
“The best just got better”
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: 5/25/1990
Runtime: 85 minutes
Languages: English
Director: David Green
Budget: $22.0M
0Companies: Nova International Films, Touchstone Pictures
Countries: United States of America
The Movie Mob
**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.

Nicolas Cage
Jake Preston

Tommy Lee Jones
Brad Little

Sean Young
Billie Lee Guthries
Bryan Kestner
Breaker

Dale Dye
A.K. McNeil

Illana Diamant
Sharon Geller

Peter Onorati
Rice

Marshall R. Teague
Doug Daniels
Gregory Vahanian
Tom Davis

Cylk Cozart
Dewar Proctor
Charles Kahlenberg
Oscar De Marco

Robert Lujan
Steward Rives
1993