Iron Eagle IV

Chappy turns to Doug Masters for help dealing with flight school misfits... kind of funny, considering Doug Masters was blown up in midair within the first two minutes of "IRON EAGLE II", so how is he there to help Chappy out?

The first movie is a classic 1980's us-versus-the-terrorists flick, and done back when Louis Gossett Jr. actually had a career. It also showcased a young Jason Gedrick, who is sorely missed here. This is one of those franchises where 1. there should have been no sequels, 2. the entire cast save the wisened old codger has changed, 3. it gets worse and worse as it goes on, ala the Delta Force/American Ninja/Kickboxer franchises.

Highjacking an F-16 by threatening the pilot with a double barreled shotgun and the quip "nice set of wheels"? That one part alone earns a lot of points! This movie is just pure fun and always manages to point me in a good mood. Is it realistic they'd fund a flying school for juvenile delinquents? Probably not. Is it fun and enjoyable in a lighthearted 90's guilty pleasure sorta way? Absolutely! The aerial scenes are mostly very well done and graceful to watch. The dogfight between the old piston powered T-6 trainers and modern F-16 jet fighters was quite exciting and amusing as well. Is it kinda cheesy and loaded with cliche's? Yes but who cares just turn your brain off and enjoy the ride!

The movie itself is not bad as far as storyline, but Chappy Sinclair seems weak and somewhat insecure. In 1 and 2, he was strong and proud, but when dealing with Doug, he is more childlike and goofy. Overall a cute family friendly movie, reminds me of "Skyward"with Bette Davis (made for TV by Ron Howard). I did add to my collection because at times I like stupid humor movies like "Hot Shots" and "Airplane" nonsense fun.

Doug Masterson has been shot down, but he's not dead as we've been lead to believe, instead he bailed out at the last second and became a POW in Russia. Now, he's out and living the life of a crop duster and possible alcoholic, fun times. Sidney J. Furie returns to finally tell a further adventure tale of Chappy and Doug, but this time with a different actor taking over Doug's role. I always wonder what the original actor was doing that was so much better then this. The two team up, all be it reluctantly on Dougy's part, to try and teach some delinquents how to fly planes...and also fight with some corrupt air force guys. It's not a bad movie, but with is tight bottom of the barrel budget, and some borderline acceptable performance, this one is just barely watchable.

I'll confess right away that I haven't seen any of the other IRON EAGLE movies so watching the fourth one felt a little odd. All I know about these movies is that they're TOP GUN rip offs starring Louis Gossett Jr. However, I like Gossett Jr., and I was particularly interested in watching this as an instalment in the incredibly long career of Canadian-born director Sidney J. Furie, who started out making the likes of THE LEATHER BOYS and DOCTOR BLOOD'S COFFIN long ago.

Sadly IRON EAGLE IV is one of his lesser works and a very bad film with a television movie atmosphere throughout. Although planes feature in the plot quite heavily, this is a very low budget production in which all of the action takes place on the ground. Gossett Jr. and his buddies are going against some corrupt officers who are doing some illegal dealing, and the viewer is treated to some low-rent action scenes and a lot of wooden acting from the younger cast members. It alternates between being laughable and dull.