Águia de Aço IV: O Combate Final

Louis Gossett Jr returns to the well one more time as Chappy Sinclair who goes to Doug Masters (Played by Jason Cadieux who is in for Jason Gedrick who wisely declined) to teach a new band of recruits however this time they discover corrupt air force pilots who deal in toxic waste. This is a series that just keeps getting worse with each subsequent entry, this one however doesn't have any of the zip or even the action to make this even worth seeing on cable. Iron Eagle IV is directed with such indifference that the dogfights come off as if we were watching a playstation 2 game played by two lobotomized teenagers. It is horrendous to watch and Gossett Jr who has made his share of turkeys seems to have bottomed out here. And I saw Cover-Up, Firewalker, Aces:Iron Eagle III, Toy Soldiers and Jaws 3D. What is mysterious about Louis Gossett Jr is that he seems to be like Christopher Walken in his quest to do anything as long as he's working. As I look at his post Oscar win. Some of his better movies include Iron Eagle, The Punisher and The Principal. Considering that the latter two movies have him co-starring with Dolph Lundgren and James Belushi it is indeed something to say that three guilty pleasure action flicks are in the running for his better work. Of course Enemy Mine and Diggstown remain his best post-Oscar win work.

* out of 4-(Bad)

If this was any other series, I'd be saying "what the heck?" alas kids flying planes is the foot 'Iron Eagle' started off on. There's no denying this sequel is the weakest of the bunch and it's hard to be pleased with a juvenile afterschool special plot that's equal measure sappy & cliche. Lou Gossett Jr is back but there's a crazy bit of retconning going on here and the whole thing is barely engaging.

Doug Masters - the teenager from the original - who flew with Chappy (Gossett) to save his father, later became an air force pilot himself isn't dead after all. Turns out Doug (now played by Jason Cadieux) ejected in time, but spent years in a Russian prison as everyone thought he was dead. He's a cigarette smoking, drinking bitter young man asked by his old friend to be a flight instructor at a state run school to rehabilitate troubled teens. Of course, they accidentally stumble onto a nefarious scheme going on at the local military base.

Cadieux is sufficient. Certainly looks similar to Gerick (original actor that played the part). Scene where he explains what he went through was solid. Gossett isn't given much and just goes through the paces. Decent aerial footage is still here, but slips away under amateurs foiling hardened military men in the most unbelievable way. 'Iron Eagle 4' aka 'On the Attack' was a hard slough.

This movie was good at least I thought so. I liked the way they brought Doug back into the story, but I wish they got the same actor who played him in the first movie but oh well. Some elements of the movie were kinda silly, like the fact that 2 guys and a bunch of kids single handedly took down some evil plot or the fact they tried to accomplish this by using outdated planes. I found that If you don't look to much into the story, Iron Eagle IV makes for a good time killer. It also helps not to know which movie it is. I at had only seen the first movie so I assumed that Iron Eagle IV was Iron Eagle II. Maybe this helped make it a good movie. If I were to have known it was Iron Eagle IV I might not have watched it, but I'm glad I did.

Fortunately, this is the last! Since the first part, the iron eagles have only degrade it either at the history and role of different characters! Being a huge fan of the first two films, it is really sloppy! And I do not mince words! By analyzing many parts of the film, we see that the filmmakers have taken parts one and two films in the series ... RIDICULOUS! When I started the film, I wondered if it was not a remake of two comic actors were playing so poorly.

I'm so done everything to get them to my belief that the sequences (3 and 4) would be tempting that I am even more disappointed! Regards, AKmiva

The movie itself is not bad as far as storyline, but Chappy Sinclair seems weak and somewhat insecure. In 1 and 2, he was strong and proud, but when dealing with Doug, he is more childlike and goofy. Overall a cute family friendly movie, reminds me of "Skyward"with Bette Davis (made for TV by Ron Howard). I did add to my collection because at times I like stupid humor movies like "Hot Shots" and "Airplane" nonsense fun.