Portés disparus 2 - Pourquoi ?

For many years I have enjoyed Chuck Norris. Now I can say that one of his movies made me cry. This movie was an absolute heart-stopper, tear-jerker, and gut-wrencher. This is a total psychological flick, exposing to the viewers the horrors of Asian prison camps. Of course, Norris busts out in the end with his comrades. After watching this movie one feels like a true American. If you can't crack open a Budwieser and wear a t-shirt with an American flag on the front you shouldn't watch this movie. This makes me think of Bruce Springstein's Born in the U.S.A. The only thing missing from this movie was Billy Drago, of course. All in all, a worthwile and moving flick to view. Rent it right now, or better yet, buy it.

Missing in Action 2 (1985)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Prequel to the first film has Col. James Braddock (Chuck Norris) and his men thrown into a POW camp where they are constantly abused and tortured. Soon Braddock finally realizes that their only chance for survival is by escaping. I've read at a couple sites that the first two films in the series were shot at the same time and that originally this prequel was meant to be the first in the series but the producer's film that the other film, the eventually part one, was better so this one here was released second and as a prequel. The first film was a laughably bad action film but this one here tries to play itself more straight and it works in some ways. I'm really not sure if the series would have been better had this one been released first but it does contain more human drama than the first film. This film has "B" movie written all over it due to the poor performances and lackluster direction but it still manages to be entertaining due to some nice action and a fun ending. Soon-Tek Oh plays the bad guy in the film and actually steals the movie. This isn't an all out action film like the first movie but I enjoyed it just the same.

Prequel to Chuck Norris' quite successful first film in the "Missing in Action" franchise. The prequel tells the story of how Norris' Colonel Braddock was captured and held prisoner by the NVA during the Vietnam War. The film is a fairly standard POW war film story, complete with an evil camp commandant, cruel torture, and daring escapes. Norris has always been limited in his acting ability, but this film wisely did not ask much of our hero in that department. Unfortunately the film also did not ask Chuck show off his martial arts skills much either, with the exception being a final confrontation with venerable character actor Soon-Tek Oh as the evil Colonel Yin. Chuck takes some beat downs from Professor Toru Tanaka and has some nasty torture scenes, particularly one involving rats, throughout the film as the NVA try to get him to confess to war crimes, but why have a karate champ in your film if you're not going to let him fight? The film's production company realized this was a weak film and had already filmed a sequel back-to-back with this one. Producers made the wise choice to release what was originally filmed as a sequel ("Missing in Action" where Chuck goes back to Vietnam to rescue POWs) as the first of the franchise and then released this weaker film later as a prequel. In the plus column for this film, it does feature music by Max Max composer Brian May. Also, as clichéd of a POW story as it is, it's a pretty sturdy one that's hard to resist for fans of this war film sub-genre.

The picture focuses Colonel Braddock (Chuck Norris) aboard a helicopter which is down . He is imprisoned , along with various Vietnam soldiers (Steven Williams , John Wesley..), by a hideous and sadist POW camp chief warden (Soon-Teck-Oh) and underlings (professor Tanaka..) . The tough Braddock continuously attempts to free the prisoners held captives and they receive numerous tortures and sufferings in charge of the concentration camp wardens and their evil ruler .

The screenplay of the movie is plain and simple . It's a predictable routine and formula actioner film . It's all obvious , unconvincing and overblown . However if you appealed the first part , you'll probably love this picture . It deals upon horrible conditions of prisoners and grueling efforts of the meager band of captives to survive , confronting starvation , mistreats , rampage and continuous violence by hitting , punches , lashes , knocks and incredible tortures . Storyline is a bit ridiculous , embarrassing and shallow , it concerns on prisoners trying to escape and subsequent revenge executed by Braddock as a headstrong and reckless Colonel . In the wake of : ¨Uncommon valor¨ (directed by Ted Kocheff) and ¨Rambo II¨ (by George Pan Cosmatos) and Norris imitating to Silvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger as one army man , shooting and killing numerous enemies

The film results to be the second installment from a trilogy , concerning the first ¨Missing in action¨ (made by Joseph Zito) on Braddock accused of war crimes by a Vietnam general and he then escapes to free inmates ; this second part (directed by Lance Hool , the first one 's producer) about tortures and Braddock suffering in a prisoner camp , and the third part (directed by Aaron Norris , Chuck's brother , who in 'Missing in action 1' was the stunt coordinator) upon looking for his wife after downfall Saigon . Filmed back to back with Missing in action (1984) , this picture was supposed to be released first . However , when ¨Cannon¨ realized the second film was the better of the two , they released it first and re-titled this movie as a prequel . The three films contain ominous and villain enemies played by oriental actors (James Hong , Soon Teck Oh , Aki Aelong) with offensive racial stereotypes . Nice support cast formed by Steven Williams (TV L.A. Heat) and Professor Tanaka (a wrestler who possessed incredible strength) who was arguably the successor to Harald Sakata (Golfinger) as the archetypal Asian henchman . Appropriate musical score by Jay Chattaway and adequate as well as atmospheric cinematography by cameraman Joao Fernandez , filmed on location in Philippines . The motion picture was middlingly directed by Lance Hool , also producer . Rating : Average but entertaining . The motion picture will appeal to Chuck Norris fans .

Prequel to Missing in Action covers Braddock's years as a POW and his eventual escape. This one was filmed back-to-back with the other movie and was intended to be released first. But they realized the first movie was better, so they moved it from part 2 to 1. Which is funny as today there are many fans who claim part 2 is the better movie. I'm not one of them but they're out there. Don't get me wrong, it's a decent war movie and I like it. It's not action-heavy, though it never drags and the action does pick up towards the end. It's more of a drama for the first hour or so. Chuck is his usual stoic self. Soon-Tek Oh is a suitably despicable villain. Steven Williams plays the POW who betrays the others. Christopher Cary has a brief but enjoyable role as an Australian photographer who tries to help the POWs. The continuity doesn't line up with the previous movie (or the third), but I doubt most viewers will care. If you like Chuck Norris' Cannon movies, you will probably like this one.