Aigle de fer

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.

When US Airforce pilot Col Ted Masters is shot down over waters claimed by a hostile Middle Eastern country he is captured, put on trial and sentenced to death! His eighteen year old son Doug, a skilled Cessna pilot hoping to join the Air Force, is horrified to learn the military will be doing nothing to save his father. He decides to lead his own rescue mission. He enlists the help of Col. Charles "Chappy" Sinclair, a Vietnam veteran who is now in the Air Force Reserve... they plan the mission; appropriate two fully armed F-16 fighters and set off for the Middle East to rescue Doug's father.

To say this film is cheesy and unrealistic is an understatement... I can see why the USAF wanted nothing to do with it as it makes it look easy for kids to get classified information on an air base not to mention the stealing of two F-16s! That said if you can put your brain in neutral it is quite fun. There is plenty of action and the flying sequences are spectacular with the Israeli Air Force proving F-16s and Kfirs; the latter standing in for enemy MiGs. The effects aren't the best; it is clear that destroyed aircraft and buildings are models. The makers clearly liked explosions ... even a mast falling on a tent causes an explosion! Much of the acting is pretty hammy but Louis Gossett Jr adds a touch of quality as Chappy. Overall I wouldn't call this a must see unless you are on an '80s nostalgia trip or, like me, have to run to the window every time you hear a fast jet overhead!

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.

The film focuses a boy about eighteen-years-old (Jason Gedrick) ; when his father (Tim Thomerson) is taken prisoner by a dictator (David Suchet) from Middle East , he steals a F 16 fighter jet to rescue his daddy . He's helped by the brave Colonel ¨Chappy¨ Sinclair (Louis Gosset Jr. , though Morgan Freeman auditioned for the part) . The movie contains a plethora of action scenes , explosion , blasts , aircraft battles with various jet-planes flying to sound-velocity and blown up . The picture is a blend of typical films from the 80s , as ¨Top Gun¨and ¨Rambo¨ but starred by a teenager .

The story provides entertainment and action with no sense but being sometimes a little bit boring and dull . All of the fighter aircraft used (F-16 fighters ; plus , F-21 fighters depicting enemy MiGs) are actually Israeli Air Force aircraft , repainted with the USAF symbol and a fictitious enemy symbol . Jason Gedrick is the valiant he-man , he causes wreck havoc to nasties commanded by the villain David Suchet . Our hero ¨Chappy¨ is well personified by Louis Gosset Jr , usual to all the¨Iron Eagle¨ saga . Spectacular cinematography by Adam Greenberg with excellent sky-shots . However , the score is awful , but is based in disco-music and synthesizer , in spite of being composed by Basil Poledouris (¨Conan¨ music's author) . The motion picture was regularly directed by Sidney J.Furie . It's followed by three sequels, all directed by Furie with exception the second directed by John Glen , thus : ¨Iron Eagle 2¨ (1988) with Mark Humphrey ; ¨Aces : Iron Eagle III¨ (1992) with Rachel McLish and Horst Buchhold ; and ¨Iron Eagle IV¨ with Rachel Blanchard .