Never Say Die, Iron Eagle

In 1986 a film hit theaters with fast jets, high-flying dogfights, a killer soundtrack, and a young maverick pilot who broke the rules in order to get the job done. Then, four months later, Top Gun was released. Largely panned for its admittedly ridiculous plot (albeit one that looks far more plausible today given the scripts of movies like Top Gun: Maverick), Iron Eagle starred Jason Gedrick as high school student Doug Masters who, along with his friends and a reservist (Louis Gossett Jr.), stole Air Force assets and helped plan and execute a rescue mission halfway around the world.

After his father (Tim Thomerson) is shot down and put on trial in the Middle East, Doug begins using his access on the base to gather intel and plan a rescue. He enlists the help of Colonel Chappy Sinclair (Gossett) who eventually agrees to help plan and, along with Doug, fly stolen F-16s overseas to rescue his father before he is put to death. Unbelievable? Sure, but less so than Tom Cruise shooting down modern jets while flying a broken down plane missing the majority of its outdated electronics? Not really.

There are several different pieces to the film including the student/teacher relationship between Doug and Chappie and the staples of the teen movie complete with a high school dance and hanging out at the local drive-in burger joint. The Air Force sequences, including the planning rooms and flight simulator, given that they were filmed in Toronto because the film had no U.S. Military access unlike Top Gun, also hold up pretty well and, because it isn't beholden to the U.S. Government, Iron Eagle is the less overtly jingoistic of the two films.

It may not have Tony Scott's trademark eye and style, but the look of Iron Eagle holds up pretty well 40 years later (certainly better than its increasingly cheaper-looking sequels). By far the best of the franchise that went downhill quickly afterwards, Iron Eagle is a pretty straightforward action film that establishes Doug early on through his reckless driving around the base and flying "the Snake" besting the local bully (Michael Bowen).

Helped by the military brats of other officers on the base (including Larry B. Scott, Jerry Levine, and Robbie Rist), the various methods they to steal everything from satellite photographs to fighter jets provides a heist element to the middle of the film that plays quite well and is probably partially responsible for my enjoyment of those kinds of films.

Is it possible that all the Iron Eagle movies are bad and I just have a soft spot for this one? Perhaps. I'm certainly not going to argue for any of the film's sequels. However, this film still works for me four decades later. Despite the campiness and goofiness of its premise, I'd argue Iron Eagle is pretty well put together film, thoroughly enjoyable as a B-movie action flick, and is likely far closer to the quality of Top Gun than many are willing to admit.

• Title: Iron Eagle
• IMDb: link