Blu ray review: Missing in Action series
Movie tough guy Chuck Norris has developed quite a cult following over the years as being fictionally invincible. The reason is due to the heroic characters he played in aggressive action movies during the 1980s. Some of the most popular are the three Missing in Action war dramas that have now been released to blu ray by Kino Lorber.
The 1980s, extending into the 1990s were a strong decade for bluntly visceral action movies featuring the likes of Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, and Norris. Bronson and Eastwood were already screen veterans by this time. Stallone transformed from Rocky to Rambo. The others specialized in action dramas as the decade closed.
Chuck Norris perhaps most defined this type of movie, starting in the late 1970s with martial arts actioners, many of which are already available from Kino Lorber. Made by the Cannon group for a little over a million dollars, Chuck’s 1984 film Missing in Action grossed over $20 million. The concept of a central character with an arc, but little dialog, lots of action and a supporting cast of expendable villains, connected with period audiences. The idea was to then capitalize on this success by producing a prequel – Missing in Action 2: The Beginning – which shows the central character ten years before the events of the first film. That movie cost just under $2.5 million and grossed nearly $11 million. However, when a 3rd film, which takes place after the events of the first, was produced (directed by Chuck’s brother Aaron Norris) the budget ballooned to $9 million but the box office was just over $7 million. This is unfortunate as the third film might be the best movie in the series.
Kino’s release of all three of these films is highly recommended. The first two are 4K scans of the original camera negatives. The first offers a commentary by its director, Joseph Zito. The second features a commentary by its director, Lance Hool moderated by historian/filmmaker Daniel Kremer. The third, from a 2K scan of the 35mm interpositive, has a commentary byaction film historians Mike Leeder and Arne Venema.
The complete set is available at this link: MISSING IN ACTION