Fire Birds 1990

The best just got better

5.2 / 10   169 vote(s)
PG-13
Action Adventure

A joint task force operation between the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Army has been formed to dismantle one of the largest drug cartels operating in South America. Multiple attempts to assault the cartel's mountainous compound have been thwarted by a Scorpion-attack helicopter piloted by a cartel leader, Eric Stoller (Bert Rhine). After having several aircraft shot down, most notably a pair of UH–60 Black Hawks and their AH–1 Cobra escorts, the army turns to the new AH–64 Apache attack helicopter, which can match its enemies' maneuverability and firepower.

Release Date 1990-05-25
Runtime 1h 25m
Directors David Green, Tony Imi, Matt Earl Beesley, Jeffrey Wetzel
Producers Bill Badalato, Dale Dye, Arnold Kopelson, Keith Barish, John K. Swensson, Maria Norman
Writers Step Tyner, Nick Thiel, Dale Dye, Paul F. Edwards, John K. Swensson

A miserably bungled Top Gun impersonation with helicopters… why?

Lame Top Gun with helicopters. Almost everything is a straight rip-off. Nic Cage is a much more exaggerated Maverick. Tommy Lee Jones fills the Viper role. Flight school. Overly cocky pilots. Contentious playful romance. Fire Birds so closely replicated Top Gun that it forced a comparison that Fire Birds lost miserably. The cheese factor was cringe. The soundtrack was nowhere near the quality of Harold Faltermeyer’s anthem. David Green couldn’t measure up to Tony Scott’s directing mastery. Even with some of the 90s’ bigger stars, Fire Birds couldn’t burn bright.

The Movie Mob