The battle for '80s air superiority.
1986 put audiences in the cockpit with Top Gun and Iron Eagle, two films fueled by fighter jets, youthful swagger, and a need for speed. Both follow hotshot pilots taking to the skies in pulse-pounding aerial action, but they chart very different flight paths. Top Gun pairs slick military spectacle with charismatic rivalries and romance, while Iron Eagle leans into a more outlandish, wish-fulfillment adventure where a teenager takes matters into his own hands. One became an '80s pop culture phenomenon. The other remains a fascinating snapshot of Hollywood spotting a trend and racing to catch it before it disappeared over the horizon.
Top Gun
Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a hotshot U.S. Navy fighter pilot, is sent with his radar intercept officer "Goose" to the elite Top Gun Naval Fighter Weapons School at NAS Miramar. There, his reckless flying puts him at odds with rival Tom "Iceman" Kazansky while he pursues a romance with civilian instructor Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood. After a training accident kills Goose, a guilt-ridden Maverick must regain his confidence before a real combat mission decides whether he has what it takes to be the best.
- Release Date
- May 16, 1986
- Tagline(s)
- "I feel the need, the need for speed."
- Director(s)
- Tony Scott
- Writer(s)
- Jim Cash, Jack Epps Jr.
- Leading Cast
- Tom Cruise , Kelly McGillis , Val Kilmer , Anthony Edwards , Tom Skerritt
- Budget
- $15,000,000
- Box Office
- $176,786,701 $177,030,000
- Rotten Tomatoes
- 57% 83%
- IMDB
- 7.0 / 10
- Trailer
- View Trailer
- Sources
- OMDb Rotten Tomatoes IMDB Box Office Mojo Wikipedia
Iron Eagle
Doug Masters, the teenage son of veteran USAF pilot Colonel Ted Masters, dreams of following in his father's footsteps but is rejected by the Air Force Academy. When Colonel Masters is shot down and captured while patrolling over the Mediterranean by the fictional Arab state of Bilya, and sentenced to death despite the incident occurring in international waters, Doug realizes the U.S. government won't intervene in time. He enlists Colonel Charles "Chappy" Sinclair, a Vietnam veteran in the Air Force Reserve, and together they use Doug's inside access to the airbase to "borrow" two F-16 fighters and mount an unauthorized rescue mission deep into hostile territory.
- Release Date
- January 17, 1986
- Director(s)
- Sidney J. Furie
- Writer(s)
- Kevin Alyn Elders, Sidney J. Furie
- Leading Cast
- Louis Gossett Jr. , Jason Gedrick , David Suchet , Larry B. Scott , Caroline Lagerfelt , Tim Thomerson
- Budget
- $10,000,000
- Box Office
- $24,159,872
- Rotten Tomatoes
- 17% 57%
- IMDB
- 5.6 / 10
- Trailer
- View Trailer
- Sources
- OMDb Rotten Tomatoes IMDB Box Office Mojo Wikipedia
