1986: The Year the Child Took Flight
Films are almost always reflective of the era in which they were made. 1986 was not a good year for man and technology: The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded moments after take-off; the Soviet Union's nuclear power plant Chernobyl melted down; the United States was caught selling illegal weapons to Iran. Was it mere coincidence that in the same year, Hollywood would churn out a crop of movies examining the danger of big machines while taking them away from adults and placing them into the hands of children? Probably not.
1986 was the year of Spacecamp in which a group of teenagers unwittingly boarded a space shuttle that shoots into orbit. It was also the year of Flight of the Navigator, where a boy flies an alien ship on a magical journey through time. But perhaps the best example of the rocketboy trend was that same year's Iron Eagle in which a teenager steals an American F-16 fighter jet to rescue his father (a POW in the Middle East),
Sound satirical? Well, the producers pushed up the release date by six months to avoid a conflict with Top Gun later that year. This was no bit of caricature a la Hot Shots!.
There's something vaguely comforting about watching a movie that's so optimistic, about hearing a tale that insists that the world is in the hands of people who know how to handle it, about witnessing characters ready to rise to any challenge regardless of their skill sets. Add to that the fact that Eagle's dogfights do indeed rival those in Top Gun, that the cast succeeds in making an implausible story moderately believable, and that well, the jets are cool, and you end up with an action-packed film well worthy of the year in which it was made. This is vintage 1986.
Iron Eagle plays today Wednesday, February 6 at 10 PM | 9C. Click here for full schedule.
I think War Games probably belongs on your list too. But I have to disagree with the notion these films were comforting - unless you were a kid. They basically said the grownups have created systems that they can't control and that things are, in fact, out of control -- only youngsters could, with luck, master them, use them, defeat them.
@Lee Kane: I agree exactly that's what the films said, minus the luck part perhaps.
What I find comforting is the notion that yes, adults have lost control of the machines they built. But the upcoming generation, the children and teenagers, can master them. They can take complex devices and lead them towards a successful end. Luck may have something to do with it, but isn't that the case with almost everything?
The common adage is "what kind of world are we leaving our children?" My point is that these movies are asking, "to what kind of children are we leaving our world?" And to that these movies create intelligent, resourceful, and fine, lucky children. I find that outlook very optimistic and comforting.
The reason I say "luck" is because Broderick stumbles across the Norad computer while cruising around "online"--he could just as well not have stumbled across it and we'd all be toast right now. I can't speak to the other movies because I haven't seen them, but it certainly does seem "lucky" (if not downright bizarre) that this kid found an Air Force officer willing to help him steal an airplane. But I take your point that it is comforting that the kids are, in both cases, able to rise to the challenge and master the machines -- tho in both cases it seems that they barely do so and with an ounce less skill (and luck) would have failed. In other words, these movies then indoctrinated viewers into the idea that we are still able (barely) to control our technology but that we are reaching the limits of control -- which on some unconscious level filled me with anxiety back when I saw some of these movies growing up...
Ha--I actually haven't seen War Games (don't throw rocks at me) so we might be at an impasse. Let's see each other's respective movies then return to the fight.
Yes, the inherent fear is that mankind is reaching the limits with technology--that's the point I was making, that these movies were reactions to that fear. Yes, technology is near out-of-control, but there's hope in that our children can control the technology even better than we can.
All I know is that any kid who can successfully land the space shuttle or fly an F-16 fighter has got to have more than a little skill. And hey, couldn't we all use a little luck?