Chuck Norris returns to Southeast Asia again, single-handedly avenging American defeat and rescuing children in the bargain. During the fall of Saigon, Norris searches the chaotic streets for his Vietnamese wife, Kim, then mistakenly believes she is dead. She, meanwhile, has her passport
stolen en route to the US embassy and cannot leave. Norris however, is evacuated. Thirteen years later in the US he learns from a missionary that Kim is alive and has a son. At first Norris doesn't believe him, but when the CIA officially tells him to disregard this information, he knows it's all
true. Then, sooner than you can say "one-man army," he's back in Vietnam, where the priest leads him to Kim and their son, Harrah. Attempting to flee the country, they are caught by general Aleong's soldiers, who shoot Kim on the spot and take Harrah and Norris to dungeons to be tortured. Norris,
however, overpowers his guards, frees his son, and heads for the mission. Aleong anticipates the move and takes all the mission children into captivity, along with Harrah and the priest. Eventually, Norris stages a single-handed attack to free them, killing dozens of soldiers, and a long chase
through the jungle ensues, until, at the Thai border--notwithstanding the fact that Vietnam and Thailand share no border--another battle takes place as American soldiers look on, itching to be involved.
It's useless to try to relate BRADDOCK: MISSING IN ACTION III to any sort of reality concerning Vietnam (other than that of American revenge fantasies), so one can only appraise it in the context of war films in general, and as such it fails miserably. Norris is woodenly invincible, Harrah is
annoying in the way that only child actors can be, and the only performance of note is that of Aleong, who hams it up to the hilt, puncturing the incredible sense of self-importance that otherwise pervades the film. The movie concludes with a title stating that 15,000 children of American
servicemen are still in Vietnam, a real issue that the film fails to address, by offering invasion as the only solution. leave a comment