History Film / IronEagle

* VehicularSabotage: Knotcher loosens the oil cap for the engine of Doug's plane just before a race against the rival's motorcycle, resulting in the plane spilling oil once the loosened cap works the rest of the way off due to engine vibration.

* ''Iron Eagle II'' (1988) - After Doug is shot down and (presumably) killed over Soviet airspace, Chappy is brought out of retirement to lead a joint American-Soviet strike force against yet another [[{{Qurac}} anonymous Middle Eastern country]], this time to destroy a nuclear weapons compound that threatens both the United States and the Soviet Union. As one might expect, tensions are high between the two groups, especially when it's revealed the Soviet ace pilot (played by Creator/ColmFeore) is the one responsible for Doug's death. The two groups must learn to put their differences aside and work together to pulls off the mission. This entry is notable for being the first to be shot mostly in Canada (the original was a Canadian-US-Israeli co-production, but was shot mostly in California and Tel Aviv), meaning the sudden influx of Canadian actors playing both [[FakeAmerican Americans]] and Russians.
* ''Aces: Iron Eagle III'' (1992) - ''Aces'' came out four years after the last film, with [[ChannelHop change in producer, studio, and director]] resulting in an noticeable shift in tone and direction (most notably, this movie carries an R rating as opposed to the PG and PG-13 ratings of the other movies). Rather than focus on a group of young, hot, scrappy misfits learning to work together, the film instead follows a group of aging UsefulNotes/WorldWarII fighter aces whose best days are behind them, banding together to do fight a South American drug ring led by an ex-Nazi war criminal (Creator/PaulFreeman), using vintage warbirds.
* ''Iron Eagle On the Attack'' (1995) - Features the return of Doug Masters (played by [[TheOtherDarrin a different actor]] and retconned to have survived the opening of the second film), retired and living alone when he's picked up by his old friend Chappy to help run a flight school for juvenile delinquents. The trainees trainees inadvertently stumble upon a group of Air Force officers dealing in toxic waste, and a conspiracy led by a rogue Air Force officer that could kill hundreds. This is the final entry in the series, and is much closer in style and plot to the first two, with a younger cast and Canadian locations. It's the only entry in the series not written by Kevin Alyn Elders, and was released direct-to-video without a wide theatrical release.

''Iron Eagle'' is an action film series that lasted just under ten years, from 1986 to 1995. They follows the exploits of the United States Air Force Colonel (later Brigadier General) Charles "Chappy" Sinclair (played by Oscar-winning actor Louis Gossett Jr.) in his seemingly never-ending battles against hostile foreign regimes, drug smugglers, terrorists, and rogue government agents. The films were directed by Canadian filmmaker Sidney J. Furie, with the exception of the third entry which was helmed by former Bond director John Glen. The films are known for their spectacular aerial action sequences, over-the-top soundtracks, and jingoistic political sentiments - the latter courtesy of screenwriter Kevin Alyn Elders and whichever government was helping produce the film.

* BavarianFireDrill: Chappie pulls off a two-stage one: First he [[WearingTheOldColors puts on his old uniform]] and sets up a checkpoint, stopping a military convoy for inspection, then he declares that he will accompany them onto the base to make sure their cargo is handled properly, passing himself off to the gate guards as the convoy commander.

* ''Aces: Iron Eagle III'' (1992) - ''Aces'' came out four years after the last film, with [[ChannelHop change in producer, studio, and director]] resulting in an noticeable shift in tone and direction (most notably, this movie carries an R rating as opposed to the PG and PG-13 ratings of the other movies). Rather than focus on a group of young, hot, scrappy misfits learning to work together, the film instead follows a group of aging UsefulNotes/WorldWarII fighter aces whose best days are behind them, banding together to do fight a South American drug ring led by an ex-Nazi war criminal, using vintage warbirds.

* ''Aces: Iron Eagle III'' (1992) - ''Aces'' came out four years after the last film, with [[ChannelHop change in producer, studio, and director]] resulting in an noticeable shift in tone and direction. Rather than focus on a group of young, hot, scrappy misfits learning to work together, the film instead follows a group of aging UsefulNotes/WorldWarII fighter aces whose best days are behind them, banding together to do fight a South American drug ring led by an ex-Nazi war criminal, using vintage warbirds.

* FireForgedFriends: Cooper and Yuri Lebanov initially clash a lot for being rival tho shot pilots, and for Lebanov having been one of the pilots who shot down Doug (and Cooper hainvg crippled Lebnaov's wing mate in the same battle) but they eventually bury the hatchet and learn to work well.

--> '''Graves:''' Never criticize the quinine before it is served.

%%* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Kleiss' ultimate fate.

* RunForTheBorder: Shortly after being placed under Chappy's care, Wheeler and Rudy make an attempt to step a plane and fly to Mexico. He puts a stop to this fairly easily.

* RunForTheBorder: Wheeler and Rudy make an attempt to step a plane and fly to Mexico.

