Unsung Heroes: Iron Eagle
1986’s Iron Eagle has no shortage of heroics… You’ve got Doug Masters (Jason Gedrick) a recent high school graduate steps up in a major way when his father, a United States Air Force pilot, is shot down and held captive in the fictional Middle Eastern country of Bilyad… Then there is Air Force reservist Col. Chappy Sinclair (Louis Gossett Jr.), who can’t help but get involved. Chappy plans the rescue mission and flies to Bilyad with Doug… And let’s not forget the man of the hour, Col. Ted Masters (Tim Thomerson). Ted Masters finds himself locked up in a hell hole of a prison, where the evil Col. Akir Nakesh wants Ted Masters to sign a confession admitting he is guilty of war crimes, but Col. Masters refuses every time… no matter how many beatings they give him or even with the threat of executing him. Col. Ted Masters is more than willing to die for his country and die for what is right.
With three top level heroes like Doug Masters, Chappy Sinclair and Ted Masters, it is easy to forget about some of the other heroes in Iron Eagle, the Unsung Heroes if you will…
Milo and The Flying Eagles Club
The rescue mission that Doug and Chappy conduct was totally unauthorized and totally unorthodox. If not for the help of all of Doug’s Flying Eagles Club friends, there is no way our heroes could have pulled this mission off. The satellite photos of Bilyad, the intelligence, hacking into the computer to put in a bogus flight plan and reserve two F-16’s that were loaded for bear… all of this was the work of the Flying Eagles. This group of youngsters deserved the praise they received for their exemplary work from Chappy Sinclair. As Chappy put he never had a finer planning staff ever… EVER!
I am not about to argue with Chappy Sinclair and I do believe all the members of The Flying Eagles club deserved the recognition he gave them, but I wanted to give a special shout out to Milo Bazen (Robbie Rist). Milo did most of the heavy lifting where the planning was concerned. Milo was orchestrating the whole show, pointing everyone on the Flying Eagles in the direction they needed to go so this mission could happen. And let’s not forget while Doug and his cool Flying Eagles buds, Reggie and Tony, are whooping it up at the prom… poor nerdy Milo is waiting around for news on Doug’s father.
Slappy – Loyal Friend/Small Business Owner
While his appearance in the movie may have been brief, the character of Slappy left quite an impression. A major reason for this is because Slappy was played by Chino “Fats” Williams, a man who lit up every room he ever entered. Slappy did his old friend Chappy a solid, when he was tasked with telling Doug’s mother and girlfriend about the dangerous mission Doug and Chappy were going on. It is never easy delivering upsetting news and while this all happens off camera, I can hear Slappy filling in Mrs. Masters and Katie with his distinctive voice and if they were lucky, he delivered the message over a fine Italian meal at his restaurant.
One of the reasons I’ve been clamoring for an Iron Eagle special edition Blu-ray is the hope that it will feature a deleted scene or two featuring Slappy.
Freddie Mercury and Queen
The soundtrack for Iron Eagle is top notch… “Gimme Some Loving” by The Spencer Davis Group, “Hide in the Rainbow” by Dio, “Proud Mary” by Tina Turner and “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister are among the classic hits on the soundtrack. But there is one song that rises above the rest…
When Doug and Chappy realize they are behind schedule on their time sensitive mission, Doug pops “One Vision” by Queen into his cassette player and then almost instantly the dynamic duo start making up for lost time. I am not sure of the physics behind this phenomenon or if Freddie Mercury (who wrote the lyrics and music) knew the song was some sort of turbo booster for F-16’s (Is this explained in Bohemian Rhapsody? I haven’t seen it yet). But Queen’s “One Vision” is a clear cut example of the power of music and without the song, Doug may have been too late and Col. Ted Masters would have been executed.
For those of you unfamiliar with the song or for those of you who just want to hear it again, check out the video below…
