Movies Like Missing in Action (1984)

Missing in Action is a 1984 action, adventure, drama, thriller, war film from Joseph Zito with a MovieMagicScore of 5.8/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Missing in Action 2: The Beginning and Braddock: Missing in Action III.

Action Adventure Drama Thriller War

Missing in Action 2: The Beginning

1985

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.

5.8

MagicScore

Braddock: Missing in Action III

1988

When Colonel James Braddock is told that his Asian wife and 12-year-old son are still alive in Communist Vietnam, he mounts a one-man assault to free them. Armed with the latest high-tech firepower, Braddock fights his way into the heart of the country and ends up battling his way out with several dozen abused Amerasian children in tow! Struggling to keep them alive while outmaneuvering a sadistic Vietnamese officer, Braddock ignites the jungle in a blazing cross-country race for freedom.

5.6

MagicScore

Good Guys Wear Black

1978

The former leader of a commando rescue attempt into Vietnam tries to discover why his squad members are being murdered, one-by-one, after the war is over.

5.1

MagicScore

First Blood

1982

When former Green Beret John Rambo is harassed by local law enforcement and arrested for vagrancy, he is forced to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.

7.5

MagicScore

Rambo: First Blood Part II

1985

John Rambo is released from prison by the government for a top-secret covert mission to the last place on Earth he'd want to return - the jungles of Vietnam.

6.7

MagicScore

Hearts and Minds

1974

Many times during his presidency, Lyndon B. Johnson said that ultimate victory in the Vietnam War depended upon the U.S. military winning the "hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese people. Filmmaker Peter Davis uses Johnson's phrase in an ironic context in this anti-war documentary, filmed and released while the Vietnam War was still under way, juxtaposing interviews with military figures like U.S. Army Chief of Staff William C. Westmoreland with shocking scenes of violence and brutality.

7.6

MagicScore

Full Metal Jacket

1987

A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.

8.1

MagicScore

Apocalypse Now

1979

At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." His goal is to locate - and eliminate - a mysterious Green Beret Colonel named Walter Kurtz, who has been leading his personal army on illegal guerrilla missions into enemy territory.

8.3

MagicScore

The Great Raid

2005

As World War II rages, the elite Sixth Ranger Battalion is given a mission of heroic proportions: push 30 miles behind enemy lines and liberate over 500 American prisoners of war.

6.5

MagicScore

#10

Uncommon Valor

1983

A group of Vietnam War veterans re-unite to rescue one of their own left behind and taken prisoner by the Vietnamese.

6.2

MagicScore

#11

Faith of My Fathers

2005

Faith of My Fathers is based on the story of Lieutenant Commander John McCain's experiences as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years during the Vietnam War, interleaved with his memories of growing up in a heritage rich with military service.

6.2

MagicScore

#12

The Deer Hunter

1978

A group of working-class friends decide to enlist in the Army during the Vietnam War and finds it to be hellish chaos -- not the noble venture they imagined. Before they left, Steven married his pregnant girlfriend -- and Michael and Nick were in love with the same woman. But all three are different men upon their return.

8.0

MagicScore

#13

Who'll Stop the Rain

1978

John, a disillusioned Vietnam War journalist, turns to heroin smuggling. He cons Ray, an equally burnt out veteran into delivering the drugs stateside to his wife. Everything soon falls apart and Ray ends up on the run with John's wife trying to evade crooked narcotics agents.

6.5

MagicScore

#14

Da 5 Bloods

2020

Four African-American Vietnam veterans return to Vietnam. They are in search of the remains of their fallen squad leader and the promise of buried treasure. These heroes battle forces of humanity and nature while confronted by the lasting ravages of the immorality of the Vietnam War.

6.5

MagicScore

#15

The Visitors

1972

Bill, Martha and their little child Hal are spending a quiet winter Sunday in their cosy house when they get an unexpected visit from Mike Nickerson and Tony Rodriguez. Mike and Tony are old acquaintances of Bill; a few years back, in Vietnam, they were in the same platoon. They also became opposed parties in a court martial - for a reason that Bill never explained to Martha. What happened in Vietnam, and what is the reason for the presence of Mike and Tony ?

6.0

MagicScore

#16

We Were Soldiers

2002

The story of the first major battle of the American phase of the Vietnam War and the soldiers on both sides that fought it.

7.1

MagicScore

#17

The '60s

1999

The Herlihys are a working class family from Chicago whose three children take wildly divergent paths: Brian joins the Marines right out of High School and goes to Vietnam, Michael becomes involved in the civil rights movement and after campaigning for Bobby Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy becomes involved in radical politics, and Katie gets pregnant, moves to San Francisco and joins a hippie commune. Meanwhile, the Taylors are an African-American family living in the deep South. When Willie Taylor, a minister and civil rights organizer, is shot to death, his son Emmet moves to the city and eventually joins the Black Panthers, serving as a bodyguard for Fred Hampton.

6.0

MagicScore

#18

The Delta Force

1986

A 707 aircraft jetliner, en route from Athens to Rome and then to New York City, is hijacked by Lebanese terrorists, who demand that the pilot take them to Beirut. What the terrorists don't realize is that an elite team of commandos have been called in to eliminate all terrorists on the jetliner.

6.0

MagicScore

#19

84C MoPic

1989

An Army cameraman is embedded with a reconnaissance patrol and charts their mission across territory controlled by the North Vietnamese.

6.2

MagicScore

#20

Little Dieter Needs to Fly

1997

Three decades after German-American pilot Dieter Dengler was shot down over Laos, he returns to the places where he was held prisoner during the early years of the Vietnam War. Accompanied by director Werner Herzog, Dengler describes in unusually candid detail his captivity, the friendships he made, and his daring escape. Not willing to stop there, Herzog even persuades his subject to re-enact certain tortures, with the help of some willing local villagers.

7.4

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Missing in Action?

The top films similar to Missing in Action by MovieMagicScore are Missing in Action 2: The Beginning (5.8), Braddock: Missing in Action III (5.6), Good Guys Wear Black (5.1). Each shares action/adventure/drama/thriller/war themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Missing in Action worth watching?

Missing in Action holds a MovieMagicScore of 5.8/10 from 523 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Missing in Action?

Missing in Action (1984) is a action, adventure, drama, thriller, war film directed by Joseph Zito, starring Chuck Norris, M. Emmet Walsh, David Tress.

Where can I find more recommendations like Missing in Action?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more action recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Missing in Action 2: The Beginning Movies like Braddock: Missing in Action III Movies like Good Guys Wear Black Movies like First Blood Movies like Rambo: First Blood Part II Movies like Hearts and Minds

About movies like Missing in Action

This ranked list pairs Missing in Action (1984), a action and adventure and drama and thriller and war film from Joseph Zito, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Chuck Norris take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

← Back to Missing in Action