jon-1333

Daft, very daft, but maybe a guilty pleasure.

However...am I the only one to notice that this is a remake of The Magnificent Seven (itself a remake of The Seven Samurai)? It even stars Horts Bucholz reprising his role from the original (in the same way that Robert Vaughn played his old role in that other "seminal" remake, Battle Beyond the Stars.) So, if we count A Bug's Life (which I do), that is 4 unofficial remakes of The Seven Samurai.

However, let's be realistic. Ms McLish has her charms, to be sure, but she's basically a cut price female Steven Seagal.

And John Glen is a poor director. The 80's Bond movies are the weakest of the series by far, and very nearly killed off the franchise after Licence To JKill. The common denominator? John Glen.

And am I also the only one to notice that the pilots are all far too young to have fought in World War 2?

Still, it's better than the first 2, but I think there may be a fourth Iron Eagle which I have never felt the need to see.

I loved this when it was first broadcast just after the Falklands War. It focused on a fictional RAF squadron which was supposed to be some kind of Rapid Deployment Force. It was equipped with Harriers, Pumas, Helicopters and (briefly) Phantoms, not to mention a maverick Wing Commander(Malcolm Stoddart) who seemed to be constantly at war with his Group Captain (Michael Culver). Typically of 80's BBC productions, it was sometimes hampered by a lowish budget - I recall at least two episodes set in a fictional former British colony in Africa, which looked as if they had been filmed in North Wales. (The terrain there could perhaps pass for parts of South Africa, but it is far too green and damp to be convincing.) All of the other foreign deployments seemed to be filmed in Cyprus (although it could easily have been that gravel pit in England where they filmed most of Dr Who for all I know). It may not have aged well, but unless the BBC release it on DVD, we will probably never know.

Quite simply the most terrifying film that I have ever seen, probably because it could have happened, rather than being about something completely imaginary like ghosts or aliens. It's easy to forget now just how prevalent the threat of nuclear war was back in the mid 1980's. Threads scared me witless in 1984 and still scared me witless when I saw it again 20 years later, despite a global conflict being much less likely nowadays. It's much more terrifying than its US equivalent, The Day After, which although disturbing, does feel a bit like Dallas with the Bomb. It's stood the test of time quite well, despite some rather weak effects.