Iron Eagle gets more sequels than Top Gun on November 11, 1988


Some knockoffs just don't know when to quit. November 11, 1988, provided just such a case in point, with the release of a second Iron Eagle movie, the inventively titled Iron Eagle II. The poor man's Top Gun got a sequel thirty-six years before 80s icons Maverick and Iceman. Que pantalones!

Iron Eagle II tries to up the stakes by forcing American and Soviet fighter pilots onto a secret team, led by the returning Lou Gossett, Jr. The team is deployed to Israel for a covert mission to take out a nuclear weapons compound in an unnamed Middle Eastern country. It sounds like a fever dream Nick Fuentes would have after eating too many Portillo's hot dogs late at night.

Speaking of hot dogs, the aerial manuevers seen in the film were performed by actual Israeli Air Force pilots, and were the one redeeming aspect of the film cited by film critics who otherwise blasted the flick. Top Gun was known for its bazillion-selling soundtrack, a groundbreaking disc that established a new template for film and music artist promotions at the cineplex for decades to come. So, of course, Iron Eagle movies had to have a soundtrack, too! Top Gun's dominated the radio and sales charts. Iron Eagle II's dominated the Clearance bin.

To be fair, the movie's basic plot hinge was highly relevant during the 80s and today. Israel itself executed a very similar mission in 1981, when its fighter pilots destroyed a nuclear reactor in Iraq. Today, Americans are torn over the very question of whether its pilots and money should be expended on bombing nuclear sites in Iran, on behalf of Israel. But rather than grapple with these controversial political scenarios, the film mostly settles for 100 minutes of schlock in which it's not even clear anymore who we're supposed to be rooting for.

Even a dying Val Kilmer had more screen presence than the entire cast of Iron Eagle II put together. The main character from the first Iron Eagle lasts about as long in the sequel as Steven Seagal did in Executive Decision. And the box office verdict was grim, with the movie ending up $5 million in the red. 

But perhaps director and screenwriter Sidney Furie had the last laugh. In 2022, Hollywood would reheat the plot of Iron Eagle II - a cheesy Death Star trench run attack on the nuclear facility of an unnamed Middle Eastern country - in a 1000 watt microwave for...Top Gun: Maverick.

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