a5c7b9f00b 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. Cannon productions backs another American colonel James Braddock film to the surprising hit that was the 1984 Chuck Norris starring post-Vietnam action-flick &quot;Missing In Action&quot;. This sequel &#39;The Beginning&#39; is a prequel to the original and from the trivia on this site it explains that it was actually made before Joseph Zito&#39;s film which was shot back to back with number two. I guessed they liked Zito&#39;s effort more, and you can see why. But this spirited entry is not a complete lost.<br/><br/>This very low-cost, raw looking sequel (prequel) seems to primarily parade around its many fragmented set-pieces of brutally unpleasant torture and demoralizing spirit-breaking with little in a way of story to back it all up. Due to this it could lull and get fairly repetitive making it feel longer than it is, but it gets you emotionally invested and few and far between are some effective moments like a rat in a bag sequence. After a slowly lean get-up amongst the stinking hot jungle setting and POW camp (which for most part is completely dreary), it finally breaks the shackles in the last half-hour or so with blistering action (even if some of it is poorly conceived) complete with explosions and Norris suitably paying back some of his own medicine in what is a fittingly tough and cheering confrontation (due to what has gone before it) with the sadistically malevolent Colonel Yin performed with smarting glee by Soon Tek-oh. Norris looking quite weathered and bruised goes about things in a steely and scrappy manner until the rage he kept inside finally breaks out after the constant torment to get him to confess to the unheralded crimes. The acting is inconsistent, but the cast features the likes of Steven Williams (probably best known for his partX in the &#39;X-Files&#39; series), John Wesley and Professor Toru Tanaka. Lance Hool&#39;s direction is fundamentally gritty, but authentic in style. Adding to the drama is Brian May&#39;s bombastic score with a somber touch at times within its cues.<br/><br/>Although I&#39;ve seen this feature quite a few times, it&#39;s notentertainingthe first film, but Cannon&#39;s cheap-jack b-grade fodder still packs grit and brute force. This was apparently filmed back to back with the original entry in the series and was actually originally intended to be released first; that was until the producers decided that it was inferior in quality to its intended sequel and released itpart 2, servinga prequel (have you got that?) Watching the film I would say that the producers made the correct decision; Indeed, not only is this inferior to its predecessor in virtually every way, it is additionally for the most part, unforgivably boring to! <br/><br/>Chuck Norris once again plays the toughnails, Colonel James Braddock who finds himself and a few of his men at the mercy of a sadistic prison warden when they are captured in Nam. What follows is a mercilessly drawn out representation of the prisoners hardships and humiliation in their confinement for the first half of the film, and a fairly lacklustre action fuelled second half. Even the inevitable hand to hand finale between Norris and his nemesis is incredibly blandly handled here.<br/><br/>Sadly far from Norris&#39; best and a somewhat miserable failure when compared to the joyous mayhem of the original. Luckily, matters were redeemed somewhat with the third and final entry in the series which saw Braddock back on fine form.
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346 weeks ago