Editing Iron Eagle (section)

==Reception==
===Box office===
''Iron Eagle'' opened at [[List of 1986 box office number-one films in the United States|number one at the U.S. box office]] with a gross of $6,104,754 from 1,080 screens.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=January 22, 1986|page=5|title='Iron Eagle' Nests In Top Spot At Natl B.O.; Overall Action Up|last=Greenberg|first=James}}</ref> It went on to gross $24,159,872 at the U.S. and Canadian box office.<ref name="Mojo"/> Although the movie was not a major success at the cinema, it generated $11 million in home video sales, enough to justify a sequel.<ref>[http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1987-01-16/features/8701040030_1_ron-samuels-shooting-site-tri "Cassette sales help `Iron Eagle II` to fly."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524102340/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1987-01-16/features/8701040030_1_ron-samuels-shooting-site-tri |date=2012-05-24 }} ''[[New York Daily News]]'', January 16, 1987. Retrieved: May 20, 2019.</ref>

===Critical response===
Film reviewers were generally negative; [[Kevin Thomas (film critic)|Kevin Thomas]] of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' called the film "ludicrous", "preposterous", and "a total waste of time", saying it "achieves a kind of perfection of awfulness that only earnest effort can produce".<ref name="L.A. Times 1">{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-17-ca-773-story.html |title='Iron Eagle': Middle-east rescue mission |author=Thomas, Kevin |author-link=Kevin Thomas (film critic) |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=January 17, 1986 |access-date=February 19, 2020 |archive-date=May 31, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160531011611/http://articles.latimes.com/1986-01-17/entertainment/ca-773_1_iron-eagle-middle |url-status=live }}</ref>

Film historian and reviewer [[Leonard Maltin]] dismissed the film as "a dum-dum comic-book movie [...] full of jingoistic ideals and dubious ethics, along with people who die and then miraculously come back to life. Not boring, just stupid."<ref>Maltin 2006, p. 660.</ref>

Joe Kane of "The Phantom of the Movies" said "''Iron Eagle'' boasts the hottest rock score of any war film since ''[[Apocalypse Now]]''. Alas, the similarity ends there. Forget the picture and buy the soundtrack album instead; King Kobra's titular music video, ''Never Say Die'', is better made than the movie itself."<ref>The Phantom's Ultimate Video Guide, 19</ref>

''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' magazine commented that the film has "breakneck action and some dandy dogfights", but the dialogue is "simply laughable".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117792029?refcatid=31 |title=Review: 'Iron Eagle' |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=December 31, 1985 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106163623/http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117792029?refcatid=31 |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 6, 2012 |access-date=February 19, 2020}}</ref>

[[Janet Maslin]] of the ''[[New York Times]]'' gave the film a favorable review, saying it has a "fun-loving feeling" and "something for everyone", appealing to teenagers and military aviation buffs for the "skillfully done" aerial combat sequences, along with the heartwarming, fatherly-like interracial relationship between Chappy and young Doug.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/18/movies/screen-iron-eagle-a-tale-of-teen-age-miltary-eescue.html |title="Iron Eagle", a tale of teen-age military rescue |author=Maslin, Janet |author-link=Janet Maslin |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 18, 1986 |access-date=February 19, 2020 |archive-date=March 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309022037/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/18/movies/screen-iron-eagle-a-tale-of-teen-age-miltary-eescue.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

On review aggregation site [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has a score of 20% with an average rating of 4/10, based on reviews from five critics.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/iron_eagle |title=Iron Eagle |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |publisher=[[Fandango Media]] |access-date=May 20, 2019 |archive-date=April 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430131055/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/iron_eagle |url-status=live }}</ref>