Black Eagle (1988)

One of the US Air Force's most modern tactical aircraft, an F-111 Aardvark with a new laser guidance system, crashes into the sea near Malta - a region where the Soviet forces are highly present, too. The big problem with 'Black Eagle' is that Van Damme should have been the lead and Kosugi the villain then perhaps we would have a better movie? Van Damme was hardly in the film and his demise kinda disappointing and our lead half as interesting as he shouldn't be. This is definitely a movie that doesn't hold up as i remembered it once to.. (4.0/10)

A pretty much average thriller, like a lot of the supposed exciting rubbish which was churned out in the '80s. This one has some nice foreign locations to look at, but the muddled plot is both boring and headache inducing, involving a James Bond-like agent who must retrieve some technical stuff from the bottom of the sea. To make things interesting, there are some chase sequences and of course the expected martial arts action, but unfortunately both turn out to be disappointing.Basically, this is because they offer up little in the way of excitement, because they're totally generic and therefore useless. The only exception is a cool rooftop chase but that's the highlight of the film. The fight scenes, when they occur, are too brief and too tame, I mean we know Kosugi is tough and can easily wipe out the bad guys, so there's no suspense and not enough action. The only fight scenes worth waiting for are the Van Damme/Kosugi fights, where the martial arts aces do their bits, and there are three of these to enjoy, with the second being the best (the first is too brief, and the third is too dimly lit).The acting is typically bland for a film like this, just guys with stony faces barking out orders. There is the obligatory love interest but even the little kids are clichéd. Kosugi is okay as the hero of the piece, but he's never as engaging as he was elsewhere. People complain about Seagal and Van Damme having no charisma, but this guy makes them look like Clark Gable in comparison. Van Damme is pretty good in a rare bad-guy role, although he is no actor he definitely shows his mettle in the fight sequences, doing the splits and high kicking endlessly. It's cool to watch. As it stands it's an average thriller with a budget not high enough to do it any justice. Barely passable.

I'll try to keep this mostly spoiler free. Mostly.If you like tough-as-nails 80's spy dramas or martial arts films with a plot this might be the film for you. First of all lets talk about the action. Obviously, with names like Jean-Claude van Damme and Shô Kosugi on the cast list this movie has some action. There's fisticuffs a plenty, diving, daggers, guns, a car chase, stealth and even some 80's-style parkour. For the first 80 minutes I'm pleased with the action. Then, for the last ten minutes it just falls apart. Even the 'final battle' between van Damme and Kosugi is badly choreographed, short and very unsatisfying. Most of the fisticuffs has a taste of the east in it, which depending on what you like is good or bad. Some of it is fluid enough to be 'western styled', but its very obvious that Kosugi is used to thinking in one-move sequences. Kane Kosugi has a small action part as well, which he executes well.Speaking of the acting, most of the actors do a good enough job. Vladimir Skomarovsky, Bruce French, Doran Clark and William Bassett do good roles. Jean-Claude van Damme does well enough with what little space his role is given. Most of the other main actors have lapses, especially in the beginning, where they seem stiff or uninterested. The background actors do good jobs, all the small parts are executed well. WARNING: There are child actors in this movie. Also worth noting: almost no acting happens after the 80-minute mark, acting ability ending roughly about the same time as the plot falls apart.At first I liked the plot. The main plot is a good setup for an action movie with heavy spy-elements. It could easily been the setup for a James Bond movie. In an unusual twist for 80's action the main characters family is at risk. Unfortunately this element which could have given rise to much dramatic tension is resolved too soon. It gives the unfortunate effect of giving the main character smaller stakes at the end rather than the middle of the movie. Also there are background details and small side-plots that I think is fun that they made room for. I would like the side plots better if the main plot didn't get so diffuse. I don't think that the small side plots were what made the main story diffuse though. I just think the weakest parts of the exposition were those concerning the main plot.A nice detail when it comes to the plot is that the Russians aren't baby-eating monsters. In fact, if I was going to root for the 'good guys' I think I'd be rooting for the Russians. Not that they're all nice people, but the Americans in the movie are down right bloodthirsty.The music score is mostly fitting, although there are lapses with no background where this was missed. It's also not great, falling within the generic "dramatic violin" genre of action music. It's not an OST you'd sit down and listen to afterwords.All in all it's an OK movie that you could very well see on a Friday evening with your family. (as long as that family is all more than eleven years old) Goes well with a beer and some taco. Just don't let the ending bring you too much down with its suck.

Now don't take this into the wrong direction. I like Van Damme as well as Sho Kosugi, but even they couldn't save this film from being so boring and so abysmal. I was so bored by this film, that not only did I fall asleep during the film, I couldn't even finish the thing. I just had to eject this pile of waste from my DVD player during the middle of the film.An F-11 holding a device that the United States government cannot afford to lose crash lands in the Mediterranean. The KGB lead by Andrei (Played by Van Damme), unfortunately, are much closer to finding the device than the CIA. The United States government decides to send in their best man, Ken Tani, The Black Eagle (Played by Kosugi). Tani decides to head to Malta with his two kids (Played by Kosugi's own children) to find the device before the KGB does.I have nothing else to say about this crap except that even if you're a Van Damme superfan, don't bother, and just leave it in the $3 bin at BigLots! I'm actually quite surprised this didn't kill Van Damme's career.Not Recommended.DVD Extras: An okay full frame presentation (Take pride in the fact that I said that, by the way) along with the movie's trailer and production notes that no one really cares about, much like the movie itself.