Aces: Iron Eagle III (1992)

Director:

John Glen

Writers (WGA):

Kevin Elders (characters) &
Sidney J. Furie (characters) ...

Release Date:

12 June 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

Four heroes from the past fight as one to protect the future.

Plot:

Chappy discovers a drug-smuggling scheme at his own air base. It turns out that the lives of some village people in Peru are at stake, and he decides to fly there with ancient airplanes and friends to free them.

Plot Keywords:

Pilot | General | Rescue | Part Of Tetralogy | Colonel

Cast

Louis Gossett Jr.	...	Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair
Rachel McLish	...	Anna
Paul Freeman	...	Kleiss
Horst Buchholz	...	Leichman
Christopher Cazenove	...	Palmer
Sonny Chiba	...	Horikoshi
Fred Dalton Thompson	...	Stockman
Mitch Ryan	...	Simms
Rob Estes	...	Doyle
J.E. Freeman	...	Ames
Tom Bower	...	Crawford
Phill Lewis	...	Tee Vee
Juan Fernández	...	Escovez
Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini	...	Chico (as Ray Mancini)
Inez Perez	...	Mrs. Del Prado

Also Known As:

Iron Eagle III (Australia)

MPAA:

Rated R for war violence.

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Peru:14 | USA:R (Certificate #31409) | Norway:18 | Spain:13 | Iceland:16 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Tucson, Arizona, USA

Company:

Carolco Pictures

Trivia:

Hardy Krüger turned down the Paul Freeman part

Goofs:

Factual errors: United States Officer U.S. lapel insignia that Col. Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair are wearing are the enlisted version, with the U.S. letters surrounded by a silver disk.

Quotes:

Tee Vee: [sees the bell has killed Escovez] Nice hat.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Family Guy: Movin' Out (Brian's Song) (#6.2)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

I NEED YOU

Typical Air Force Fantasy with a Twist - The heroes fly antiques!

This film incorporates most of the clichés, (republican) political themes,and formulae of modern military fiction, and tells a story about aging planes and the aging men who fly them fighting to avenge the honor of a fellow pilot and put a dent (more of a bomb crater) in the drug war. The film also adds some characterization and entertaining action sequences, and attempts, though not very effectively, to employ comic relief (Phill Lewis' character).

Lou Gossett Jr, Sonny Chiba, Chris Cazenove, and Horst Bucholtz play a team of exhibition fliers who put on air shows in authentic and semi-authentic WWII planes. Gossett also has a 'day job' at an air force base which is due to be closed. When one of Gossett's younger colleagues loses his plane and the wreckage is found to have been stuffed with cocaine, Chappy (Gossett) goes into action.

Meanwhile in Peru - where all of this will ultimately lead - our female lead, Anna escapes imprisonment by an ex-Nazi drug-lord who has taken over her small town. Anna is an athlete and appears to be about 23 years old. The character is played by Rachel McLish - who is, as of 2007, 51 years old. The film is 15 years old, so she was in her mid-30s when she made it. I had to look up her age three times before I could believe what I was seeing. McLish is not a bad actress, though not quite up to the level of the rest of the cast. She is, however, excellently physical, and would have made a great action star (I wouldn't be surprised if this option were still open to her).

A quarter of the way through the film, these two plots are about to coalesce.

If you're a fan of military fantasy, you just might enjoy this fairly silly but very pretty film. Others should probably avoid it.