Iron Eagle Released by:
Columbia/Tri-Star Home VideoFeatures:
1985; 117Min; Rated PG-13; Dolby Digital: 5.1 English, Dolby Surround English, Spanish Mono; Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85) and Pan/Scan.Extras:
Theatrical Trailer, Cast and Crew Biographies.Review:
Ah, the eighties. You remember that time period? Reaganomics, patriotism, action movies with loud soundtracks. Ok, that part hasn't changed, but my appreciation for this film sure has. And not necessarily for the better.Iron Eagle is the story of Doug Masters (Jason Gedrick), an air force brat who's always getting into trouble, as well as about to graduate high school. He's been a flake at school, in order to get some flying time in F-16 simulators. One afternoon, after some bizarre plane/motorcycle race through a dangerous canyon, he is informed that his father (Tim Thomerson, Trancers) has been captured by an un-named Middle Eastern country. The US government's hand's are tied, and they won't mount a rescue mission.
Doug turns to a bull headed reserve officer nick-named Chappy, played by Lou Gosset Jr., and informs him that he wants to attempt a rescue. After much pestering, Chappy obliges, and the movie beings. Unfortunately it took about half the movie to get to this point. To organize everything, Doug turns to all of his fellow Air Force brat friends who, in an incredible leap of plot, are able to get all the materials and equipment he needs. Yeah right!
After watching this movie for the first time in about ten years, I've discovered one thing. I now realize why I like Top Gun so much. While both Iron Eagle and Top Gun are both popcorn movies, with loud soundtracks.Top Gun was, how should I put it? Just a tad more believable? Perhaps it helped that Jerry Bruckheimer was in charge of Top Gun, but it seemed there was a bit more research put into the plausability of the plot. Iron Eagle is not a terrible movie, it just doesn't hold up after fifteen years. Top Gun does, for what it's worth.
The presentation of Iron Eagle was a typical release from Columbia. It was presented with both an anamorphic widescreen transfer, as well as the pan and scan (not that I'll ever watch that version). The new widescreen print was almost flawless, but again, probably due to down conversion factors, looked a little soft on my Toshiba 36" TV. For now, I'm officially annoyed by anamorphic transfers. It'll probably change should I ever buy a widescreen TV.
As for the audio presentation, it was better than I expected. While it wasn't overly aggressive for a 5.1 mix, what can I say, it's 15 years old. As is typical with films of this age, it seemed more attention was paid to the music re-mix more than anything, but that's OK, I'm just glad the effort was made. There were a few explosions that went through all of the speakers, but that's most of what stood out.
Extra features? Well, since this film has never been widescreen, does that count? But seriously, it's on par with typical Columbia bare bones presentations. A simple cast and crew biography and on e trailer. Eh...
Would I recommend this film for someone just starting their DVD collection? No, not really, spend the extra five bucks and buy Top Gun. If you're well into the format and going, "I haven't bought something in the past twenty-four hours, and already have 400 titles." it'll do. This is definitely a title you should rent if your not sure about it's purchase value.
On a scale of 1 to 10, the movie ranks a 5 in my book.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I'll give this presentation a 5, with no Bonus Biscuits.
Dan Linzmeier, FIT Productions
Fitprod@aol.com
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