* ''Iron Eagle IV'' (1995) - Features the return of Doug Masters (played by [[TheOtherDarrin a different actor]] and retconned to have survived the opening of the second film), retired and living alone when he's picked up by his old friend Chappy to help run a flight school for juvenile delinquents. The trainees trainees inadvertently stumble upon a group of Air Force officers dealing in toxic waste, and a conspiracy led by a rogue Air Force officer that could kill hundreds. This is the final entry in the series, and is much closer in style and plot to the first two, with a younger cast and Canadian locations. It's the only entry in the series not written by Kevin Alyn Elders, and was released direct-to-video without a wide theatrical release.

[[folder:Iron Eagle IV contains examples of:]]

!!Iron Eagle contains examples of:

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!!Iron Eagle II contains examples of:

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!!Aces: Iron Eagle III contains examples of:

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!!Iron Eagle IV contains examples of:

''Iron Eagle'' is an action film released in 1986, starring Jason Gedrick and Louis Gossett Jr. It was followed by three sequels: ''Iron Eagle II'' (1988), ''Aces: Iron Eagle III'' (1992), and ''Iron Eagle IV'' (1995).

When Air Force Colonel Ted Masters is shot down by an [[{{Qurac}} anonymous Middle Eastern country]] and taken prisoner, his oldest son and hotshot wannabe pilot, Doug (Gedrick), becomes frustrated with the bureaucratic red tape in the effort to have his father released. Taking matters into their own hands, he and his friends turn to retired Colonel Charles "Chappy" Sinclair (Gossett Jr.) to mount their own rescue operation.

"Chappy" refuses at first, but identifies with Doug's pain, having seen his own friends left behind. He challenges Doug to demonstrate his skill, and is amazed to learn that the kid is a prodigy in the cockpit. Finally convinced, they use their connections on the base, a bit of cunning, and a bit of subterfuge to procure two F-16s, armed to the teeth, and proceed to launch an all-out assault on the enemy nation. However, when Chappy is shot down in a border skirmish, Doug is forced to muster the courage to go it alone. Cue epic air battles and lots of asskicking.

Of course, it turns out all right in the end, and the Air Force is so embarrassed that a bunch of kids and a grizzled vet evaded all their military security and carried out the rescue that they send Doug to the one place where they know he'll keep his big mouth shut: the Air Force Academy.

One of the iconic elements of the film is Doug's music - he's an expert pilot when amped up on Music/{{Queen}}, not so much when forced to do without. If you remember nothing else about ''Iron Eagle'', you'll still recall Doug blowing the crap out of Evil Foreigners to the tune of "One Vision".

The film was popular enough to spawn several sequels, with the continuity character oddly being Chappy instead of Doug. ''Iron Eagle II'' even goes so far as to [[SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome kill Doug off in the first five minutes]]. It features a group of misfit American and Russian fighter pilots (led by Chappy) who reluctantly team up to defeat the nuclear ambitions of yet another anonymous Middle Eastern country.

''Aces: Iron Eagle III'' has Chappy uncovering a drug smuggling ring within his own base, leading to a confrontation in Peru, using vintage UsefulNotes/WorldWarII warbirds.

''Iron Eagle IV'' has Chappy running a flight school whose trainees stumble upon a group of Air Force officers dealing in toxic waste. It also notably brings back Doug Masters, albeit with a different actor.

* ActuallyThatsMyAssistant: The Russian commander misidentifies Chappy in this manner, with obvious racial overtones.

%%* DeadpanSnarker: Chappy.
** "I hear they shoot communists in the street in America." "In my hometown, Detroit, they shoot ''everybody'' in the street."

%%* GeneralRipper: Stillmore.

%%* TheDragon: General Simms.

%%* DrugsAreBad

%%* ShellShockedVeteran: Doug Masters.

* BadassGrandpa: Except for Chappy [[spoiler:and Horikoshi]] the titular aces are UsefulNotes/WorldWarII veterans. Each ace flies a period fighter plane from his home country.

%%* CoolOldGuy: Chappy

%%* DareToBeBadass: Doug, of course.

%%* EjectEjectEject: Done at least twice (see below.)

%%* FinalBattle: Doug vs. Col. Nakir Nakesh.

%% * ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill

** Made even stranger by the fact that Mirages by then were a pretty common sight in the air forces of various Arab nations, including Libya and Iraq, so it wouldn't have been out of place to simply acknowledge them as such. Presumably, "MiG" just sounded more villainous.

---> '''Nakesh:''' "(screams)" ''(His MiG explodes)''

---> '''Pilot:''' "Attention unidentified aircraft, this is Major Dwight Smiley of the United States Air Force. You are following one of our F-16s in international airspace. Do you wish to engage?"\\

'''Smiley:''' "I didn't think so."

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/51ttQ1fsMoL__SL500__4733.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[ArtisticLicensePhysics Break the what, now?]]]]

* TheObiWan: Chappy, for [[RuleOfDrama obvious reasons]], gets shot down during the mission, forcing Doug to go it alone.