Aigle de fer

I'm sorry, but I just can't help it, I love watching Iron Eagle. Now, do not misunderstand me, I am not saying that this is a great movie. No, rather, I would put it that this is an endlessly entertaining movie. For people who cut this movie to pieces for not being realistic are kinda missing the point. Of course Iron Eagle's plot was ridiculous. But I believe its target audience was kids, and I sure remember finding this cool when I was little. Now I just find it amusing as a guilty pleasure, kinda like Road House. This movie is part of the great pantheon of 80's, kids-taking-on-the-stodgy-adult-power-structure movies. You must remember D.A.R.Y.L, Real Genius, E.T., etc. If you ask me, just watching Doug and Knotcher "Ride the Snake" in the beginning is worth the cost of the DVD. That whole sequence was so STUPID! But, at the same time, it was hilarious, funny, totally 80's, all that good stuff. So bottom line, Iron Eagle is a great 80's guilty pleasure. The hairstyles, the dancing, the music, the dialogue, its all funny as hell. I have Iron Eagle on DVD and to me it was totally worth $9.99 at Best Buy. If you love laughing at dated, unrealistic action movies, this one is a must-see. Oh yeah, and I think its plot was only marginally stupider than 1986's other fighter pilot action pic, Top Gun.

Ahhh, to be twelve years old again. I'm pretty sure if I was still that age, I would have loved this preposterous medley of bad acting, copious amounts of Queen's "One Vision" and senseless explosions. Sadly (and I do mean that), I've grown up and can recognize IRON EAGLE for what it is... and while it's not god-awful, it's not all that good, either.

IRON EAGLE is the story of new high school grad Doug Masters (Jason Gedrick, whom you'd recognize from CROSSING THE BRIDGE and ONE EYED KING had you ever heard of those movies). His fighter pilot dad has been captured by an evil Middle East country for illegally entering its territory (imagine that!). Now papa's gonna be hung and nobody in the US of A is ready to do anything about... 'cept Doug. So our hero steals military intelligence and an F-16 fighter jet (it's quite easy, really... just get your friends to distract army dudes by 'accidentially' spilling juice on their shirts and stuff). With the help of bright spot Louis Gossett Jr., he soars in to save the day.

IRON EAGLE actually starts out promising. You might even be willing to forgive its ludicrousness, but it gradually morphs into a meaningless series of fireballs and clichéd dialog. It seems perfectly content to dish out cheap thrills to violence-obsessed boys, and do nothing more. It's also too long and at times borders on the laughable. The film still has a certain charm, but unless your night is slower than molasses, you'll want to skip it.

Back in 1986 I was a sixteen year old boy, when I first saw this film, I thought back then that this movie was one of the coolest I've ever seen. Just the other night at a friends house, my friend said "how about a trip down old memory lane", he busted out an old dusty VHS tape and I could see it was the original Iron Eagle movie. He slapped it into his VCR and off we went. Now I am a 36 year old man, not the boy I was many years ago. As I watched the film, I could see flaws in detail, flaws in the special effects and a corny script and plot line. Now don't get me wrong, it's still a good film, if you are like stuck in the 80's! The only true thing I could get into with this film was the pretty good soundtrack. I am a big fan of the rock group Queen, they made parts of this film good enough to at least sit tight and watch. Good film back in the days, good film now, just a whole lot of corny! "Thank you for your time" Aaron Grace

I really hate seeing people rip on this movie. They rip on the realism. How realistic are half of Arnold Swarzenegger's movies?...or any movie like them. Iron Eagle has a great soundtrack, cool dog fighting sequences, and a good story line (whether it's realistic or not). It's a story every young person who likes military fighter jets would love to live. It draws on the fact that you wish it was you "going in to knock the s... out of them.." (As Chappy put it). You people who rip on the realistic plot.....hey.....go watch a documentary. Or go glam like Hollywood and watch Top Gun. How many times have US and Russian planes flown inverted and given the other the bird from a few feet away. Iron Eagle is a great movie.....check it out.

It's not an amazing film. Forget that. But this is great 80's straight to the point plot and resolution. Good dialogue and good action. I'd give it an 8 but that's for my own nostalgia. I won't let that impact my rating.