''Black Eagle'' is a 1988 American

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...

directed by Eric Karson and starring Shō Kosugi,

Jean-Claude van Damme Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (, ; born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme (, ), is a Belgian actor, martial artist, filmmaker, and fight choreographer. Born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, at the ag ...

, and

Kane Kosugi Kane or KANE may refer to: Art, entertainment and media Fictional entities *Kane (comics), the main character of the eponymous comic book series by Paul Grist * Kane (''Command & Conquer''), character in the ''Command & Conquer'' video game series ...

. It was shot on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

island of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. The film was released in the United States on May 19, 1988.

Plot

Ken Tani ( Shō Kosugi), a martial artist and special operative for the American government codenamed "Black Eagle", is summoned by his superiors after an

F-111 The General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark is a retired supersonic, medium-range, multirole combat aircraft. Production variants of the F-111 had roles that included ground attack (e.g. interdiction), strategic bombing (including nuclear weapons ca ...

carrying an experimental black ops laser tracking device was shot down over

by Russian forces. A group of elite

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

agents led by Colonel Vladimir Klimenko and his brutal and enigmatic right-hand man Andrei (

) have been dispatched to Malta to retrieve the device for their own ends. Tani, alongside CIA agent Patricia Parker ( Doran Clark) and his sons Brian (

) and Denny (Shane Kosugi) travel to Malta to find the device before Andrei does, leading to an eventual face-to-face encounter.

Cast

* Shō Kosugi as Ken Tani *

Jean-Claude Van Damme Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (, ; born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme (, ), is a Belgian actor, martial artist, filmmaker, and fight choreographer. Born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, at the ag ...

as Andrei * Doran Clark as Patricia Parker * Bruce French as Father Joseph Bedelia * Vladimir Skomarovsky as Colonel Vladimir Klimenko * William Bassett as Dean Rickert *

as Brian Tani * Shane Kosugi as Denny Tani * Alfred Mallia as Peter

Reception

Critical response

Critics gave the film a mixed reception overall.

References

External links

* * 1988 films 1988 martial arts films 1980s spy action films American spy action films American martial arts films Cold War spy films Films about the Central Intelligence Agency Films set in Malta Films shot in Rome Films shot in Malta Films directed by Eric Karson Films scored by Terry Plumeri 1980s English-language films 1980s American films {{action-film-stub