Synopsis
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.
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Cast
- Nicolas CageJake Preston
- Tommy Lee JonesBrad Little
- Sean YoungBillie Lee Guthries
- Bryan KestnerBreaker
- Dale DyeA.K. McNeil
- Illana DiamantSharon Geller
- Peter OnoratiRice
- Marshall R. TeagueDoug Daniels
- Gregory VahanianTom Davis
- Cylk CozartDewar Proctor
Recommendations
- 75
TV Guide Magazine
Routine military melodrama leads to a satisfactorily explosive climax. But what makes Birds truly riveting entertainment is not the conflict between good and bad guys, but the clash between the film's apparent intent and the loony subversiveness of its performances. - 58
Entertainment Weekly
The only sensible thing to do with a picture as intentionally unreal as Fire Birds is just to lie back, pump up the volume, and pretend that you’re playing Nintendo. - 40
Variety
Originally titled Wings of the Apache for the Apache assault helicopters prominently featured, Fire Birds resembles a morale booster project leftover from The Reagan era. - 40
Time Out
With a gung ho script, sometimes rudimentary editing and uninvolving relationships, the whole effect is rather flat. None of the aerial sequences boast the visual thrills of Top Gun, while even the attempt to inject controversy in the shape of Hollywood's first female combatant is half-realised. - 37
Washington Post
It would be hard to reduce filmmaking to its basics more than Fire Birds does. It's more video game than motion picture -- the first coin-operated movie. - 30
Los Angeles Times
Lean, mean, clean and empty-hearted, Fire Birds is a video-game recruiting poster with a bomb ticking inside--a bomb that never goes off. - 30
The New York Times
Fire Birds has one director (David Green), two writers (Nick Thiel and Paul F. Edwards) and many laughs, all of them unintentional. - 25
The Seattle Times
Fire Birds reduces it all to kiss-kiss-bang-bang, and the implication that a few theater-rattling explosions will turn the enemy to toast forever. The only blessing is that it runs less than 90 minutes.
