Iron Eagle (1986)

The original and most memorable installment of the four part "Iron Eagle" franchise, showcases heart pounding aerial action sequences driven by an unrelenting soundtrack featuring music from Queen, George Clinton, King Cobra, James Brown and Steve Windwood. Plot follows a teenage Doug Masters (Jason Gedrick) as he learns his father, an F-16 fighter pilot for the U.S., has been shot down over disputed international airspace and is being held hostage by a hostile foreign government. When Doug learns his father has been sentenced to death and the U.S. military will not be mounting a rescue operation, Doug decides to mount one of his own enlisting the help of ace F-16 fighter pilot Colonel Chappy Sinclair (Lou Gosset, Jr.). The two mount a rescue operation in two F-16s and power into enemy territory at mach speed against impossible odds. The film features a heart-warming performance by Gedrick and an iconic performance by Gossett (Gossett was nominated for the NAACP award for the film). "Iron Eagle" was the first and one of the last films ever to be made entirely with real fighter jets, and Queen's fiery theme song, "One Vision", remains a Freddy Mercury fan favorite three decades after its original release.