The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Air Force brat Doug Masters (Jason Gedrick) finds out that his father has been shot down and captured by a brutal Middle Eastern regime and embarks on a crazy plan to rescue him, which involves stealing multi-million dollar jet fighters.I loved this movie as a kid and I still do. That said, from a technical standpoint (which is where my ratings come from) it's just not good.The writing stretches verisimilitude to its limit, the acting is just barely at par and the flow is, to be polite, non-existent. This movie has too much filler. It could be cut down to 45 minutes so it could air in a one hour time slot on television and the essential elements would remain intact.There are some good elements in the movie. There's some good action and chase sequences and the last 20 minutes were fantastic and make this movie worth watching. The overall cinematography and effects were done well, though not outstandingly so.In all, it's a fun movie to watch if you like jet and/or military movies.

Hmmm... Depending on how you wish to see it, this film is either going to be a great teen/action/vigilante flick or a really bad war movie.I prefer to see it a great teen/action/vigilante film. Despite their being many flaws (Israeli Aircraft instead of American and Iranian ones, ordnance appearing and then disappearing again and again from under the aircraft, as well as the idea that two Air Force planes can be stolen fully armed so easily and not only flown but landed in hostile territory is I admit - Far Fetched)! OK, so I got the cynical stuff out of the way. So what is so good about this film? It is fun, a teens father is shot down over a Middle Eastern country (Iran?), and will be executed by a given time and date if certain demands are not met. Of course the Government won't play ball and the kid gets frustrated and talks a Senior Officer into helping him organise a 2 plane rescue mission.Great fun if you just go with it all.

In the 1980's patriotism, and in some cases flat out Jingoism, was pretty high. "Do we get to win this time" a line famous from Rambo: First Blood part II, could almost sum up how many people felt at that time. A longing for the style of films they grew up with, flat out balls to the wall "we're good, your bad...now let's blow something up, and go home" While Rambo, Rocky, and for the most part Top Gun seemed more geared towards attracting an older crowd Iron Eagle went straight for the kids. Canadian writer and director Sidney J. Furie brings out everything that you love and hate about that time period. The kick in the pants rock out 80's anthems (never say die, Road of the Gypsy, etc) to the over the top, and sometimes almost unbelievable action adventure. Iron Eagle succeeded for one reason...it was F.U.N - Fun. It's the type of movie you can turn on and sit back and enjoy every ridiculous totally 80's moment. You don't have to think about if it could really happen, or if the acting is truly believable, it's just fun...and that's all you can really ask for in this type of movie...

...But it definitely still only deserves 4/10 stars and no more. A moronic dumb kid's father is a fighter pilot who gets shot down by some Arab country. They never name the country in the movie, its really ridiculous, they just vaguely refer to some Arab nation, this movie is really ignorant like that. But Lamar from Revenge of the Nerds is in here, he is friends with the main character Doug Masters. Well, Doug Masters, who lives on an Air Force base, his father is an air force pilot, yet he fails to get into the air force academy, conceives of a plot (with help from his retarded friends) to steal two jets and go rescue his father. Yea, exactly - this is One of the Greatest Films Ever Made!!! Louis Gossett Jr is fantastic in his role. You can tell he basically wanted to smack the hell out of Doug Masters the whole movie. Well anyway, you can probably guess how the plot ends, I can't believe they made 3 sequels to this movie.