1 / 8
MONEY
Did you know
Shot for just $2.4M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
MoodPlayr · trivia#01
Missing in Action 2: The Beginning
"Chuck Norris is back! A one-man time bomb set to explode!"
1985 1h 35m EN
😐
5.8
MID
★5.8TMDB · 351
ActionWarDramaThriller
Synopsis
Spoiler shield
Prequel to the first Missing In Action, set in the early 1980s it shows the capture of Colonel Braddock during the Vietnam war in the 1970s, and his captivity with other American POWs in a brutal prison camp, and his plans to escape.
“Chuck Norris is back! A one-man time bomb set to explode!”
Cast
Chuck Norris
Colonel James Braddock
Soon-Tek Oh
Colonel Yin
Steven Williams
Captain David Nester
John Wesley
Frankie
Professor Toru Tanaka
Lao
John Otrin
Soldier
Christopher Cary
Emerson
Joseph Hieu
Guard
Credits
Behind the camera
- Director
- Lance Hool
- Writers
- Arthur Silver, Larry Levinson, Steve Bing
- Languages
- English, Vietnamese
- Countries
- United States of America, St. Kitts and Nevis, Netherlands, Mexico
Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.
Did you know?
Fun facts 🍿
2 / 8
MONEY
Did you know
Made its money back 4.5× over at the box office.
MoodPlayr · trivia#02
3 / 8
ERA
Did you know
41 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
MoodPlayr · trivia#03
4 / 8
WORLD
Did you know
Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Vietnamese.
MoodPlayr · trivia#04
5 / 8
WORLD
Did you know
International production across 4 countries: United States of America, St. Kitts and Nevis, Netherlands, Mexico.
MoodPlayr · trivia#05
6 / 8
CINEMA
Did you know
Part of the "Missing in Action Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
MoodPlayr · trivia#06
7 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Directed by Lance Hool, shot by Jorge Stahl Jr.. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
MoodPlayr · trivia#07
8 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Original score by Brian May. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
MoodPlayr · trivia#08
Cinephile deep dive
The take
Lance Hool directs. Jorge Stahl Jr. behind the camera. Brian May scores. Mark Conte cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America, St. Kitts and Nevis, Netherlands, Mexico. Dialogue in English, Vietnamese.
Trivia
Things worth knowing
- 1Shot for just $2.4M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
- 2Made its money back 4.5× over at the box office.
- 341 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
- 4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Vietnamese.
- 5International production across 4 countries: United States of America, St. Kitts and Nevis, Netherlands, Mexico.
- 6Part of the "Missing in Action Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
- 7Directed by Lance Hool, shot by Jorge Stahl Jr.. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
- 8Original score by Brian May. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
- 9Editor Mark Conte shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
- 10Chuck Norris and Soon-Tek Oh and Steven Williams carry the top of the cast.
- 11Marketing tagline: "Chuck Norris is back! A one-man time bomb set to explode!".
- 12IMDB entry: tt0089604 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
- 13Classified under 25 themes, including "vietnam war", "vietnam veteran", "martial arts", "vietcong".
The technical file
- Cinematography
- Jorge Stahl Jr.
- Original score
- Brian May
- Editing
- Mark Conte
- Production design
- Michael Baugh
- Makeup / hair
- Moni Mansano
- Runtime
- 95 min · 1h 35m
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $2,410,000
- Box office
- $10,755,447
- Return
- 446% of budget
- Original language
- EN
- Certification (US)
- R
Part of
Missing in Action Collection
Missing in Action Trilogy starring Chuck Norris.
Also by
Lance Hool
Trailers & featurettes
Watch the pieces
Community reviews
What people are saying
- JPV852★ 6/10
Pretty much more of the same copying elements from the Rambo series. I still found it moderately entertaining as Chuck Norris was fun to watch and the pyrotechnics were pretty good. Competently made but nothing all that memorable. 3/5
Production companies
Who made it
- GO
Golan-Globus Productions
US
The Cannon Group
US
Key crew
- EditorMark Conte
- ProducerYoram Globus
- EditorMarcus Manton
- ProducerMenahem Golan
- StuntsJeff Imada
- StuntsBJ Davis
- Production DesignMichael Baugh
- Set DecorationDavid Varod
- Costume DesignerPoppy Cannon-Reese
- Makeup ArtistMoni Mansano
- Assistant Makeup ArtistLilly Benyair-Gart
- Key Makeup ArtistRobert Sidell
- Production ManagerConrad Hool
- Post Production SupervisorTod Scott Brody
- Assistant Art DirectorGregg Fonseca
- Construction CoordinatorRichard Lind
- Assistant Art DirectorJohn Krenz Reinhart Jr.
- Set DresserDavid Varod
- PainterSusan Inge Wood
- Script SupervisorJoanne Small
- Title DesignerWenden K. Baldwin
- PilotMischa Hausserman
Themes & keywords
What it's about, really
- vietnam war
- vietnam veteran
- martial arts
- vietcong
- escape
- loss of loved one
- patriotism
- prisoner of war
- liberation
- affectation
- revenge
- shootout
- torture
- taunting
- angry
- aggressive
- absurd
- whimsical
- admiring
- adoring
- ambiguous
- ambivalent
- antagonistic
- tragic
- vibrant
Release history · US
When it landed
- Theatrical1985-03-01R
Also known as
International titles
- Desparecido en combate 2ES
- Missing in Action 2 The BeginningGB
- Missing in Action 2. Teil - Die RückkehrDE
- Braddock 2: O Início da MissãoBR
- Rombo di tuono IIIT
