Missing in Action is a 1984 American action film directed by Joseph Zito and starring Chuck Norris. It is set in the context of the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue. Colonel Braddock, who escaped a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp 10 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. "Missing In Action" was actually intended to be a sequel to "Missing in Action 2", but when it became clear that "Missing in Action" was a much better film with stronger commercial prospects, "Missing in Action 2" was turned into both a sequel and 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. 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. Plot Colonel James Braddock is a US military officer who spent seven years in a North Vietnamese POW camp, which he escaped 10 years ago. After the war, Braddock accompanies a government investigation team that travels to Ho Chi Minh City to investigate reports of US soldiers still held prisoner. Braddock obtains the evidence then travels to Thailand, where he meets Jack "Tuck" Tucker, an old Army friend turned black market kingpin. Together, they launch a mission deep into the jungle to free the US POW's from General Tran. Cast Chuck Norris as Colonel James Braddock M. Emmet Walsh as Jack "Tuck" Tucker David Tress as Senator Maxwell Porter Lenore Kasdorf as Ann Fitzgerald Ernie Ortega as General Vinh James Hong as General Tran E. Erich Anderson