The steel eagle

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Movie
German title The steel eagle
Original title Iron Eagle
Country of production USA , Canada
original language English
Publishing year 1986
length 117 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Sidney J. Furie
script Kevin Elders
Sidney J. Furie
production Ron Samuels
Joe Wizan
music Basil Poledouris
camera Adam Greenberg
cut George Grenville
occupation

The steel eagle (original title: Iron Eagle ) is a US-Canadian action film from 1986 . Directed by Sidney J. Furie and starred by Louis Gossett Jr.

content

The F-16 fighter pilot Ted Masters is shot down, imprisoned and sentenced to death during an air mission over a fictional North African country. Due to unclear territorial boundaries and diplomacy as the primary strategy, the hands of the United States government are tied and it cannot do anything about his planned execution for the time being.

Master's son Doug, who is just as enthusiastic a hobby pilot as he is a hot spur, does not want to be satisfied with that and save his father. He fails at all institutions and ultimately turns to the experienced fighter pilot Colonel Charles "Chappy" Sinclair in desperation . He refuses at first, but agrees to help when he realizes how badly Doug has been hit by his father's fate.

Together and with the help of his friends who live at the air force base, they steal two F-16 fighter planes and illegally set out to free Doug's father. But as soon as they enter enemy territory, the two of them get into an aerial battle, where Sinclair's jet is hit and supposedly crashes. From this point on, Doug is on his own and has to carry out the mission on his own by means of instructions via a tape discussed by Chappy.

With the help of his flying skills, various bluffs via radio, strategic rocket fire and skillful use of the rest of the on-board weapons arsenal, Doug finally succeeds both in being superior to the military led by the local defense minister Nakesh and in allowing the foreign government to give in. And so he can finally land and heave his father on board, after he has dropped a napalm bomb as a barrier. In the end, both manage to escape, and in the end Doug even has an aerial fight with Nakesh and his fighter jet - and is victorious.

Arriving at Ramstein Air Force Base, Doug meets Chappy again, who survived the crash. Both are threatened with proceedings before the military court due to various offenses committed, but this ultimately gives way and - in the face of the promise of both to keep silent about the crimes - caps the entire incident. A small punishment is waiting for Chappy though - he receives the order to "educate" Doug at the Air Force Academy , where his application for admission was previously rejected.

Sequels

The film had three sequels. Louis Gossett Jr. starred in all of them. Sidney J. Furie also directed the second and fourth parts of the series, part three was directed by James Bond director John Glen .

Trivia

  • In the United States, the film grossed $ 24,159,872.
  • The film was shot in Israel , among others . The MiG-23 shown in the film are IAI Kfirs of the Israeli Air Force

Reviews

The film received very negative reviews:

"The fatal political fairy tale unabashedly pays homage to the" Rambo "ideology of American cinema: it propagates vigilante justice, violence and a one-dimensional image of the enemy."

- Lexicon of international film

"Technically respectable, but stupid in content" The end justifies the means "ballery, which was to be repeated in three sequels. [...] Hurray patriotism of the worst kind."

- cinema.de

“The film is a total waste of time. The film reaches perfection in its repulsiveness ""

- Kevin Thomas : Los Angeles Times

“Some nice fight scenes. "The dialogues are just laughable" "

- Variety

In an analysis of over 900 Hollywood films regarding the use of anti-Arab clichés, author Jack Shaheen in his book Reel Bad Arabs : How Hollywood Vilifies a People took the view that the steel eagle was one of the "worst" top ten of these films.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released in 1986 on the Capitol label. It contained the following songs:

  1. Queen - One Vision
  2. King Kobra - Iron Eagle (Never Say Die)
  3. Eric Martin - These Are The Good Times
  4. Katrina and the Waves - Manic House
  5. George Clinton - Intense
  6. Dio - Hide In The Rainbow
  7. Helix - Too Late
  8. Adrenaline - Road Of The Gypsy
  9. Urgent - Love Can Make You Cry
  10. The Jon Butcher Axis - This Raging Fire

not on the official soundtrack, but heard in the film:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The steel eagle. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ cinema.de
  3. ↑ Kevin Thomas: 'Iron Eagle': Middle-east Rescue Mission. In: The Los Angeles Times. January 17, 1986, accessed August 24, 2010 .
  4. ^ Iron Eagle Review. In: Variety magazine. December 31, 1985, accessed October 18, 2010 .