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Iron Eagle (1986)

Rate: 8
Viewed: 12/19

IronE1
12/19: Iron Eagle was a popular title during the 80's, but I never got around to seeing it until now.

I can understand why the movie worked back then. Yes, the first ten minutes, Iron Eagle looks like a rip-off of Top Gun, but the former was theatrically released before the latter was. Never mind that, it's a Toy Soldiers meets Top Gun story, which cleverly covers all bases given its sheer stupidity, that wins me over.

Louis Gossett, Jr., is a fine actor in his own right. Hell, he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in An Officer and a Gentleman. In Iron Eagle, he gives another special performance and is sometimes better than he was as Mayo's drill sergeant. If not for him, I don't think the movie would've worked.

On the other hand, Jason Gedrick is impressive. He could've failed big time by giving a corny performance but did pull through by being at once serious and believable. Because of him, Louis Gossett, Jr., and the power of storytelling, Iron Eagle works out on the whole.

I have to mention one more actor on the other side: David Suchet as Colonel Nakesh, the Minister of Defense. He's a funny guy who has the best one-liners. I'm not surprised he went on to play Hercule Poirot in the television series Poirot.

Despite seemingly shot on an actual base, the United States Air Force refused to cooperate because of the nature of the story. So, the studio had to do it all in Israel. It's a good work by everybody to fool me. And don't worry about seeing the same repeated shot of a plane blowing up because you need to make sure that Iron Eagle is to be viewed as a B movie.

All in all, unfairly compared to Top Gun, Iron Eagle is a well-done fighter pilot movie with an absorbing story and fine acting.