The Best Top Gun Knock Off Launched Its Own Wildly Successful Franchise
Top Gun was a historic success, dominating the box office for months, becoming a hit on VHS, and enjoying a long, long run as a staple of cable television. While it took decades for a sequel, Hollywood moved quick and tried to rip off the formula of high-flying fighter jet action, guitar riffs, and golden hour shots of the U.S. military. Most of these knockoffs failed, like the Nicolas Cage-led Fire Birds, but one, Iron Eagle, took the formula and cranked everything up to 11 for a delightfully corny 80s action hit.
An Excuse for Rock And Roll Dog Fights
Iron Eagle has a plot, but it only exists to establish the flimsiest of premises before the dog fighting starts. Col. Masters of the U.S. Air Force is shot down and put on trial by the Arabic fictional country of Bilya, sentenced to be hung in three days.
Meanwhile, his son, Doug, rejected by the Air Force Academy, finds a Vietnam vet, Chappy (played by Louis Gosset Jr., in what might be his most successful role), who reluctantly agrees to help the hotheaded teen steal a fighter jet and embark on a daring rescue mission.
The two, in stolen F-16 Fighting Falcons, fly into Bilya and go against the entire enemy air force. Yes, it’s absurd, yes, it’s stupid, but I love this movie.
Play The Tape
I can even tell you exactly what moment will still, decades since I first saw it, get me to pump my fists and shout out, “Go America!” When Chappy is shot down, he has Doug go up above the clouds to play the tape he was given earlier. Doug puts it in, and a message recorded in case anything happened starts playing, telling Doug “Believe nothing can stop you. Believe that plane your in is a suit of armor. Like an Iron Eagle.”
Doug starts a starting run on a Bilya military base, but not before he pops in another tape, and “Gimme Some Lovin” by the Spencer Davis Group starts playing, and if you don’t get pumped up, it’s because you’re dead.
For Chappy
Iron Eagle is the best “pilot puts on some music and becomes a one-man army” movie ever made because it embraces its absurd premise instead of fighting against it. It shouldn’t work. There are a million reasons why this bare-bones action film should not have been a success, but against all odds, it was.
At least on home video and in theaters, the film made a hair under $25 million, but on VHS, it made $11 million, enough to launch an entire franchise.
A Four-Film Home Video Juggernaut Franchise
Two years after Iron Eagle flew into theaters, Iron Eagle II followed, again disappointing at the box office but earning more money ($12 million) on home video, which then led to Iron Eagle III and IV. Only Louis Gosset Jr. appears in all four films, which is why, despite his award-winning role in Roots, an entire generation thinks of him as Chappy. Jason Gedrick plays Doug, and while he’s the star of the film, he failed to break out and ended up with a long, solid career in Hollywood in guest star roles, notably on Bosch.
Never Say Die Iron Eagle
Despite the diminishing returns of each entry, the original is still a classic, and in true 80s action-movie fashion, part of the reason is the killer soundtrack. The soundtrack to Iron Eagle includes Twisted Sister, Queen, Dio, and James Brown, but the real winner is King Cobra’s “Never Say Die,” which is one of the most 80s songs to ever come out of the 80s. It became the title track for the film, and if you don’t watch the movie, at least look up the music video on YouTube because it is spectacular.
Hard To Stream, But Easy To Find
REVIEW SCORE
Watching Iron Eagle today is difficult unless you look at the discount DVD bins in a Wal-Mart or interstate gas station because I swear I have found the four-movie collection in almost every single one. The film is only available through Video on Demand from Amazon, Google Play, AppleTV, or YouTube. I am not ashamed that I’m into Iron Eagle, and if you enjoy truly outrageous action movies that could have only been made in the 80s, you’ll appreciate the rocking ride into Bilya.
