Iron Eagle (1986)

A young pilot plans a rescue mission when his father, an Air Force Colonel, is shot down over enemy territory and captured.

Director:

Sidney J. Furie

Writers:

Kevin Alyn Elders (as Kevin Elders), Sidney J. Furie

Stars:

Louis Gossett Jr., Jason Gedrick, David Suchet

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Louis Gossett Jr.	...	Col. Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair
Jason Gedrick	...	Doug Masters
David Suchet	...	Minister of Defense Col. Akir Nakesh
Larry B. Scott	...	Reggie
Caroline Lagerfelt	...	Elizabeth Masters
Jerry Levine	...	Tony
Robbie Rist	...	Milo Bazen
Michael Bowen	...	Knotcher
Robert Jayne	...	Matthew 'Matt' Masters (as Bobby Jacoby)
Melora Hardin	...	Katie
David Greenlee	...	Kingsley
Michael Alldredge	...	Col. Blackburn
Lance LeGault	...	General Edwards (as Lance Le Gault)
Tim Thomerson	...	Col. Ted Masters
Tom Fridley	...	Brillo

Storyline

When Doug's father, an Air Force Pilot, is shot down by MiGs belonging to a radical Middle Eastern state, no one seems able to get him out. Doug finds Chappy, an Air Force Colonel who is intrigued by the idea of sending in two fighters piloted by himself and Doug to rescue Doug's father after bombing the MiG base. Their only problems: Borrowing two fighters, getting them from California to the Mediteranean without anyone noticing, and Doug's inability to hit anything unless he has music playing. Then come the minor problems of the state's air defenses.

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Plot Keywords:

two seater aircraft | aircraft cockpit | jet aircraft | warplane | aircraft | 

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Taglines:

Doug is 18. Raised on an air base and born to fly. His father has been shot down 6000 miles away, and has been sentenced to death... for the crime of being an American. Everyone's telling Doug to sit tight and wait. Everyone but Retired Air Force Colonel Chappy Sinclair. They know what they have to do. And they've "borrowed" a pair of F-16s to do it. For them, waiting time is over.

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Genres:

Action | Thriller | War

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA Israel Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 January 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der stählerne Adler

Filming Locations:

Ramat David Air Base, Israel

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,104,754, 19 January 1986

Gross USA:

$24,159,872

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures, Delphi Films, Falcon's Flight

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

James Spader was considered for the role of Knotcher.

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Goofs

In the shot just before Doug punches Knotcher, he is standing at least 15 feet away.

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Quotes

Col. Nakesh: Now you may deal directly with me now; Colonel Nakir Nakesh!
Doug Masters: And you can deal with me; Doug Masters!

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Crazy Credits

The credits are yellow over a blue background, as opposed to the normal white over a black background.

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Connections

Referenced in Cobra Kai: Glory of Love (2019)

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Soundtracks

There Was A Time
Written and performed by James Brown

User Reviews

First episode of the franchise with a magnificent Louis Gosset Jr. as ¨Chappy¨

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 .