world of stuntmen, eventually rising to positions as second unit director and stunt coordinator before breaking in as a director for stuff such as The A-Team. Bruce Malmuth (probably best known for Hard to Kill [1990]) was the original director intended for the film, and he had done a bit of filming before "personal issues that he couldn't control which poured out on set" led to him being replaced by Baxley. Four weeks had been spent filming with the main character having a family before that firing led to a portrayal instead of a loner (as quoted by Bosworth later, Baxley reportedly had said he was "hired to blow shit up and kill a lot of people"), because Malmuth's footage evidently was not useable. I would like to point out that Michael Douglas served as producer (uncredited). The film was written with Bosworth in mind by Walter Doniger, who actually graduated from Harvard is business before having his first profession being as a scriptwriter with Universal Films that eventually led to directing on occasion. His various scripts or direction included various things such as Duffy of San Quentin (1954) or the TV soap opera Peyton Place. The script was his last as a writer before his death in 2011 at the age of 94. The film was a bomb with audiences, but it has a small following, at least one that can be appreciated by say, a drafthouse screening.

This is the most noted film that featured Bosworth, who has appeared from time to time in direct-to-video fare (such as the Revelation Road trilogy) or guest roles. He was mulling on what he was going to do with himself now that his football career had unexpectedly ended at the age of 24. He apparently never considered himself an actor. His son even pointed out the, uh, interesting decisions made to make an action hero out of someone who doesn't really save that many people, and at one point, gets a motorcycle launched into a helicopter. Believe it or not, it was better than I expected. It was designed as a slam-bang action boiler that wanted to promote the physicality of a "name person" more than name actor that would basically put it probably a notch behind in the expectation levels one would have for a Steven Seagal film. Gratuitous and preposterous but never banging a false note, it is the sweet spot of average times for those who desire a film to see on a silly day besides just putting on The Wild Angels (1966). Henriksen was not keen on the original script for the character, because apparently all of his dialogue was cribbed from the Bible. He then went with doing all of his dialogue instead and also brought in outlaw bikers to serve as extras. I admire the dedication for an over-the-top role that is on point for what the film is selling: ridiculous but never boring (and Movie Night likes Henriksen anyway). Bosworth gets to do a few silly stunts like the opening (robbery at a convenience store? not if hiding man has something to say) and play the biker stuff to the routines you expect anyway. Forsythe seems game already to do any wild thing you ask in the name of acting, so having him being grim and gnarly is on point before that amusing endpoint chase. It is a highly combustible film with all the trappings of what should've been a small hit but instead got buried away. A handful of films like this is far more interesting than just going for direct-to-video fare, I imagine. Could it have been a movie about outlaw biker culture? Sure, but the result of striving for action straight on the line is an enjoyable piece of over-the-top filmmaking that delivers exactly on the expectations laid upon it anyway. Maybe Baxley wasn't destined to be a regular feature filmmaker for very long, but he sure looked like he had fun doing it, which sounds about right. Never a great film but always trying to be entertaining, it's a worthwhile pleasure to encounter.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Next: Ken Loach's Poor Cow.